Title of Invention: INTEGRALLY WOVEN BLIND SHEET FOR ANGLE-CONTROL IN A TRAVERSE DIRECTION AND A METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A TEXTURE FOR THE

BLIND SHEET Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to an integrally woven blind sheet for angle-control in a traverse direction and a method of manufacturing a texture for the blind sheet. More particularly, the present invention relates to an integrally woven blind sheet for angle- control in a traverse direction comprising a plurality of light shield films, each of which having a light shield part and overlapping parts, in which warps are woven with woofs to form the light shield part in single or more layered structure, and strands of warps are separated and respectively woven with woofs to form the overlapping parts on both sides of the light shield part, and in which the overlapping parts are respectively woven with front and rear control cords at a predetermined interval, and the warps in boundary sections between the respective light shield parts and the overlapping parts are cut off, so that each unit of the light shield films can suspend on the front and rear control cords. Background Art

[2] In general, a curtain or a blind is mounted to a window or an exit of a building for the purpose of blocking the sunlight or external sight, sound-proofing, winterizing and the like. Further, the curtain or the blind is used as an important element of decoration for improving the interior appearance according to the combination of color which may be harmonized with interior walls or glasses in addition to the above mentioned practicality.

[3] In such a blind serving for the above purpose, a blind sheet wound on a winding rod is released from or wrapped on the winding rod so as to control the blocking degree of a window as the winding rod rotates forward or backward according to the pulling of lifting/lowering cords. The blind has, however, a disadvantage that the blind sheet used in such a blind cannot control the amount of light or wind to be introduced into a room when the blind sheet is fully spread out over the entire area of a window or an exit.

[4] In order to resolve the above described disadvantage of the prior art blind, a blind sheet as shown in Fig. 1 has been developed and used widely. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a prior art blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction. Referring Fig. 1, a blind sheet 10 includes a front surface element 1 and a rear surface element 2 formed in the net shape, light shield films 3 which are densely woven and positioned between the front surface element 1 and the rear surface element 2, and adhesive parts 4 formed at upper parts and lower parts of the light shield films 3 to adhere the upper parts and the lower parts of the light shield films 3 to the front surface element 1 and the rear surface element 2 respectively by thermal treatment. The upper and lower parts of the light shield films 3 are overlapped with adjacent light shield films 3 for completely shielding a room when the front and rear surface elements 1 and

2 are close to each other.

[5] Such blind sheet 10 as described above has, however, serious drawbacks that the productivity in the manufacture of the blind sheet 10 is deteriorated since the light shield films 3 which are positioned between the front and rear surface elements 1 and 2 are adhered and fixed via additional steps and that the light shield films 3 are likely to be separated from the front and rear surface elements 1 and 2 since the adhesive parts 4 are exposed to the sunlight over a long time use.

[6] Therefore, new types of blind sheet as shown in Fig. 2 to Fig. 4 have been developed and registered as a patent under Korean Patent No. 699769.

[7] Fig. 2 is a perspective view explaining a weaving process of another prior art blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction, and Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views respectively showing states of use of a blind sheet manufactured by the prior art weaving process. A blind sheet 10 in which light shield films 15 are woven integrally with net type front and rear curtain sheets 13 and 14 may be obtained as shown in Figs.

3 and 4 by weaving the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13 and 14 in a sparse structure and the light shield films 15 in a dense structure simultaneously and integrally by using three woofs 11 and four warps 12, and then removing weaving connection warps 16 in the proximity of the net type front and rear curtain sheets by cutting.

[8] In other words, in the blind sheet 10, the net type front curtain sheet 13 and the net type rear curtain sheet 14 both serving for ventilation and the light shield films 15 positioned between the front and rear curtain sheets 13 and 14 are woven integrally, wherein the net type front curtain sheets 13, the net type rear curtain sheets 14 and the light shield films 15 are integrated by the weaving connection warps 16 which are woven integrally with front connection joints 17 and rear connection joints 18.

[9] The weaving connection warps 16 are woven integrally with any one woof 11 to be coupled therewith while the light shield films 15 serve to connect the net type front curtain sheets 13 and the net type rear curtain sheets 14 repeatedly, wherein the weaving connection warps 16 are made from the rear connection joints 18 and then woven by passing an indent groove 19 formed at the front connection joints 17.

