Flexible or portable closure – partition – or panel – Hanging or drape type – With fabric operating means
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-15
2004-07-13
Johnson, Blair M. (Department: 3634)
Flexible or portable closure, partition, or panel
Hanging or drape type
With fabric operating means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06761206
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In certain curtain installations having traverse rods with internal control cords there may be a proscenium-like front surface created by a valence and drapery, or by a wall opening, in front of the curtain, thus making the external draw cord, segments for opening/closing the curtain difficult to find. Having decided that having the ends of the draw cord in front of the curtain, and visible at all times would be advantageous, I went about designing and building prototypes of a traverse curtain rod attachment to be fastened to a standard commercially available curtain rod in the space between the rod and the back face of the proscenium-like surface, providing means for accessing the internal draw cords, through slots cut into the surface of the rod, thus becoming external draw cords which would be visible from the front. Two of these have been in service in a public place for about 2 years. This invention reveals an improved embodiment which prevents the cords from falling off the attachment pulleys, and eliminates the need for precision fitting of the attachment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is for an improved embodiment of a pair of attachments, which can be fastened to a standard, commercially available traverse curtain rod having internal control cords; each attachment comprising structural members; a pair of pulleys mounted therewith and requiring one short slot to be cut into the wall of the rod. The rod may be of the type which has a single tubular section for containing the control cords and a full length slot for supporting the idler and master slides; or of the type which has a double tubular section, wherein one tubular section contains the control cords, and has a full length slot for the master slide and has a second tubular section with a full length slot for supporting the idler and master slides.
When the attachment is fastened to the traverse rod, a segment of a first pulley passes through the short slot cut in the tubular envelope of the rod section containing the control cords, and is positioned to engage a certain internal control cord, which passes over the first pulley, changing the orientation of the certain internal control cord from axial within the rod to being frontward in a plane essentially perpendicular to axis of the rod. As the internal control cord passes through the wall of the rod, its designation changes from “internal” to “external” control cord. At an appropriate location a second pulley is mounted to rotate on an axis parallel to the rod axis, the external control cord passes over the second pulley mounted on structural members so that its external control cord is hanging plumb, by virtue of having a weighted device at its end. The weighted knob, could be plain, decorative, or indicative of “OPEN” OR “CLOSE.”
The new technology in this invention permits one external draw cord to be toward the first end of the rod, and the other to be toward the second end of the rod, both of which would be within the proscenium-like space. The loops of internal control cord which normally pass over the end pulleys of the curtain rod, are rerigged to the first pulleys of the attachments and/or the master sliders, as described elsewhere in this application. Additionally, the structural members would be configured to provide more permanent assembly means, improved means to prevent the control cords from falling off the pulleys and making the location of the first pulleys with respect to the edges of the slots less critical.
REFERENCES:
patent: 559716 (1896-05-01), Kerr
patent: 1819379 (1931-08-01), Nudelman et al.
patent: 2713898 (1955-07-01), Hartmann
patent: 3341885 (1967-09-01), Johnson
patent: 3713473 (1973-01-01), Ford
patent: 4274467 (1981-06-01), Comeau
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