MAGNETIC MOUNTING FOR THE RAIL OF A WINDOW COVER

Abstract

A magnetic mounting for a window covering rail comprises a magnetically attachable base 10 having a top 11, a bottom 12, and a circumferential side 13 connecting the top 11 and the bottom 12. The magnetically attachable base 10 is provided with several magnets and several iron plates 16. The top 11 is provided with a coupling section 14. The coupling section 14 is provided with a rail engagement element 15. The bottom 12 is provided with at least one gradually widening inclined side wall 17 extending towards the top 11, such that the width of the magnetically attachable base 10 gradually increases in its axial direction from the bottom 12 to the top 12 until a maximum width is reached. The maximum width of the magnetically attachable base 10 in the axial direction is greater than the width of the bottom 12 in the axial direction.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for mounting and fastening a rail of a window covering. In particular, the invention relates to a magnetic holder for a rail of a window covering. 2. State of the art

[0002] The in Fig. 1 to Fig. Figure 3 shows the structure of a commercially available magnetic holder for a window covering rail, comprising a magnetically attachable base 1. The magnetically attachable base 1 is generally a cuboid and has a top 2, a bottom 3, and a circumferential side 4 connecting the top and bottom. The magnetically attachable base 1 is provided with several magnets and several magnetically permeable iron plates 5. The magnets form a magnet set, and each magnetically permeable iron plate 5 is located either on one of the two opposite sides of the magnet set or in one of the spaces between the magnets. The top 2 of the magnetically attachable base is provided with a coupling section 6. The coupling section 6 is provided with a rail engagement element 7 that engages with a window covering rail, thereby securing it.For use, the magnetic holder is magnetically attached with its underside 3 to a flat surface of a ferromagnetic metal (which can be magnetically attracted), the flat surface (e.g., of a window frame or door panel) being the location where the magnetic holder is to be attached. Then, a rail of a window cover is engaged with the rail engagement element 7.

[0003] While the structure described above is easy to use in terms of assembly, detaching the magnetic mount from the flat surface is anything but simple. This is mainly because, firstly, the underside 3 of the magnetically attachable base 1 lies flat on the flat surface of the ferromagnetic metal when the magnetically attachable base is magnetically attached to the flat surface, and secondly, the magnets generally have a relatively large magnetic force F to prevent the window cover rail from falling. (In this case, the magnetic attraction force exerted by the magnets and the magnetically permeable iron plates on the flat surface of the ferromagnetic metal is defined as F1 + F2 + F3 + F4). Furthermore, the circumferential side 4 of the magnetically attachable base is a vertical wall (for the definition of the term "vertical," see the [reference to be added]). Fig. (2 directions shown), so that a user wishing to remove the magnetically attachable base 1 has no point to apply force and may have difficulty gripping the magnetically attachable base; and due to the strong magnetic attraction of the underside 3, the user may attempt to remove the magnetically attachable base by rotating it around the pivot point O in the lower left corner of Fig. 2 rotates. In response to the rotation, the illustrated conventional product generates a resistive torque L2, which can be estimated as follows. Let D be the distance between any two adjacent magnetically permeable iron plates. By calculating the length of each torque arm extending to the right from the pivot point O, the resistive torque generated by the magnetic attraction of the underside of the magnetically attachable base is D × F1 + 2D × F2 + 3D × F3 + 4D × F4 = L2. To successfully rotate the magnetically attachable base, the applied torque L1, generated by the force applied by the user to rotate the magnetically attachable base, must be greater than the resistive torque L2 generated by the magnetic attraction of the underside. Therefore, it is difficult to remove the magnetically attachable base without the use of a tool. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The main objective of the present invention is to provide a magnetic holder for a rail of a window covering, wherein the magnetic holder is structurally simple and can be easily and effortlessly removed.

[0005] To solve the aforementioned problem, the magnetic holder for a window covering rail provided by the present invention comprises a magnetically attachable base. The magnetically attachable base has a top, a bottom, and a circumferential side that connects the top and bottom. The top is provided with a coupling section. The coupling section is provided with a rail engagement element. The magnetically attachable base is provided with several magnets and several iron plates.The underside is provided with at least one gradually widening, sloping side wall extending towards the top, whereby the width of the magnetically attachable base gradually increases in an axial direction from the underside to the top and finally reaches its greatest width in the axial direction, the greatest width being greater than the width of the underside in the axial direction.