[10] An end portion of the weaving connection warp 16 which is integrally coupled with the front connection joint 17 is woven together with any one woof 11 of the rear connection joint 18 repeatedly, forming a plurality of connection joints 17 and 18. As a result, the weaving connection warp 16 is woven with any one woof 11 and forms the net type front curtain sheet 13 and the net type rear curtain sheet 14 at the front connection joint 17 and the rear connection joint 18 respectively while forming the light shield film 15 for blocking the sunlight as shown in Fig. 2, wherein the procedure is repeatedly performed.

[11] In the blind sheet 10, the weaving connection warp 16 is exposed to the outside as shown in Fig. 2 when the weaving is finished. In order to use the blind sheet 10 by winding the same to a blind winding rod (not shown) as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, the weaving connection warp 16 which is exposed at the front connection joint 17 should be removed by cutting after the weaving is finished.

[12] Therefore, as the blind sheet 10 in which the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13 and 14 and the light shield films 15 for blocking the sunlight are woven integrally is obtained, the blind sheet 10 is fixed at both ends to the winding rod which is rotatively mounted in a frame 20 so as to wind or release the blind sheet 10 on or from the winding rod by rotating the winding rod.

[13] In other words, when a distance between the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13 and 14 is reduced as shown in Fig. 3, the light shield films 15 in the dense structure become overlapped with each other to be kept in the vertical state so as to keep a room in the blocked state.

[14] In this state, if a control cord (not shown) is pulled and kept in the state as shown in

Fig. 4, the light shield films 15 positioned between the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13 and 14 are kept in the horizontal state so that ventilating as well as lighting may be achieved via the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13 and 14. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[15] The prior art blind sheet as described above has, however, disadvantages as follows;

[16] Firstly, in the case of lighting and ventilating realized by keeping the light shield films 15 in the horizontal state as shown in Fig. 4, various bugs such as flies may be introduced into a room since a distance between the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13, 14 is large. If the distance between the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13, 14 is reduced for winding the blind sheet 10 on the winding rod as shown in Fig. 3 and the winding rod is rotated, the flies or bugs between the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13, 14 are squeezed, polluting the blind sheet 10, which becomes the fatal defect of the prior art blind sheet.

[17] Secondly, the weaving state of the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13, 14, that is, a single space defined by the woof 11 and the warps 12 is too narrow for a user to recognize an outside object via the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13, 14 which are overlapped in the process of performing the lighting and ventilating as shown in Fig. 4, thereby causing the moire phenomenon.

[18] Thirdly, the weaving of the blind sheet 10 takes relatively long time and requires a plenty amount of threads, inducing the rise of manufacturing cost, since the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13, 14 are woven by a plurality of woofs 11 and warps 12.

[19] Fourthly, the productivity in the manufacture of the blind sheet becomes deteriorated and the use of warps becomes increased, inducing the increase of the manufacturing cost since the blind sheet 10 is woven in the 3-layered structure (the net type front and rear curtain sheets and the light shield films) continuously by the weaving connection warp 16 and both ends of the weaving connection warps 16 should be cut after the weaving, and

[20] Fifthly, the blind sheet is wound on a winding rod with an increased outer diameter

(volume) since the light shield films 15 are positioned between the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13, 14 in the three layered structure when the net type front and rear curtain sheets 13, 14 are close to each other. Therefore, the size of the frame which is positioned on an outer peripheral surface of the winding rod should be increased, accordingly increasing the entire size of the blind. Solution to Problem

[21] The present invention is derived to resolve the above and any other disadvantages and problems of the prior art and has an object to provide a blind sheet for angle- control in the traverse direction, in which light shield films may be woven continuously together with front and rear control cords which are disposed at front and rear sides of the light shield films at a predetermined interval even without using any net type curtain sheets which are disposed at the front and rear sides of the light shield films.

[22] The present invention has another object to provide a method of weaving a blind sheet in a dual structure so that the light shield films in the separate state to be overlapped each other even without using any weaving connection warps which are cut away after the weaving of the blind sheet is finished.

[23] In order to achieve the objects of the present invention, according to an aspect of the present invention, an integrally woven blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction includes:

[24] a plurality of light shield films, each of which has a light shield part in the middle thereof, and overlapping parts extended from front and rear ends of the light shield part; and [25] a plurality of front and rear control cords provided at a predetermined interval, with the front control cords being integrally woven with and secured on one of the overlapping parts at front ends of the light shield films and the rear control cords being integrally woven with and secured on the other of the overlapping parts at rear ends of the light shield films,

[26] wherein when the front or rear control cords are drawn, the light shield films are aligned vertically and overlapped with neighboring light shield films in the overlapping parts thereof, so that the light shield parts aligned vertically can shield light from outside.

