The invention relates to a roller screen, in particular a roller screen door, comprising screen material, a roll-up mechanism for said screen material, a housing in which said roll-up mechanism is mounted, a pull bar, to which the end of the screen material projecting from the housing is attached, and two lateral guides for guiding said screen material and the ends of said pull bar, wherein a guide pin is mounted in a channel of each lateral guide, on which guide pin said screen material is guided, and wherein a locking mechanism is provided which locks said pull bar in an end position.
A roller screen of this kind is for example disclosed in NL-A-1 000 095. With said known roller screen, a magnetic fastener, which is to be mounted in part on the casing, may be used as the locking mechanism. The use of such a locking mechanism has drawbacks, such as the fact that separate parts must be mounted on the casing.
EP-A-0 579 335 discloses a roller screen wherein a locking finger is mounted in one end of the lateral guides in order to function as a locking mechanism, which locking finger mates with a cam of the pull bar which projects into said lateral guide. The advantage of said locking mechanism is the fact that precise mounting is ensured under all circumstances, wherein no separate parts need to be mounted. A drawback of said known roller screen is the fact that it is not possible to use guide pins for the screen material with this roller screen.
The object of the invention is to provide an improved roller screen of the kind referred to above.
In order to accomplish that objective, the roller screen according to the invention is characterized in that each lateral guide is provided, at least at its end facing away from the housing, with a second channel extending beside said first channel, wherein an end piece comprising a first locking element which projects into said second channel is mounted in said end of each lateral guide, wherein the pull bar comprises a second locking element at its ends, which second locking element mates with the first locking element in the end position for the purpose of locking the pull bar in said end position.
In this way a roller screen is obtained which makes it possible on the one hand to guide the screen material on guide pins in the lateral guides, and on the other hand to use a locking mechanism which is accommodated in said lateral guides.
Preferably, each second locking element is in the form of a locking pin, which projects from the respective end of the pull bar into the second channel, and which can be retracted against spring force, wherein each first locking element is in the form of a retaining opening for receiving a locking pin, wherein said pull bar carries an operating mechanism for retracting the locking pins.
According to a very advantageous embodiment of the roller screen according to the invention, each lateral guide is provided with said second channel along its entire length, wherein a third locking element comprising a retaining opening is provided in said second channel for locking the pull bar in an intermediate position.
Such an embodiment including an intermediate position is in particular suitable for use in sliding doors and the like, so that the sliding door can be placed in one or more partially open positions, whilst the opening can nevertheless be closed by the roller screen door.
The invention will be explained in more detail hereafter with reference to the drawing, which shows an embodiment of a roller screen according to the invention in the form of a roller screen door.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a sliding French window 1, which is capable of releasing a door opening 2. Two roller screen doors 3 are mounted on said sliding French window, which roller screen doors comprise screen material 4 and a roll-up mechanism for the screen material, which is known per se and which is not shown in the drawing. Said roll-up mechanism is mounted in a housing 5, with a pull bar 6 being attached to the end of the screen material 4 that projects from housing 5. Lateral guides 7 and 8 for guiding the screen material 4 and the ends 9 of pull bar 6 are mounted on the upper side and the lower side of door opening 2.
With the illustrated roller screen doors 3, each lateral guide 7, 8 is provided with a first channel 10, in which a guide pin 11 is mounted, on which the screen material 4 is guided, as is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Guide pin 11 is provided at its end with a head part 12, which is retained with some play by a mounting element 13, which forms part of an end piece 14 which is mounted in the ends of lateral guides 7, 8. End piece 14 is shown in perspective view in Fig. 5. Mounting element 13 is described in more detail in NL-A-1 000 095. For a more detailed explanation, reference may be had to said publication.
Each lateral guide 7, 8 is furthermore provided over its entire length with a second channel 15, with a first locking element 16 projecting into said second channel 15, as is shown in Fig. 4. Said locking element 16 comprises a retaining opening 17, which is capable of co-operation with an associated locking pin 18, which projects from the respective end of pull bar 6. Said locking pin 18 can be retracted into the pull bar against the action of a spring (not shown). Locking element 16 is furthermore provided with a ramp 19, which guides locking pin 18 towards retaining opening 17 when pull bar 6 is being moved to its end position as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, that is, it urges locking pin 18 upwards against the action of the spring, so that locking pin 18 will be pressed into retaining opening 17 when said end position is reached. Pull bar 6 is then locked in its end position. Pull bar 6 carries an operating mechanism 20 (not shown in detail), by means of which the locking pins 18 can be retracted for releasing said locking pins 18 from retaining openings 17. The roller screen door can then be opened, whereby the roll-up mechanism retracts the screen material 4 into housing 5.
