SHIRLEY HIBBS

for

SPACING CABLE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This invention claims priority, under the Patent Cooperative Treaty and the Paris Convention, to the United States Provisional Patent Application No. 61/097,063 to Shirley Hibbs filed on September 15, 2008, which is incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates to curtains and drapery, specifically to a curtain and drapery spacing cable.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0003] This present invention will be applicable in a variety of ways to a variety of industries. The curtain and drapery spacing cable may be used with drapes and curtains configured to cover a window area of a house, apartment, business that can benefit from aesthetically pleasing drapes or curtains.

BACKGROUND ART

[0004] A curtain or drapery is a piece of cloth intended to block or obscure light, or drafts, or water, as in the case of a shower curtain. Curtains hung over a doorway are known as portieres. Curtains are often hung on the inside of a building's window to block the travel of light; for instance, at night to aid sleeping, or to stop light from escaping outside the building (stopping people outside from being able to see inside, often for privacy reasons). Curtains come in a variety of shapes, materials, sizes, colors and patterns, and often have their own sections within department stores, while some shops are completely dedicated to selling curtains. An adaptation of the curtain may be a blind or, in warmer countries, such as Spain, wooden shutters are fixed to the outside of the building to provide privacy and still keep the building cool inside. Curtains are a form of window treatment and complete the overall appearance of the house. Window treatment helps control the ambiance and flow of natural light into the room. The effect of drapery or curtains is best seen in daylight, and with proper indoor light positioning, it can look attractive even at night. Some improvements have been made in the field. Examples of references related to the present invention are described below, and the supported teachings of each reference are incorporated by reference herein:

[0005] U.S. Patent No.: 4,880,044, issued to Judkins, discloses a spacer device for controlling the spacing between selected portions of a horizontally or vertically mounted shade, drapery or other covering. The spacer is formed of a thin piece of material of predetermined length. For some embodiments, the material has projections extending at selectd intervals along the length of the piece of material, the projections being adapted to co-act with a cord used to control the opening and closing of the covering and preferfably with selected areas of the covering to control the spacing of the selected portions of the covering. The piece of material is preferably a cord and the projections are preferably loops extending from the cord. For other embodiments, the piece of material is stiff and extends between bars or rails fixed to the covering to control the spacing between the bars or rails when the covering is open. When the opening is closed, the stiff piece of material is guided, preferably by the cord holes, into a rail so that it does not extend from the covering.

[0006] U.S. Patent No. 3,361.190, issued to Snyder, discloses an elongated tubular member adapted to be fixedly mounted in a horizontal position when in use and having a vertical wall provided with an elongated track slot and defining and providing a traverse rod for draperies, a plurality of like but individual drapery hanger brackets slidingly mounted in said slot at longitudinally spaced points, each bracket having a pendant portion provided with a hooked drapery attaching and suspending pin, at least one drape provided at its upper portion with uniformly constructed and spaced gathering pleats connected to and hung by said pins, spacers of a predetermined length, said spacers being compatible with the ungathered portions between the respective groups of pleats in said drape, said spacers being readily attachable to and detachable from said traverse rod and slidingly mounted in said slot and interposed between and abutting adjacent ones of said hanger brackets in a matter evenly and uniformly spacing said pleats when said drape is stacked in its open position.

[0007] U.S. Patent No. 3,001,578, issued to Ratliff, discloses a drapery section provided at its lower edge with a tubular hem opening through a vertical edge of the drapery section, said tubular hem being mitered adjacent said vertical edge, a substantially rigid plate-like element engaging longitudinally within said hem adjacent said vertical edge, a resilient clip secured to said body portion and engaging the mitered edge of said hem for anchoring the body portion therein, and permanent magnet means carried by said body portion between said vertical edge of the drapery section and said mitered edge and exposed for coaction with magnetically attractable means on a companion drapery section adapted to overlap said first named drapery section and hem.