[27] According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a texture for the integrally woven blind sheet for angle-control in a traverse direction is provided, wherein two or more strands of warps are woven with woofs of a predetermined thickness to form the light shield part in single or more layered structure, and the strands of warps are separated and respectively woven with woofs to form the overlapping parts, with the front and rear control cords being integrally woven with the respective overlapping parts at a predetermined interval, and wherein the said weaving steps are repeated continuously.

[28] According to a further aspect of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a texture for the integrally woven blind sheet for angle-control in a traverse direction is provided, in which two or more strands of warps are woven with woofs of a predetermined thickness to form the light shield part in single or more layered structure, and the strands of warps are separated and respectively woven with woofs to form the overlapping parts, with the front and rear control cords being integrally woven with the respective overlapping parts at a predetermined interval,

[29] wherein the said weaving steps are repeated continuously, and then

[30] the warps positioned in boundary sections between the respective light shield parts and the overlapping parts are cut off, so that each unit of the light shield films can suspend on the front and rear control cords.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

[31] The blind sheet according to the present invention has various advantages in comparison with the prior art blind sheets, as follows:

[32] Firstly, when the light shield films are kept in the horizontal state for performing lighting and ventilating as shown in Fig. 8, the pollution of the blind sheet caused by the squeezing of the flies or any other bugs may be prevented even though various bugs such as flies are introduced between the front and rear control cords and even though the distance between the front and rear control cords is reduced for winding the blind sheet on a winding rod as shown in Fig. 7 since space parts are formed between the light shield films by the front and rear control cords which are disposed at a predetermined interval.

[33] Secondly, it is possible to prevent the moir phenomenon that an object is fading in the process of performing lighting or ventilating as show in Fig. 8 since conventional net elements are not employed but only parts of the front and rear control cords are woven into the overlapping parts.

[34] Thirdly, it is possible to reduce the weaving time of the blind sheet since plural woofs are not required by simply disposing only the front and rear control cords at both sides of the light shield films at a predetermined interval, and it is also possible to reduce the manufacturing cost largely by reducing the required amount of warps and woofs.

[35] Fourthly, it is possible to minimize the use of threads for weaving the blind sheets and improve the productivity of the blind sheets so as to spread the blind sheets at low cost since the overlapping parts constituting the light shielding films may be woven to be overlapped without using any additional weaving connection warps, and

[36] Fifthly, the front and rear control cords are disposed missing each other in the state that the front and rear control cords are close to each other and simultaneously the light shield films are positioned between the front and rear control cords in the single-layer structure, so that an outer diameter of the blind sheets wound on the winding rod may be minimized and the size of the frame positioned to an outer peripheral surface of the winding rod may be also minimized, thereby making the blind compact.

Brief Description of Drawings

[37] The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the preferred embodiments in the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[38] Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a prior art blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction.

[39] Fig. 2 is a perspective view explaining a weaving process of another prior art blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction.

[40] Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 are perspective views showing states of use of the prior art blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction.

[41] Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a state of use of a blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction according to the present invention.

[42] Fig. 6 is a side view showing a weaving state of the blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction according to the present invention.

[43] Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 are schematic views illustrating the structure of the blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction according to the present invention. [44] Fig. 9 is a plane view showing a blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[45] Fig. 10 is a plane view showing a blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[46] Fig. 11 is an expanded view showing part "A" of Fig. 5.

[47] Fig. 12 is a left side view of Fig. 7, and

[48] Fig. 13 is a schematic view for explaining a further preferred embodiment of the present invention. Mode for the Invention

[49] Now, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments in conjunction with accompanied drawings.

[50] Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the using state of a blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction according to the present invention. Fig. 6 is a side view showing a weaving state according to the present invention, and Figs. 7 and 8 are schematic views respectively illustrating the structure of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 5 to Fig. 8, a blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction includes a plurality of front and rear control cords 21, 22 positioned at front and rear sides of light shield films 23 for keeping a predetermined interval (about 5-6cm) between the light shield films, and the light shield films 23 each having a shield part 25 positioned between the front and rear control cords 21, 22 for shielding a room and overlapping parts 24a, 24b woven in connection with the shield part at both ends of the shield part, the overlapping part 24a at an end of the shield part being fixed to the front control cord 21 by integral weaving and the overlapping part 24b at the other end being fixed to the rear control cord 22 by integral weaving. At this time, the light shield films 23 supported by the front and rear control cords 21, 22 at a predetermined interval shield a room by overlapping the overlapping parts 24a, 24b positioned at both ends of the shield parts 25 by adjacent overlapping parts 24a, 24b when the light shield films 23 are in the vertical state as shown in Fig. 7.

