HK1141570B - Rolling shutter assembly - Google Patents

Description

Rolling curtain assembly

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a protective roller blind. The roller blind includes an assembly for covering a window or door of a building, which can be compactly rolled into a housing when not in use.

Background

Protective roller blinds have long been used to protect against extreme weather conditions (e.g., hurricanes) and to prevent theft. Typically, protective roller shades are made of a plurality of slats or slats hinged to one another. When deployed, the curtain sheet or panel forms a surface that covers the opening of the building. When not in use, the curtain or slats are stored in a housing or casing. The slats or panels are typically stored wound about rods or shafts. Examples of such roller shades are disclosed in U.S. patent No. 5,575,322 to Miller, entitled "Rolling Protective curtains," which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As shown in fig. 1 and 2 of that patent, the roller shade of Miller is comprised of a plurality of individual slats and a plurality of hinges interconnecting the slats. The slats include a first set of slats and a second set of slats. Each of the slats in the first and second sets are alternately disposed such that each hinge is connected to one of the slats in the first set and one of the slats in the second set. The roller shade assembly also includes a pair of roller shade track arrangements for rolling the roller shade from an extended state to a retracted state in which the roller shade is rolled up onto the roller shade support. The size of the housing required to accommodate the roller shade is substantially greater than the depth of the roller shade when deployed and extends a distance from the building as shown in figure 1 of that patent. Prior Art

U.S. patent No. 5,575,322 to Miller discloses a rolling shutter assembly for covering a door or window opening. The curtain is formed from a plurality of interconnected panels. The plates are two different sets of plates. The two sets of plates are of different sizes and connections. Each plate of the two sets of plates is alternately interconnected. This arrangement allows the first set of panels to occupy a horizontal position when deployed and the second set of panels to occupy a vertical or angled position when deployed. The second set of panels provides protection against high winds and weather. A problem with this type of construction is that the panels can have a large diameter when rolled up on an assembly for storage.

U.S. patent No. 6,422,289 to Miller also discloses a rolling shutter assembly for covering a door or window opening. The shade is designed to be rolled up onto the shade support member for storage when not in use. Various embodiments of shutter slats are disclosed. In a first embodiment, the slats are curved and may (or may not) include rollers for guiding the slats in the tracks as they are raised or lowered. In other embodiments, the shutter slats are flat and are interconnected using a variety of different hinge connections. However, none of these embodiments provide a compact small diameter unit when the shade is rolled up to the shade support for storage.

U.S. patent No. 6,779,582 to Heissenberg discloses a collapsible hurricane curtain assembly that provides temporary coverage of openings in a building to prevent damage to the interior of the building from wind, debris and water from hurricanes and other inclement weather conditions.

U.S. patent No. 7,069,700 to Heissenberg discloses a system for covering fasteners on building exterior walls for installing hurricane or storm curtains. The system includes a mounting rail for the fastener and a cover plate that is pivotable about one side of the rail. The cover typically covers the unused fasteners and pivots outwardly to allow access to the fasteners to attach the shade to the fasteners.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to a rolling shutter assembly comprising a plurality of shutter slats designed to fit closely together when in a rolled-up state, thereby substantially reducing the diameter of the rolled-up shutter assembly. The reduced diameter of the shutter assembly allows the shutter assembly to use a smaller housing. The smaller housing provides a more aesthetically pleasing assembly and reduces the material required for the assembly housing, thereby reducing the cost of the shutter assembly. The rolling shutter assembly includes a shutter support member, a shutter coupled to the shutter support member, and a plurality of rails guiding the shutter to ascend or descend. The shutter slats include a hinge connection formed along each edge portion of the slat.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a rolling shutter assembly comprising a plurality of shutter slats designed to fit closely together when in a stored condition.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a rolling shutter assembly that provides protection against hurricanes and high winds for an opening in a building in an extended condition.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a roller shade assembly formed from a plurality of shade assemblies, each panel of the shade assemblies having the same size or width.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a roller shade assembly having a substantially smaller diameter in a stored condition.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following exemplary description of specific embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. Any drawings contained herein form a part of the specification, include exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and illustrate various objects and features.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the rolling shutter assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the rolling shutter assembly of the present invention in an extended state;

fig. 3A and 3B are side views of the rolling shutter assembly of the present invention showing different lengths of the shutter assembly in an extended state;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2 of the rolling shutter assembly of the present invention in a stored condition;

fig. 5A through 5J are end views of shutter slats of the present invention having different sizes.

Detailed Description

While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described a preferred (non-limiting) embodiment with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiment illustrated.

Broadly stated, the present invention comprises a roller shade assembly comprised of a plurality of discrete shade accessories. The first fitting is sized to substantially surround the shade mounting member. Each subsequent discrete shutter assembly is sized to substantially surround the previous discrete shutter assembly until the desired coverage is achieved. This assembly of discrete fittings is unique in its ability to be stacked in a particularly compact manner about the shade mount, so that the overall diameter is substantially smaller than prior art roller shade assemblies.

