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Patent 1160945 Summary

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Claims and Abstract availability

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(12) Patent: (11) CA 1160945
(21) Application Number: 344694
(54) English Title: TILTER MECHANISM
(54) French Title: MECANISME BASCULEUR
Status: Expired
Bibliographic Data
(52) Canadian Patent Classification (CPC):
  • 160/1
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC):
  • E06B 9/26 (2006.01)
  • E06B 9/307 (2006.01)
(72) Inventors :
  • VECCHIARELLI, FRANCIS (United States of America)
(73) Owners :
  • HUNTER DOUGLAS CANADA LIMITED (Not Available)
(71) Applicants :
(74) Agent: GOWLING LAFLEUR HENDERSON LLP
(74) Associate agent:
(45) Issued: 1984-01-24
(22) Filed Date: 1980-01-30
Availability of licence: N/A
(25) Language of filing: English

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT): No

(30) Application Priority Data:
Application No. Country/Territory Date
043,696 United States of America 1979-05-30

Abstracts

English Abstract


ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A tilter mechanism for the slats of a venetian blind
includes a mounting bracket for mounting the mechanism securely to
a venetian blind headrail. A housing is connected to the bracket
and an externally operable worm is rotatably mounted in said
housing. A wormwheel is also mounted for rotation about an axis
in the housing in operative engagement with the worm. The
mechanism also includes an elongated tilt rod. An axial extension
is provided on each axial end of the wormwheel, a recess being
formed in each extension. One end of the tilt rod is received
in a selected one of the recesses with the tilt rod thus extending
away from the corresponding extension of the wormwheel along the
axis of rotation thereof. A V-shaped spring clip having openings
in each arm of the V is provided with the tilt rod extending
through these openings to thus mount the spring clip securely on
the tile rod. One end of the V has at its free end a bent down
portion including an orifice. A rotation control disc has a
central opening with at least one notch extending radially out-
wardly from this central opening together with two radially out-
wardly extending abutment surfaces located adjacent the outer
periphery of the rotation control disc. The rotation control disc
is mounted on the other one of the wormwheel extensions. Stop
means are located on the bracket which are engageable by the
abutment surfaces on the rotation control disc to restrict the
range of rotation of same. A radially outwardly extending key is
provided on each axial extension of the wormwheel. One of these
keys is engaged in the orifice provided in the bent down end
portion of the V-shaped clip. The other such key is engaged by
one of the notches on the rotation control disc to define a
particular rotational position of same.


Claims

Note: Claims are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.



CLAIMS:
1. A tilter mechanism for the slats of a
venetian blind, said mechanism comprising a housing,
means for mounting said housing on a venetian blind headrail,
an externally operable worm rotatably mounted on said housing,
a wormwheel rotatably mounted on said housing in operative
engagement with said worm, an axial extension at each axial
end of said wormwheel, a recess in each of said extensions
adapted to receive the end of a tilt rod such that the tilt
rod can be inserted into either one of the recesses in said
extensions and thus extend either to the left or to the right
of said wormwheel, engaging means provided on each of said
extensions, each of said engaging means being engageable
either by a locking device to hold said tilt rod in place
or by a rotation control member mountable on the corresponding
extension.
2. A tilter mechanism according to claim 1,
characterised in that a rotation control member is provided,
in that this member includes two angularly spaced apart
abutments, in that the rotation control member is mounted on
one of said extensions thereby engaging the engaging means of
said one extension and in that stop means are provided on the
bracket engageable by said abutments to restrict rotation
thereof.
3. A tilter mechanism according to claim 2
characterised in that the rotation control member comprises
at least one disc having a central opening, at least one



notch extending radially outwardly from said central
opening, two radially outwardly extending abutments extending
from the periphery of said at least one disc and in that
said engaging means on each said axial extension comprises
a radially outwardly extending key on said extension, said
key being engageable in said at least one notch.
4. A tilter mechanism according to claim 3
characterised in that said disc comprises a plurality of
notches equiangularly spaced from one another on said disc,
whereby the rotational position of said disc can be chosen
to give a particular rotational movement possibility for said
tilt rod.
5. A tilter mechanism according to claim 1 or
2 characterised in that said engaging means on each said
axial extension comprises a radially outwardly extending key
on said extension.
6. A tilter mechanism according to claim 1 in
combination with a tilt rod and further characterised in that
a locking device is provided to hold said tilt rod in
engagement with said recess in one of said extensions, and
in that said locking device can be snap-fitted over said
engaging means.
7. A tilter mechanism according to claim 6,
characterised in that said engaging means on each said axial
extension comprises a radially outwardly extending key on
said extension, said locking device comprising a spring clip
mountable on said tilt rod and having an orifice adjacent
one end engageable over said key.


