US5454414A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Window blind material and window covering assembly
Assignee: Hunter Douglas Inc
•
Filing: 1992-10-20
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Granted: 1995-10-03
•
Expires: 2012-10-20
Abstract
Abstract A window blind material and window blind assembly is formed by a front sheet and a rear sheet, both of translucent or transparent light transmitting material. A plurality of spaced, intermediate, parallel, preferably opaque or semi-opaque, vanes are secured between the sheets. The vanes can be positioned to control the transmission of light by movement of the sheets relative to one another. A tilt member connected to the sheets is rotated to position the sheets and vanes. A bottom rail is secured to the sheets.
Inventors
- 👤 Wendell B. Colson
- 👤 James M. Anthony
- 👤 Brad H. Oberg
- 👤 Cornelis M. Jansen
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 12:13
CPC Classifications
E; E06; E06B; E06B9/00; E06B9/24; E06B9/26; E06B9/28; E06B9/34; E06B3/00; E06B3/92; E06B3/94; E06B9/262; E06B9/30; E06B9/36; E06B2009/2423; E06B2009/2435
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
251 words
A window blind comprising in combination, a front light transmitting sheet having a plurality of parallel alternately forwardly and rearwardly directed pleats formed therein, a rear light transmitting sheet spaced apart from said front sheet in substantially parallel relation therewith and having a plurality of parallel alternately forwardly and rearwardly directed pleats formed therein, each forwardly directly pleat on one of said sheets in a neutral position of said window blind being in alignment with a rearwardly directed pleat on the other of said sheets, and a plurality of substantially parallel relatively non-light transmitting vanes having opposite side edges, one side edge of each vane being attached to said front sheet and the other side edge being attached to said rear sheet, whereby when one of said sheets is moved with respect to the other of said sheets from said neutral position in one direction of movement transverse to said vanes, said vanes are caused to lie perpendicular to said sheets whereby to allow passage of light through the blind material, and when said sheets are moved relative to each other from said neutral position in the opposite direction of movement said vanes are caused to at least partially block the passage of light through the blind material, and wherein said one side edge of each vane is attached to said front sheet adjacent to a forwardly extending pleat thereof and said other side edge of each vane is attached to said rear sheet adjacent to a forwardly extending pleat thereof.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
251 words
A window blind comprising in combination, a front light transmitting sheet having a plurality of parallel alternately forwardly and rearwardly directed pleats formed therein, a rear light transmitting sheet spaced apart from said front sheet in substantially parallel relation therewith and having a plurality of parallel alternately forwardly and rearwardly directed pleats formed therein, each forwardly directly pleat on one of said sheets in a neutral position of said window blind being in alignment with a rearwardly directed pleat on the other of said sheets, and a plurality of substantially parallel relatively non-light transmitting vanes having opposite side edges, one side edge of each vane being attached to said front sheet and the other side edge being attached to said rear sheet, whereby when one of said sheets is moved with respect to the other of said sheets from said neutral position in one direction of movement transverse to said vanes, said vanes are caused to lie perpendicular to said sheets whereby to allow passage of light through the blind material, and when said sheets are moved relative to each other from said neutral position in the opposite direction of movement said vanes are caused to at least partially block the passage of light through the blind material, and wherein said one side edge of each vane is attached to said front sheet adjacent to a forwardly extending pleat thereof and said other side edge of each vane is attached to said rear sheet adjacent to a forwardly extending pleat thereof.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
59 words
The window blind of claim 1 wherein said one side edge and said other side edge of said vanes being attached to the front sheet and the rear sheet such that said edges extend parallel to each other in said neutral position of the window blind and the vane between said edges extends in a generally S shaped curve.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
41 words
The window blind of claim 1 wherein said vanes extend vertically and further including a horizontal guide track; and a plurality of sliding carriers connected to the upper end of at least some of said vanes and slidable in said track.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
105 words
The window blind of claim 3 and further comprising: a) a further sliding carrier mounted on said horizontal guide track for movement therealong; b) a first elongate end rail connected to said further sliding carrier, said first end rail hanging vertically from said further sliding carrier and moveable with said further sliding carrier as said further sliding carrier moves along said track, said first end rail being connected to one of said front and rear sheets; and c) a second elongate end rail connected to the other of said front and rear sheets at the end of said window covering opposite said first end rail.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
52 words
The window blind of claim 3, wherein the one edge of each vane is connected to the rear, interior, face of a forwardly extending pleat of the front sheet and the other edge of each vane is connected to the front interior face of a forwardly extending pleat of the rear sheet.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
52 words
The window blind of claim 3, wherein the one edge of each vane is connected to the rear, interior, face of a rearwardly extending pleat of the front sheet and the other edge of each vane is connected to the forward interior face of a forwardly extending pleat of the rear sheet.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
86 words
The window blind of claim 3, further comprising means moving an end one of said carriers along said horizontal guide track, whereby movement in one direction will cause said one end carrier to abut and move the next adjacent carrier in said one direction and subsequent carriers will also be moved, effective to open said window covering, and movement in the opposite direction will cause said one carrier to pull the next adjacent carrier and subsequent carriers will be pulled effective to close said window covering.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
17 words
The window blind of claim 7, further comprising spacer means connecting adjacent carriers at a predetermined spacing.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
