BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0001] The present invention relates to a window blind and more particularly, to a fabric
blind slat for the window blind.
2. Description of the Related Art
[0002] Various blinds for covering windows are known. These window blinds include Venetian
blinds, pleated blinds, roller shades, Roman shades, honeycomb shades, etc. Conventionally,
a window blind may be comprised of a plurality of separated blind slats that can be
tilted to regulate the light, or a series of blind slats that can be lifted/lowered
to regulate the light. These window blinds commonly use blind slats to control shading
of incident light.
[0003] Currently, wood, plastic, metal and compound materials are commonly used to make
blind slats. Material selection is determined subject to many factors including light
transmitting rate, durability, weight, and price. Fabric materials may be used for
making blind slats for a window blind for the advantage of their aesthetic appearance.
However, fabric blind slats have the drawback of easy to sag. In order to eliminate
sagging of fabric blind slats, US patent No. 5,829,506 discloses a fabric blind slat,
which comprises an elongated strip of fabric characterized in that the strip of fabric
has at least one longitudinally extending pocket on a longitudinal edge into which
a relatively rigid support member is insertable. The longitudinal extending pocket
is integrally formed with the strip and, in cross section, has a seamless endless
periphery. According to this design, the pocket must be stiff so as to define a longitudinal
extending space for the insertion of the rigid support member. (According to experience,
if the pocket is made soft, the insertion of the rigid rod member into the pocket
will be difficult and complicated such that the manufacturing cost will be relatively
increased). To have this stiff fabric property, the pocket must be made by shuttle
weaving. Because the pocket and the elongated strip of fabric are made in integrity,
the elongated strip of fabric must be shuttle-weaving fabric. Shuttle-weaving fabric
has a high density, however it is easy to wrinkle. Due to poor wrinkle-resistant material
property, the aforesaid fabric blind slat starts to wrinkle quickly with use or after
washing. When the fabric blind slat wrinkled, the sense of beauty of the fabric material
is destroyed. The wrinkles of the fabric blind slat affect passing of incident light
into the inside of the house. Further, shuttle-weaving fabric has low tear-resistance.
When washed with force, the fabric blind slat may be torn easily. When damaged, the
fabric blind slat must be replaced, causing inconvenience.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a fabric blind slat
for window blind, which not only has a stiff longitudinal pocket for insertion of
a rigid member but also can be kept in shape against wrinkling.
[0005] It is another objective of the present invention to provide a fabric blind slat for
window blind, which has a relatively higher tear-resistance.
[0006] It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a fabric blind
slat for window blind, which prevents dazzling of incident light.
[0007] It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a fabric blind
slat for window blind, which has an aesthetic appearance to causes a sense of beauty.
[0008] To achieve these objectives of the present invention, the fabric blind slat for a
window blind provided by the present invention comprises a base fabric made from an
opaque knitted fabric, two coil units coupled to and extended along two opposite edges
of the base fabric, and two supporting sleeves respectively enclosed inside the two
coil units. The coil unit is knitted from a thread looped on a thread at the edge
of the basic fabric. The supporting sleeve is a tubular member having two open ends
for insertion of a rigid supporting member. The supporting sleeve has a hardness greater
than that of the coil unit. The supporting sleeve is enclosed inside the coil unit
at the time while the coil unit is formed by knitting.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009]
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a part of FIG. 1, showing one knitting pattern of the
coil unit where a thread is looped on a straight thread at an edge of the base fabric.
FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2 but showing another knitting pattern of the coil unit
where a thread is looped on a loop-like thread at an edge of the base fabric.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing
the coil unit knitted around the supporting sleeve.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a Venetian blind using the fabric blind slats according
to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing showing incident light passed through the fabric blind
slats from the outside of the house into the inside of the house according to the
present invention.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a pleated window shade using the fabric blind slats
according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the fabric blind slat used in FIG. 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0010] Referring to FIGS. 1-6, a fabric blind slat
100 is shown for use in a window blind, for example, a Venetian blind. The fabric blind
slat
100 is preferably integrally made by a knitting machine such that the fabric blind slat
100 can has the advantage of high wrinkle-resistance and tear-resistance power. As shown
in FIG. 1, the fabric blind slat
100 comprises a base fabric
10, two longitudinal extending inner coil units
20, four supporting sleeves
30, two folding segments
40, two shading segments
50, two longitudinal extending outer coil units
60, two supporting members
70, and two weights
80.
