CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to co-pending

U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/316,572 entitled "System For Biasing Fabric to Gather in Predetermined Direction" filed on March 23, 2010, which is hereby

incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention is directed generally to a system for biasing a sheet of fabric material to gather in one predetermined direction when one edge of the fabric is moved toward the opposite edge with a specific application of the system being in a Roman shade type covering for architectural openings where a sheet of fabric is moved between extended and retracted positions with the fabric being gathered when it is moved from an extended to a retracted position.

Description of the Relevant Art

[0004] Coverings for architectural openings have assumed numerous forms for many years with some of such coverings including a sheet of flexible fabric which extends in a substantially flat planar orientation when the covering is extended and gathers in horizontal or vertical loops when the fabric is moved from the extended to a retracted position by moving one edge of the fabric toward an opposite parallel edge.

[0005] Movement of the covering from the extended to the retracted position can be accomplished in numerous ways, but in one arrangement, one edge of the referenced flexible fabric used therein is anchored or fixed which in a vertically movable covering might typically be a top edge. The opposite edge typically would have a rigid bar secured thereto which can be moved toward or away from the fixed edge through movement of lift cords which draw the movable rigid bar toward the fixed edge. When the fabric gathers between the movable rigid bar and the fixed edge of the covering, it is desirable that it gather in a predetermined direction not only for dependability in operation, but also aesthetics.

[0006] Some such coverings are referred to as Roman shade coverings, and the fabric is typically two layers with one layer being a flat back sheet of flexible fabric-type material when the covering is extended while the other layer or front sheet includes a plurality of vertically aligned, horizontally-extending strips of material, which are secured to the back sheet so as to form uniform horizontally-extending, vertically-drooping loops across the front of the covering with the loops adapted to overlap each other. Since the loops on the front sheet are all formed off the front of the covering, when the covering is retracted, those loops continue to droop off the front of the covering, but the back sheet of material might gather in a forward and/or rearward direction, which can cause malfunctioning of the covering as well as create undesirable aesthetics.

[0007] In the aforenoted Roman shade type product, lift cords typically extend vertically from the rigid movable bar or rail to the fixed edge in a slidable path between the front and rear layers comprising the fabric for the covering, but even in such instances, the rear sheet, when being gathered, can gather toward or away from the lift cord in a forward or rearward direction.

[0008] It would be desirable in such Roman shade type products, and possibly in other environments, for the flat rear sheet of material to gather uniformly in a rearward direction to avoid malfunctioning of the product as well as to provide more uniform and predictable aesthetics when the covering is retracted to any degree.

[0009] It is to overcome the shortcomings in prior art products incorporating a flat flexible sheet of material to bias the flat sheet to gather in a rearward direction that the present invention has been developed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Pursuant to the present invention, a sheet of flexible material, such as a fabric that might be used in coverings for architectural openings, is biased or encouraged to gather in one predetermined direction when one edge of the fabric material is moved toward the opposite edge. The biasing is obtained by providing on the face of the fabric facing the direction in which the gathering is desired, a plurality of fibers which can be secured to the predetermined face of the flexible material in parallel relationship with each other and with the edges of the fabric which are moved toward each other when causing the fabric to gather.

[0011] The fibers themselves can be selected from different materials and can even be of different sizes and spaced at different random or predetermined intervals. While it is desirable that the fibers be somewhat rigid or semi-rigid when secured to the fabric, this rigidity can be obtained with adhesive for bonding, for example, the fibers to the predetermined face of the flexible material.

[0012] The flexible material can be a laminate, as opposed to a single-layer, to provide light-blocking or other desired capabilities for the material such as, for example, one or both faces of the fabric material can be metallized with a light-blocking material and/or painted with a desired color.

[0013] Other aspects, features and details of the present invention can be more completely understood by reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the drawings and from the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] FIG. 1 is a front isometric of a fully-extended covering for an architectural opening incorporating the biasing system of the present invention.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a rear isometric similar to FIG. 1 showing the covering in a partially retracted position.

