Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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1 The present invention relates to a travelling carriage
for strips of vertical blinds.
Travelling carriages of the above-mentioned general type
are known in the art. A known tra~elling carriage has a housing
and a pivot pin which is supported in the housing for pivoting
about a vertical axis and is connected with a toothed rim whose
teeth engage with the teeth of a mating member. The strips of a
vertical blind are connected by their upper ends with the pivot
pins of the travelling carriages, and the latter run in a bearing
rail in a horizontal direction. In most cases, the carriages are
provided with rollers which make easier the travelling of carri-
ages, particularly in the event when vertical blinds of greater
sizes are utilized. The pivot pins are supported in the upper
wall and the lower wall of the housing at two locations near the
engagement of their toothed rims with the teeth of the mating
member, The mating member is formed as a worm gear, and together
with the toothed rim of the pivot pins forms the pivot drive.
With the aid of the above-mentioned pivot drive, the pivot pins
are rotated about their longitudinal axes, so that the strips can
be turned in both directions about a vertical axis. Means is
provided for preventing damage to the carriage during turning or
pivoting movements of the strips, in the event that one or several
strips meets a hindrance or in condition when the strips ~pproach
each other being assembled at one side of the blind. This means
is formed as a slipping clutch arranged between the pivot drive
and the pivot pin. The slipping clutch in known constructions in-
cludes a friction seat provided on the toothed rim of the pivot
pin. Such a friction seat possesses, however, several disadvantages.
The frictional engagement of the coupling decreases in condition
of frequent use of the latter. Since there are no constrained
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1 positions between the toothed rim and the pivot pin, the return
movement of the strips to their initial positions poses a problem
and is often responsible for non-uniform positions of the strips.
The clipping clutch requires a separate manufacturing process and
makes difficult the mounting of the parts of the carriage with the
pivot drive, so that the slipping clutch constitutes a considerable
part of the manufacturing expenses of the carriage.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to
provide a travelling carriage for strips of vertical blinds, which
avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention
to provide a travelling carriage for strips of vertical blinds,
which provides for required safety of operation without utilization
of a slipping clutch.
In keeping with these objects and with others which will
become apparent hereinafter, one feature of the present invention
resides, briefly stated, in a travelling carriage having a housing,
a pivot pin connectable with a strip and pivotable about a vertical
axis, a mating member pivotable about a horizontal axis and pivoting
the pivot pin, wherein the pivot pin is supported in the housing
tiltable with respect to the vertical axis, so that the pivot pin
can disengage from the mating member upon tilting. Thereby, the
drive of the pivot pin is interrupted and the pivot pin, together
with the strip carried thereby, no longer pivots about the vertical
axis .
In accordance with advantageous features of the present
invention, the pivot pin is supported in a lower wall of the housing
in a floating manner, so that the pivot pin, under the action of
elastic deformation of the housing wall and/or the utilization of
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1 a respectively dimensioned play, can tilt laterally and thereby
interrupt the engagement between teeth of a toothed rim of the
pivot pin and teeth of the mating member.
This solution possesses the disadvantage, as compared
with the slipping clutch, that the material tension of the de-
formed housing wall always acts in direction towards the teeth
engagement. Thereby the deviation of the strip position from
the normal position because of a hindrance of the like always
corresponds to a tooth pitch or a multiple of the same. A known
return member which in most cases acts at a pile location of the
strips, can return the strips by this predetermined deviation to
their normal position.
The considerable advantage of the travelling carriage in
accordance with the present invention is that it no longer requires
a particular slipping clutch, and that the safety member of the
inventive construction is not subjected to the action of undesir-
able wear. In order to provide for desired elastic deformability
of the housing and to substantially determine the material tension,
the housing is constituted of a suitably synthetic plastic mater-
ial and is U-shaped as seen in a side view. The housing has a
shell-shaped upper wall which is located at a radially opposite
side of the pivot pin (at one side of which the mating member is
located) and forms an abutment for an upper portion of the pivot
pin.
In accordance with still another feature of the present
invention, the pivot pin is provided inside the housing with an
abutment member constituted of a synthetic plastic material and
fixedly connected with the pivot pin, preferably of one piece with
the latter. The housing is, in turn, provided with an abutment
against which the abutment member of the pivot pin abuts in the
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1 end positions of the latter. For making easier the mounting of
the parts of the carriage, and making simple the manufacture of
the same, the pivot pin can be manufactured of one piece with
the above-mentioned abutment member and inserted into the housing
from above through an open upper side of the housing. During this
insertion, the deformability of the lower housing wall of the
carriage is utilized.