[0011] The base fabric
10 is a narrow, elongated, thin opaque sheet member of knitted fabric, having two end-edge
threads
111 respectively extended along the two opposite long edges. The end-edge thread
111 can be arranged in a respective straight line as shown in FIG. 2, or can be arranged
as curved loop-like line as shown in FIG. 3.
[0012] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the inner coil unit
20 is coupled to and extended along the end-edge thread
111 of the base fabric
10. The inner coil unit
20 comprises a thread
21 wound round and extended along the end-edge thread
111. In FIG. 2, one odd-numbered portion
211 of the loop-like thread
21 is extended over the end-edge thread
111 and then turned downwards to a predetermined distance to form an even-numbered portion
212, and then the even-numbered portion
212 is turned upwards toward the end-edge thread
111 to form another odd-numbered portion, and the winding procedure is repeated again
and again to form the desired inner coil unit
20 at the end-edge thread
111 of the base fabric
10. In FIG. 3, one odd-numbered portion
211 of the thread
21 is extended upward to the left side of one loop of the end-edge thread
111 and then turned across the right side of the loop and extended downwards to a predetermined
distance to form an even-numbered portion
212, and the winding procedure is repeated again and again to form the desired inner coil
unit
20 at the end-edge thread
111 of the base fabric
10. Either the pattern shown in FIG. 2 or the pattern shown in FIG. 3, the odd-numbered
portions
211 and even-numbered portions
212 of each thread
21 are stretched outwards in reversed directions, thereby providing a tubular passage
for insertion of one supporting sleeve
30.
[0013] The supporting sleeves
30 are tubular cloth members of relatively harder material having two ends opened and
a relatively higher density than the base fabric
10 and the inner coil units
20. The supporting sleeves
30 are put in the knitting machine before knitting the inner coil units
20 so that the inner coil units
20 can be formed around the supporting sleeves
30 respectively (see FIG. 4), i.e., the inner coil units
20 are knitted around the respective supporting sleeves
30 each having at least one thread
21 coupled to one long side of the base fabric
10 where the odd-numbered portions
211 of the thread
21 of each inner coil unit
20 are disposed on the upper side of the respective supporting sleeve
30 and the respective even-numbered portions
211 disposed on the bottom side of the respective sleeve
30.
[0014] The two folding segments
40 are knitted fabrics of reinforced yarns, which are tough and flexible and can deform
easily with external traction force, respectively outwardly extended from the respective
outer lateral side of the inner coil units
20 along the length thereof.
[0015] The two shading segments
50 are meshed fabrics knitted on the outer side of each folding segment
40. The width and length of the shading segments
50 are approximately equal to the base fabric
10 in width and length. Further, the two shading segments
50 have different sizes of meshes, i.e., the two shading segments
50 have different light shading ratios.
[0016] The two outer coil units
60 are respectively knitted on the respective outer side of the shading segments
50 around the other two of the supporting sleeves
30 in a manner similar to the knitting of the inner coil units
20.
[0017] The supporting members
70 are rigid round rods approximately equal to the length of the inner coil units
20 and respectively inserted into the supporting sleeves
30 in the inner coil units
20 to support the inner coil units
20 in shape.
[0018] The weights
80 are heavy rigid round rods approximately equal to the length of the outer coil units
60 and respectively inserted into the supporting sleeves
30 in the outer coil units
60 such that the shading segments
50 and the outer coil units
60 can be smoothly saggy when the fabric blind slat
100 is in use by means of the weight
80.
[0019] The installation and use of the fabric blind slat
100 in a window blind are described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. A predetermined
number of fabric blind slats
100 are spacedly arranged in parallel below the headrail 1. Because the two long sides
of the base fabric
10 is supported between the supporting members
70, the base fabric
10 is kept in a flat manner. Therefore, cord members can be suspended from the headrail
1 to join fabric blind slats
100, holding fabric blind slats
100 in parallel at different elevations. The installation procedure of fabric blind slats
100 can be referred to US patent No. 5,829,506 or US application No. 10/378829 filed
by the present applicant. Because the installation procedure of fabric blind slats
100 is not within the scope of the present invention, no further detailed description
in this regard is necessary. At this time, the shading segments
50 is sagging due to the effect of the weights
80 and the deformable feature of the tough flexible folding segments
40. During installation, the shading segments
50 are so arranged that the one which has relatively smaller meshes (higher light shading
ratio) is disposed facing the inside of the house, and the other one which has relatively
greater meshes (lower light shading ratio) is disposed facing the outside of the house.
