Traverse roller for venetian blinds

Oct. 23, 1934.

LT. WARD

1,978,152

TRAVERSE ROLLER FOR VENETIAN BLINDS

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Oct. 23, 1934.

L. T. WARD

1,978,152

TRAVERSE ROLLER FOR VENETIAN BLINDS

Filed May 12, 1931

Sheets-Sheet 2

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Patented Oct. 23, 1934

1,978,152

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

1,978,152

TRAVERSE ROLLER FOR VENETIAN BUNDS

Lawrence Thomas Ward, Kane, Fa., assignor to

Kane Manufacturing Company, Kane, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania

Application May 12, 1931, Serial No. 536,858

Claims.

My invention relates to traverse rollers for Venetian blinds, and more specifically to a means comprising a gear driven sleeve for operating a traverse roller whereby to raise or lower a vene5 tian blind associated therewith.

According to the prior art and practice, traverse rollers have been operated by means of cords which are wound around the drum of the roller. Devices of this type, particularly applied 10 to large blinds, offer disadvantages among which Slight be mentioned the excessive effort necessary to rotate the roller by a pull on the operating cord and the possibility of losing control and dropping the blind in the event of inadvertent release of 15 the cord, the downward pull also tending to increase friction and binding of the traversing screw.

According to my invention, I provide a gear driven sleeve which is slidably engaged in a spline 20 relation within one end of the traverse roller. The driving gears for the sleeve are rotated by means of rigid operating shafts that may be rotated manually or by means of a motor drive in a manner to rotate the main drum to raise or low25 er the slats which are suspended from the drum A gear drive of the type described has for its main object to provide a.direct, positive drive for a traverse roller that may be operated with a minimum of effort.

Another object is to provide an operating means which is effective in any position to afford a locking means which will prevent slippage of the roller upon stoppage of the driving force.

Another object is to provide an operating 35 means of the geared type wherein an electric motor may be employed as a source of power.

I attain these objects and others by a novel combination of parts, a preferred modification of which is disclosed in the accompanying draw40 ings, wherein—

Figure 1 is a schematic view showing the relative positions of the roller, blind and operator;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in section showing an assembled traverse roller;

Fig. 3 is a detail view of a driving gear and sleeve;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a gear housing;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view on line 5—5 of Fig. 2;

Fig· 6 shows a detail;

Fig. 7 shows a horizontal motor drive; and

Fig. 8 shows a vertical motor drive.

Referring to the drawings in detail, I have shown a traverse roller 1 supported at one end 55 upon a threaded sleeve 2 which threadably en(01. 156—17) gages a collar 3 fitted within the roller end and attached thereto by means of screws 4. The sleeve 2 is supported at one end by means of a bracket 5 and a pair of slots 6 arranged on opposite sides of the sleeve are adapted to engage θθ the side edges 7 of a bearing 8 formed on the bracket. The other end of the traverse roller is supported by means of a driving sleeve 9 which extends axially within the roller in slidable engagement with a drive collar 10 attached to the 65 roller by means of screws 11. As shown in detail in Fig. 3, a driving worm gear 12 is secured rigidly to the sleeve 9 a short distance from the outer end thereof. The sleeve end is rotatably supported by means of a yoke shaped gear hous- 70 ing 13 which is attached to a bracket 14 by means of screws 15. It will be noted that the sleeve engages the housing 13 at two points on opposite sides of the gear 12.

The sleeve 9 is provided with a driving key 75 16 which engages a keyway 17 formed in the collar 10. I provide an aligning rod 18 which extends axially through the sleeves 2 and 9 and through the roller in a manner shown in my Patent No. 1,845,856, granted February 16, 1932. A 80 rigid vertical operating rod 19 is supported at its upper end in a bearing 20 formed in the housing 13 and a worm 21 secured to the rod 19 meshes with the worm gear 12.

The lower end of the rod 19 may be connected 85 by means of gears 22 to an operating crank 23 to provide a means for manually operating the traverse roller 1. In the event that blinds of large size are used, the effort necessary to raise such blinds becomes appreciable and it is de- 90 sirable to provide a power drive for operating the traverse roller.

Fig. 7 shows a horizontal electric motor drive comprising a motor 24 which is mounted on a base 25 adjacent the driven end of the roller. 95 The motor shaft 26 is connected by means of a worm and gear reduction 27 to a shaft 28 which in turn is provided with a worm 29 in engagement with a worm gear 30 that is attached to the driving sleeve 9. ioo

Fig. 8 shows a vertical electric drive comprising an electric motor 24 which is connected to a power supply 31. The motor 24 is operatively connected in driving relation to the vertical operating rod 19 by means of a gear reduction 32. 105 For controlling the electric motor, I provide a circuit controller which comprises ah “up” switch 33, a “down” switch 34 and a stop switch 35 which may be constructed in a well known manner. Obviously, a series of vertical rods 19 no

1,978,152 associated with a plurality of traverse rollers may be driven from a single or common motor through transverse rods connected to the vertical rods.

In the operation of my device, when it is desired to rotate the traverse roller to raise or lower the blind suspended therefrom by cables in the usual manner, a rotary motion is imparted to the rod 19 by means of the crank 23 or by operation 10 of the motor 24 in the proper direction, whereby the sleeve 9 is rotated. Due to the engagement of the key 16 with the collar 10, a corresponding rotation, is imparted to the roller 1 and the latter is moved laterally by the action of the 16 threaded sleeve 2 which engages the threaded collar 3. The loose spline engagement of the sleeve 9 within the collar 10 permits the roller 1 to slide freely therealong in a manner to wind the blind supporting cables to lie in a uniform 20 layer thereon as set forth in the above mentioned patent. The sleeve or bearing 9 has been shown preferably as circular in cross-section and in a splined relation. Other forms are contemplated, for example, a bearing rectangular in 25 cross-section will provide satisfactory construction and operation, in which case the use of a spline key is avoided.

While the weight of the suspended blind acting through the suspension cables is appreciable 30 and, at all times tends to rotate the roller 1, the roller is prevented from rotating owing to the engagement of the worm gear 12 with the worm 21. In the prior art devices, it has been the practice to employ an operating cable wound 35 around the traverse roller for rotating the roller. The extremely large force exerted on such cables results in excessive pressure of the roller upon the threaded sleeve 2, and which is effective to unduly increase the friction of the screw drive 40 as well as to cause distortion of the screw sleeve, thereby causing a detrimental binding action of the screw.

By providing a gear driven sleeve operator for traverse rollers, I reduce the driving force to a 45 minimum and materially increase the life and efficiency of the roller. As applied to large blinds particularly, my gear driven operator effects simplicity and economy in manufacture, as well as in its maintenance.

For the purpose of fully disclosing the principles of my invention, a preferred modification thereof has been illustrated and described. I do not, however, wish to be limited to the form shown but contemplate variations within the ₆5 scope of the appended claims.