[0016] FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic vertical section through a portion of the rear sheet used in the covering of FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0017] FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section similar to FIG. 3.

[0018] FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic section similar to FIG. 4 of a single-ply sheet as opposed to the laminated sheet shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0019] FIG. 6 is a fragmentary diagrammatic isometric of the sheet shown in FIG.

5 in a partially gathered position.

[0020] FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic isometric of the sheet of FIG. 5 in a fully- extended planar condition adjacent to a lift cord as might be found in the covering of FIGS. 1 or 2.

[0021] FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic isometric similar to FIG. 7 with the bottom edge of the sheet being raised so as to gather the fabric in a rearward direction.

[0022] FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic transverse section taken through a single-ply layer of material having uniform fibers uniformly spaced across one face thereof.

[0023] FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic section similar to FIG. 9 with the fibers being further spaced.

[0024] FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic section similar to FIGS. 9 and 10 with the fibers being grouped and of different sizes.

[0025] FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic section similar to FIGS. 9-11 with the fibers being of a uniform size but randomly spaced.

[0026] FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic isometric with parts removed looking at the front of the covering as shown in FIG. 1 showing segmented lines of attachment between the rear sheet and the front drooped sheet with a lift cord being slidably positioned there between. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0027] As can be appreciated by reference to FIGS. 2, 7 and 8, it has been discovered in the present invention that a sheet of flexible material 12 can be made to exclusively and predictably gather in one predetermined direction when one edge 14 (FIGS. 7 and 8) of the sheet of material is moved toward the opposite or fixed edge 16. The biasing of the fabric to gather in one predetermined direction is obtained by providing parallel cords, fibers or yarns 18 (FIGS. 3-11) which are inherently rigid or semi-rigid or are rendered rigid or semi-rigid, and which are secured to the face of the sheet of material facing the direction in which it is desired to have the fabric gather. The cords, fibers or yarns are secured to the flexible sheet along parallel lines of

attachment 20 (FIGS. 6 and 8) so the cords themselves are parallel with each other and with the edges of the fabric, which are moved toward each other, and cause the fabric to gather. The securement can be with adhesive, ultrasonic bonding or the like. It has also been found that by adding such cords, fibers or yarns to flexible sheets of material having some degree of stiffness that the stiffness is overcome or reduced significantly. This is helpful when using stiffer flexible materials as otherwise they tend to randomly bunch when gathered.

[0028] It will be appreciated with the following description that the sheet of material 12 would have perpendicular x and y dimensions (FIGS. 7 and 8) which could be reversed as the product would function vertically as well as horizontally.

[0029] The sheet of material 12 needs to be flexible but can be a woven, non- woven, film, knitted fabric or the like. A preferred material is one manufactured by DuPont of Wilmington, Delaware, and is sold under the trademark Sontara®, which is a polyester non-woven product. When the material is suspended from a top edge 16, for example, it will hang downwardly in a substantially flat vertical plane, and if a ballast 22 in the form of a rigid bottom bar or rail is secured to the lower edge of the fabric, it will tend to maintain the flat vertical planar orientation of the sheet until the lower edge 14 is moved toward the upper edge 16.

[0030] The sheet has a front face 24 and a rear face 26 (FIGS. 6-8), and if it is desired to gather the fabric exclusively in a rearward direction, the cords, fibers or yarns 18 are secured in straight lines to the rear face of the sheet in horizontal parallel lines so that the cords, fibers or yarns are parallel to the top 16 and bottom 14 edges of the sheet. The cords, fibers or yarns can be any desired material, such as polyesters, cottons, or the like. In the event of cotton fibers, they will become somewhat rigidified if an adhesive is used to secure the fibers to the rear face 26 of the sheet material so they are rendered rigid or semi-rigid. Polyesters, of course, have some inherent rigidity and may be referred to as semi-rigid or rigid along their length, and once secured to the fabric material, they will lie in a straight line.

