US2894578A - Roller shade - Google Patents

Description

July 14, 1959 o. s. CAESAR ET'AL 2,894,578

ROLLER SHADE Filed May 6, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 a mw w f w a 4 m w 1%: Q: w m. M Ww 0 lllllll llllllllllllll Ill 3. o w M J \l\\\,)\b 3 w w g i y a i liiilii:{l

July 14, 1959 o. s. CAESAR ETAL 2,894,578

ROLLER SHADE Filed May 6, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TORS.

Orz/zZZe 5 Caesar BY J05 hGYSZZdeJ,"

United States Patent 2,894,578 ROLLER SHADE Orville S. Caesar, Barrington, and Joseph G. Stieber, Skokie, ill.

Application May 6, 1955, Serial No. 506,469 2 Claims. (Cl. 160-308) This invention relates to improvements in roller shades and its purpose is to provide an improved shade or curtain construction which may be economically manufactured and conveniently operated.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved shade or curtain mounted on a roller and adapted to be operated froma position on the opposite side of a wall or partition from the space or area where the shade is located. For example, the roller shade may be located on the outer side of the screen of a porch and may be raised or lowered on the outer side of the screen by mechanism which is operated from a position inside of the screen on the porch. A further object of the invention is to provide a roller shade comprising operating mechanism provided with novel means for locking the shade in any desired position. Other objects relate to various features of construction and arrangement which will appear more fully hereinafter.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification taken with the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment and a modification of a portion thereof are illustrated. In the drawings,

Figure 1 shows a horizontal section through the upper part of the wall of a porch or the like illustrating a top plan view of a shade embodying the present invention together with a top plan view of another shade extending at right angles thereto, with parts thereof broken away;

Fig. 2 shows a front elevation of the shade which is primarily shown in Fig. 1, together with an end elevation of the shade which is partially shown;

Fig. 3 shows an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2, illustrating the means for supporting the intermediate portion of the shade;

Fig. 4 shows a horizontal section similar to the upper left-hand portion of Fig. 1 illustrating a modified arrangement of the driving mechanism for rotating the roller of the shade;

Fig. 5 shows an enlarged side elevation of the roller operating device which is mounted at the end of the shade roller;

Fig. 6 shows an end elevation of the device illustrated in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 shows a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Fig; 6;

Fig. 8 shows a sectional view on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7, illustrating the relative positions of the parts when the stop member is in its inactive position to permit the free rotation of the roller in either direction, and illustrating by dotted lines the manner of causing the operating chain to interlock with the stop member; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view similar to that of Fig. 8 showingthe relative positions of the parts when the stop member has been actuated by the chain to prevent rotation of the roller in one direction.

The invention is illustrated in the drawings in connection with a wall 10 which may be the wall of a porch or other wall which is incorporated in the structure of a dwelling house or other building. This wall comprises a plurality of upstanding posts 11 formed of wood or the like which are connected by intervening panels 12 which may be panels of screen cloth or glass or other material. A panel 12 extends at right angles to one of the end posts 11 to suggest two walls extending transversely to each other as they might be in the construction of a porch, for example. The present invention comprises a roller 14 having a shaft 15 which may extend continuously through the roller or be formed in sections which are mounted in axial alignment in the end portions of the roller which may be formed of wood or other suitable material. At one end of the roller 14, the shaft 15 is journaled in a bracket 16 secured to one of the posts 11 and at the other end of the roller the shaft 15 extends into a gear casing 17 where a bevel gear 18 is secured thereon. This bevel gear meshes with another bevel gear 19 located Within the casing 17 and secured upon the end of an operating shaft 20. The shaft 20 is journaled in a bearing formed in one of the posts 11 and the extremity of this shaft which is located on the outer side of the Wall 10 extends into a housing 22 which has a hub portion 22 fitted into an aperture in the post 11. This hub portion has mounted therein a bushing 23 in which the shaft 2.0 is journaled. The housing 22 is secured in fixed position on the posts 11 by means of screws 24. With this arrangement, the rotation of the shaft 20 is adapted to operate the gears 18 and 19 and thereby effect the rotation of the roller 14 upon which the shade 25 is mounted. This shade is in the form of a large sheet of woven cloth, nylon fabric or other flexible material which should be substantially weatherproof if the shade is employed on the outside of a building. One edge of the shade is secured to the roller 14 and the other edge has a hem formed therein by reversely folding the material of the shade and stitching it upon itself to form a slot adapted to receive a slat 26 which gives some weight to the lower edge of the shade and facilitates its descent by gravity when the roller 14 is actuated by the mechanism previously described. In order to guide the lower edge of the shade during its travel, the slat 26 is preferably provided at each end with an eyelet 27 which is engaged by a wire 28 drawn in a taut condition between two pins 29 mounted in the posts 11. The provision of the guide wires 28 and the eyelets 27 permits the lower edge of the curtain and the slot 26 to ride upwardly on the guide wires under the influence of wind blowing inwardly against the shade. When that occurs, the shade bows inwardly as the eyelets move upwardly on the wires and, as the wind current subsides, the eyelets and the lower edge of the curtain move downwardly again. There is thus brought about a breathing action of the shade which permits the inflow and outflow of air currents without damage or any objectionable flapping of the shade. The other shade 25a which is illustrated in the upper right-hand portion of Fig. 1 is similarly sup ported by a bracket 16 and has a roller 14 fixed on a shaft 15 journaled in the bracket.