An exemplary, but non-limiting, embodiment of a rolling shutter assembly 10 of the present invention is shown in fig. 1 and 2. The shutter assembly housing 12 includes an upper wall 14, a rear wall 16, a front wall 18, side walls 20, and a lower wall 22. A shade support 24 is mounted for rotation within the housing on a support 26 attached to the side wall 20 of the housing. The shade mounting member 28 is secured to a shaft 30 of the shade support member 24.

Fig. 1 and 2 show the roller shade 32 in a rolled or unrolled state. The roller blind comprises a plurality of blind slats fixed to each other. Fig. 5A to 5J show side views of some of the plates 70-88. In the preferred embodiment, these shutter slats are made of aluminum, but they could also be made of steel or any other suitable material. The material must be able to withstand high winds and prevent objects carried by the high winds from entering the opening covered by the roller blind. The roller shade 32 is connected at its upper portion to the shade mounting member 28 by a top plate 34 of the roller shade 32, as shown in fig. 4. A cylindrical socket 36 is fixed or formed at an outer peripheral portion of curtain mount 28. A substantially hollow cylindrical connector 38 is secured within the cylindrical socket 36. The combination of the connector and the cylindrical socket is also known as a hinged joint (knucklejoint). The connector 38 is mounted along an edge portion of the shutter slat 34. Another cylindrical socket 42 is mounted along the edge of the shutter slat 34 opposite the edge on which the connector 38 is mounted. The connector 44 of the second shutter slat 46 is secured within the cylindrical socket 42. The second shutter slat 46 includes a cylindrical socket 48 mounted along an edge portion thereof. The connector 50 of the third shutter slat 52 is secured within the cylindrical socket 48. The third curtain plate includes a cylindrical socket 54 mounted along an edge portion thereof. The connector 56 of the fourth shutter slat 58 is secured within the cylindrical socket 54 of the third shutter slat. The fourth shutter slat includes a cylindrical socket 60 mounted along an edge portion thereof. When the curtain is in its rolled up or stored state, the cylindrical socket 60 is located adjacent to the original cylindrical socket 36. A panel set is formed with four shutter slats, each sized and shaped similarly to shutter slat 70 of fig. 5A. The curtain slat sets substantially surround the curtain mounting members 28. This group of shutter slats is referred to as a shutter assembly.

Attached to shutter slat 58 is a second set of shutter slats or second subassembly 62, 64, 66, and 68. The slats are interconnected by the same cylindrical socket and connector or hinge joint. This is described above in the description of shutter slats 34, 46, 52 and 58. The four shutter slats (62, 64, 66, and 68) substantially surround the previous four shutter slats 34, 46, 52, and 58. As shown in FIG. 4, a second group of shutter plates or fittings 62, 64, 66 and 68 nest on and contact the innermost fitting formed by plates 34, 46, 52 and 58. The second fittings 62, 64, 66 and 68 substantially surround the innermost fitting. The cylindrical socket 69 of the fourth plate 68 of the second fitting is located adjacent the cylindrical socket 60 of the fourth plate 58 of the first fitting. The socket 69 is also located adjacent the connector 61 of the first plate 62 of the second fitting, forming an almost complete circle. The second fittings 62, 64, 66 and 68 substantially surround the innermost fitting. The diameter of the second fitting is only slightly larger than the diameter of the first or innermost fitting. This arrangement of shutter fittings enables a substantially compact rolling shutter assembly when the shutter assembly is in its stored state. The second group of shutter slats, or second subassembly, is formed from four shutter slats similar in size and shape to shutter slat 72 of fig. 5B.

Each subsequent slat subassembly or group of slats is formed from four slats having the same size. Each of these four shutter slats is of a larger size than the shutter slats in the previous subassembly. The third subassembly includes four shutter slats similar to shutter slat 74 of fig. 5C, the fourth subassembly includes four shutter slats similar to shutter slat 76 of fig. 5D, and so on. Each subsequent shutter slat assembly nests upon and contacts a previous shutter slat assembly as shown in fig. 4. When the shutter assembly is in the deployed state shown in FIG. 3B, each subsequent assembly is longer than the previous shutter assembly. The first shutter assembly or group 90 is shorter than the second shutter assembly or group 92. Each of the subsequent shutter subassemblies 94-108 is longer than its preceding shutter subassembly. The last shutter subassembly is sized to fit the remainder of the opening protected by the shutter. The final shade assembly may include less than four shades. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3B, the last shutter subassembly includes only one plate.

The shutter slats are interconnected by placing the connector of one shutter slat within the cylindrical socket of the next shutter slat. As shown in FIG. 1, a guide pin 110 is secured to the link at each end of the shutter slats. The guide pin 110 moves vertically along a track 112 of a guide track 114. The guide rails 114 are disposed on the left and right sides of the opening protected by the rolling shutter assembly. The rail 114 is secured to the building by fasteners 116. A protective cap 118 may be attached to the exposed end of the fastener 116 to protect the fastener from various factors. The plurality of guide pins 110 enable the roll screen 32 to be unrolled from the housing 12 and rolled into the housing 12. The guide pins 110 also secure the curtain slats to the guide tracks 114 so that high winds and flying debris do not move the curtain assembly into the opening that it covers.