The advantage of the roller screen door 3 as described is that it enables a very satisfactory guiding of the screen material 4 by means of guide pins 11, whilst furthermore a reliable locking of pull bar 6 in the end position is possible. It is not necessary to mount separate parts or the like on casings or the like for fitting the locking mechanism.
It is noted that end piece 14 is retained in the end of lateral guide 7, 8 by means of a snap lip 21 comprising a cam 22 which projects into a retaining opening 23 in lateral guide 7, 8. An outlet 24 is provided in end piece 14, which outlet is located under mounting element 13 and which connects to first channel 10. Via said outlet 24, dirt and water can be discharged from said first channel 10.
A brush 26, which consists of a brush holder 27 comprising a passage 28 for guide pin 11, is mounted on an end cap 25 of pull bar 6 for the purpose of keeping first channel 10 clear of dirt. In the embodiment described herein, brush holder 27 carries three brush hair groups 29, which extend diagonally with respect to the slightly rectangular brush holder, so that first channel 10 is kept clear of dirt over its entire width. The brush hairs brush lightly over the bottom 30 of channel 10. Brush 26 is connected to end cap 25 of pull bar 6 by means of springing snap fingers 31.
The advantage of the embodiment of the locking mechanism of roller screen 3 as described herein is that one or more third locking elements 32 can be fitted in the second channel 15 of each lateral guide 7, 8 for the purpose of defining an intermediate position. In the illustrated embodiment, said locking element is present at the location of lateral guide 7 which is indicated at IV. In Figs. 6 and 7, third locking element 32 is shown in detail, in perspective view and in longitudinal sectional view respectively.
As is apparent from said figures, said locking element 32 is a rectangular central block 33, which is provided with a retaining opening 34 which is capable of co-operation with the associated locking pin 18, in the same manner as retaining opening 17, for the purpose of locking pull bar 6 in the intermediate position. Central block 33 carries three wings 35, 36 and 37 on either side thereof, which wings extend in the longitudinal direction of channel 15. The first two wings 35, 36 adjoin the lateral surfaces of block 35 that butt against the inner walls of channel 15. Said wings 35, 36 are clamped against the inner walls of channel 15 in that third wing 37 is forced between the two wings 35, 36, in the manner shown in Fig. 7. As a result of this, locking element 32 is held in the desired position in lateral guide 7, 8. Wings 35, 36 are provided with cams 38 on their facing sides, which cams retain wing 37. Wing 37 adjoins the upper surface 39 of block 33 and is pivotally connected to block 33 at the location of said upper surface 39. Wing 37 provides ramps, which guide locking pin 18 towards retaining opening 34 in the same manner as ramp 19. Wings 35, 36 are provided with a protrusion at their upper ends for clamping down locking element 32 in channel 15 of lateral guide 7, 8 more adequately.
It is noted that locking element 32, and also end piece 14, may be made of plastic material.
The use of locking elements 32 makes it possible to place sliding door 1 in a desired, partially open position, and lock pull bar 6 in said intermediate position of roller screen door 3.
Another advantage of the above-described roller screen door 3 is the fact that it is possible, in the case of a sliding French window of large dimensions, to use two roller screen doors with common lateral guides 7, 8, if desired, whereby a locking element 32 provided with two retaining openings 34 is mounted at a desired location, usually in the middle. As a result of this, it is also possible to use roller screen doors for closing the door opening of a sliding French window which has a large door opening to be released, which would not be possible when using one roller screen door, in view of the required length of the screen material 4.
It is noted that the screen material is shown to engage round guide pin 11 with a hem in the drawing. It is preferred, however, to use a hem which is made of a plastic material having a very low coefficient of friction. In practice, satisfactory results have been obtained with a 100% nylon material having a so-called integrated tear stop structure, which is coloured with a polyurethane coating.
The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as described above, which can be varied in various ways within the scope of the claims.