US20070175593A1

US20070175593A1 - Roman shade with folding sheets

Info

Publication number: US20070175593A1
Application number: US11/344,203
Authority: US
Inventors: Tzong-Fu Lin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-02-01
Filing date: 2006-02-01
Publication date: 2007-08-02

Abstract

A roman shade with folding sheets includes a head rail, two brakes, two cords, two ladder tapes each having a top mounted to the head rail and comprising folding members, foldable sheets, and rings provided on the ladder tapes and connected to the top ends of the sheets. A bottom of the bottom sheet is mounted to a bottom of the ladder tape. Each ring is mounted about one cord which having its bottom end tied off at a top of the bottom sheet. Pulling one cord will raise or lower the sheets. Each folding member has a top mounted to the top of the sheet. The other cord is connected to bottoms of the folding members. Pulling the other cord will lift bottoms of the folding members to wrap the sheets about the tops thereof. Stopping pulling either cord will position the shade or the sheets at a desired position.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to window coverings, and more particularly to a retractable roman shade with improved characteristics.
2. Related Art
A conventional type of covering for window or the like is known as a roman shade. The shade comprises a head rail, and a sheet of drapery material connected to a bottom of the head rail. A brake is provided in the head rail. A cord is connected to the head rail and is extended therethrough. The sheet comprises a plurality of lateral folds. Two columns of apertures are formed on the folds. The cord passes the columns of apertures to tie off at the bottom aperture. It is thus possible of positioning the shade at any one of a plurality of intermediate positions from its retracted position to its extended position by appropriately manipulating the cord.
However, the well known roman shade does not meet the trend due to lack of change and others. Thus, continuing improvements in the exploitation of roman shade are constantly being sought.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a roman shade with folding sheets being adapted to either retract or extend by manipulating one cord or have its constituent sheets to wrap by manipulating the other cord for providing another fashion of regulating the light passing through.
To achieve the above and other objects, the present invention provides a shade comprising a head rail; a lift control assembly comprising two brakes mounted to the head rail, two cords adapted to pass a corresponding one of the brakes, and two ladder tapes each having a top end mounted to the head rail and comprising a plurality of folding members; a plurality of foldable sheets inclined forward, the sheets being spaced apart between the top ends and bottom ends of the ladder tapes wherein a bottom end of the bottom sheet is mounted to the bottom end of the ladder tape; and a plurality of rings formed on the ladder tapes and connected to the top ends of the sheets, each ring being mounted about one cord; wherein one cord has its bottom end tied off at the top end of the bottom sheet such that pulling one cord will raise or lower the sheets, and stopping the pulling will position the shade at one of a plurality of positions from a retracted position to an extended position by lockingly engaging one brake with one cord; and each folding member has a top end mounted to the top end of the sheet, the other cord is connected to bottom ends of the folding members such that pulling the other cord will lift the bottom ends of the folding members to wrap the sheets about the top ends thereof, and stopping the pulling will position the sheets at one of a plurality of positions the wrapped position to an extended position thereof by lockingly engaging the other brake with the other cord.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a preferred embodiment of roman shade with folding sheets according to the invention where the shade is in an extended position;
FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 where the shade is in a retracted position;
FIG. 3 is a rear view of the shade in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of a portion of the shade showing a number of sheets in its extended position;
FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the shade showing all of the sheets in its wrapped position; and
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 6, a shade (e.g., roman shade) in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a head rail 10, a lift control assembly 20, and a plurality of rectangular sheets 30 capable of wrapping around. Each component is discussed in detailed below.
The lift control assembly 20 comprises two brakes 21 mounted to a bottom of the head rail 10. Either one of cords 22 and 23 is adapted to pass the corresponding brake 21. The lift control assembly 20 further comprises two vertical ladder tapes 24 having a top end mounted to the bottom of the head rail 10. The foldable sheets 30 are equally spaced apart between top ends and bottom ends of the ladder tapes 24. The ladder tape 24 has its bottom end mounted to a bottom end 32 of the sheet 30. The ladder tape 24 comprises a channel 25 and a plurality of nonrigid folding members 26. Each of the folding members 26 is disposed to have its top end mounted to a top end 31 of the sheet 30 and its lower end inclined toward a front of the shade in an extended position as shown in FIG. 1.
The top ends 31 of the sheets 30 are mounted to backs of the channels 25. As shown in FIG. 1, the free bottom end 32 of an upper sheet 30 is proximate a top end 31 of an immediate lower sheet 30 in the extended position of the shade. The sheet 30 consists of a plurality of lateral bars 33 connected together. Preferably, the bar 33 is formed of bamboo and thus the sheet 30 is foldable. As such, wrapping the sheet 30 about itself will regulate the light passing through as detailed later.
Two columns of rings 27 are formed on the channels 25. Each ring 27 is mounted to the channel 25 and is connected to the top end 31 of the sheet 30. The ring 27 is adapted to mount about the cord 22 which has its bottom end tied off at the top end 31 of the lowest sheet 30 (see FIG. 6). As such, it is possible of varying length of the ladder tapes 24 by retracting or extending the sheets 30. In detail, a user may pull the cord 22 to draw up the sheets 30 together to a position immediately below the head rail 10 by a predetermined minimum distance (see FIG. 2). That is, the shade is in a retracted position. Alternatively, the user may pull the cord 22 to fully lower the sheets 30 (see FIG. 1). That is, the shade is in an extended position. It is understood that the shade is adapted to position at any one of a plurality of positions other than the retracted position and the extended position by appropriately manipulating the cord 22 due to the provision of one of the brakes 21 as known in the art.
The cord 23 is connected to bottom ends of the folding members 26 at a plurality of locations. Thus, in a case of the shade extended a user may pull the cord 23 to wrap each of the sheets 30 about itself (i.e., the bottom end 32 of the sheet 30 wrapped upward about the top end 31 thereof since the lower end of the folding member 26 is lifting) from the position of FIG. 4 to the position of FIG. 5 or FIG. 6. It is also understood that the sheets 30 are adapted to position at any one of a plurality of positions other than the wrapped position (see FIG. 5 or 6) and the extended position (see FIG. 4) by appropriately manipulating the cord 23 due to the provision of the other brake 21. This characteristic of the invention can additionally regulate the light passing through the shade in addition to raising the shade as shown in FIG. 2 or lowering the shade as shown in FIG. 1.
While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

