US20060162877A1

US20060162877A1 - Automatic remote-controlled curtain

Info

Publication number: US20060162877A1
Application number: US11/039,792
Authority: US
Inventors: Jame-San Chou
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-01-24
Filing date: 2005-01-24
Publication date: 2006-07-27

Abstract

An automatic remote-controlled curtain including an actuating device and a control device that controls the actuating device, and which is characterized in that: two ends of an already existent pull cord of a curtain are respectively joined to a gear pull cord of the actuating device with clasps, and the gear pull cord is fitted on a transmission gear of one end of an electric motor. The control device is connected to another end of the electric motor, and control members, including an automatic positioning control member, a temperature control member and a brightness control member are configured within the control device. An external remote control controls a receiver that is further configured on the control device. The aforesaid configuration provides motor-driven remote control, temperature control and light control to an already existent curtain having a sliding mechanism, thereby achieving accurate positioning of curtains and reducing reinstallation costs.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved structure for an automatic remote-controlled curtain, and more particularly to a structure that can be connected to a manually pulled sideward or vertical curtain structure, thereby achieving objective of automatic or electric remote-control opening and closing of a curtain.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
According to a common saying: “The window is the soul of the house, the curtain is the spirit of the window.” Allowing for natural lighting is one function of the window. However, heat carried by sunlight directly shining into the home is often unbearable to persons, thus, curtains fitted to the windows enable blocking or adjusting direct irradiation from rays of light. Furthermore, a set of appropriately fitted curtains can not only block sunlight from entering the home, moreover, when necessary, the curtains can also provide privacy to a person. In addition, if a person desires to achieve better heat retention or soundproofing effectiveness of a room, thick or lined curtains can effectively maintain the temperature of the room and absorb noise. Curtains not only provide a practical function, but can also be regarded as an embellishment to the home, particularly when matched with decorative material used for covering sofas and cushions, thereby better setting off consistency in the style of the home. Conventional curtain types include sideward pull curtains, vertical window blinds, vertical rolling blinds and horizontal window blinds. Wherein area needed for the sideward opening pull curtain is relatively large, and material, design and color, and manufactured styles come in a multitude of variations. Therefore, curtains can not only achieve objective of reducing temperature of the room, moreover, they can embellish the living space of a room, in addition to having functionality and eye appeal. The majority of conventional sideward pull curtains are manually operated, and, in order to enhance convenience of use, electric remote-controlled sideward opening and closing pull curtains have appeared on the market, as depicted in FIG. 1, wherein pulleys a2 are respectively mounted on two ends of a curtain track a1 of an already existent curtain a. Moreover, a pull cord a3 is fitted on the pulleys a2. An elastic device a4 is affixed to the pulley a2 of one end of the curtain track a1, which enables the pull cord a3 to maintain a tight state when in use. The pulley a2 of the other end of the curtain track a1 is connected to a transmission shaft of an electric motor a5, and a control device a6 controls forward and reverse rotation of the electric motor a5, thereby achieving functionality that realizes sideward opening and closing of curtains a7. However, when in use, such a configuration is generally unable to achieve accurate positioning of the curtains a7, and may result in damage to structural assembly of the electric remote control device. Moreover, when installing, the complete curtain track a1 assembly is necessarily replaced, causing great inconvenience. Therefore have the necessity to take into the improvement. Hence, there is a need for improvement in prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In light of the aforementioned shortcomings of a conventional configuration, the inventor of the present invention, having accumulated years of experience in related arts, attentively and circumspectly carried out extensive study and exploration to ultimately design a completely new structure for an automatic remote-controlled curtain.
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide an automatic remote control device that can be installed within a slide groove of an already existent curtain, thereby providing convenience of use and installation, and substantially reducing cost of installation. Moreover, the remote control device provides an accurate positioning method that facilitates operating the curtain.
A second objective of the present invention is to provide the automatic remote device that automatically regulates degree of opening and closing of the curtains in response to temperature and light brightness, thereby increasing functionality of the already existent curtain.
In order to achieve the aforementioned objectives, the automatic remote-controlled curtain of the present invention is primarily structured to comprise an actuating device and a control device that controls the actuating device. The actuating device comprises an electric motor and a gear pull cord, and the control device comprises control members, including an automatic positioning control member, a temperature control member and a brightness control member. An external remote control controls a receiver that is further configured on the control device. Two ends of an already existent pull cord of the curtain are respectively joined to the gear pull cord within the actuating device with clasps, and the gear pull cord is fitted on a transmission gear of one end of the electric motor of the actuating device, thereby providing a one-speed gear mechanism between the transmission gear and the electric motor, and which is used to regulate the rotating speed of the electric motor. The control device is configured to another end of the electric motor, and the automatic positioning control member is used to fix positioning of the curtains.
According to the aforementioned configuration, the present invention can be installed on terminal ends of the pull cord of the already existent and installed curtain, thereby providing a shortcut to upgrading the traditional curtain not having a remote control function, and enabling extremely simple installation. The gear pull cord within the automatic remote control device is simply joined to the already existent pull cord with the clasps, and travel distance appropriately adjusted, thereby realizing simple and convenient installation, and savings in installation cost.