The operating shaft 20 is adapted to be rotated by a sprocket gear 30 secured on the end thereof by a key 31. This sprocket gear has an annular flange 30w which extends outwardly to overlap the annular flange 22w of the housing 22. The sprocket gear 30 may preferably be formed of compressed white nylon and the housing 22 may preferably be formed as a chromium plated metal stamping. The teeth 30b of the sprocket gear are adapted to mesh with the balls 33a of an endless sprocket chain 33 in which the balls are connected by the flexible members 33b. The balls 33a are spaced apart to agree with the spacing of the teeth 3% and the endless chain extends around the sprocket gear and through two slots 22b and 220 which are formed in the annular flange 22a of the housing. The depending portions of the chain thus extend downwardly from the slots 22b and 22c and may be engaged by the hands of the operator for the purpose of rotating the sprocket gear 30 and thereby rotating the roll 14 to raise or lower the shade 25.

In order to control the rotation of the roller 14 and to lock it against rotation to secure the shade in a fixed position, there is pivotally mounted upon the shaft 20, and around the bushing 23, a locking member 34 which is in the form of a flat plate apertured at one end to receive the bushing 23 and having a projecting portion 34a which extends outwardly through the slot 22/) in the annular flange of the housing 22. This projecting arm 34a terminates in a transversely extending portion provided with a longitudinal slot 341') which receives the chain 33. This portion of the stop member is adapted to extend between the arms of the slot 34b so that when the locking member 34 is in the upper position shown in Pig. 9 it will engage the shoulder 22d at the upper end of the slot 221) and thereby hold the chain against movement in the direction of the arrow 35, thus causing the roller 14 to be locked against rotation in one direction.

When the locking member 34 is not engaged with the chain 33 it normally moves by gravity to the position shown in Fig. 8 where it engages the shoulder 22a at the lower end of the slot 2211. When the locking member is in this position, the portions of the chain which extend downwardly from opposite sides of the sprocket gear will pass downwardly parallel to each other as shown by full lines in Fig. 8 so that the chain may then be operated to rotate the sprocket gear 30 in either direction for winding up the shade 25 or extending it further in a downward direction. When it is desired to lock the shade 25 in an adjusted position, the right-hand portion of the chain shown in Fig. 8 is moved to the position illustrated by dotted lines at 36, in which position the chain may be caused to engage the slot 34b in the end of the locking member so that upon upward movement of the right-hand portion of the chain from that position it will be interlocked with the locking member which will thereby be rotated in a counterclockwise direction to the position shown in Fig. 9, in which position the roller 14 and the shade 25 are securely locked in position.

The locking member 34 is preferably mounted on the shaft and bushing 20 and 23, respectively, in the same radial plane with an arcuate washer 37 which fits within the annular flange 22a of the housing 22 and extends around the bushing 23 throughout threequarters of its circumference, terminating in radial end surfaces 37a which are spaced circumferentially from the extremities 22d and 22e of the slot 22b. This washer may preferably be formed of the same material as the sprocket gear 30.