After the base fabric
10 has been set in a flat manner, incident light passes from the outdoor through the
shading segment
50, which has relatively greater meshes, and then through the shading segment
50, which has relatively smaller meshes, and then into the inside of the house, and
therefore light rays entered the house does not dazzle the eyes.
[0020] Because the fabric blind slat
100 is a knitted fabric, it has a good wrinkle-resistance feature. When washed with water,
the fabric blind slat
100 won't be wrinkled easily. Because the knitted fabric of the fabric blind slat
100 has high tear-resistance strength, the fabric blind slat
100 is durable in use. Because inner coil units
20 and the outer coil units
60 are knitted fabrics having a bulky structure, it is not easy to directly insert the
supporting members
70 and the weights
80 into the inner coil units
20 and the outer coil units
60. Therefore, the sleeves
30 are preset in the inner coil units
20 and the outer coil units
60 to accommodate the support members
70 and the weights
80.
[0021] Further, because the two folding segments
40 are knitted fabrics of reinforced yams respectively outwardly extended from the respective
outer side of the inner coil units
20, the folding segments
40 are curved smoothly to keep the base fabric
10 and the shading segments
50 in flat when the weights
80 pulling the shading segments
50 downwards.
[0022] Actually, the main feature of the present invention is at the linking between the
base fabric
10 and the coil units
20 and the attachment of the supporting members
70 to form a fabric slat, achieving the effect of the present invention. The folding
segments
40, the shading segments
50, the outer coil units
60, the supporting members
70, and the weights
80 illustrated in the above-mentioned embodiment just show the use of the present invention
in a Venetian blind. As shown in FIG. 7, the invention can also be employed to a pleated
shade. As shown in FIG. 8, the pleated shade comprises a plurality of fabric slats
A and a plurality of folding segments
40 respectively connected between each two fabric slats
A. By means of the folding segments
40, the fabric slats
A can be folded up or extended out relative to one another.
1. A fabric blind slat for a window blind, comprising:
a base fabric made from an opaque knitted fabric and having two opposite edges;
two inner coil units respectively coupled to and extended along the two opposite edges
of said base fabric, said inner coil units each having at least one thread knitted
on a respective end-edge thread at each of said edge of said base fabric;
two supporting sleeves respectively enclosed in said coil units, said supporting sleeves
being tubular members having two open ends; and
two supporting members respectively formed of a relatively rigid rod member and respectively
received in said supporting sleeves.
2. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 1, wherein said supporting
sleeves are relatively harder than said inner coil units and have a relatively higher
density than that of said coil units.
3. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thread
of each said inner coil unit has odd-numbered portions and even-numbered portions
respectively wound round upper and bottom sides of the respective supporting sleeve.
4. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thread
of each said inner coil unit has odd-numbered portions and even-numbered portions,
which are stretched in reversed directions for the insertion of the supporting sleeve.
5. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 1, further comprising
a folding segment outwardly extended from an outer side of one said inner coil unit,
and a meshed shading segment outwardly extended from an outer side of said folding
segment opposite to said inner coil units.
6. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 1, further comprising
a meshed shading segment outwardly extended from an outer side of one said inner coil
unit.
7. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 1, further comprising
two folding segments made from a tough and flexible material and respectively outwardly
extended from an outer side of each of said inner coil units, and two meshed shading
segments respectively outwardly extended from an outer side of each of said folding
segments.
8. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 7, where said meshed
shading segments have different sizes of meshes.
9. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 5, further comprising
an outer coil unit having at least one thread knitted on an outer side of said shading
segment, a supporting sleeve being a tubular member having two open ends and enclosed
in said outer coil unit, and a weight received in said supporting sleeve inside said
outer coil unit.