[51] Warps 26 and woofs 27, 28a, 28b are supplied simultaneously and woven together to form the front and rear control cords 21, 22 and the light shield films 23. The shield parts 25 and the overlapping parts 24a, 24b which constitute the light shield films 23 may shield a room when the light shield films 23 are in the vertical state as shown in Fig. 7 since the warps 26 and the woofs 27, 28a, 28b are woven together densely.

[52] However, the front and rear control cords 21, 22, which are positioned at both side ends of the light shield films 23 at predetermined interval, are woven integrally with the overlapping parts 24a, 24b by the warps 26 and the woofs 28a, 28b, so that the overlapping parts 24a, 24b of the light shield films 23 are suspended by the front and rear control cords 21, 22 when each of the light shield films 23 becomes horizontal at a predetermined interval in the state that a distance between the front and rear control cords 21, 22 becomes increased.

[53] Even though it is possible to dispose the front and rear control cords 21, 22 which are woven integrally with the overlapping parts 24a, 24b constituting the light shield films 23 to face each other as shown in Fig. 10, the front and rear control cords 21, 22 are preferably disposed missing each other as shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. 12.

[54] This is to minimize the outer diameter (volume) of the blind sheet wound on a winding rod by missing the front and rear control cords 21, 22 when the front and rear control cords 21, 22 and the light shield films 23 are wound on the winding rod in a close contact with each other, thereby making the blind compact.

[55] In other words, it is to minimize the outer diameter of the front and rear control cords

21, 22 wound on the winding rod by preventing the expansion of the outer diameter of the winding rod due to the overlappingly winding of the front and rear control cords 21, 22 which are positioned at a predetermined interval.

[56] Meanwhile, as for the woofs 27 which constitute the shield parts 25, various kinds of yarns may be selected according to the purpose but it is preferable to entirely or partially use low melting yarns (LM) or any other threads mixed with LM as for the woofs 28a, 28b which constitute the overlapping parts 24a, 24b.

[57] This is to increase the supporting force of the front and rear control cords 21, 22 by weaving the woofs 28a, 28b densely together with the front and rear control cords 21, 22 and the warps 26 since the front and the rear control cords 21, 22 are supported by the woofs 28a, 28b at the overlapping parts 24a, 24b.

[58] Now, the process for manufacturing the blind sheet of the present invention will be described in more detail.

[59] Under the state that two or more warps 26 are densely held in a weaving machine while the front and rear control cords 21, 22 are held at both sides of the warps at predetermined interval, the woofs 27 having predetermined thickness are supplied continuously between the warps 26 which are twisted as shown in Fig. 6 so as to densely weave the shield parts 25 in the single-layer structure.

[60] At this time, the front and the rear control cords 21, 22 which are positioned at both sides of the warps 26 in the weaving machine are not woven.

[61] The weaving of the shield parts 25 as described above is equal to the general weaving process, of which detailed explanation will be omitted herein.

[62] Therefore, after the shield parts 25 are densely woven with a predetermined width L by the warps 26 and the woofs 27, the two or more warps 26 are separated from each other and the woofs 28a, 28b which are formed of LM or mixed with LM are densely supplied to each of the warps 26, so that the woofs 28a, 28b are supplied in the process of weaving the overlapping parts 24a, 24b, that is, in the process of twisting the front and rear control cords 21, 22 which are positioned at both sides of the warps 26 together with the warps 26 at the overlapping parts 24a, 24b, thereby weaving the overlapping parts 24a, 24b.

[63] As described above, since the woofs 28a, 28b constituting the overlapping parts 24a,

24b and formed of LM or threads mixed with LM are densely woven with the warps 26 and the front and rear control cords 21, 22 as shown in Fig. 11, the supporting force for the front and the rear control cords 21, 22 at the overlapping parts 24a, 24b becomes improved so that the front and rear control cords 21, 22 are stably supported at the overlapping parts 24a, 24b without deviation from the overlapping parts 24a, 24b.

