System for biasing sheet of material to gather in predetermined direction

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9506287-B2
Application number	US-201514611934-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 2, 2015
Priority date	Mar 23, 2010
Publication date	Nov 29, 2016
Grant date	Nov 29, 2016

Abstract

A system for biasing or encouraging a sheet of material to gather in one direction when one edge of the sheet of material is moved toward an opposite edge of the sheet of material is provided. A plurality of strips of material may extend along a face of the sheet of material and may be laminated to the face of the sheet of material. The plurality of strips of material may overlap each other and may define stiffened regions extending along the overlapped interface between the plurality of strips of material. When the covering is moved from an extended position to a retracted position, the sheet of material may gather in loops of material that may have apexes defined at or adjacent the overlapped interfaces of the plurality of strips of material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A covering for an architectural opening, comprising:
a head rail;
a bottom rail;
a support sheet of flexible material extending from the head rail to the bottom rail and configured to hang in a substantially flat, vertical plane when the covering is in a fully extended position, the support sheet having a front face and a rear face;
a plurality of overlapping strips of material extending horizontally along the rear face of the support sheet, the plurality of strips of material laminated to the rear face of the support sheet, wherein when the covering is moved from the extended position to a retracted position, the support sheet gathers in loops of material that are rearwardly-directed and have apexes defined along or adjacent the overlaps of the plurality of strips of material;
a front sheet of flexible material attached to the front face of the support sheet, wherein the front sheet forms forwardly-directed loops of material when the covering is in the extended position; and
a set of lift elements operative to raise the bottom rail toward the head rail.

2. The covering of claim 1 , wherein the front sheet is attached to the front face of the support sheet along vertically-spaced lines of attachment.

3. The covering of claim 2 , wherein the vertically-spaced lines of attachment are disposed vertically between the overlaps of the plurality of strips of material.

4. The covering of claim 3 , wherein the vertically-spaced lines of attachment are positioned equidistant between the overlaps of the plurality of strips of material.

5. The covering of claim 1 , wherein the loops of material of the front sheet comprise horizontally-extending, vertically-spaced loops of material.

6. The covering of claim 2 , wherein the set of lift elements extend from the head rail to the bottom rail and are disposed between the support sheet and the front sheet.

7. The covering of claim 6 , wherein the vertically-spaced lines of attachment are intermittent along their length to define vertically-aligned gaps through which the set of lift elements slidably pass.

8. The covering of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of strips of material are light blocking.

9. A method of assembling a covering for an architectural opening, the method comprising:
attaching a plurality of strips of material to a rear face of a substantially flat, planar support sheet along a first set of lines of attachment disposed at vertically-spaced intervals;
attaching a front sheet of material to a front face of the support sheet along a second set of lines of attachment disposed at vertically-spaced intervals, wherein the second set of lines of attachment are vertically offset from the first set of lines of attachment, and wherein the front sheet forms forwardly-directed loops of material when the covering is in a fully-extended position;
raising a lower edge of the support sheet via a lift element; and
stacking the support sheet in rearwardly-directed loops of material folded along the first set of lines of attachment as the lower edge is raised.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising attaching an upper edge of each strip of material of the plurality of strips of material to the support sheet with the first set of lines of attachment.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising overlapping a lower edge of each strip of material of the plurality of strips of material with an upper edge of an immediately subjacent strip of material of the plurality of strips of material.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising attaching the lower edge of each strip of material of the plurality of strips of material to the upper edge of the immediately subjacent strip of material of the plurality of strips of material.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein attaching the lower edge to the upper edge comprises attaching the lower edge to the upper edge with an adhesive bead aligned with the first set of lines of attachment.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising stacking the forwardly-directed loops of material of the front sheet as the lower edge is raised.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising positioning the lift element in a gap defined by the second set of lines of attachment between the support sheet and the front sheet.

16. The covering of claim 1 , wherein the loops of material of the support sheet define a vertical column of horizontally-extending cells when the covering is in the retracted position.

17. The covering of claim 2 , wherein the vertically-spaced lines of attachment alternate with the overlaps of the plurality of strips of material.

18. The method of claim 9 , further comprising forming the support sheet into a vertical column of horizontally-extending cells when stacking the support sheet.

19. The method of claim 9 , wherein the second set of lines of attachment alternate with the first set of lines of attachment.

Assignees

• Hunter Douglas

Inventors

• Giest Jeff S
• Moss Gary E
• Rhodes Galen B
• Smith Kent A
• Wilson Brian C

Classifications

• E06B2009/2429

  One vertical sheet and slats · CPC title

• E06B2009/2625

  Pleated screens, e.g. concertina- or accordion-like · CPC title

• E06B2009/2622

  Gathered vertically; Roman, Austrian or festoon blinds · CPC title

• E06B9/386

  Details of lamellae · CPC title

• E06B9/262 Primary

  with flexibly-interconnected horizontal or vertical strips; Concertina blinds {, i.e. upwardly folding flexible screens} · CPC title