[0006] Given the aforementioned structure, the magnetic holder for a window covering rail provided by the present invention can not only be used as conveniently as the conventional product described above, but also allows the magnetically attachable base to be detached by gripping it at the desired points of force application and rotating it with a longer moment arm than with the conventional product. Thus, the object of the invention is achieved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional product. Fig. 2 is a front view of the in Fig. 1. Conventional product shown. Fig. 3 shows the conventional product made of Fig. 1 from a different perspective. Fig. Figure 4 is a perspective view of the present invention. Fig. Figure 5 is another perspective view of the present invention, taken from a different angle than in Figure 5. Fig. 4 was recorded. Fig. Figure 6 is an exploded view of the present invention, showing the magnetically attachable base separated from the rail engagement element. Fig. Figure 7 is a side view of the present invention. Fig. Figure 8 is a front view of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The applicant would first like to point out that in this description, which includes the following description of an embodiment and the accompanying claims, all directional terms refer to the directions illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, identical or similar elements or structural features in the embodiment described below and in the drawings are designated by the same reference numeral. Although the directions specified in this description refer to the directions in the drawings for the sake of clarity, the specified directions are not limited to those depicted herein.

[0008] With reference to Fig. 4 to Fig. 8 The magnetic holder for a rail of a window cover according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a magnetically attachable base 10.

[0009] The magnetically attachable base 10 has a top surface 11, a bottom surface 12, and a circumferential side 13 connecting the top and bottom surfaces. The top surface 11 is provided with a coupling section 14. The coupling section 14 is provided with a rail engagement element 15, and the rail engagement element is configured to engage with a rail of a window cover. The magnetically attachable base 10 is provided with several magnets and several iron plates 16. The iron plates 16 are exposed on the surface of the bottom surface 12. In this embodiment, the magnetically attachable base 10 is a rectangular body and therefore has two long sides 131 and two short sides 132. However, the magnetically attachable base 10 is not limited to this configuration and can be a cylinder, a hexagonal prism, a triangular prism, or have another shape.The distance between each outermost iron plate and the corresponding long side is less than or equal to the distance by which each iron plate protrudes from the underside.

[0010] The underside 12 is provided with at least one gradually widening, inclined side wall 17 extending towards the top side 11. Therefore, the width of the magnetically attachable base 10 gradually increases in an axial direction from the underside 12 to the top side 11 until a maximum width is reached. This maximum axial width is greater than the axial width of the underside 12. More precisely, the two ends of the underside (i.e., the two longitudinal sides 131 flanking the underside 12) are each provided with an inclined side wall 17 extending towards the top side 11, so that the underside 12 has a width in the short-axis direction that increases as the two inclined side walls 17 gradually extend outwards.Preferably, the width of the underside 12 in the direction of the short axis is less than or equal to the width of the rail engagement element 15 in the same axial direction.

[0011] In this embodiment, the underside is provided with an inclined side wall 17 on each of the two short sides 132 and on each of the two long sides 131, and all inclined side walls 17 gradually widen towards the top 11. However, the number of inclined side walls 17 is not limited to four. It is possible that an inclined side wall 17, which gradually widens towards the top 11, is provided only on each of the two long sides 131, but not on either of the two short sides 132. If the magnetically attachable base 10 has a cylindrical shape, the at least one inclined side wall 17 is an annular inclined side wall.Each inclined side wall 17 can extend from the bottom 12 to the top 11, thus having a downwardly tapered configuration, or, as shown in this embodiment, each inclined side wall 17 can extend outwards only to a certain height and is then connected to the vertical circumferential side 13. Each of the two longitudinal sides 131 of the magnetically attachable base is provided with a recessed section 18, which serves as a point of force application to facilitate rotation of the magnetically attachable base by a user.

