US2779403A - Tilting mechanism for venetian blinds - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 29, 1957 H. K. LORENTZEN 2,779,403

TIL-TING MECHANISM FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Original Filed Oct. 1'7, 1951 INVENTOR v Jqansfflorezztzezz .ATTORNEYJ- 2,779,403 TILTING MECHANISM non VENETIAN BLINDS Hans K. Lorentzen, Montclair, N. J., assignor to Lorentzen Hardware Mfg. Corp., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application October 17, 1951, Serial No. 251,707, now Patent No. 2,670,038, dated February 23, 1954. Divided and this application November 19, 1953, Serial No. 393,136

3 Claims. (Cl. 160-177) This invention relates to Venetian blinds and, more particularly, to tilting mechanisms for Venetian blind head bars. This application is a division of application S. N. 251,707, filed October 17, 1951, now Patent No. 2,670,- 038, granted February 23, 1954.

In the so-called enclosed head type of Venetian blind, the mechanism for raising the blind and tilting the slats of the blind is cointained within a more or less enclosed hear bar which may be formed of a sheet-metal channel extending along the top of the blind. This mechanism may consist of a tilter fitting mounted adjacent one end of the head bar, a cord lock mounted adjacent the other end, a tilt rod journalled in the tilter and cord-lock'fittings and extending longitudinally of the head bar, and two or more tape rockers mounted on the tilt rod and supporting the ladder tapes of the blind. The present invention is concerned with the tilter fitting.

In the form shown of the present invention, the tilter body is formed of a unitary sheet-metal stamping having a base adapted to be mounted on the inside bottom wall of a head-bar channel and having a vertically upwardly extending flange for receiving a worm and gear for oscillating the tilt rod so as to tilt the slats :of the blind in both directions from the horizontal. A portion of the tilter body is displaced in forming an opening for receiving the worm and this displaced portion is utilized to form an end stop for limiting endwise motion of the tilt rod.

Among the objects of the present-invention are to provide an improved tilter construction incorporating an end stop for the tilt rod, to provide such a tilter which may be economically produced from sheet-metal stampings, to provide a tilter that is durable and dependable in operation, and to generally improve Venetian blind tilters of the type described.

Further objects and objects relating to details and economies of construction, manufacture, and use will more definitely appear from the detailed description to follow.

My invention is clearly defined in the appended claims. In the claims, as well as in the description, parts are at times identified by specific names for clarity and convenience, but such nomenclature is to be understood as having the broadest meaning consistent with the context and with the concept of my invention as distinguished from the pertinent prior art. The best form in which I have contemplated applying my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which:

Fig. l is an isometric view of the upper left corner portion of a Venetian blind, a portion of the head bar and of the lift cord and ladder tape being broken away to show details of construction.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a tilter organization according to the present invention, only a portion of the head bar and of the tilt rod being shown.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the tilter and tilt rod, a portion of the bottom wall of the head bar being shown in vertical section.

nited States Patent Fig. 4 is a vertical section of a portion of the tilter and head bar taken generally on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, a portion of the tilt rod being shown in elevation.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a portion of the tilter body, indicating the method of forming the tilt-rod end stop.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the Venetian blind of the present invention includes a head bar 10 which may be formed of a sheet-metal channel which has been pierced and lanced to provide openings for the tapes and cords of the blind and to provide tabs 11 struck from the bottom wall of the head bar for mounting fittings such as the tilter fitting 12. The tilter 12 oscillates and supports one end of a tilt rod 14 which extends longitudinally of the head bar. The tilt rod 14 has tape rockers mounted thereon, one tape rocker 15 being shown, for supporting the slats and bottom bar of the blind.

A ladder tape 16 is suspended from each tape rocker 15, the slats of the blind being in turn supported by the ladder tapes, one slat 17 being shown. The blind is provided with lift cords reeved in the usual manner for raising the blind, one lift cord 19 being shown, and a tilt cord 20 for tilting the slats between blind-open and blind-closed positions.

The tilter of the present invention, which is in some respects similar to the tilter disclosed and claimed in Nelson Patent 2,630,861 of March 10, 1953, comprises a tilter body in the form of a sheet-metal stamping having .a generally fiat, horizontal base portion 22 and a generally vertical upstanding flange 24. The flange 24 is formed to provide two pairs of opposed, arcuate strap portions 25, each pair constituting a journal bearing for rotatably supporting a worm shaft 26. Preferably, the worm shaft 26 is mounted at an angle to the horizontal, being forwardly upwardly inclined. A worm 27 is fixed on the worm shaft 26 and is received in a rectangular opening 29 formed in the flange 24 between the two pairs of straps 25. A cord pulley 30 for receiving the tilt cord 20 is fixed to the forward end of the worm shaft 26. This general construction is described in more detail in my Patent 2,226,623, issued December 31, 1940.