[64] The texture of the blind sheet for angle-control in the traverse direction may be obtained by repeating the weaving steps for the light shield films 23 as described above repeatedly and equally as shown in Fig. 6.

[65] Fig. 13 is a schematic view for explaining another preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the light shield film 23 as shown in Fig. 13, the overlapping parts 24a, 24b and the shield parts 15 may be woven in the two- or more-layer structure differently from the embodiment of Fig. 6. In this case, since the light shield films 23 are cut and separated from each other at boundary sections between the overlapping parts 24a, 24b and the light shield film 23, it is necessary to wove a predetermined section of the boundary sections between the overlapping parts 24a, 24b and the light shield films 23 in the single-layer structure.

[66] Once the texture of the blind sheet is obtained as described in the respective embodiments, the blind sheet is finished by cutting boundary sections 29 of the overlapping parts 24a, 24b.

[67] At this time, the warps 26 positioned between the boundary sections between the respective light shield films 23 and the overlapping parts 24a, 24b may be cut by means of a cutter or by shearing, it is preferable to cut the warps 26 which are positioned at the boundary sections after pulling the two or more woofs 28a, 28b which are positioned at the boundary sections between the respective light shield films 23 and the overlapping parts 24a, 24b in consideration of productivity.

[68] In order to cut the warps 26 easily by pulling off the woofs 28a, 28b, the woofs 28a should be positioned towards an opposite side of the front and rear control cords 21, 22 which are woven with the warps 26.

[69] In order to easily cut the warps 26 by pulling off the two or more woofs 28a, 28b which are positioned at the boundary sections 29 between the respective light shield films 23 and the overlapping parts 24a, 24b, it is advantageous for the improvement of workability to extend further the woofs 28a, 28b out of the side end of the blind sheet as shown in Fig. 12 so as to cut the extended portions of the woofs 28a, 28b by pulling the warps 26 in the cutting direction while the extended portions of the warps 26 are held. It is more advantageous for improving the workability to extend both ends of the woofs 28a, 28b out of both side ends of the blind sheet and cut the warps 26 by half by two workers.

[70] In this case, in order to distinguish the woofs 28a, 28b to be pulled, the woofs may be formed in different color or the woofs woven in the overlapping parts 24a, 24b may be formed of thickness different from that of woofs at any other portions. Then, the warps 26 may be cut precisely in short time.

[71] If the boundary sections 29 between the respective light shield films 23 and the overlapping parts 24a, 24b are cut as described above, the integrally woven light shield films 23 are separated from each other as shown in Fig. 7 and simultaneously the light shield films 23 are kept in the state that the light shield films 23 are suspended by the front and rear control cords 21, 22 since the front and rear control cords 21, 22 are woven in the respective overlapping parts 24a, 24b as shown in Fig. 11.

[72] Therefore, in the state that the blind sheet 10 as shown in Fig. 5 is mounted to the winding rod of the blind and suspended in such a manner that the distance between the front and rear control cords 21, 22 are reduced as shown in Fig. 7, the overlapping parts 24a, 24b of the light shield films 23 are kept in the state that the overlapping parts 24a, 24b are overlapped by adjacent overlapping parts 24a, 24b so that the room is shielded by the light shield films 23 from the outside.

[73] In this state, to the contrary, if the light shield films 23 which are positioned between the front and rear control cords 21, 22 become horizontal by pulling the control cords (not shown) for performing the lighting and ventilating of a room, the distance between the front and rear control cords 21, 22 becomes increased and simultaneously the room shielded by the light shield films 23 is communicated to the outside, thereby realizing the lighting and ventilating of the room.

[74] At this time, since no net type curtain sheets but the front and rear control cords 21,

22 for keeping a predetermined interval are positioned at both sides of the light shield films 23, the moir phenomenon is unlikely to be generated and objects outside the room may be clearly observed.

[75] In this state, in order to wind the blind sheets 10 to the winding rod, the distance between the front and rear control cords 21, 22 is minimized as shown in Fig. 7 and simultaneously the blind sheet 10 is wound on the winding rod. At this time, the front and rear control cords 21, 22 are positioned missing each other at front and rear parts of the light shield films 23 as shown in Fig. 9, so that the blind sheet 10 may be wound on the winding rod with a minimized outer diameter.

[76] It should further be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail of the invention as shown and described above may be made. It is intended that such changes be included within the spirit and scope of the claims appended hereto.