Covering for an architectural opening having nested tubes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9702187-B2
Application number	US-201615008914-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 28, 2016
Priority date	Feb 13, 2015
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

A covering for an architectural covering is provided. The covering may include a rotatable outer tube, a rotatable inner tube, a shade attached to the outer tube, and an operating element secured to the inner tube. The outer tube may define an elongated slot extending along a length of the outer tube and opening to an interior of the outer tube. The inner tube may be received within the outer tube. The shade may be retractable to and extendable from the outer tube. The operating element may extend through the elongated slot and may be retractable onto and extendable from the inner tube. The inner tube may rotate relative the outer tube to open and close the shade once the support sheet is in a fully extended position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A covering for an architectural opening, comprising:
a rotatable outer tube defining an elongated slot extending along a length of said outer tube;
an inner tube rotatably received within said outer tube;
a shade attached to said outer tube, said shade retractable to and extendable from said outer tube, said shade including a support sheet and at least one strip of material, said at least one strip of material including a first edge portion and a second edge portion, said first edge portion attached to said support sheet, and said second edge portion movable relative to said first edge portion and said support sheet; and
at least one operating element attached to said inner tube, said at least one operating element extending through said slot and operably attached to said second edge portion of one or more of said at least one strip of material; wherein:
rotation of said inner tube relative to said outer tube causes said second edge portion of said one or more of said at least one strip of material to move relative to said first edge portion of said one or more of said at least one strip of material.

2. The covering of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first engagement feature extending outwardly from said inner tube; and
a second engagement feature extending inwardly from said outer tube into a rotational path of said first engagement feature such that said first and second engagement features engage one another within one revolution of said inner tube relative to said outer tube.

3. The covering of claim 1 , wherein said at least one operating element extends along a face of said support sheet and is positioned at least partially between said support sheet and said at least one strip of material.

4. The covering of claim 1 , further comprising one or more collars positioned at least partially radially between said outer and inner tubes.

5. The covering of claim 4 , wherein:
said outer tube comprises a first shell and a second shell; and
said one or more collars are engaged with said first and second shells to lock said first and second shells together.

6. The covering of claim 1 , further comprising a locking element operably associated with said outer tube to selectively restrict rotation of said outer tube.

7. The covering of claim 6 , wherein said locking element is axially displaceable between a first position where said locking element allows unrestricted rotation of said outer tube and a second position where said locking element restricts rotation of said outer tube.

8. The covering of claim 1 , further comprising a lift assist engaged with said outer tube to bias said outer tube in a shade retraction direction.

9. The covering of claim 8 , wherein said lift assist is not engaged with said inner tube.

10. A method of operating a covering for an architectural opening, comprising:
rotating an outer tube to unwrap a shade from an outer periphery of the outer tube, the shade including a support sheet and a plurality of strips of material, the plurality of strips of material having opposing longitudinal edge portions, a first edge portion of the opposing longitudinal edge portions attached to the support sheet and a second edge portion of the opposing longitudinal edge portions movable relative to the first edge portion and to the support sheet; and
upon the shade reaching an extended position, rotating an inner tube positioned within the outer tube relative to the outer tube to move the second edge portion relative to the first edge portion.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising wrapping a portion of an operating element about the inner tube during rotation of the inner tube relative to the outer tube.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising retracting the operating element through an elongated slot formed in the outer tube during rotation of the inner tube relative to the outer tube.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein rotating the outer tube comprises rotating the outer tube in a first rotational direction, and wherein rotating the inner tube comprises rotating the inner tube in the first rotational direction.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising rotating the inner tube in the first rotational direction relative to the outer tube to wrap the portion of the operating element around the inner tube.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising rotating the inner tube in a second rotational direction opposite the first rotational direction to unwrap the portion of the operating element from the inner tube and subsequently drivingly rotate the outer tube in the second rotational direction and wrap the shade and the operating element around the outer tube.

16. The method of claim 10 , further comprising biasing the outer tube in a retraction direction while not biasing the inner tube in the retraction direction.

17. A covering for an architectural opening, comprising:
a rotatable outer tube defining an elongated slot;
a shade attached to said outer tube;
a rotatable inner tube received within said outer tube;
an operating element attached to and wrappable around said inner tube, said operating element extendable and retractable through said slot to move said shade between open and closed positions upon movement of said inner tube relative to said outer tube;
a first engagement feature extending outwardly from said inner tube; and
a second engagement feature extending inwardly from said outer tube into a rotational path of said first engagement feature so that said first and second engagement features engage one another within one revolution of one of said inner tube or said outer tube relative to the other of said outer tube or said inner tube.

18. The covering of claim 17 , wherein said first engagement feature comprises one or more drive stubs positioned within an external groove extending along a length of said inner tube.

19. The covering of claim 17 , wherein said second engagement feature is received at least partially within a channel defined along a length of said outer tube.

20. A covering for an architectural opening, comprising:
a rotatable outer tube;
a rotatable inner tube received within said outer tube; and
at least one collar positioned at least partially radially between said outer tube and said inner tube, said at least one collar fixed against an inner surface of said outer tube and movable relative to said inner tube.

21. The covering of claim 20 , wherein:
said outer tube comprises a first shell and a second shell; and
said at least one collar is engaged with said first and second shells to lock said first and second shells together.

22. The covering of claim 21 , wherein:
said first and second shells are engaged along longitudinal axes to form said outer tube; and
a longitudinal slot is defined between said first and second shells.

23. The covering of claim 22 , further comprising:
a shade attached to said outer tube; and
an operating element attached to said inner tube and extending through said slot.

24. A covering for an architectural opening, comprising:
a rotatable outer tube defining an elongated slot extending along a length of said outer tube;
a shade attached to said outer tube;
a rotatable inner tube received within said outer tube; and
a locking element received at least partially within said inner tube and operably associated with said outer tube to selectively restrict rotation of said outer tube, wherein said

Assignees

• Hunter Douglas

Inventors

• Holt Ronald
• Long Marcus
• Wisecup Stephen T

Classifications

• E06B9/34 Primary

  roller-type; {Roller shutters with adjustable lamellae} · CPC title

• E06B2009/2423

  Combinations of at least two screens · CPC title

• E06B9/44 Primary

  Rollers therefor; Fastening roller blinds to rollers · CPC title

• E06B9/262 Primary

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

• E06B2009/405

  Two rollers · CPC title