[0008] U.S. Patent No. 4,655,272, issued to Reilly et al., disclose an elongated strip of stiff material formed with a series of transverse folds across the strip. At least two adjacent panels between folds turn inwardly to form pleats between spaced control panels. Each control panel has at least two parallel string encasement means aligned with encasement means on other control panels. A control string through the control panels and extending beyond the strip draws all of the control panels into close proximity with adjacent control panels all in the same plane. Between adjacent control panels pleat panels are folded inwardly to form pleats which are then tacked to the control panels. All of the pleats are formed simultaneously and automatically. The top of the drapery material is folded over the strip and tacked together to form a sleeve over the strip. Each panel may be tacked to the drapery material. The strip may be extruded of synthetic material and the folds formed by stamping living hinges at desired intervals in the strip.

[0009] U.S. Patent No. 4,623,013, issued to Gross, discloses a new and useful adjustable and reversible drape and rod assembly that incorporates small hanging rings sewed at or near the seams of folded pleats spaced along the top portion of the drape, which drape then can be easily hung or removed from special movable hanging hooks extending from a specially designed rod and moveable hook holder therein, and sewed on the initial rear side of a drape so that the rings are not visable when viewed from the front. The specially designed moveable hook holders permit each pair of roller wheels to rotate freely around a tubular axle and the axle to rotate freely within both roller wheels and also within the spacer separating the wheels thus permitting improved maximum mobility of the hook holders desirable and necessary for heavier reversible drape and rod assemblies. By the insertion of an open eyelet in the drape immediately above the point at which the hanging ring is sewed to the drape, the drape can be reversed by merely pushing the hanging ring through the eyelet to the other side of the drape so that what was initially the rear of the drape now becomes the front, and the hanging rings remain not visable when viewed from the front. As will be further disclosed in the specifications, it can be seen that not only is the present adjustable drape and rod assembly simple and economical to make and use, easy to install or remove, secure and certain in operation, non-distructive to the fabric of the material for hanging purposes and non-injurious to the person assemblying and hanging them, and also easily becoming reversible; a combination of important attributes long needed and sought after by drapery designers and manufacturers and particularly the users, normally housewives, who in the final analysis must either make or buy them, but always must install, maintain and remove them.

[0010] The inventions heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages which include being limited in application, being limited in adaptability, being difficult to use, being bulky, being inefficient, being ineffective, being expensive, being unattractive, and being unduly complex.

[0011] What is needed is a spacing cable that solves one or more of the problems described herein and/or one or more problems that may come to the attention of one skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with this specification.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The present invention has been developed in response to the present state of the art, and in particular, in response to the problems and needs in the art that have not yet been fully solved by currently available spacing cables. Accordingly, the present invention has been developed to provide a decorative spacing cable for curtains and drapery.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the invention, there is a drapery configured to decoratively cover a window area. The drapery may include a rod and a drape, suspended from the rod, by a plurality of spaced rings. The drapery may also includes a spacing cable coupled to the drape between a pair of spaced rings by coupling members. The spacing cable is sized to restrict a maximum spacing between the spaced rings to a distance less than the length of drape between the attachment points of the spaced rings to the drape. The spacing cable may be flexible and may include a plurality of decorative members coupled about the cable. The spacing cable may be coupled between a pair of adjacent rings to prevent the rings from being fully extended, thereby preserving aesthetic qualities of the drapery. The coupling members may be lobster claw clamps and the plurality of decorative members may be beads. The drapery may further include a plurality of crimp beads coupled to the cable and configured to restrict lateral motion of the decorative members. In addition, the drapery may include a drapery hook coupled to the drape. Furthermore, the drapery may also include a double-sided hook coupling the drape and lining.

[0014] Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present invention should be or are in any single embodiment of the invention. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, discussion of the features and advantages, and similar language, throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment.

[0015] Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the invention.

[0016] These features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In order for the advantages of the invention to be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawing(s). It is noted that the drawings of the invention are not to scale. The drawings are mere schematics representations, not intended to portray specific parameters of the invention. Understanding that these drawing(s) depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not, therefore, to be considered to be limiting its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawing(s), in which:

[0018] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a spacing cable, according to one embodiment of the invention;

[0019] Figure 2 is a perspective view of a plurality of spacing cable configurations, according to one embodiment of the invention;

[0020] Figure 3 is a perspective view of a flat-panel drapery without spacing cables drawn open, according to one embodiment of the invention;

[0021] Figure 4 is a perspective view of a flat-panel drapery with spacing cables drawn open, according to one embodiment of the invention;

[0022] Figure 5 is a perspective view of a flat-panel drapery without spacing cables drawn back, according to one embodiment of the invention;

[0023] Figure 6 is a perspective view of a flat-panel drapery with spacing cables drawn back, according to one embodiment of the invention;

[0024] Figure 7 is a perspective view of a drapery panel hook, according to one embodiment of the invention; and

[0025] Figure 8 is a perspective view of a double hook for drapery panel and lining, according to one embodiment of the invention.