12


8. A tilter mechanism according to claim 7,
characterised in that said key has an inclined ramp upper
surface at the end remote from said wormwheel and in that
said spring clip has an upturned end portion for sliding
up said ramp surface, whereby said orifice can snap over the
end of said key nearer said wormwheel.
9. A tilter mechanism according to claim 7,
characterised in that said spring clip comprises a V-shaped
member having openings in each arm of the V, whereby said
tilt rod can be passed through said openings to mount said
spring clip on said tilt rod, and in that one arm of the V
has, at its free end, a bent-down end portion including said
orifice.
10. A tilter mechanism for the slats of a venetian
blind, said mechanism comprising a mounting bracket for
mounting the mechanism securely to a venetian blind headrail;
a housing connected to said bracket; an externally operable
worm rotatably mounted in said housing; a wormwheel mounted
for rotation about an axis in said housing in operative
engagement with said worm, an elongated tilt rod, an axial
extension being provided on each axial end of said wormwheel,
a recess being formed in each extension, one end of said
tilt rod being received in one said recess with the tilt rod
extending away from the corresponding extension of said
wormwheel along the axis of rotation thereof, a V-shaped
spring clip having openings in each arm of the V, said tilt
rod extending through said openings to thus mount said



13


spring clip on said tilt rod, one arm of the V having at its
free end a bent-down portion including an orifice, a rotation
control disc having a central opening, at least one notch
extending radially outwardly from said central opening, and two
radially outwardly extending abutment surfaces being provided
adjacent the outer periphery of said rotation control disc,
said rotation control disc being mounted on the other of
said extensions of said wormwheel, stop means being provided
on said bracket engageable by said abutment surfaces on said
rotation control disc to restrict rotation thereof; and a
radially outwardly extending key on each axial extension of
said wormwheel, one said key being engaged in the orifice
provided in the bent-down end portion of said V-shaped clip,
and the other said key being engaged by one of said notches
on said rotation control disc to define a particular
rotational position thereof.




14





Description

Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.


~L6(~



DESCRIPTION
"TILTER MECHANISM"


B~CKGROU~D OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a tilter
mechanism for the slats of a venetian blind.
Many forms of such tilter mechanism have been
proposed before and these usually con~ist of a bracket
which is mountable in the venetian blind headrail, the
bracket carrying a housing in which are mounted a worm
which can be rotated from the exterior, and a wormwheel
which is operatively associated with the worm. A tilt
rod which passes through one or more tilt rolls
carryin~ the ladder means of the venetian blind is
engaged in the wormwheel. The tilt rod is usually of
non-circular, e.gO hexagonal or square cro3s-section,
- and this engages in a correspondingly shaped opening ln
the wormwheel. Known tilter mechanisms are relatively
bulky, complex and expensive to manufacture.
In many instances, it is desirable that the
venetian blind slats should only be rotatable by a
; ~ re~tricted amount to give a pleasing appearance to the
exterior of a building which has a large number of such-
venetian blinds therein. Certain proposals have been
made for restricting the rotation of the blind but none

..




.




of these is particularly satisfactory and many of them are
rather expensive to manufacture.
It is now proposed, according to the present invention,
to provide a tilter mechanism for the slats of a venetian blind,
said mechanism comprising a housing, means for mounting said
housing on a venetian blind headrail, an externally operable
worm rotatably mounted on said housing, a wormwheel rotatably
mounted on said housing in operative engagement with said worm,
an axial extension at each axial end of said wormwheel, a recess
10 in each of said extensions adapted to receive the end of a tilt
rod such that the tilt rod can be inserted into either one of
the recesses in said extensions and thus extend either to the
left or to the right of said wormwheel, engaging means provided
on each of said extensions, each of said engaging means being
15 engageable either by a locking device to hold said tilt rod in
place or by a rotation control member mountable on the
corresponding extension.
Such a structure can be manufactured relatively
simply and the same tilter mechanism can be used whether or not
20 one is intending to have the mechanism at one end of the blind
or the other. In other words the tilt rod can extend either
from the left side or from the right side of the tilter
mechanism.




~'



, -"~
~ ..,
. .~., , . ~ .. . . . .. .

