Movable or removable closures – Closures interconnected for concurrent movement – Louver-type closures
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-22
2003-01-28
Purol, David M. (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
Closures interconnected for concurrent movement
Louver-type closures
Reexamination Certificate
active
06510655
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns a device able to selectively move jalousies or blinds in a wing for doors or windows, able to allow more or less light to pass.
The device according to the invention comprises at least a rod connected to each of the blinds by means of a relative articulated connection element.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is known that jalousies or blinds in the wings of doors or windows are pinned oscillating to a frame and can be selectively positioned in a first, substantially closed position, wherein they prevent the light from passing, or in a second, substantially open position, wherein they allow maximum light to pass.
This movement is usually performed by a rod arranged perpendicular to the blinds and connected to each of them by means of a little U-shaped hook attached to a relative blind.
In conventional embodiments, the movement rod comprises a rectilinear notch on the inner side along its whole length, able to house a metal blade which protrudes slightly from the surface of the rod. The blade has a series of holes with a constant pitch, and there are as many holes as there are blinds to be moved; the holes are aligned along the movement rod and able to house the curved segment of the little U-shaped hooks.
At their two opposite ends, the little hooks are partly threaded into a lateral side of the blinds to be moved so as to form a closed eyelet.
This conventional solution provides that, to move the blinds from a substantially closed position to a substantially open position, the movement rod is pulled or pushed, according to how the blinds are disposed; by means of the coupling between the holes and the little hooks, the movement rod simultaneously moves the blinds.
This conventional solution has some disadvantages, however, such as for example: the movement rod is not perfectly attached to the blinds and therefore it allows the rod to oscillate and consequently the tip of the rod may knock against something and get blocked.
Another disadvantage is that the little U-shaped hooks are inserted with a compressed-air pistol, and therefore they are rarely in the exact position for use, which causes malfunctioning and imperfections.
A further disadvantage concerns the imperfect closing of the blinds due to the excessive play between the movement rod and the little hooks; even in the closed position, this causes light to pass through the wing. Another disadvantage is that this system does not allow to close the blinds in a stable intermediate position between the open and closed positions.
A further disadvantage is that if metal elements holed with a constant pitch are used, they expand because of the heat, which over time leads to an imperfect closure, particularly of the last, lowest blinds in the wing.
The present Applicant has designed and embodied this invention to overcome these shortcomings of the state of the art, and to obtain further advantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is set forth and characterized in the main claim, while the dependent claims describe other innovative characteristics of the invention.
The purpose of the invention is to achieve a device able to permit a plurality of selective screening elements, or blinds, in a wing for doors or windows, to move from a substantially open position to a substantially closed position, or in any intermediate position between these two limit positions, by means of articulated connection elements able to constrain a movement rod to each of said blinds. To be more exact, the purpose of the invention is to achieve a device able to maintain the rod stable and solid with its articulation points and with the blinds to be directed, in such a manner that there are no malfunctions or blockages in the movement.
Another purpose of the invention is to use elements which allow a simple, precise and fast assembly, which does not require accessory elements or assembly tools, thus limiting production, assembly and maintenance costs.
Another purpose of the invention is to allow to move blinds or jalousies also arranged with a variable pitch on the relative wing.
In the preferential embodiment, the device is applied to wings which have elements, frame, blinds and movement rod, which are all made of wood. This ensures a constant long-term functioning, because the thermal expansion coefficients of all the elements of the wing are the same, particularly those of the movement rod and the blinds.
The device according to the invention consists of a movement rod associated with a plurality of blinds or jalousies, mounted on the inner frame of a wing by means of a corresponding plurality of connection elements, or hinges, located between the blinds and the rod.
The movement rod is able to connect and move the blinds in parallel and simultaneously so that they can be selectively oriented to graduate the passage of light, or air, through the wing on which the device is mounted.
According to the invention, the connection element substantially consists of a rotary element able to be anchored on a relative blind, an intermediate element and an anchorage element able to attach itself to the movement rod. The elements are all made advantageously of plastic material.
The rotary element is substantially T-shaped and comprises a pin element on the surface of which, according to a variant, there are anchorage means, for example a knurling, an expansion notch, or other conventional means. The pin element of every connection element is able to be inserted and clamped through interference in a mating hole made in the relative blind. The pin element is constrained to the intermediate element by a pivot, orthogonal thereto, which allows it to rotate.
The intermediate element has a housing seating shaped so as to allow the rotary element to move through an angle of more than 180°. There are also two holes on the intermediate element, in which the pivot of the rotary element is hinged, with an extremely small tolerance so as to be able to stop the rotation of the rotary element in any position and to allow the static positioning of the blinds in any intermediate position between the open and closed positions.
The anchorage element is located behind the intermediate element with respect to which, in a preferential embodiment, it remains mis-aligned by some millimetres. This misalignment allows the movement rod to have as little contact with the frame as possible, when the device according to the invention is in the closed position. The anchorage element has lock-in means able to be inserted and clamped through interference in a relative seating made on one side of the movement rod. The lock-in means, in a preferential embodiment, consist of a thread comprising fins directed towards the bottom of the seating so that, after being inserted under pressure, they contrast the extraction and removal of the anchorage element from the rod.
By acting on the rod connected with the blinds by means of the connection elements, it is possible to selectively close the passage of light through the wing. In fact, by exerting a slight traction substantially downwards, the articulated connection elements act on the blinds and vary their orientation. This occurs with the rod quite solid with the blinds, since the small tolerance between the pivot and the holes of the head element, the possible means to attach the pin and the lock-in means of the anchorage element keep the rod and the blinds quite solid with each other, preventing them from oscillating or the tips from knocking and hence blocking any movement.
Moreover, the small tolerance allows the blinds to be positioned statically in any intermediate position between the open and closed positions.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2577072 (1951-12-01), Cotner
patent: 3287852 (1966-11-01), Belden
patent: 5187896 (1993-02-01), Ross
patent: 5303507 (1994-04-01), Oille
patent: 5548925 (1996-08-01), Marocco
patent: 6041547 (2000-03-01), Marocco
patent: 6125581 (2000-10-01), Grossman
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, L.L.C.
Purol David M.
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