Flexible or portable closure – partition – or panel – Hanging or drape type – With fabric operating means
Patent
1986-12-30
1989-05-23
Safavi, Michael
Flexible or portable closure, partition, or panel
Hanging or drape type
With fabric operating means
52 63, A47H 506, E04H 1518
Patent
active
048321044
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a device for covering or uncovering a surface, and in particular a large surface, by means of a cover.
To cover large, flat surfaces such as a tennis court, an appropriate cover or tarpaulin is spread by hand on the surface. In general, this operation is done by hand. And because of the large size of the surface and of the weight of the cover, it remains a delicate operation.
For curved surfaces, systems have been proposed which call on the use of cable and pulley systems connected with motors in order to move the cover forward or backward (see for example FR-A-2 398 155). But due to differential displacements between each end of the cover, this system has the regrettable tendency to jam after several movements. Consequently , these systems have not advanced very much so far.
When the cover is rigid, such as for example in the case of a blind, there is also a limitation widthwise.
The invention overcomes these disadvantages. Its object is a device for covering or uncovering a surface, in particular a large surface, by means of a soft or rigid cover, which is easy to produce and ensures a perfect covering over the surface to be covered.
This device for covering or uncovering a surface by means of a cover, is characterized in that it comprises :
at least one fixed rigid supporting rod disposed close to the surface to be covered;
a driving member;
a helical screw, co-axial to said supporting rod, and of which one end is connected to the driving member, so as to be rotatable about said rod;
a rigid pin, fixed to the cover to be spread out (or folded in) and fixed between the supporting rod and the co-axial helical screw, and designed to slide along said screw.
In other words, the invention resides in the combination of a rotary helical screw, co-axial to a fixed supporting rod, covering the surface to be covered, with a rigid pin, joined to the covering sliding along said screw and which is driven in rotation about said supporting rod by means of a driving member. Thus, a perfect sliding of the sleeve is ensured, the sleeve to which is fastened the cover along the screw which latter is supported by the supporting rod placed close to the surface to be covered.
Advantageously, in practice :
the assembly comprises a plurality of parallel supporting rods which are flat if the surface to be covered is flat and which are curved if said surface is curved;
the characteristic rigid pin is mounted in a sleeve co-axial to said helical screw and is disposed according to a chord in a cross-section of said sleeve;
the helical pitch of the screw is between 0.1 and ten times the external diameter of said screw, and the diameter of the torus constituting said screw, made for example from steel, is between 0.05 and 0.5 times that of the external diameter of said screw;
the pitch of the helical screw may be regular or progressive;
according to a first simplified embodiment, the driving member is constituted by a mechanical assembly comprising a crank and bevel gears and an output shaft on which is fixed the end of the helical screw; thus, in the manner of an unfolding blind, by turning the crank, the end of the helical screw is driven in rotation, and as a result, the sleeve moves along said screw, hence along the supporting rod, moving at the same time the end of the cover;
according to an automatizable embodiment, the driving member is constituted by a geared motor, on the output shaft to which is fixed the end of the helical screw;
advantageously, the output shaft of the driving member is fast with a union piece disposed co-axially to the inside of the screw and in which is inserted the end of said screw, said union piece comprising a central bore in which rests the end of the supporting rod idly mounted in said union piece;
the cover is constituted by a single piece,two top ends of which, are each secured to co-axial sleeves sliding on parallel helical screws spaced apart of the length of that side;
the cover is made up of two supple pieces disposed at each one of the ends of the supporting rod, the
REFERENCES:
patent: 2616499 (1952-11-01), Eckles
patent: 3208507 (1965-09-01), Breen
patent: 4280306 (1981-07-01), Milinic
Mechanisms, Linkages and Mechanical Controls, Nicholas P. Chironis, McGraw-Hill Book Co., A Publication-1965.
De Labarthe Benoit
Prudhomme Pierre
Verret Roland
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