~609~5



It is also proposed to provide a rotation control
member including two abutmentR, said control member.
being mountable on the other of said ex~ensions and
for stop means to be provided on said bracket engage~ble
by said abutments on said rotation control member to
restrict rotation thereof., the engageable means on each
of said extensions being engageable either by a locking
device to hold said tilt rod in place or by said
rotation control member, to define a particular rotational
p~ition of said control member on said other extensionO
The rotation control member advantageously
comprises at least one disc which ha~ a central opening,
and at least one notch extending radially outwardly.
from the central opening,and two radially outwardly
extending abutment surfaces adjacent the outer periphery
of said at least one disc, these surfaces forming the
abutments mentioned above~ The engaging means formed
on the extension~ of the wormwheel can then comprise a
: radially outwardly extending key on each of the axial
extensions, the key being engageable in the notch or
. notches of the disc,
Preferably the disc has a plurality of notches
which are equiangularly spaced from one another on the
: disc, whereby the rotational position of the diw can be
cho~en to give a particular rotational movement
possibility for the tilt rodO


~6~ 5


The locking device which may be provided~ can
be a spring which can be snap-fitted over the keyO For
example, the locking device can be in the form of a spring
clip which i8 mounta~le on the tilt rod and haY an oriice
adjacent one end which is engageable over the keyO
- A particular advantageous arrangement is one in
which each key has an inclined ramp surface at.the end
remote from the wormwheel, the spring clip having an
upturned end portion for sliding up the ramp surface,
whereby the orifice can snap over the end of the key which
is nearer to the wormwheelO The spring clip may, for
example, comprise a V-~haped member which ha~ openings in
each arm of the V, whereby the tilt rod can be pa~sed through
the openings to mount the ~pring clip on the tilt rod,
.one arm of the V having, at its free end, a bent-down end
portion which includes the orifice.
It is also contemplated, according to the
present invention, to provide a rotation control member for
controlling the rotation of a venetian blind tilt rod, said
rotation control member comprising at least one disc having
a central opening, a plurality of equiangularly spaced
notches extending radially outwardly from said central
: opening, two radially outwardly extending abutment surfaces
adjacent th,e outer periphery of said at lea~t one di~c,
said member being mountable upon the wormwheel of a
venetian blind tilter with one of the notche~ engaging a


9~s


key on the wormwheel and the abutment surfaces being
engageable with stops on the mountIng bracket of the
tilter to control rotation of the tilt rod.
In order that the invention may more readily
be understood, the following description i~ given, merely
by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying
drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a section through a venetian blindheadrail with one embodiment of tilter mechani.sm according
to the invention mounted therein,
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the tilter
mechanism of Figure 1,
Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing
a second embodiment of tilter mechanism in the headrail,
Figure 4 is an end view of the tilter of
Figure 3 showing the rotation control member, and
Figure 5 i8 a perspective view of the spring
: clip locking device of the mechanisms of Figures 1 to 4,
Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4, showing
an alternative rotation control member, and
Figure 7 i9 an exploded perspective view of the
rotation control member of Figure 6.
The tilter mechanism illustrated in Figures 1
and 2 is shown as mounted in a headrail 10 having a front
wall ll, a rear wall 12 and a lower web 13, The front and
rear walls 11 and 12 have inturned rim~ 14 and 15


09 ~5

respectively, as is conventional,
The tilter mechani~m is indicated by the
general reference numeral 16 and compri~es a bracket 17 on
which is mounted a housing 18, the bracket having lugs 19
which engage under the rim 15 while the housing 18 has a
portion 20 engaging under the rim 140
The front bottom portion 21 of the bracket prQjects
through an opening 22 formed in the headrailO
It wi l be noted that the lower wall 23 of the
bracket 17 is provided with two turned up stop lugs 24 and
25 which may be turned up for a reason to be explained later,
with reference to Figures 3 to 7O
Mounted for rotati.on within the housing 18 i~ a
worm 30 which may be driven by its ~haft 31 connected to
a conventional wand (not shown). A wormwheel 32 is
rotatable about an axi~ perpendicular to the axi~ of the
shaft 31 and is in operative engagement with the worm 30
so that rotation of the worm will cau~e rotation of the
wormwheel, in a conventional manner~
Extendlng axially from each end of the wormwheel
32 are extension~ 33 and 34 respectively, the~e being
provided with internal blind recesses 35 and 36 and are each
~ provided al~o with a radially outwardly extending key or
;~ projection 37,38~ It will be noted that each of the
projections 37,38 includes, at the end remote from the
wormwheel, an inclined ramp upper surface 39,400

9L~



Engaged in the hexagonal blind recess 36,
is a hexagonal tilt rod 60 and this is held in place by
a spring clip 61 which is shown in greater detail i~.
Figure 50 The spring clip is of a generally V-~haped.
-construction having two arm~ 62 and 63 provided with
square cross-section holes 64 and 65~ The arm 63 has~
at its free end, a bent-down end portion ~6 which is
provided with a central orifice 670 Beyond the orifice
67 the bent-down portion is bent up again at 680
In order to mount the tilt rod, one first of
all grips the two arms 62 and 63 and squeezes them qo that
they move toward~ one another and the tilt rod 60 is
passed through the openings 64 and 65 and the spring is
then releasedO The arrangement is such that the spring
clip will clamp on to the tilt rod and-will be difficult
to move axially of the tilt rod~ The square cross-
section of the orifices 64 and 65 is such as to engage two
of the faces of the hexagonal tilt rod and two of the
angles thereofO
The tilt rod is then moved so that its end
engages in the recesq 36 and at this time the tip of
the turn-up portion 68 will ride up the ramp surface 40
and will flex the bent-down portion 66 upwardlyO Continued
movement to the left, as ~een in Figure 2, will enable the
orifice 67 to pass beyond the end of the ramp 40 so that
it will ~nap down over the end of the key 380 This will