A further feature of the present inven~ion which ad-
ditionally contributes to the purpose of making simpler the manu-
facture of the carriage is embodied in the fact that the pivot pin
at its lower end is provided with eccentricland one-sided enlarge-
ment, and the housing in its lower wall is provided with a respec-
tive eccentric and one-sided recess of a bearing opening for the
pivot pin, the recess corresponding to the above-mentioned enlarge-
ment. This construction provides for an increased supporting face
of the pivot pin for the strip at the location of hanging of the
latter, which is advantageous for the force transmission. In addi-
tion, it allows the above-mentioned mounting of the pivot pin from
above through open upper side of the housing.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic
for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims.
The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its
method of operation, together with additional objects and advan-
tages thereof, will be best understood from the following descrip-
tion of preferred embodiments when read in connection with the
accompanying drawing.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a blind formed as a vertical
jalousie;
FIG. 2 is a view showing a vertical section of a tràvel-
ling carriage in accordance with the present invention;
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1 FIG. 3 is a side view of the housing of the travelling
carriage of FIG. 2;
FIG, 4 iS a view showing a section taken along the line
IV-IV of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a view showing a section taken along the line
5-5 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 6 is a side view of the pivot pin of the carriage
in accordance with the present invention, in direction of the
line 6-6 in FIG. 2.
FIG. 1 shows a vertical blade which has a bearing rail
2 provided with mounting means, and a plurality of strips 1 which
hang from the bearing rail and move relative to the latter. The
strips 2 can be disp~ced laterally, for example, by a rope 3, and
can pivot about their vertical axes by a chain 4. A travelling
carriage for each strip 1 displaces in the bearing rail 2 in sliding
or prefereably rolling manner.
The travelling carriage has a housing identified by
reference numeral 5 and a pivot pin 6 identified by reference numeral
6 and supported in the housing 5 pivotally about a vertical lon-
2a gitudinal axis of the pivot pin. The ~ivot pin 6 carries atoothed rim 7 whose teeth engage with the teeth of a mating member
formed as a worm gear 8. The worm gear 8 is axially displaceable
on a spline shaft 9 which is pivotable and actuated by the chain 4.
The housing 5 is U-shaped as seen in a side view, and
has an open upper side, One leg of the housing 5 serves as a sup-
port for the worm gear 8. The pivot pin 6 is mounted only in a
lower wall 10 of the housing 5 and thereby is supported in a float
ing manner. The housing 5 and more particularly its lower wall 10
is constituted of an elastically deformable synthetic plastic ma-
terial. In addition, the wall 10 is profiled so as to contribute
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l to the elastic deformation of the same and make easier its de-
termi.nation in the respective construction of the carriage.
When one or several strips, for example, meet a hindrance, the
pivot pin 6 can be tilted with respect to the vertical axis so
that the teeth of the pivot pin 6 disengages from the teeth
of the worm gear 8.
The pivot pin 6 may extend through an opening in the
lower wall 10 with a respective play so as to further allow the
above-mentioned tilting of the pivot pin 6 about the tilting
axis. The housing 5 has an upper leg which is located at one
side of the pivot pin 6, the one side being opposite to the side
at which the worm gear 8 is located. The upper leg is formed as
a ~upporting shell for an upper end portion of the pivot pin 6.
The pivot pin 6 is provided with an abutment member 11 which is
arranged to abut against an abutment 12 of the housing 5 in end
positions of the pivotal movement of the pivot pin 6.
The pivot pin 6 has a lower end portion provided with
a hook structure 13. The strip 1 with its ear is suspended from
the hooked structure 13. The contact face of the pivit pin 6
with the strip l is provided on a one-sided e-centric enlarge-
ment 14, to improve force transmission between the pivot pin 6
and the strip 1. A bearing opening formed in the lower wall
10 for receiving the pivot pin 6 is provided, with a recess
15 which corresponds to the above-mentioned enlargement 14.
When during mounting of the carriage the pivot pin 6 is in-
serted into the housing from above through the open upper
side of the same, the enlargement 14 extends through the
recess 15 as can be seen from the drawing.
It will be understood that each of the elements described
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1 above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application
in other types of constructions differing from the types described
above.
While the invention has been illustrated and described
as embodied in a travelling carriage for strips of vertical blinds,
it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since
various modifications and structural changes may be made without
departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
