Flexible or portable closure – partition – or panel – Plural strip – slat – or panel type – Venetian blind type
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-22
2004-08-10
Johnson, Blair M. (Department: 3634)
Flexible or portable closure, partition, or panel
Plural strip, slat, or panel type
Venetian blind type
Reexamination Certificate
active
06772817
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a window blind assembly, and more particularly to an adjustable window blind cord stopper, wherein the cord stopper is selectively locked on the cord, so as to lock the slats of the window blind assembly in position, which can prevent the slats from being released accidentally.
2. Description of Related Arts
Blinds and the like such as drapes and portieres are commonly used for sheltering window, separating spaces, and etc since they are easy to open and close and aesthetically appealing. Most of the blinds each comprises a traverse supporter, which is affixed to a top beam of a window and comprises a slider track mounted on a bottom of the traverse supporter, a folding device having a pair of cords slidably mounted in the slider track, and a plurality of slats horizontally and suspendedly mounted upon the folding device in such a manner that, by operating a lift lock system, the slats are slid in such a vertical manner, or individually rotated at the same time.
In order to fold up the blind, the cords are pulled downwardly, which will increase the length of the cords, in such a manner that the slats are driven to slide upwardly towards to the traverse supporter, wherein the slats are capably of locking up at a predetermined length by a frictional force between the cords and the lift lock system. Likewise, to unfold the blind, the slats are slid downwardly due to the gravity, which will shorten the length of the cords when the frictional force is released.
However, the conventional window blind assembly has a major drawback. The slats may accidentally slide down while the cords are pulled unintentionally, especially when a child plays with the blind, the bottom bar of the window blind assembly may accidentally drop down, which will causes unwanted injury to the soft and weak child.
Due to the safety purpose, the blind must incorporate with a safety device that can stop the slats from being dropped down accidentally. The most common safety device used is a hollow stopper wherein each cord is penetrated though the stopper and tie a knot thereon. So, the stopper is tied on the cord tightly in a predetermined position such that the slide-down motion of the slats is blocked by the stopper while the stopper is moved upwardly to bias against the lift lock system.
Even though the stopper can effectively lock up the blind in position, it is a hassle for a user to loose the knot on the stopper and re-tie the knot during the folding operation. In other words, whenever the user wants to fold or unfold the blind, the user must loose the knot first and slide the stopper upwardly along the cord. Then, the user must tie the knot on the stopper at the predetermined position of the cord to re-lock the blind. Some users may have difficulty to loose the knot such that the blind cannot be folded or unfolded. Due to complicated operation of the safety device, most users trend to refuse to use the safety device and detach the stopper from the blind, or simple abandon to use the blind as well.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
A main object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable window blind cord stopper, which can lock the slats of the window blind assembly in position, so as to prevent the slats from being slid down accidentally.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable window blind cord stopper, which is facilitated for a user to selectively adjust the position of the cord stopper along the cord, wherein a user does not have to loose the knot and re-tie on the stopper during folding operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable window blind cord stopper, the locking operation is easy and simple that every individual can operate the cord stopper without any complicated pre-step of the operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable window blind cord stopper, wherein the cord stopper is capably of incorporating with any conventional window blind assembly having a cord.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable window blind cord stopper, which does not require to alter the original structural design of the window blind assembly, so as to minimize the manufacturing cost of incorporating the cord stopper with every conventional window blind assembly having a cord.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable window blind cord stopper, wherein the cord stopper will not destroy the aesthetic appearance of the window blind assembly.
Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a blind assembly equipped with at least an adjustable cord stoppers. The window blind assembly comprises a top traverse supporter, a bottom bar, a plurality of slats, a blind supporting system for suspendedly and spacedly supporting the plurality of slats horizontally between the traverse supporter and the bottom bar, and a lifting operation system for selectively lifting up the bottom bar towards the traverse supporter and unlifting the bottom bar to drop downwardly away from the traverse supporter, wherein the lifting operation system comprises a lift lock rotatably mounted on the traverse supporter and a pair of lift cords each having a first end portion affixed to the bottom bar, wherein the two lift cords parallelly and upwardly extend to penetrate through the slats and then traversely extend through traverse supporter while a second end portion of each of the lift cords is extended out of the traverse supporter via the lift lock to control the folding and unfolding of the window blind assembly.
The cord stoppers comprises a locking guider having at least a guiding through slot provided thereon, wherein the locking guider is slidably connected to the respective lift cord of the window blind assembly by tying an adjustable knot, at the guiding through slot, with the locking guider of the cord stopper. The adjustable knot is constructed to be capable of passing through the respective guiding through slot in order to move the adjustable knot between an upper position and a lower position with respect to the locking guider of the respective stop stopper.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2164206 (1939-06-01), Gits et al.
patent: 2335892 (1943-12-01), Wood
patent: 4967824 (1990-11-01), Colson et al.
patent: 5542461 (1996-08-01), Huang
patent: 6453974 (2002-09-01), Lai et al.
patent: 6571854 (2003-06-01), Palmer
Lai Eric
Lai John
Chan Raymond Y.
David and Raymond Patent Group
Johnson Blair M.
Tony Lai
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