Miscellaneous hardware (e.g. – bushing – carpet fastener – caster – Panel hangers – travelers and/or tracks – Wheel mounts
Reexamination Certificate
2003-10-14
2004-11-23
Barrett, Suzanne Dino (Department: 3676)
Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,
Panel hangers, travelers and/or tracks
Wheel mounts
C016S091000, C016S090000, C016S09400R, C248S262000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06820306
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a side wheel assembly of curtain track, and more particularly, to a curtain track assembled without requiring metal rivets or welding. The curtain track has plastic elements with special designs, and can be assembled by apply forces in a particular direction. The invention not only has simple assembly procedures, but also can be manufactured in mass while having high precisions.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Referring to
FIG. 9
showing a prior side wheel assembly of curtain track, the wheel assembly comprises a frame
60
, and a roller assembly
70
joined by riveting means. The two parts are both formed from bending metal plates. Wherein, the frame
60
includes a main plate
61
having a relatively larger area at a center portion thereof, and a top plate
62
and a side plate
63
bent at an upper portion and an outer side portion thereof, respectively. The frame
60
is further provided with a track-protective tube
64
at an inner side thereof, wherein the track-protective tube
64
has a certain length and a breach, and is for protecting a frame-protective track
53
while also providing the frame-protective track
53
with horizontal adjustments.
The roller assembly
70
is a U-shape structure having two pivotally disposed rollers
71
and
72
, and is fastened at the main plate
61
of the frame
60
using a plurality of rivets.
In addition, a sliding channel
52
in the middle of the curtain track
53
is arranged with a plurality of hooks
80
. The curtain track
53
is inserted from an end portion of the track-protective tube
64
to become assembled with the track-protective tube
64
. The track-protective tube
64
is additionally provided with an inwardly formed fastening compelling point
65
, so as to more securely assemble the track
53
and the track-protective tube
64
. However, this prior technique has the following shortcomings:
1. The frame
60
and the wheel assembly
70
according to the prior art are made of metal materials, and are formed through a lengthy process of continuous stamping, halted feeding, bending, puncturing, continued feeding, enamel coating, and assembling using rivets. Therefore, it is apparent that the aforesaid manufacturing process is rather complicated and strenuous with higher product costs as well.
2. Rivets are used in the prior art for assembly, and integrity of parts is highly liable to damages caused by the plurality of rivets used. Hence, assembly precisions are affected during processing of the prior art, and unqualified products are easily incurred.
3. The metal plates are processed using rivets to simultaneously fix the rollers
71
an
72
, and precisions of the entire structure are hard to control. Therefore, rolling movements of the rollers
71
and
72
may become unsmooth or failures in assembling to the hooks may occur due to inappropriate processing during assembly.
4. The track
53
and the track-protective tube
64
are fixed merely by using a stamped fastening compelling point
65
. Fastening effects are rather insufficient, with the parts being easily damaged.
5. Openings of the track
53
and the sliding groove
52
are not provided with any stopping mechanism, and thus the hooks
80
are prone to slip off from an opening of the sliding groove
52
as indicated by an arrow, and further leading to jamming or damages of the rollers
71
and
72
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary object of the invention is to provide a side wheel assembly of curtain track overcoming the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art. The side wheel assembly of curtain track comprises a frame, a fastening member and other parts formed as an integral, and can be assembled using forces in particular directions, thereby providing a facilitated assembly procedure. The side wheel assembly of curtain track may be manufactured in mass while having high precisions, and thus overcomes complications of the prior art that use stamping, bending and riveting processes.
The side wheel assembly of curtain track according to the invention comprises a frame, a fastening member, a sealing member and other related elements. The frame is disposed a main plate having a top plate and a side plate at a top portion and an outer side portion thereof; and a track-protective tube having a certain length at an inner side thereof to assemble to a track with hooks. An end portion of the track is fastened by inserting into the track-protective tube at the frame.
At a bottom portion of the main plate, the frame is disposed with a bottom plate. The bottom plate and the top plate are disposed with a plurality of sets of wedge-shaped embedding members having certain distance from the main plate. Between the wedge-shaped embedding members and the main plate are embedding spaces. A fastening member extended with a plurality of protruding fastening slabs at two sides thereof is provided. The fastening member has an axial pipe at an appropriate position and stopping and fastening piece at a front end thereof; and a recess at a reversed side thereof. The recess is pivotally disposed with rollers. The fastening member is placed into an interior of the frame, and is fastened by forcing the protruding slabs into the embedding spaces in a horizontal direction. A sealing member having an axial opening at one end thereof is pivotally connected at a fixing plate via an insertion twig at the other end thereof. The sealing member has an arched section at an outer edge thereof and a stopping section at two sides thereof, respectively, so as to provide the sealing member with rotating and positioning effects.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2913212 (1959-11-01), Bell
patent: 3329384 (1967-07-01), Salzmann
patent: 3337903 (1967-08-01), Kenney
patent: 3734440 (1973-05-01), Hoare
patent: 3951195 (1976-04-01), Salzmann
patent: 4957152 (1990-09-01), Knight et al.
patent: 5791394 (1998-08-01), Huang
patent: 6138324 (2000-10-01), Lin
patent: 6357079 (2002-03-01), Hsu
patent: 6561475 (2003-05-01), Chuang
Barrett Suzanne Dino
Williams Mark
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