The upper portion of the vertical flange 24, above the worm opening 29, is provided with a circular journal bearing 31 for rotatably receiving the tilt rod 14. Preferably, a portion of the metal displaced in forming the journal bearing 31 is formed into a laterally extending sleeve on the outside surface of the flange 24 to provide an extended bearing area.

A gear 32 is mounted against the inside face of the flange 24 and is provided with a D-shaped hole 34 for nonrotatably receiving the tilt rod, the hole 34 registering with the bearing 31 in the flange. The gear 32 is preferably a sheet-metal stamping and is provided with teeth meshing with the worm 27. Preferably, the teeth of the gear 32 extend for only about one-half of the circumference of the gear to provide an escapement tilter as gerligiaglly shown in Nelson Patent 2,174,994 of October The gear 32 is provided with a laterally extending bearing surface 35 which is preferably rotatably received with in a circular opening 36 in a gear retainer 37 overlying the gear and retaining it against the inside face of the flange 24, although the bearing surface 35 of the gear may be rotatably received within the bearing 31 in the flange if desired, the bearing being made somewhat larger in diameter. The gear retainer 37 may be provided with a pair of tabs 39, 39 pass-ing through slots 40, 40 in the vertical flange 24 of the tilter and clinched against the opposite side of the flange to hold the gear retainer and gear 32in position on the flange. The construction and assembly of the vertical flange 24 of the tilter, worm 27, gear 32, and gear retainer 37, as thus far described, is

Patented Jan. 29, 1957 i in most respects generally similar to corresponding parts of the tilter shown in Nelson Patent 2,630,861.

Referring particularly to Fig. 5, metal which is displaced from the plane of the vertical flange 24 of the tilter body in forming the Worm opening 29 is bent up to form an end stop 41 for limiting endwise movement of the tilt rod. Preferably, only the central portion of the metal so displaced is utilized, this portion being bent along the line of the top margin of the worm opening 29 (line 33 of Fig. into a horizontally extending portion 42 extending in parallel, spaced relation to the tilt rod, and a terminal vertical portion 44, bent at a right angle to portion 42 (Figs. 2 and 4) and extending in a vertical plane across the prolongation of the axis of the journal bearing 31 so as to lie across the end of a tilt rod 14 received within the bearing.

As shown in Fig. 5, metal extending for substantially the entire height of the worm opening 2% is used for forming the end stop 41. Thus, the portion 42 of the stop (Fig. 4) is so long that it places the up-turned tip 44 at a location which is remote from the vertical flange 24 and remote from the annular bearing 31. Accordingly, the present end stop affords a large degree of tolerance as regards the distance that the end of the tilt rod may be telescoped beyond the vertical flange 24 and the bearing 31. This makes it unnecessary to cut the tilt rod to length with anygreat degree of accuracy.

The base portion 22 of the tilter body is generally flat and in the assembly indicated in Fig. 1 extends towards the center of the blind at least as far as the adjacent lad der tape 16. The inner end portion of the base 22 preferably i provided with a cord guide consisting of a circular raised bead 45 extending about a round hole 46 to provide a smooth bearing surface for passage of a lift cord 19 downwardly through the bottom wall of the head bar lo, the head bar being provided with a somewhat larger hole (not shown) so as to avoid contacting the lift cord.

The base 22 of the tilter preferably is also provided with a pair of slots 47, 47 which, in the assembly indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, receive tabs 11 struck up from the bottom wall of the head bar and clinched against the upper surface of the base 22 to retain the tilter in position.

The edge of the base 22 of the tilter below the cord pulley 30 preferably is inclined upwardly into a plane generally perpendicular to the worm shaft 26 and lying immediately behind the cord pulley and formed to provide a cord guide 49 for the tilt cord 2.13. The ends of this upturned portion of the base are turned forwardly and inwardly as indicated in Fig. 2 to form a pair of spaced, upwardly flaring, harrellike, cord-receiving formations 50, 5d. The barrellike formations 5t), 5% do not extend completely about the cord but have opposed side openings 51, 51 to permit lateral insertion of the tilt cord.