MODE(S) OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0026] For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawing(s), and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein, and any additional applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated herein, which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention.

[0027] Reference throughout this specification to an "embodiment," an "example" or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, characteristic, or combinations thereof described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases an "embodiment," an "example," and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment, to different embodiments, or to one or more of the figures. Additionally, reference to the wording "embodiment," "example" or the like, for two or more features, elements, etc. does not mean that the features are necessarily related, dissimilar, the same, etc.

[0028] Each statement of an embodiment, or example, is to be considered independent of any other statement of an embodiment despite any use of similar or identical language characterizing each embodiment. Therefore, where one embodiment is identified as "another embodiment," the identified embodiment is independent of any other embodiments characterized by the language "another embodiment." The features, functions, and the like described herein are considered to be able to be combined in whole or in part one with another as the claims and/or art may direct, either directly or indirectly, implicitly or explicitly.

[0029] As used herein, "comprising," "including," "containing," "is," "are," "characterized by," and grammatical equivalents thereof are inclusive or open-ended terms that do not exclude additional unrecited elements or method steps. "Comprising" is to be interpreted as including the more restrictive terms "consisting of" and "consisting essentially of."

[0030] Figure 1 illustrates a spacing cable 10, according to one embodiment of the invention, wherein the spacing cable 10 includes a cable 12. The cable 12 includes a first coupling member 14 coupled to one end of the cable 12 and a second coupling member 16 coupled to another end of the cable 12 opposite of the first coupling member 14. The spacing cable 10 also includes a plurality of crimp beads 18. In addition, the crimp beads 18 are configured to secure a plurality of decorative members 20 along the cable 12. As illustrated in Figure 2, the spacing cable 10 includes a plurality of designs and configurations that include lobster claw clamps as coupling members 14, 16, a plurality of crimp beads 18, a plurality of beads as decorative members 20, and a cable 12. The spacing cables 10 are configured to couple to a plurality of spaced drapery rings 30. The spaced drapery rings 30 are also configured to include a spacing cable 10 incorporated thereto configured to couple to a drape. In addition, the spacing cables 10 are configured to couple, sewn, to the top of a flat-drapery panel 24.

[0031] Figure 3 illustrates a flat-panel drapery 24 without spacing cables, wherein the drape 24 is in a drawn-open position 26. Figure 4 illustrates a flat panel drapery 24 including spacing cables 10, wherein the drape 24 is in a drawn-open position 26. As illustrated in Figure 4, the spacing cable 10 is coupled to the rod rings 30 and configured to provide an aesthetically pleasing drapery configuration. The spacing cables 10 are configured to convert a flat-panel drape having no particular design to an aesthetically-pleasing pleated decorative drape.

[0032] In addition, according to one embodiment of the invention, there is a drapery 60 configured to decoratively cover a window area. The drapery 24 includes a rod 62 and a drape 24, suspended from the rod 62 by a plurality of spaced rings 30. The drapery 60 also includes a plurality of spacing cables 10 coupled to the drape 24 between a pair of spaced rings 30 by coupling members. The spacing cable 10 is sized to restrict a maximum spacing between the spaced rings 30 to a distance less than the length of drape 24 between the attachment points of the spaced rings 30 to the drape 24. The spacing cable is flexible and includes a plurality of decorative members coupled about the cable. The spacing cable is coupled between a pair of adjacent rings to prevent the rings from being fully extended, thereby preserving aesthetic qualities of the drapery. The coupling members may be lobster claw clamps and the plurality of decorative members may be beads. The drapery further includes a plurality of crimp beads coupled to the cable and configured to restrict lateral motion of the decorative members.

