US2031981A - Tape ladder for venetian blinds - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 25, 1936. 3 Q RUNGE TAPE LADDER FOR VENETIAN BLINDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 22, 1935 II I nil-In nnnn umwhwu Feb. '25,. 1936. G. C. RUNGE TAPE LADDER FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Filed June 22, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fizz/6%?- 6 60196 Cfiuzge,

Patente Feb. 25, 1936 Ares PATENT OFFICE George 0. Range, Chicago, 111., assignor to E. L. Mansur Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application June 22, 1935, Serial No. 27,884

5 Claims.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved ladder tape for use in the construction of Venetian blinds. This new ladder tapeas compared to the socalled English ladder tape which has been used 'almost without exception in all Venetian blinds made-during the past forty or fifty years-presents a much finer appearance, is capable of receiving a woven-in design on its face band, will fold into uniform pleats without irregular buckling or creeping when the slats are raised, is considerably less expensive to produce, requires no cutting to complete its manufacture, contains no loose ends, and can be used to hold the slats down as well as support them, if desired.

The English type tape, which is still made substantially in accordance with the disclosure in British Patent No.-4972 of 1888, contains staggered cross webs which are woven at the same time as the face and rear band s. Because of its construction, the-weaving of an ornamental design into the bands is impractical, and where ornamentation has been insisted on the same has been obtained by the expensive and none too satisfactory expedient of tacking separately woven bands to the face bands in such a way as to conceal the latter. Furthermore, the cutting operation required in order to open up the English tape after it has been woven is not only expensive but is likely to leave either frayed ends or else incisions in the face bands unless the cutting is done slowly and with great care. Moreover, the staggered arrangement of the cross webs, combined with the absence of any transverse stiffening or reinforcing means has the tendency sometimes not only of causing the bands to buckle and pleat irregularly in folding but also of producing a creeping effect toward one side or the is lowered.

The new ladder tape can be made on a simple three-shuttle loom, with two of the shuttles carrying the fillers and the third carrying the material for the cross members, which material is preferably in the form of a round braided cord, although it may be in some other form. While the tape is being woven, an ornamental design may be simultaneously worked into the face band. The cord, which has considerable strength and body, is carried back and forth to form supports for the slats adjacent both sides of the bands, and intermediate the levels for the slats the cords are woven into the rear band transversely of the tions of the cord between these transverse reinforcing ribs being specially arranged in small free loops which in no way interfere with the even folding insured by the presence of the rung-like stiffening ribs but on the other hand add appreciably to the appearance of the tape as a whole and require no cutting,

Shortly after the English type tape has developed, an attempt was made to devise a tape with double strings for supporting the slats, as evidenced by the showing in Austrian Patent No. 416 of 1899, but the tape of that patent, like the English tape, contemplated the cutting away of material which if left would be not only unsightly but in the way, and while it could be produced on a three-shuttle loom its structure was impractical and it never succeeded in making any impression in the practical evelopment of the art.

While the foregoing statements are indicative in a general way of the nature of the present invention, other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a full understanding of the construction of the improved tape and the method employed in its mane ufacture.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is presented herein for the purpose of exemplification, together with a few illustrative modifications, but it will of course be appreciated that the invention is susceptible of embodiment in still other structurally modified forms coming equally within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figs. 1 and 2 are, respectively, fragmentary front and rear perspective views of the new ladder tape, showing a few slats in position in the tape;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an ordinary three-shuttle-loom, showing the way in which the tape is woven in a flattened out position;

Fig. 4 is another fragmentary front perspective view of the tape illustrated in Figs. Land 2, showing the way in which the connecting portions of the cord can be used to hold the slats down as well as support them;

Fig. 5 is a similar view of a modified form of the tape, showing the supporting portion: of the cord crossed;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary rear perspective view of the tape illustrated in Fig. 5, in this case showing the way in which the crossed cord formation can be used to hold the slats down as well as support them; and

Figs. '7 and 8 are, respectively, fragmentary front and rear perspective views of another modified form of the tape in which the cord material for the slat-supporting members is also used as the filler for the rear band, permitting the tape to be woven on a two-shuttle loom.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be observed that the improved tape includes a face band Ill and a rear band H. These bands are connected together at regular intervals by a continuous braided cord l2. The two bands are woven at the time that the cord is applied, and the latter is woven into the bands at certain transverse lines of connection.

, The ladder tape may be woven on an ordinary three-shuttle loom of the type shown fragmentarily in Fig. 3, the shuttles l3 and I4 being used to carry the filler threads l5 and I6, and the shuttle ll being used for the cord I2. The tape is woven with the bands In and II arranged .in the same plane, in flat parallel outspread relation, with the free cross-connecting portions l9 and 20 of the cord l2 controlled as to length by the spacing of the bands as determined by the arrangement of the two sets of warp threads 2| in the reed 22.