[0012] The aforementioned structure of the present invention enables the magnetically attachable base 10 to be mounted and used in the same manner as the conventional product described above, i.e., it can be magnetically attached to a mounting position by the magnetic force of the magnets in the magnetically attachable base. In this case, the magnetic attraction of the magnets has the same magnitude as that of the conventional product described above, namely F1 + F2 + F3 + F4. When the magnetically attachable base is to be removed, the recessed sections 18 on the two longitudinal sides of the magnetically attachable base can be used for gripping and as points of force application for rotating the magnetically attachable base. With reference to Fig. 8 and the directions shown therein, the resulting resistive torque can be roughly estimated as follows if the user grasps the magnetically attachable base at the recessed sections 18 and rotates the magnetically attachable base in the same manner as described above (i.e., by rotating the magnetically attachable base counterclockwise around the pivot point O in the lower left corner of Fig.8) The underside of the product according to the invention is narrower than that of the conventional product, so that the distance between each outermost iron plate and the corresponding longitudinal side is very short; consequently, the pivot point O can be considered to be located at the position of F1. If the length of each moment arm from the pivot point O to the right is calculated, the resistance torque for the underside of the product according to the invention is D × F2 + 2D × F3 + 3D × F4 = L4, which is significantly lower than the resistance torque of the conventional product.

[0013] The force applied by the user generates a torque L3, and the magnetic attraction of the magnets in the magnetically attachable base generates the resistance torque L4, i.e., a magnetic attraction torque to resist the torque. Structurally, it is evident that the lever arm of the torque L3 has a much greater length than the lever arm of the magnetic attraction torque L4, and according to the operating principle of a lever, the longer the lever arm, the less force is required. Since the resistance torque of the invention is lower than that of the conventional product, the magnetically attachable base can be easily rotated by the user so that the underside of the magnetically attachable base is no longer magnetically attached to the flat surface, thus solving the problem of easily removing the magnetically attachable base.

Claims

[1] Magnetic holder for a rail of a window covering, the magnetic holder comprising: a magnetically attachable base (10) with a top (11), a bottom (12) and a circumferential side (13) connecting the top (11) and the bottom (12), wherein the top (11) is provided with a coupling section (14), the coupling section (14) is provided with a rail engagement element (15) and the magnetically attachable base (10) is provided therein with several magnets and several iron plates (16); wherein the underside (12) is provided with a gradually widening inclined side wall (17) extending towards the top (11), such that the magnetically attachable base (10) has a width defined in an axial direction of the magnetically attachable base (10) and gradually increases in a direction from the underside (12) to the top (11) until a maximum width is formed, and the maximum width of the magnetically attachable base (10) in the axial direction is greater than a width of the underside (12) in the axial direction. [2] Magnetic holder for a rail of a window cover according to claim 1, wherein the width of the underside (12) in the axial direction is less than or equal to a width of the rail engagement element (15) in the axial direction. [3] Magnetic holder for a rail of a window cover according to claim 1, wherein the magnetically attachable base (10) is a rectangular body and has two long sides (131) and two short sides (132). [4] Magnetic holder for a rail of a window cover according to claim 3, characterized by , that the underside (12) is provided on each of the two long sides (131) with the aforementioned sloping side wall (17) and the sloping side walls (17) gradually widen towards the top (11). [5] Magnetic holder for a rail of a window cover according to claim 4, wherein the inclined side walls (17) extend outwards to a certain height and are then connected to the circumferential side (13). [6] Magnetic holder for a rail of a window cover according to claim 5, wherein each of the two longitudinal sides (131) of the magnetically attachable base (10) is provided with a recessed section (18). [7] Magnetic holder for a rail of a window cover according to claim 3, characterized by , that the underside (12) is provided on each of the two short sides (132) with the aforementioned sloping side wall (17) and the sloping side walls (17) gradually widen towards the top (11). [8] Magnetic holder for a rail of a window cover according to claim 7, wherein the inclined side walls (17) extend outwards to a certain height and are then connected to the circumferential side (13). [9] Magnetic holder for a rail of a window cover according to claim 1, wherein the inclined side wall (17) extends outwards to a certain height and is then connected to the circumferential side (13). [10] Magnetic holder for a rail of a window cover according to claim 3, wherein a distance between each outermost iron plate (16) and a corresponding longitudinal side (131) along the underside (12) is less than or equal to a distance by which each of the iron plates (16) projects from the underside (12).

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