10. A fabric blind slat for a window blind, comprising:
two base fabrics respectively made from an opaque knitted fabric, said base fabrics
each having two opposite edges;
four longitudinal extending coil units respectively coupled to and extended along
the two opposite edges of each said base fabric, said coil units each having at least
one thread knitted on a respective end-edge thread at each of said edge of said base
fabric;
four supporting sleeves respectively enclosed in said coil units, said sleeves being
tubular members having two open ends;
four supporting members respectively formed of a relatively rigid rod member and respectively
received in said supporting sleeves; and
a folding segment connected between one of said coil units at one of said base fabrics
and one of said coil units at the other base fabric, said folding segment being a
knitted tough and flexible fabric.
11. A fabric blind slat for a window blind, comprising:
a base fabric made from an opaque knitted fabric and having two opposite edges;
a coil unit coupled to and extended along one of said edges of said base fabric, said
coil unit having at least one thread knitted on an end-edge thread at said edge of
said base fabric;
a supporting sleeve enclosed in said coil unit, said supporting sleeve being a tubular
member having two open ends; and
a supporting member formed of a relatively rigid rod member and received in said supporting
sleeve.
12. A window blind, comprising:
a headrail; and
a plurality of fabric slats joined by cord members and spacedly arranged below said
headrail, said fabric slats each comprising:
a base fabric made from an opaque knitted fabric and having two opposite edges;
two inner coil units respectively coupled to and extended along the two opposite edges
of said base fabric, said inner coil units each having at least one thread knitted
on a respective end-edge thread at each of said edges of said base fabric;
two supporting sleeves respectively enclosed in said coil units, said supporting sleeves
being tubular members having two open ends; and
two supporting members respectively formed of a relatively rigid rod member and respectively
received in said supporting sleeves.
13. The window blind as claimed in claim 12, wherein said supporting sleeves are relatively
harder than said inner coil units and have a relatively higher density than that of
said coil units.
14. The window blind as claimed in claim 12, wherein the thread of each said inner coil
unit has odd-numbered portions and even-numbered portions respectively wound round
upper and bottom sides of the respective supporting sleeve.
15. The window blind as claimed in claim 12, wherein the thread of each said inner coil
unit has odd-numbered portions and even-numbered portions, which are stretched in
reversed directions for the insertion of the supporting sleeve.
16. The window blind as claimed in claim 12, wherein said fabric slats each further comprise
a folding segment outwardly extended from an outer side of one said inner coil unit,
and a meshed shading segment outwardly extended from an outer side of said folding
segment opposite to said inner coil units.
17. The window blind as claimed in claim 12, wherein said fabric slats each further comprise
two folding segments made from a tough and flexible material and respectively outwardly
extended from an outer side of each of said inner coil units, and two meshed shading
segments respectively outwardly extended from an outer side of each of said folding
segments.
18. The window blind as claimed in claim 17, where said meshed shading segments have different
sizes of meshes.
19. The window blind as claimed in claim 16, wherein said fabric slats each further comprise
an outer coil unit having at least one thread knitted on an outer side of said shading
segment, a supporting sleeve being a tubular member having two open ends and enclosed
in said outer coil unit, and a weight received in said supporting sleeve inside said
outer coil unit.
20. A fabric blind slat for a window blind, comprising a base fabric, which is made from
an opaque fabric and has two opposite edges and a coil unit knitted from at least
one thread looped at one of said edges, a supporting sleeve, which is a tubular member
having two open ends, enclosed in said coil unit, and a supporting member formed of
a rigid rod member and received in said supporting sleeve.
21. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 20, wherein said supporting
sleeve is relatively harder than said inner coil unit and has a relatively higher
density than that of said coil unit.
22. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 20, wherein the thread
has odd-numbered looped portions and even-numbered looped portions respectively wound
round upper and bottom sides of the supporting sleeve.
23. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 20, wherein the thread
has odd-numbered looped portions and even-numbered looped portions, which are stretched
in reversed directions for enclosing the supporting sleeve.
24. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 20, further comprising
a folding segment outwardly extended from an outer side of said coil unit, and a meshed
shading segment outwardly extended from an outer side of said folding segment.
25. The fabric blind slat for a window blind as claimed in claim 24, further comprising
a coil unit knitted from at least one thread looped on an outer side of said shading
segment, said coil unit enclosing therein a supporting sleeve which is a tubular member
having two open ends, and a weight received in said supporting sleeve inside said
coil unit.