The base 22 of the tilter 12 preferably is provided with an upwardly extending tape-rocker guide portion 52 provided with a transversely extending, upwardly opening slot 53 to receive an end flange 54 of the tape rocker. The guide portion 52 and slot $3 are so located as to maintain the tape rocker centered over the slots provided in the bottom wall of the head bar for passage of the ladder tapes by restraining endwise movement of the tape rocker. Preferably, the upper end of the guide portion 52 is laterally extended on both sides of the slot 53 to aid in preventing misassembly of the tape rocker. If the tape rocker were displaced so far as not to be engaged by the extensions of the guide portion 52, it would be readily apparent to the head-bar assembler and the misassembly of the parts would be corrected immediately.

In assembling the above-described tilter into the head bar of Fig. l, the tilter rotatably supports an end of the tilt rod 14, and the vertical portion 44 of the end stop 41 limits endwise movement to the left, as viewed in that figure, of the tilt rod. In the complete head-bar assembly, s shown in my application s. N. 251,707, of which this application is a division, the other end of the tilt rod 14 is rotatably supported by a cord-lock fitting which has an end stop incorporated therein for limiting endwise movement of the tilt rod to the right, as viewed in Fig. 1, the two fittings serving to rotatably support and retain the tilt rod,

In the above-described tilter, the end stop 41 is formed by a simple stamping" operation from an area of the body in which an opening must be formed for other reasons, thereby forming theend stop in the same operation as in forming the opening and, at the same time, without sacrifice of strength of the tilter body or requiring additional metal at the margin of the body. At the same time, the margin of the journal 31 is undisturbed so as to retain a smooth tilt-rod bearing at that point.

I claim:

1. In a Venetian blind tilter for assembly into the head of a Venetian blind, the tilter having a horizontal sheetmetal base from which a vertical sheet-metal flange extends upwardly, a worm and gear being carried by the vertical flange for oscillating the tilt rod of the blind, the gear being located above the worm, the gear and the vertical flange being pierced for telescopic reception of the end portion of the tilt rod with the rod passing through and projecting beyond the vertical flange, and the Worm being mounted in an openingformed in a lower portion of the vertical flange; the improvement which comprises: a strip of metal from substantially the entire height of the worm opening in t he vertical flange being bent to extend from the top' of the Worm opening and lie generally parallel to the tilt rod axis, the strip having its tip projecting upwardly and extending into the path of the tilt rod as the rod-end is telescoped beyond the vertical flange, whereby said tip limits the telescoping movement of the tilt rod but is located remotely from the vertical flange and thereby affords a large degree of tolerance in the distance which the tilt rodmay project beyond the vertical flange.

2. In a Venetian blind tilter for assembly into the head of a Venetian blind, the tilter having a horizontal sheet-metal base from which a vertical sheet-metal flange extends upwardly, a worm and gear being carried by the vertical flange for oscillating the tilt rod of the blind, the gear beinglocated above the worm, the gear and the vertical flange being pierced for telescopic reception of the end portion of the tilt rod with the rod passing through and projecting beyond the vertical flange, and the worm being mounted in an opening formed in a lower portion of the vertical flange; the improvement which comprises: metal displaced in piercing the vertical flange to receive the tilt rod being formed into a sleeve to surround the tilt rod and form an ex tended bearing therefor, and a strip of metal from subr stantially the entire height of the worm opening in the vertical flange being bent to extend from the top of the worm opening and lie generally parallel to the tiltrod axis, the strip having its tip projecting upwardly and extending into the path of the tilt rod as the rodend is telescoped beyond the sleeve which forms the extended bearing for the tilt rod, whereby said tip limits the telescoping movement of the tilt rod but is located remotely from the sleeve and thereby affords a large degree of tolerance in the distance which the tilt rod may project beyond the sleeve.

3. In a Venetian blind tilter for assembly into the head of a Venetian blind, the tilter having a horizontal sheet-metal base from which a vertical sheet-metal flange extends upwardly, a worm and gear being carried by the vertical flange for oscillating the tilt rod of the blind, the gear being located above the worm, the gear and the vertical flange being pierced for telescopic reception of the end portion of the tilt rod with the rod pass ing through and projecting beyond the vertical flange, and the worm being mounted in an opening formed in a lower portion of the vertical flange; the improvement apropos which comprises: metal displaced in piercing the vertical flange to receive the tilt rod being formed into a sleeve to surround the tilt rod and form an extended bearing therefor, and a depending long strip of metal from the worm opening in the vertical flange being bent to extend from the top of the Worm opening and lie generally parallel to the tilt-rod axis, the strip having its tip projecting upwardly and extending into the path of the tilt rod as the rod-end is telescoped beyond the sleeve which forms the extended bearing for the tilt rod, whereby said tip limits the telescoping movement of the tilt rod but is located remotely from the sleeve and thereby affords a large degree of tolerance in the distance which the tilt rod may project. beyond the sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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