Where the roller 14 and the shade 25 are of substantial length, it may be desirable to support them between their ends and this may be done by the supporting de vice 40 shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. it comprises a bracket 41 having a flange 41a secured to the frame member 42 which extends outwardly from the post 11 and over hangs the shade 25 and roller 14. The bracket 41 has a lower horizontal portion 41b in which a pin 43 is slidably mounted for vertical movement. This pin carries. a frame 44 on which are rotatably mounted two rela tively small rollers 45 adapted to engage the under surface of the portion of the shade 25 which is wound on the roller 14, as illustrated in Fig. 3. A coil spring 46 is mounted on the pin 43 between the part 411; of the bracket 41 and the under side of the frame 44 so that the rollers 45 are normally maintained with a resilient pressure in contact with the outer convolution of the lower portion of the shade .25.

In order to insure the tight winding of the shade 25 on the roller 14, another roller 48 is mounted on an arm 49 to engage the upper side of the shade 25 at a place adjacent to the point where the winding begins. This arm 49 has an extension 49:: which pivotally engages apertures in the vertical portion of the bracket 41 and a coil spring 50 extends between the inner part of the ex- 4 tension 49a and the bracket 41 to cause the roller 48 to maintain a resilient pressure on the upper outer surface of the shade.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings, there is illustrated a modified form of the driving mechanism by which the shade roller may be operated from a position on the opposite side of a wall or the like from that on which the shade is located. This modified construction comprises a housing 51 which is secured to one of the posts 11 and which contains a bevel gear 52 secured on the end of the roller shaft .15 by which the connected roller 14 is operated to wind and unwind the shade 25. This bevel gear 52 meshes with another bevel gear 53 located in the housing 51 and fixed on an operating shaft 54 which extends in a diagonal direction through the posts 11 with its opposite end journaled in a bushing 55 carried by a bracket 56. The gears 52 and 53 may preferably be journaled in roller bearing units 57 which are mounted in apertures formed in the walls of the housing 51 and the outer end of the shaft 54 extends into a housing 58, similar to the housing 22, which is fixed on the bracket 5-6. Within the housing 58, the shaft 54 has secured thereon a sprocket gear 59 adapted to be operated by an endless sprocket chain in the manner previously described. This modification illustrates the possible advantage of locating the chain and the sprocket gear in various convenient positions on the wall opposite to the side of the wall where the roller shade is located.

Although one form of the improved roller shade and a modification of a portion thereof have been shown and described by way of illustration, it will be understood that the invention may be constructed in various forms coming within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In combination, a roller, a shade Wound on said roller, means including a sprocket gear for rotating said roller, an endless chain meshing with said sprocket gear and depending therefrom, a stop member pivoted on the axis of said sprocket gear and movable between two positions, and stationary means engageable by said stop member in each of said positions, said stop member being engageable with said chain in one of said positions and being adapted to hold said sprocket gear against rotation in one direction when in the other of said positions.

2. in combination, a roller, a shade wound on said roller, means including a sprocket gear for rotating said roller, an endless chain meshing with said sprocket gear and depending therefrom, a housing extending around said sprocket gear and having two slots engaged separately by the depending portions of said chain, and a stop member pivoted on the axis of said sprocket gear and having a part extending through one of said slots, said part of said stop member being adapted to interlock with one depending portion of said chain when that said part is at one end of its slot with the chain deflected from its normal depending position and then after pivotal movement thereof to engage the other end of the slot to prevent rotation of said roll in one direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 296,494 Whittier Apr. 8, 1884 300,962 Fox June 24, 1884 305,317 Mallory Sept. 16, 1884 356,833 Greenberg Feb. 1, 1887 559,678 Clark May 5, 1896 1,090,546 Kudla Mar. 17, 1914 1,134,994 Conkey Apr. 13, 1915 1,321,250 Sheppard Nov. 11, 1919 1,333,516 Thomson Mar. 9, 1920 1,441,229 Lacey Ian. 9, 1923 1,712,455 Connolly May 7, 1929 1,788,021 Hadden Ian. 6, 1931 2,564,831 Butkus Aug. 21, 1951 2,577,046 Svirsky Dec. 4, 1951

Images