The present invention uses the automatic positioning control member, and a travel detector that detects distance traveled by each turn of the electric motor. Positioning principle is realized by the travel detector detecting two signals on each turn of the electric motor, and the two signals are used as a count base. The electric motor turns 2000 to 2400 times per minute, reduction rate of the decelerator mechanism is 60, and external diameter of the transmission gear is 1 cm. Assuming distance to travel in one minute is one meter, then the transmission gear needs to rotate 100 times, and, the electric motor thus rotates 100 multiplied by 60 times, that is, 6000 times, and the travel detector receives 12000 signals. Therefore, each time a signal is received, the curtain travels a distance equal to 1000 mm divided by 12000 signals, that is, a distance of 0.083 mm. In other words, after the user has first set the maximum distance the curtains can travel by completely opening and completely closing the curtains, then the corresponding count value at any position during course of opening or closing the curtains can be calculated, and the preset count values can be stored in the control device, thereby achieving objective of accurate positioning of the remote-controlled curtains at any preset positions. Moreover, the present invention can function in conjunction with the temperature control member and the brightness control member receiving signals, wherewith automatic adjusting of degree of opening or closing of the curtains can be realized, thereby providing the already existent curtain with increased functionality.
To enable a further understanding of said objectives and the technological methods of the invention herein, brief description of the drawings is provided below followed by detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an elevational view of a conventional curtain.
FIG. 2 shows a structural elevational view according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 shows an exploded schematic view of a clasp and an already existent pull cord and a gear pull cord according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of the curtain pull cord connected to an electric motor according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows an assembled schematic view of the electric motor and a control device according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 shows a control flow chart according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 2, which shows an automatic remote-controlled curtain of the present invention primarily comprising an actuating device 10 directly joined to an already existent curtain 2, and a control device 20, which controls actuation of the actuating device 10, connected to one side of the actuating device 10. Wherein:
the actuating device 10, as depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4, comprises an electric motor 11 and a gear pull cord 12, two ends of which are respectively connected to two ends of a pull cord 2 a of the already existent curtain 2 by means of clasps 13. Each of the clasps 13 comprise a top cover 13 a and a bottom cover 13 b, and indentations 13 a 1, 13 b 1 are defined in interiors of the top cover 13 a and the bottom cover 13 b respectively, which provide for fixing the already existent curtain pull cords 2 a and the gear pull cord 12 therein. Moreover, a plurality of equidistant protruding teeth 12 a are provided on the gear pull cord 12. The electric motor 11 is a direct current motor, forward and reverse rotation of which can be rapidly actualized. Furthermore, a power transducer 11 a is connected to a rear end of the direct current motor 11, and the power transducer 11 a is plugged directly into a power supply with a plug 11 a 1. A decelerator mechanism 11 b is disposed on a front end of the electric motor 11, and used to regulate the rotating speed of the electric motor 11. Interior of the decelerator mechanism 11 b is structured to comprise a plurality of decelerating gears 11 b 1, and a transmission gear 11 b 2 further outwardly extends from the decelerator mechanism 11 b;
the control device 20 comprises an automatic positioning control member 21, a temperature control member 22 and a brightness control member 23. An external remote control 25 controls a receiver 24 that is further configured in the control device 20. The remote control 25 is an infrared transmitter or a radio frequency transmitter. The corresponding receiver 24 is an infrared receiver or a radio frequency receiver. Moreover, an LED (light-emitting diode) display device 24 a is installed in the receiver 24, and used to indicate reception or not of signals. The automatic positioning control member 21 is configured to the rear end of the electric motor 11. Referring to FIG. 5, the automatic positioning control member 21 comprises a microcomputer control device 21 a, a travel detector 21 b and a sensor 21 c. The temperature control member 22 and the brightness control member 23 are connected to the electric motor 11, thereby enabling the present invention to regulate degree of opening and closing of the curtain in response to temperature and light brightness. An automatic recognition member 26 is further configured within the control device 20. When a plurality of remote-controlled curtains are fitted, the same remote control 25 can be used to control the curtains without causing mutual interference of the signals, which would otherwise result in simultaneous, opening or closing of the plurality of curtains. The user needs only to set the remote control before use or the automatic recognition member 26 can effectuate automatic setting, thereby preventing interference when two family members are simultaneously operating the remote-controlled curtains.
According to the aforementioned structure, two ends of the already existent pull cord 2 a of the curtain 2 are respectively joined to the gear pull cord 12 of the actuating device 10 with the clasps 13, and the gear pull cord 12 is then directly fitted on the transmission gear 11 b 2 of one end of the electric motor 11 of the actuating device 10. Referring to FIG. 6, which shows a control flow chart of the present invention that utilizes an external remote control or uses temperature and light brightness control members to automatically control positioning of the curtains.
In conclusion, the automatic remote-controlled curtain of the present invention can be directly installed on an already existent curtain structure, thereby providing convenience of installation and use, and substantially reducing cost of installation. Moreover, the present invention provides a positioning method that facilitates operation of the curtains. Furthermore, the present invention also includes additional temperature and brightness automatic control members, which automatically adjust degree of opening and closing of the curtains in response to the temperature and light brightness, thereby increasing functionality of the already existent curtain. Practicability and advancement of the present invention clearly comply with essential elements as required for a new patent application. Accordingly, a new patent application is proposed herein.
It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. An automatic remote-controlled curtain comprising an actuating device and a control device that controls the actuating device, and characterized in that: two ends of an already existent pull cord of a curtain are respectively joined to a gear pull cord of the actuating device with clasps, and the gear pull cord is fitted on a transmission gear of one end of an electric motor; the control device is configured to another end of the electric motor, control members, including an automatic positioning control member, a temperature control member and a brightness control member are configured within the control device, and an external remote control controls a receiver that is further configured on the control device.