At regular intervals durlng the weaving of the band In and H the cord I! on the shuttle H is passed through the shedof the warp threads of the band ll, causing the cord to be woven transversely into that band from point a. to point b. From point b the cord is then transferred free of the warp threads of the band II to the band III at c, where it is passed through the shed of the warp threads of the band Ill and woven into that band from c to d. From 12 the cord is passed clear of the sheds of the warp threads of both bands back to the band H at e, which point is the same as a. The free sections from b to c and from d to e constitute the slat-supporting portions I9 and 20 ofthe cord. From e the cord is woven into the band ll alongside the already woven-in section a-b to j, which point is the same as b. Then from f the cord leaves the rear surface of the band I l in a small loop 23 and enters the band ll again at 9, where it is woven into the band crosswise of the latter from g to .h. Then from h the cord leaves the band I I again in a small loop 24 and enters it at i, being woven in again from i to 71- Then after another loop it is woven in again from k to Z. From 1 the cord is carried in still another loop to the next starting point a, which point corresponds to the first described point a at the next slat level, where the process is repeated. y

In this way, the cord I2 is securely woven into the bands 10 and II, with two spaced parallel portions I9 and 20 of the cord arranged at each slat level, and with a plurality of transverse stiff-- ening ribs 25 built into the rear band not only at the separated levels of the portions 19 and 20 but at several equally spaced intermediate locations. As a result of this construction, the weight of the slats 26 will exert an equal pull on both sides of theband at the same time, and the stiffening ribs in the rear band. l (which is the band ordinarily more exposed to the elements) will prevent that band from curling or otherwise getting out of shape and yet will allow it to fold not only just as easily but even more uniformly. The lifting cord 21 for the blind passes between the slat-supporting portions l9 and 20 of the cord through transversely elongated slots in the slats, as is usual in Venetian blind structures.

The ladder tape which is shown in Fig. 4 is the same as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but the arrangement of the slats with respect to the supporting members l9 and 20 is different. As will be observed, the slat is placed on top of the cord portion l9 under the cord portion 20, with the result that the slat is held down as well as supported by the cord portions.

In the modification which is shown in Fig. 5,

the slat-Supporting cord portions 29 and 30 arecrossed at the location of each slat. In all other respects the tape shown in this view is the same as the previously described tape. In Fig. 6 the tape which was illustrated in Fig. is again shown but in this view the slat is placed on top of the cord portion 29 and beneath the cord portion 30.

In the modification which is shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the ladder tape is produced on a two-shuttle loom, with the braided cord 3| which is used for the slat-supporting members and the transverse stifiening members also used as the filler material 32 for the rear band 33. This construction, hke the ones previously described, gives the desired transverse reinforcement to the rear band while retaining the longitudinal flexibility of the latter.

Aside from the improved foldingcharacteristics of this new tape, the method of weaving employed in its fabrication permits of the use of any desired color combination. For instance, the inside or face bands may be of a different color in eachof several rooms so as to harmonize with the color schemes in those rooms while the outside'or rear bands may be all of the same color in allof the rooms in order to give a. uniform appearance to the tapes of the blinds from the outside of the building, which color treatment is not possible with the commonly used English type of tape. v 1

I claim:

1. In a tape ladder for Venetian blinds, the combination with the face and rear bands of the tape, of slat-supporting members connecting the bands at regular intervals, and transverse stiffening members in one of the bands intermediate the locations of the slat-supporting members.

2. In a tape ladder for Venetian blinds, the combination with the face and rear bands of the tape, of a continuous cord which is woven first into one band and then into the other to provide slat-supporting members at regular intervals, and transverse stifiening members in one of the bands intermediate the locations of the slat-supporting members.

3. In a tape ladder for Venetian blinds, the combination with the face and rear bands of the tape, of a continuous cord which is woven first into one band and then into the other to provide slat-supporting members at regular intervals be tween corresponding sides of the bands and transverse stiffening members in the rear band intermediate the locations of the slat-supporting members.

4. A method of producing tape ladder for Venetian blinds, which consists in weaving both of the side bands simultaneously in a loom with the bands arranged side by side on one level; working into both bands as they'are being formed a continuous cord which is at intervals transferred laterally from one band to the other to form slat-supporting members between the bands and transverse stiffening members in the rear band intermediate the locations of the slat-supporting members. i

5. A method of producing tape ladder for Venetian blinds, which consists in weaving both of the side bands simultaneously in a loom with the intermediate the locations of the slat-supporting members, with the portions of the cord between the stiflening members and the slat-supporting members arranged in small loops which alternate in location from one side of the rear band to the other side of that band.

GEORGE C. RUNGE.

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