US3116784A - Fold retaining means for draperies - Google Patents

Description

M" w a,

Jan. 7, 1964 J. E. DWYER FOLD RETAINING MEANS FOR DRAPERIES Filed March 16, 1961 INVENTOR. J4 MES f. DWYER United States Patent 0 3,116,784 roan RETAINHNG ME 48 EUR DRAPERIES Flames E. Dwyer, 949 Filbert St San Francisco, Qalif. Filed 16, 1961, Ser. No. 96,263 1 (Ilaim. (cl. 160-34?) This invention relates to improvements in hangings such as curtains and drapes. More particularly, my invention relates to a novel stabilizing means for forming and retaining folds of uniform shape in hung draperies.

in the manufacture of draperies, the drapery material is generally gathered and sewed together at evenly spaced intervals along the top edge to form tucks or pleats. It is the purpose of these plea-ts to form downwardly extending folds of substantially uniform shape when the drapes are installed. These folds are an essential factor in providing the eye-pleasing appearance of the drapes. it has long been a problem in the art to provide draperies having uniform folds which will extend the full height of the drape and assume the same position each time the drape is extended along a traverse rod. With some types of material the folds may be established at least semipermanently by pressing the pleats along the full length of the drape and bundling tiem together for a period of time to pro-form creases or folds before installing the drapes. However, with many types of drapery fabrics, especially in the new synthetic cloth materials such as fiber glass fabrics, this practice is not effective, and no amount of pro-pressing or bundling can form folds which will remain for even a short period of time in the drapery material. Thus, prior to my invention, the use of these fabrics was greatly limited because even with pleats sewed along the upper edge in the standard manner, the drapes would not hang with uniform folds that are essential to the attractive appearance of the drapes.

it is therefore one object of my invention to provide a novel stabilizing means for holding together draperies at predetermined intervals along their width so that uniformly shaped folds will be formed and retained permanently when the drapes are installed and extended along the traverse. The invention may be used with draperies having pleats of any suitable type that are permanently sewed along the top edge of the drape. In general, the inven tion provides a novel, flexible cord or thread, having attached hook-like members spaced along the cord for connecting it to the bottom edge of the drapes. The hooklike members on the cord or the thread may be connected to the drapes along the edges of the folds, preferably midvay between the permanent top pleats. The fold-stabiliziug cord is preferably attached in the rear lower side of the drapery, and with such an arrangement, it will never be visible and cannot detract from the appearance of the drape.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fold and stabilizing means that may be rapidly and asiiy attached to the drapery material without having to be sewed to it. One of the problems in manufacturing draperies is that of fitting the area to be covered with a certain size of material and with evenly spaced pleats and folds. Frequently alterations must be made by changing pleats to take-up or provide more material. Each change can effect the position of the fold between pleats and therefore the exact point of attaching the fold stabilizing cord will also shift. An important feature of my invention is that the fold stabilizing cord can be quickly and easily removed and adjusted to a new position when the situation calls for it, without having to remove and sew stitches or by using any other time-consuming procedure. in accordance with the principles of the invention, the hook-like connecting means attached to the stabilizing cord are shaped so that in assembly they can be quickly hooked to the drapery fabric with one simple hand move- 3,11%,784 Patented Jan. 7, 19%4 ment. Also, when necessary, they can be easily removed without damaging the drapery fabric.

Another object of the invention is to provide a quick connecting means for retaining drapery folds that is inexpensive to manufacture, as well as being easy to install.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following description. The illust-rative embodiments set out in the drawings and described in detail herein are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as described in the appended claim, but rather is intended to comply with 35 U.S.C. 112.

In the drawings:

PKG. 1 is a front view in perspective of a section of drapery extended along and supported by a traverse rod, showing the folds of the drape being held with their proper uniform shape by the fold-stabilizing device of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view in perspective showing the fold-stabilizing device attached to the lower rear side of a drape in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view in perspective of one form of fold holding device according to the invention. Portions of the drapery are broken away in order to show how each hook member is attached to hold the drapery fold in its proper sha e;

FlG. 4 is a view in perspective showing a modified form of fold stabilizing device with integral cord and hook members of plastic material.

In FIG. 1 a typical section of drapery lit-is shown as it appears when extended to its normal width along a traverse rod 11. Along the upper end of the drape lit are formed a series of evenly spaced pleats 12 which are separated by flat sections 13 of unpleated material. The pleats 12 may be of any suitable type, but in every case they provide an excess of material at intervals along the width of the drape, and in a properly hanging drape, these intervals of extra material must be shaped to form vertical, uniformly spaced, wave-like folds 14 along the drape lil as shown in FIG. 1. It is the folds M which give the drape it) its attractive eye-pleasing appearance. To solve the problem of forming and maintaining the uniform folds 14 throughout the full length of the drape =10, the flexible fold stabilizing device 15 embodying the principles of the invention is attached at predetermined locations along a lower edge of the drape lil.