[0031] Accordingly, the cords, fibers or yarns 18 are secured to the rear face 26 of the sheet material 12 along predetermined lines of attachment 20, which are parallel to each other and to the top 16 and bottom 14 edges of the sheet material. The lines of attachment, and thus the cords, fibers or yarns themselves, can be contiguous or spaced uniformly (FIGS. 6-10), randomly (FIG. 12), or in groupings of the same or different sizes (FIG. 11). In this manner, by pulling lift cords 28, which extend from the top edge of the sheet material to the bottom rail 22, the bottom of the sheet is raised toward the top edge 16 thereby causing the sheet of material 12 to gather therebetween and due to the cords, fibers or yarns 18 on the rear face of the sheet, the gathering is exclusively in a rearward direction.

[0032] The sheet of flexible material 12 can be a single layer, as described above, or can be a laminate depending upon the desired characteristics of the sheet. For example, if a translucent sheet is desirable, it can simply be a single layer of any translucent material selected from the materials identified above, but if it were desired to make the sheet opaque, it could be colored black with a paint, such as a urethane paint, or the sheet could be coated by metallizing with aluminum, for example. Such an aluminum finish could be on either or both sides of the sheet of material, and if the coloring of the metallization was undesired, one or both faces of the metallized sheet material could be over-painted any desired color such as with a urethane paint. If the sheet of material 12 was not smooth, the metalizing could be achieved by metalizing both or one face of a smooth flexible material such as Mylar™ and then adhesively bonding the metallized smooth flexible material to the sheet 12. A laminate as described is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 with a sheet of Mylar™ 30 having metal 32 on opposite faces bonded to the sheet 12 with a layer of adhesive 34 and then painted with a layer of paint 36 to which the cords, fibers or yarns 18 are bonded with lines of adhesive 38. In other words, the sheet of material could take on numerous forms, and as long as it was provided with the parallel cords, fibers or yarns on one face thereof, it would gather dependably and exclusively in a predetermined direction, which would be rearwardly in the example described above.

[0033] While a sheet of material that was single layer or laminated, as described above, can be made to gather in a predetermined and exclusive direction and could therefore find numerous uses, one such use might be in a Roman shade type covering 40 for architectural openings as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. In such use, the sheet of material 12 would be a back sheet and formed as described above while being suspended from a headrail 42 for the covering along a top edge with a bottom rail 22 secured to the bottom edge providing a ballast to urge the sheet toward an extended position so that it was substantially flat and planar when fully extended. A continuous sheet of fabric 44, or a plurality of horizontal strips of fabric, would be secured to the front face 24 of the sheet along horizontal lines of attachment 46 at vertically spaced intervals if a continuous sheet were used or along top and bottom edges of the strips of material if they were used so as to form horizontally-extending and drooping loops 50 of material simulating a Roman shade. The continuous sheet or the top and bottom edges of the strips of material can be secured intermittently along the horizontal lines of attachment (FIG. 13 to provide vertically aligned gaps 52 in the lines of attachment through which lift cords 28 can slidably pass so that in moving the covering between extended (FIG. 1) and retracted (FIG. 2) positions, the lift cords can be pulled upwardly or lowered while sliding through the gaps on the front face of the sheet of material 12 to thereby elevate the bottom rail and pull it toward the headrail or vice versa.

[0034] It will be appreciated when extending or retracting a Roman shade product made with a sheet of material 12 having cords, fibers or yarns 18 along a rear face 26 thereof and a continuous sheet 44 or strips of looped material off the front face 24 thereof, that the loops on the front face will remain drooped in a forward direction while the rear sheet will be gathered uniformly and exclusively in a rearward direction (FIG. 2) so as not to form wrinkles in the covering product which might be undesirable from an aesthetic standpoint and which will also not inhibit desired operation of the lift cords in their sliding movement through the covering material.

[0035] Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood the disclosure has been made by way of example, and changes in detail or structure may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.