As shown in fig. 1, the base plate 120 is fixed to the lowermost plate of the roll screen 32. The base plate is attached to the cylindrical socket of the lowermost shutter slat of the roller shutter 32. The base plate 120 rests on the ground to prevent the invasion of weather elements (e.g., wind and rain) and insects. The rod 122 is fixed to the cylindrical socket of the lowermost plate. The rod 122 has left and right movable end members 124 and 126. The movable end member is normally retracted within the rod 122 and does not extend beyond the end of the shutter slat. When the roller shade 32 is unrolled to its fully unrolled state, the end members 124 and 126 extend outwardly into the track 112 of the guide rail 114. The rod 122 and end members 124, 126 help secure the lowermost end of the base plate 120 and roller shade 32 to the lowermost portion of the guide rail 114. Means may be provided for locking the end members 124 and 126 to the rail 114.

The roller shade is also prevented from pivoting inwardly into the opening by a plurality of hooks formed on the connector and cylindrical socket. As shown in fig. 5A, the shutter slat 70 has a hook 130 formed on the inside of its cylindrical socket 71. The hook 130 extends substantially along the length of the cylindrical socket 71. Another hook 132 is formed on the outside of the connecting member 73 of the plate 70. The operation of these hooks will now be described using the rolling shutter assembly of fig. 4. The hook 130 is formed within the cylindrical socket 42 of the first shutter slat 34. Corresponding hooks 132 are formed on the exterior of the attachment 44 of the second plate 46. When the panel is unfolded from its stored condition, the connector 44 of the panel 46 is rotated counterclockwise relative to the cylindrical socket 42 of the panel 34. When the panels are unfolded to the vertical position as shown in fig. 1, the hooks 130 and 132 engage each other. This arrangement prevents the roller shade 32 from pivoting and bending in the direction opposite to the direction in which it is rolled up for storage. This enhances the protection against high winds.

All patents and publications mentioned herein are indicative of the levels of those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. All such patents and publications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

It is to be understood that while a particular form of the invention has been illustrated, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form or arrangement herein described and shown. Those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, which is not to be considered limited to what is shown and described in the specification and drawings hereof.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and obtain the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as those inherent therein. The embodiments, methods, procedures and techniques described herein are representative of preferred embodiments and are exemplary and not intended as limitations on the scope. Variations and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art which are encompassed within the spirit of the invention and defined by the appended claims. While the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described embodiments which are obvious to those skilled in the art for carrying out the invention are intended to be within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (8)

1. A retractable rolling shutter assembly operable between an extended state and a stored state, the assembly comprising:

a shade support;

a starting curtain accessory having a predetermined number of first independent plates mechanically engaged with each other; each of the individual panels including an upper connector attached to an upper edge thereof and a lower connector attached to a lower edge thereof, a distance between the upper connector and the lower connector defining a panel length, each of the upper connectors being interconnected with the lower connector of an adjacent panel to form a joint; each of the first individual plates has a first length sufficient to make a first helical rotation about the shade support when stored about the shade support such that the lower connector of the last first individual plate of the starting shade assembly is adjacent to the upper connector fitting of the first individual plate of the starting shade assembly;

at least one subsequent second shutter subassembly having a predetermined number of second individual plates mechanically coupled to one another as compared to the first individual plates included in the starting shutter subassembly; each of the second independent plates has a second length greater than the first length such that the second length is sufficient to rotate about the first spiral to form an almost complete circle such that the lower link of the last second independent plate of the second curtain assembly is adjacent to the upper link of the first independent plate of the second curtain assembly to define a second spiral about the curtain support to reduce the overall size of the rolling curtain assembly.

2. The retractable rolling shutter assembly of claim 1, wherein the body portion of the first and second independent plates of each of the shutter accessories is in contact with the previously configured body portions of the first and second independent plates of the shutter accessory when the rolling shutter assembly is in its stored state.

3. The retractable blind assembly of claim 1, wherein the width of the plates of each successive blind assembly increases so that each successive assembly has a length that can rotate about a previous spiral such that the lower link of the last second independent plate of the previous blind assembly is adjacent to the upper link of the first independent plate of the previous blind assembly to form an additional spiral about the blind support.

4. The retractable rolling shutter assembly of claim 1, wherein the upper and lower connectors are substantially cylindrical, one of the upper and lower connectors being located within the other of the upper and lower connectors, thereby forming a pivotal connection between adjacent panels.

5. The retractable rolling shutter assembly of claim 4, wherein hooks are integrally formed on the upper and lower connectors, the hooks engaging each other to prevent the plates from rotating past a certain point with respect to each other.

6. The retractable rolling shutter assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the plates is curved along a plane extending between the upper and lower connectors.

7. The retractable rolling shutter assembly of claim 1, further comprising a housing substantially enclosing the rolling shutter assembly when the rolling shutter assembly is in a stored state.

8. The retractable rolling shutter assembly of claim 7, further comprising:

a rail secured to each side of the opening, each distal end of each of the rails being secured within a respective one of the rails.