[0033] Figure 5 illustrates a flat-panel drapery 24 without spacing cables, wherein the drape 24 is in a drawn-closed position 28. The configuration of the flat- panel drape 24 without spacing cables does include a particular design when drawn closed. However, upon movement or displacement of the drapery the design is lost. In particular, when the drapery is in a drawn open position the design is lost. Figure 6 illustrates a flat-panel drapery 24 including spacing cables 10, wherein the drape 24 is in a drawn-closed position 28. As illustrated in Figure 6, the spacing cable 10 is coupled to the rod rings 30 and configured to provide an aesthetically pleasing drapery configuration. The spacing cables are configured to convert a flat-panel drape having no particular design to an aesthetically-pleasing pleated decorative drape. Furthermore, unlike the flat-panel drapery without spacing cables, the one including spacing cables includes a particular design in a drawn closed or drawn open position, wherein the drapery without spacing cables only includes a particular design in a drawn closed position and after user manipulation to that particular design.

[0034] Figure 7 illustrates a drapery panel hook 40, wherein the hook 40 is configured to secure to the drape and couple to the drape/curtain rod ring. As illustrated in Figure 7, the hook 40 includes a pair of protrusions 42 configured to couple to the drapery. Figure 8 illustrates a drapery panel and lining hook 50, wherein the hook 50 is configured to secure to the drape, and to a lining, and couple to the drape/curtain rod ring. As illustrated in Figure 8, the drapery panel and lining hook 50 includes a pair of protrusions 52 configured to couple to a drapery. In addition, the double drapery panel and lining hook 50 also includes a third protrusion 54 coupled opposite of the pair of protrusions 52 configured to couple to a lining.

[0035] In operation of one embodiment of a spacing cable, a user couples the spacing cables to a plurality of drapery rod rings, wherein the spacing cables limit the distance between the plurality of drapery rod rings thereby providing a uniform and decorative configuration to the drapery. In operation of another embodiment of the invention, a user couples the spacing cables to the top of a flat-panel drapery, wherein the spacing cables provides a uniform distance thereby creating a uniform fold in between each spacing cable.

[0036] In operation of one embodiment of a drapery panel hook, a user couples the pair of protrusions to a drape. The user then couples the hook to the drapery/curtain rod ring. The user then couples a spacing cable between the hooks to create a uniform design and configuration. In operation of one embodiment of a drapery panel and lining hook, a user couples a drape to the pair of protrusions. A user then couples a lining to the third protrusion of the double hook. The user then couples the double hook to a drapery/curtain rod ring. The user then couples a spacing cable in between the double hooks to create an uniform design and configuration.

[0037] It is understood that the above-described embodiments are only illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention. The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiment is to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

[0038] For example, although the figures illustrate lobster claw clamps, one skilled in the art would appreciate that the clamps may vary to a plurality of clasping, coupling, gripping, hooking devices and still perform its intended function.

[0039] It is envisioned, one skilled in the art would appreciate that the drapery may include a plurality of spacing cables configured to provide a drapery system, wherein the drapery system includes a plurality of spacing cables of a particular design.

[0040] Additionally, although the figures illustrate a single bead wire coupled to a lobster claw clamp, one skilled in the art would appreciate that the spacing cable may include a plurality of bead wires coupled to the lobster claw clamps and still perform its intended function.

[0041] It is also envisioned, one skilled in the art would appreciate, that the protrusions of the hooks may vary in size, shape, design, configuration, length, width, material and still perform its intended function.

[0042] It is further envisioned, one skilled in the art would appreciate, that the plurality of decorative members may be beads, jewels, textiles, glass, metal, metal alloys, rocks, precious metals, precious stones, plastic, plastic composite, rubber, rubber composite, etc. and still perform its intended function.

[0043] Finally, it is envisioned that the components of the device may be constructed of a variety of materials, such as, but not limited to wood, plastic, metal, metal alloys, rubber, plastic composite, textiles and still perform its intended function.

[0044] Thus, while the present invention has been fully described above with particularity and detail in connection with what is presently deemed to be the most practical and preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to, variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use may be made, without departing from the principles and concepts of the invention as set forth in the claims. Further, it is contemplated that an embodiment may be limited to consist of or to consist essentially of one or more of the features, functions, structures, methods described herein.