~6~9~5
--8--
then prevent the tilt rod from being moved to the right
and will hold it in placeO It will be appreciated that
the tilt rod could equally be mounted to extend to the
left, then being engaged in recess 35 in extension 33O
Figures 3 and 4 show a modified construction,
like parts being indicated by like reference numeraLs,
The figures show the mounting of a rotation control member
50 which is a disc.ha~ing approximate~y the same axial
length as the stops 24, 25 which are turned up to form
stops 24a, 25aO The disc 50 is provided with a central
opening 51 and with eight equiangularly spaced radially
outwardly extending notches 52~ On its outer periphery,
the disc 50 has an outer circumferential portion 53 of
reduced radius, this portion terminating in two abutments
54 and 55. This portion in fact extends around a control
angle of, in this instance, approximately 180, Of
course, a different angle could be chosen if it were so
desired.
It can be seen from Figure 3 that the disc 50
is mounted on the extension 33 and that it is so mounted
that one of the notches 53 i9 engaged on the key 37.
In order to hold the disc in place, a grub screw 56 is
provided and thi~ i5 used to locate the disc at the same
axial position as the stop 24aO
In use, rotation of the shaft 31 by means of the
wand (not shown) will cause the worm to rotate and the

il~609 ~;


wormwheel also to rotateO This in turn will cause
tilting of the tilt rod about its axis until the ab~tment
52 or 53, depending on the direction of rotation, abuts
the stop 24 whereupon further rotation will not be possibleO
It will be appreciated that if a different
angle is desired, then one simply selects a different one
of the notches 520
It will also be appreciated that this
construction also can be uced the other way~round, t~at is
with the tilt rod extending to the left rather than to the
right and with the rotation control disc on the right
rather than on the left~
The con~truction of the present invention is
relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and is of
universal use so that it can be operated either at one end
or the other and that the facility is provided for altering
the restriction of the rotation of the tilt rod, at will,
to suit any particular useO This alteration can be
achieved simply by selecting the particular one of the
notches 52 which one uses to locate on the key 37 or 38.
Of course, when the rotation control disc 50 is mounted on
the extension 34 engaging the key 38, the reduced section
portion 53 and the abutments 54 and 55 will cooperate with
the stop 25 rather than the stop 240
Figures6 and 7 show a different form of
: rotational control memberO A first disc 80 is provided with



--10--
a central opening 81 and eight equiangularly spaced
radially extending notches 820 On its outer periphery
83 the disc 80 has a radial abutment projection 850
A second disc 90 with a central opening 91 has a similar
radial abutment projection 850 Two axially e~te~ding,
arrow-headed bifurcated pins 86 on the disc 90 can be
engaged in two of eight cooperating apertures 87 in disc
80, these being located between adjacent notches 820
Before assembly the discs are rotated relat-ive to one
another as indicated by the arrows to gi.ve the desired
circumferential spacingO In a modification the discs
80 and 90 are made identical to one another and each has,
for example, 7 apertures and one pinO This will redwce
production costsO The assembled discs can be mounted
in the same way as described aboveO

Representative Drawing

Sorry, the representative drawing for patent document number 1160945 was not found.

Administrative Status

For a clearer understanding of the status of the application/patent presented on this page, the site Disclaimer , as well as the definitions for Patent , Administrative Status , Maintenance Fee  and Payment History  should be consulted.

Administrative Status

Title Date
Forecasted Issue Date 1984-01-24
(22) Filed 1980-01-30
(45) Issued 1984-01-24
Expired 2001-01-24

Abandonment History

There is no abandonment history.

Payment History

Fee Type Anniversary Year Due Date Amount Paid Paid Date
Application Fee $0.00 1980-01-30
Owners on Record

Note: Records showing the ownership history in alphabetical order.

Current Owners on Record
HUNTER DOUGLAS CANADA LIMITED
Past Owners on Record
None
Past Owners that do not appear in the "Owners on Record" listing will appear in other documentation within the application.
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Document
Description 
Date
(yyyy-mm-dd) 
Number of pages   Size of Image (KB) 
Drawings 1993-11-22 3 81
Claims 1993-11-22 4 141
Abstract 1993-11-22 1 47
Cover Page 1993-11-22 1 14
Description 1993-11-22 10 345