As shown in FIG. 1, each pleat 12 along the upper edge of the drape 1% creates an outwardly curving fold portion in, and in between the pleats 12 are formed inwardly curving fold portions 17. The fold stabilizing cord 15 is preferably attached near the lower edge 18 of the drape and to each of the inwardly curved fold portions 17. When attached, my invention serves to hold the outwardly curved portions to of the folds 14 in their proper shape as the drapery id" is extended along the traverse rod ll. Such an installation of a fold stabilizing device 15 on a rape lid is shown in greater detail in FIG. 2.

My novel fold stabilizing device 15' as shown in FIG. 3, comprises a flexible cord or thread 19 which is at least as long as the drape section lit and to which are attached a series of spaced apart attaching members The stabilizing cord 19 may be made from any suitable material such as fabric or plastic and it can be of a relatively light gauge because the strain on it in holding the folds M is not great. Also, various colors of thread or cord 19 can be used to match the drapery materials.

The attaching members 20 are evenly spaced along the cord 19 and this spacing may vary for different types and spacing of the pleats 12 used in various draperies. The attaching members 2-9 have a general hook-like configuration and they may be formed from any suitable materifl such as any resilient metal or plastic. As shown in 3 the enlarged view of FIG. 3, each took-like member 29 has a shank 21 and curved roun end portion 22 which is preferably bent back near the shank 21 to form a narrow opening 23 for retaining the drapery material. A tip of the curved end portion 22, which may be pointed for easy penetration of the drapery fabric, is bent outwardly somewhat away from the shank 21. The outwardly bent tip 24 functions as a barb to keep the attaching members 2%, from falling out of the draperies 16, despite considerable back and forth movement of the drapes over long periods of time.

Each attaching member is fixed to the cord or thread 19' by any suitable means such as by crimping, bonding, or tying. In the embodiment of FIG. 3 each hook-like member 28- has a bent back portion 26 at the end which is crimp ed against the thread 19 and preferably the shank 21 to keep the hook 28 from sliding along the thread 19. An advantage of this crimping arrangement is that, if necessary, the bent back portion 26 can easily be relieved slightly to loosen the book 2% and allows it to be adjusted to a new position along the string 19.

Other suitable means may be used, of course, to attach the hooks 2% at predetermined spaced intervals along the cord or string 19. For example, I may plastically bond either metal or plastic hook-like members 2% to the string M.

in FIG. 4, I have shown a slightly modified form of fold stabilizing device which comprises a plastic cord 33 with integral hook-like plastic members 32 spaced at predetermined intervals thereon. Each integral hook member 32 preferably extends from and lies in a plane at right angles to the cord 31. The integral cord 31 and hooks 32 may be formed for any suitable plastic such as nylon by one of the well known plastic molding methods. The hook member 32 again has the same general configuration as the hook members 2-3 with a bent back end portion 33 and sharpened tip 34 which would enable each hook 32 to easily penetrate the drapery fabric.

One of the highly advantageous features of my invention is the ease and rapidity with which my novel fold stabilizing device 15 can be installed. For example, the locations of the points of attachment for the hook mem ber 29 or 32 may be easily marked when the pleats 12 are marked by folding the bottom end 18 of the drape lit up under the top edge and marking the hook attaching points in line with the center points of flat sections 13 between the pleats 1.2. With the drape section so arranged, the hook members 2t) may be attached at the marked points equally distant from the rear lower side of the drape i each point being directly in line with the mid-point of an unpleated point 13. Each hook-like 4 member is attached rapidly, and it need only pick up a few strands of the fabric between the shank 21 and the curved around end 22 in order to have adequate hold on the drape i The tip 2-? of each hook penetrates easily and yet its shape keeps it from coming free without being deliberately removed.

When a stments need to be made in the spacing of the folds 1d, the hook-like members 23 are easily removed and reset without having to remove or resew any stitches. This flexibility in adjustment is an important feature of my invention since it permits the installation of the drapes to be made eiiiciently without requiring modifications in the shop.

When equipped with the present invention, the drapery to will always rave attractive, uniform folds 14, no matter what the actual tendencies of the drapery are to hold or not to hold its shape. vly invention therefore greatly increases the range of fabrics wh ch can be used on draperies by a unique device that is relatively inexpensive and easy to install.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

I claim:

A fold stabilizing device for a drapery of the type having a series of spaced apart pleats along its upper edge separated by portions of unpleated material, said stabilizing device comprising: a flexible cord member adapted to extend along the width of the drapery; a plurality of attaching means spaced along said cord member and fixed thereto for rapidly attaching said cord member to said drapery at predetermined spaced apart intervals between said pleats, each said attaching means having a shank, a hooked portion at one end and a bent ever end portion at the other end of said shank for crimping said cord against said shank, thereby retaining said attaching means in a predetermined fixed position on said cord.

The Glass Industry, published by Ogden Publishing Co. (New York). Volume 40, page 613 (November 1959) relied on.

Images