96 words
The window blind of claim 1, further including a hanger associated with each of said sliding carriers, said hangers being connected to the upper end of at least some of the vanes; and means to simultaneously rotate said hangers and thereby all of said vanes whereby when said hangers are rotated in one sense, the vanes are caused to lie parallel, thereby to allow passage of light through the blind and when said hangers are tilted in the opposite sense, adjacent vanes are caused to overlap, and thereby block the passage of light through the blind.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
105 words
The window blind of claim 9 and further comprising: a) a further sliding carrier mounted on said horizontal guide track for movement therealong; b) a first elongate end rail connected to said further sliding carrier, said first end rail hanging vertically from said further sliding carrier and moveable with said further sliding carrier as said further sliding carrier moves along said track, said first end rail being connected to one of said front and rear sheets; and c) a second elongate end rail connected to the other of said front and rear sheets at the end of said window covering opposite said first end rail.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
86 words
The window blind of claim 9, further comprising means moving an end one of said carriers along said horizontal guide track, whereby movement in one direction will cause said one end carrier to abut and move the next adjacent carrier in said one direction and subsequent carriers will also be moved, effective to open said window covering, and movement in the opposite direction will cause said one carrier to pull the next adjacent carrier and subsequent carriers will be pulled effective to close said window covering.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
17 words
The window blind of claim 11, further comprising spacer means connecting adjacent carriers at a predetermined spacing.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
24 words
The window blind of claim 9, wherein said front and rear sheets each comprise a plurality of transverse, parallel alternate forward and rearward pleats.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
52 words
The window blind of claim 13, wherein the one edge of each vane is connected to the rear, interior, face of a forwardly extending pleat of the front sheet and the other edge of each vane is connected to the front interior face of a forwardly extending pleat of the rear sheet.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
52 words
The window blind of claim 13, wherein the one edge of each vane is connected to the rear, interior, face of a rearwardly extending pleat of the front sheet and the other edge of each vane is connected to the forward interior face of a forwardly extending pleat of the rear sheet.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
251 words
A window blind comprising in combination, a front light transmitting sheet having a plurality of parallel alternately forwardly and rearwardly directed pleats formed therein, a rear light transmitting sheet spaced apart from said front sheet in substantially parallel relation therewith and having a plurality of parallel alternately forwardly and rearwardly directed pleats formed therein, each forwardly directly pleat on one of said sheets in a neutral position of said window blind being in alignment with a rearwardly directed pleat on the other of said sheets, and a plurality of substantially parallel relatively non-light transmitting vanes having opposite side edges, one side edge of each vane being attached to said front sheet and the other side edge being attached to said rear sheet, whereby when one of said sheets is moved with respect to the other of said sheets from said neutral position in one direction of movement transverse to said vanes, said vanes are caused to lie perpendicular to said sheets whereby to allow passage of light through the blind material, and when said sheets are moved relative to each other from said neutral position in the opposite direction of movement said vanes are caused to at least partially block the passage of light through the blind material, and wherein said one side edge of each vane is attached to said front sheet adjacent to a rearwardly extending pleat thereof and said other side edge of each vane is attached to said rear sheet adjacent to a forwardly extending pleat thereof.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
251 words
A window blind comprising in combination, a front light transmitting sheet having a plurality of parallel alternately forwardly and rearwardly directed pleats formed therein, a rear light transmitting sheet spaced apart from said front sheet in substantially parallel relation therewith and having a plurality of parallel alternately forwardly and rearwardly directed pleats formed therein, each forwardly directly pleat on one of said sheets in a neutral position of said window blind being in alignment with a rearwardly directed pleat on the other of said sheets, and a plurality of substantially parallel relatively non-light transmitting vanes having opposite side edges, one side edge of each vane being attached to said front sheet and the other side edge being attached to said rear sheet, whereby when one of said sheets is moved with respect to the other of said sheets from said neutral position in one direction of movement transverse to said vanes, said vanes are caused to lie perpendicular to said sheets whereby to allow passage of light through the blind material, and when said sheets are moved relative to each other from said neutral position in the opposite direction of movement said vanes are caused to at least partially block the passage of light through the blind material, and wherein said one side edge of each vane is attached to said front sheet adjacent to a rearwardly extending pleat thereof and said other side edge of each vane is attached to said rear sheet adjacent to a forwardly extending pleat thereof.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
33 words
A window blind as defined in claim 16 wherein said vanes in the neutral position of the window blind form substantially straight planar extensions from said pleats of the front and rear sheets.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
54 words
The window blind of claim 16 wherein said vanes in the neutral position of the window blind extend the full width of one pleat in the front or rear sheets and wherein one side edge of a vane in the neutral position is aligned with the other side edge of the next adjacent vane.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1998-10-02 | 1999-04-03 | 1999-10-03 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2002-10-02 | 2003-04-03 | 2003-10-03 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2006-10-02 | 2007-04-03 | 2007-10-03 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |