In making curtains which have a non-rectilinear edge from which the curtains are hung problems arise in making such curtains especially when said edge also has to be mounted on a rigid structure the shape of said non-rectilinear profile. This arises, in particular, when curtains are to be mounted to a window opening whose upper edge is curved or other non- rectilinear shape. Hitherto curtains to such profiles have involved laborious processes often involving carpentry to form the rigid support on which the curtains are to be mounted.

An object of the invention is to provide improved apparatus and a method of making curtains or other material hangings which obviate disadvantages of existing apparatus and methods.

According to the invention curtain making apparatus comprises a support, a plurality of locations distributed over the support, moveable elements locatable at said plurality of locations, and a former arranged to be supported by said elements in a shape corresponding to the shape of an edge of a curtain according to the locations of said elements, whereby to enable said edge of said curtain to be shaped according to the shape of said former.

The support may be arranged for location in an upright position with the locations on a side face of the support.

The locations may be formed of a plurality of spaced parallel slots and the elements may be arranged to be fixedly locatable in positions along the slots.

Preferably the elements are in the form of clamping members clampable in selected locations and having means for holding said former in the selected shape.

The apparatus may also include a sheet of material locatable over said support and having applied thereto a shape corresponding to the intended shape of the edge of a curtain to be made up. By this means the former may be arranged to be located on said support in said shape and adjacent to said material and the former is held in position in said shape by said elements.

Conveniently the material is in the form of a sheet of transparent plastics through which the elements may be passed to be secured at said locations.

In one arrangement the sheet is drawn off a roll and over a side face of a support, said shape is applied to the sheet, and said former is then attached to the support by said elements.

A marking device may be provided for applying the design shape to the sheet material, which device is locatable on the support during marking.

The moveable elements are each preferably releasably locatable in any of said locations to enable said shape to be of any desired form.

The former is conveniently made from elongate flexible material to be formed into any desired shape for location on said support. Preferably the former is of flat strip-like shape and after being fixed in the desired shape, the former may be made rigid by applying strips of material thereto to form a laminated member.

According to another aspect of the invention a method of making curtains includes locating a flexible former to, correspond in shape to the intended shape of an edge of the curtain to be made on a support having a plurality of adjustable locations, moveable elements are arranged in said locations according to said shape and the former is shaped according to the intended shape and is supported by said elements, and the edge of the curtain is shaped according to the shape of the former.

After the edge of the curtain is shaped the former may be used to make a rigid frame corresponding to the shape of the former, the frame being utilised to support a completed curtain. The former is conveniently made rigid by laminating material thereto.

Further features of the invention will appear from the following description of an embodiment of the invention given by way of example only and with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig 1 is a perspective view of a support, Fig 2 is a side view of the support of Fig 1, Fig 3 is a plan view of the support of Figs 1 and 2, Fig 4 is an end view of the support of Figs 1,2 and 3, Fig 5 is a cross-section on the line A-A in Fig 2, Figs 6A and 6B are a side view and an end view of part of a fixing element for use with the support, and Figs 7A and 7B are a plan view and a side view of a marking and measuring device for use with the support.

Referring to the drawings, a support 10 and associated equipment is used for'making curtains, drapes or other hanging materials of which the top edge is of non-rectilinear shape, in this case, as illustrated, of arcuate shape. Such shapes are often required for curtains to be located at windows of which the top edge is non-linear, usually of curvilinear shape. As will be explained curtains may be made using the method and apparatus of the invention to any shape.

The support 10 is intended to be located vertically and has a working face 11 at one side of a board 12, the board being located on uprights 13 and 14 at each side edge of the board 12.

The uprights 13 and 14 have at their upper and lower ends cross pieces 18 and 19 on the underside of each of which are located castors 17.

The board 12 has upper and lower framing members 15 and 16 and side framing members 20 and 21. The board 12 is formed with a plurality of vertically directed, parallel and spaced apart slots 23 each of which are T-shaped in cross-section as shown in Fig 5.

The slots 23 are arranged to receive fixing elements 24, see in particular Figs 5,6A and 6B, comprising a handle 25 attached to and rotatable with a locking spindle 26 having a shaped locking head 27. The locking head is dimensioned to have a longitudinal dimension greater than its transverse dimension, the transverse dimension being slightly less than the width of the slots 23 so as to admit the head 27 into the slots 23. At the ends of the head 27 are formed surfaces 28 inclined in the same direction as each other and at a small angle to a direction transverse to the longitudinal dimension. The head in its longitudinal direction and the inclination of the surfaces 28 are arranged so that upon entry of the head 27 into a slot 23 followed by rotation of the head through approximately 90° causes the surfaces 28 to engage with the side walls in the base of the slot 23 thereby locking the fixing elements 24 in position. The locking action is achieved using the handle 25 to rotate the spindle 26 and head 27. It will be seen that fixing elements 24 can be located at any position along any of the slots 23.

The handles 25 of the fixing elements 24 are located by screw threaded engagement with the spindles 26 to enable the handles to be loosened from the spindles. The fixing elements 24 each include a slotted arm 29 which is assembled by locating a spindle 26 through a slot 30 in the arm 29, the slot 30 permitting the arm to be moved relative to the handle and associated spindle 26. The slotted arm lies in contact with the surface of the support face 11 so that when the fixing element 24 is in its selected position the arm 29 engages with said surface 11 by rotation of the handle 25 to tighten it onto the spindle 26.

At the outer end of each arm 29 is located an L-shaped member 31 which, when in position on the support 10 extends outwardly from the surface 11. The L-shaped member 31 is displaced towards the spindle 26 from the radially outer end of the arm 29.

As shown in Fig 2 a plurality of fixing elements 24 may be located in slots 23 to form an array according to the shape of curtain edge to be made, in this case a semi-circle. The outer ends of the arms 29 are arranged on the line of the semi-circle to locate a former 33 which is formed as a strip of flexible material able to be formed into the desired shape with the former resting on the outer ends of the arms 29 against the associated L-shaped members 31, see in particular Fig 5.

The shape into which the former 33 is to be made is usually taken from the window opening in which the curtain is to be arranged. In the case of a relatively simple shape such as a semi- circle, as shown, this shape may be directly measured from the window opening. This shape is then reproduced on the support by using a roller arrangement 34 mounted on the support 10 at the rear side and at one end thereof. For other shapes a template or other measuring means may be used.

The roller arrangement 34 includes a rotatable roller 35 located for rotation between upper and lower supports 36 and 37 arranged so that the roller 34 is removable therefrom.

The roller 34 carries a roll of transparent plastics sheet which may be unwound from the roller, drawn around the side of the support 10 and across the front working face 11. After locating the sheet across the face 11 the desired shape is drawn onto the sheet to provide the shape which the former 33 is to adopt.

To assist in producing the required shape on the sheet the marking and measuring device of Figs 7A and 7B may be utilised. This device comprises a rigid strip 40 marked, in this case, with imperial and metric measurements along its length. At one end of the strip 40 is located a mounting member 41 which is pivotally attached to the strip 40 about a pivot 42. The pivot

42 includes an axial opening 43 through which may be located a securing element, if required. The opening 43 is formed in a handle 44 by which the device may be held in position and on the opposite side of the device is a mounting disc 45 arranged to be placed against the transparent sheet located on the face 11.

Carried moveably for movement along the strip 40 is a marking member 46 which is located through a longitudinal slot 47 in the strip 40 and extends to each side of the strip. The marking member 46 includes an opening 48 in which may be located a marking implement or pen 49.

It will be seen that any desired shape can be drawn on the sheet by the pen 49 after location of the disc 45 in the required position on the support 10 with the marking member 46 moved along the strip 40, spaced from the axis 42 at the required distance. As well as arcuate shapes other shapes can be generated by changing the position of the marking member 46 along the strip 40 during marking.

By marking the transparent sheet with the desired shape, as described, and by locating the former 33 along the line of the desired shape it is now possible for curtain material to be cut and prepared as required. The former is of particular assistance when the curtain material is to be formed with pleats or other shapes and, if necessary, horizontal lines can be drawn off from the points of intersection of the pleats to assist in cutting the material to the desired shape.

The former 33, in addition to enabling the curtain material to be cut to the desired shape, also provides the basis for forming a rigid mounting by which the finished curtain is to be fixed in the desired position. The former is conveniently made of flexible foam material whereby it can take up any desired shape on the support. In order to create a rigid shape corresponding to the shape of the former lengths 52 of flexible plastics material (Fig 5) are laid onto the former and adhered thereto in the form of laminations, successive laminations being laid on the former until the desired rigidity is achieved. The lengths or laminations 52

are conveniently of white coloured plastics so that the finished piece of rigid material is visually satisfactory for locating over a window opening and requires no further finishing.

The resulting rigid shaped material is fixed into position over the window opening in the usual manner and the completed curtain material is suspended therefrom also in the usual manner.

The apparatus and method of the invention provide a simple and effective means for making curtains to fit windows having curved or other shaped upper edges and in fitting such curtains to the window. The use of skilled carpentry is avoided, the curtain can be made accurately to size using cheap materials, and fixed in position.

It will be appreciated that other means can be employed for locating fixing elements in position on the support 10, for example the support 10 may be in the form of a peg board on its working face 11, there being a plurality of openings for locating fixing elements in the desired position.

In addition the marking device of Figs 7A and 7B may be utilised for other purposes than that described, in particular for marking materials on flat surfaces by rotating the strip 40 about its pivot and adjusting the position of the marking member 46 along the strip 40. This may be used on vertical, horizontal or inclined surfaces.