Claims

1. A roman shade with folding sheets comprising:

a head rail;

a lift control assembly comprising two brakes mounted to the head rail, two cords adapted to pass a corresponding one of the brakes, and two ladder tapes each having a top end mounted to the head rail and comprising a plurality of folding members;

a plurality of foldable sheets inclined forward, the sheets being spaced apart between the top ends and bottom ends of the ladder tapes wherein a bottom end of the bottom sheet is mounted to the bottom end of the ladder tape; and

a plurality of rings formed on the ladder tapes and connected to the top ends of the sheets, each ring being mounted about one cord;

wherein one cord has its bottom end tied off at the top end of the bottom sheet such that pulling one cord will raise or lower the sheets, and stopping the pulling will position the shade at one of a plurality of positions from a retracted position to an extended position by lockingly engaging one brake with one cord; and

each folding member has a top end mounted to the top end of the sheet, the other cord is connected to bottom ends of the folding members such that pulling the other cord will lift the bottom ends of the folding members to wrap the sheets about the top ends thereof, and stopping the pulling will position the sheets at one of a plurality of positions the wrapped position to an extended position thereof by lockingly engaging the other brake with the other cord.

2. The shade of claim 1, wherein the sheet comprises a plurality of lateral bars connected together.

3. The shade of claim 2, wherein the bar is formed of bamboo.

4. The shade of claim 1, wherein the ladder tape further comprises a channel having a back mounted to the top ends of the sheets, and wherein an upper one of the sheets is proximate the top end of an immediate lower one of the sheets in the extended position of the shade.