Flexible or portable closure – partition – or panel – With hood – canopy – shield storage chamber – or outrigged... – Structure
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-28
2003-11-18
Purol, David (Department: 3634)
Flexible or portable closure, partition, or panel
With hood, canopy, shield storage chamber, or outrigged...
Structure
C160S17810R, C160S902000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06648046
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable blind holder for use in connection with the hanging and decorating of blinds. The adjustable blind holder has particular utility in connection with the hanging of Venetian blinds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Adjustable blind holders are desirable for the fast, efficient, and aesthetically pleasing installation of Venetian blinds. In the past the typical method for installing blinds has used the separate installation of mounting brackets that would be attached to either the wall or the molding surrounding a window. This installation would lead to the difficulty of trying to ensure that the brackets, provided as separate units, were mounted in such a way that the blinds would be level. The adjustable blind holder provides a single unit that can be easily leveled and mounted, by a variety of means, to any surface surrounding a window. In addition, the means for mounting and the head rail of the blinds are commonly considered displeasing to the eye. Therefore the normal practice has been to install a decorative covering such as a window treatment to conceal these features. The solitary unit that is provided in The adjustable blind holder allows for the installation of a single device that performs the function of supporting the head rail for a blind while providing a decorative means for concealing these features. In addition, the adjustable blind holder could be easily adapted to be used as a mounting for multiple window coverings if a variety were desired on a single window.
Venetian blinds are one of the most commonly used forms of window coverings used. Their versatility and adaptability to various levels of lighting are the primary reason for this popularity. Retailers normally offer them in increments of one inch. The ability of the adjustable blind holder to be altered to a broad range of lengths would enable the installer of a blind to have a fast and easy method for hanging all sizes of blinds. While the utility of blinds is universally recognized, they are not considered attractive to the eye. Therefore it is a frequent practice to conceal all or part of the blinds with some form of decorative covering. The adjustable blind holder offers a single unit that can be designed to retain a variety of choices for window coverings while providing a decorative covering for the blind head rail through its exterior casing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,196 to James E. Elliot discloses an adjustable Venetian blind. While this invention provides a design for a Venetian blind that can be adjusted to windows of varying width, it does not address the concealment of the means for supporting the blinds and its head rail. It also does not provide a system of support that can be installed as a single unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,837,152 to Nathan Edward Moore, Jr., is an alternate design for an adjustable Venetian blind. Like the Elliot '4,699,196 patent it poses the same difficulties related to the installation of separate mounting supports. It also does not provide a means for concealing these features.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,931 to James M. Peterson, is yet another design for Venetian blinds that can be adapted to windows of various sizes. Like the Elliot '196 and Moore '152 patents, the Peterson '931 patent does not remedy the problems created by the mounting of separate mounting devices. It does, however, disclose a new feature consisting of a decorative covering that can be attached directly on the head rail. Unlike the Peterson design, the current invention offers a device that can be used for any size or type of conventional window covering while providing decorative concealment that is separate from the blind itself. There are numerous circumstances where the versatility provided by a device separate from the blind head rail would be preferable in the decoration of a window blind.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,418 to Kevin J. Corcoran describes a means for installing a Venetian blind in combination with a roller window shade. While the support mechanism for blinds is similar to that provided in the preferred embodiment of the adjustable blind holder, it requires the installation of separate units. In addition the Corcoran '418 invention does not provide any means for concealing the head rail of the blinds or their supports.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,867 to Paul P. Mallek discloses a means for installing blinds without having to create holes in the walls or molding surrounding a window. Like the Corcoran '5,505,418 patent, the Mallek '867 patent discloses separate support mechanism for blinds. It also does not provide any means for concealing the head rail of the blinds or their supports.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 337,469 to Sandra K. Young and Douglas J. Warner is a design patent for a decorative blind head rail. It does not, however, disclose an independent unit that provides the dual function of supporting all sizes of blinds, while providing a decorative concealment.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe an adjustable blind holder that allows for a single unit that can be easily installed and leveled as well as providing a decorative enhancement to the upper region of a window covering.
Therefore a need exists for a new and improved adjustable blind holder that can be used for a wide variety of window coverings of universal lengths, allows for the installation of a solitary unit, and incorporates a decorative enhancement to conceal the head rail of the window coverings. In this respect, the adjustable Blind holder according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of hanging window covers, particularly Venetian blinds.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of mounting devices for window blinds now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved adjustable blind holder, and overcomes the abovementioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved adjustable blind holder which has all of the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in an adjustable blind holder which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a top cover and a bottom cover that slides telescopically within the top cover. Each cover is provided with a device for mounting to the wall. The covers are connected and supported by a retractable member that is braced at one end to the top cover and at the other end to the bottom cover. At each end of the member are attached mounting devices for receiving the ends of a blind head rail.
There has been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include a set of holes in each cover, situated to enter towards a wall or molding and sized to receive screws appropriate for attachment to the wall or molding. In addition the covers may be formed to create a rectangular decorative covering meant to conceal the supporting devices for a blind head rail.
Another feature that would exist is a support attached to each cover. The supports would receive and be affixed to the retractable member. These supports would be attached to the upper interior walls of the covers so that they would be concealed from view.
Also attached to each cover would be a mounting brace. The mounting brace would be designed to receive the ends of a blind head rail. A
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