2. The automatic remote-controlled curtain as described in claim 1, wherein each of the clasps comprise a top cover and a bottom cover, and indentations are respectively defined in interiors of the top cover and the bottom cover, which provide for fixing the already existent curtain pull cords and the gear pull cord therein.

3. The automatic remote-controlled curtain as described in claim 1, wherein a plurality of equidistant protruding teeth are provided on the gear pull cord.

4. The automatic remote-controlled curtain as described in claim 1, wherein the electric motor is a direct current motor, a power transducer is connected to a rear end of the direct current motor, and the power transducer is plugged directly into a power supply with a plug, moreover, a decelerator mechanism is configured on a front end of the electric motor.

5. The automatic remote-controlled curtain as described in claim 4, wherein the decelerator mechanism is structured to comprise a plurality of decelerating gears, and a transmission gear further outwardly extends from the decelerator mechanism.

6. The automatic remote-controlled curtain as described in claim 1, wherein the external remote control is an infrared transmitter, and the corresponding receiver is an infrared receiver, moreover, an LED (light-emitting diode) display device is installed in the receiver.

7. The automatic remote-controlled curtain as described in claim 1, wherein the external remote control is a radio frequency transmitter, and the corresponding receiver is a radio frequency receiver, moreover, the LED (light-emitting diode) display device is installed in the receiver.

8. The automatic remote-controlled curtain as described in claim 1, wherein the automatic positioning control member is configured to the rear end of the electric motor, and comprises a microcomputer control device, a travel detector and a sensor.

9. The automatic remote-controlled curtain as described in claim 1, wherein an automatic recognition member is configured within the control device.