Box for roller blind or the like with autonomous drive

Abstract

The present invention relates to a box (1) for a roller shutter or similar with autonomous motorization, containing at least one winding shaft driven in rotation by an electric motor powered by a battery connected to a renewable electrical energy source, and to which is attached a curtain whose lateral edge is arranged to move vertically inside a guide rail (6), and a tulip (10) disposed at the upper end of each guide rail (6) and allowing the connection between the guide rails (6) and the box (1), remarkable in that the tulip (10) integrates at least part of the electrical cables (15) allowing the battery to be recharged, and a connector (16) connected to said electrical cables (15) and arranged to be connected to an external charger.

Description

Technical field of the invention

[0001] The present invention relates to the general field of roller shutters or the like such as, for example, sunscreens. It relates more specifically to a box for a roller shutter or the like with autonomous motorization, that is to say equipped with a battery and a photovoltaic panel to electrically power a motor allowing the rolling and unrolling of a roller shutter or the like. State of the art

[0002] Conventionally, a roller shutter or similar comprises a prefabricated box containing a winding shaft resting by its ends on bearings secured to the end plates of said box, being driven in rotation by an electric motor, and to which is attached an apron formed of horizontal slats articulated together and the ends of which move vertically inside guide slides, the latter being secured to the external face of the woodwork of a window of a building associated with the roller shutter or to the external masonry of the building surrounding said window.

[0003] So, to raise the roller shutter, the apron is wound around the shaft by rotating the electric motor in one direction and, conversely, to lower the roller shutter, the apron is unwound from the shaft by rotating the said electric motor in the other direction. For this, the electric motor is connected to the domestic electrical network.

[0004] However, for reasons aimed at promoting renewable energies, it is known to use an autonomous motorization, that is to say to have a box containing a winding shaft driven in rotation by an electric motor powered by a battery connected to a photovoltaic panel. Generally, the battery is placed in the box, and the photovoltaic panel is placed on the face of the box most exposed to the sun, conventionally the vertical front face of said box, once the box is placed on the corresponding window of the building.

[0005] Such roller shutters are described in European patent applications EP 3 803 021 and EP 3 528 310.

[0006] In the event of poor sun exposure or equipment failure, the battery may be empty or too weak to power the electric motor. In this case, it is possible to intervene, either by changing the battery or by charging it. To do this, it is necessary to access the battery. Most of the time, it is sufficient to simply open the inspection hatch associated with the box, said inspection hatch being located on the underside of the box located outside the building. However, when the curtain is unrolled, the intervention must inevitably be carried out from outside the building, which can become problematic for a roller shutter installed on a window that is not located on the ground floor of said building.

[0007] To overcome this problem, it is known to implement a connection box placed partly in excess thickness on the rear face of the box containing the roller shutter and fixed by screwing on the sheet metal constituting said rear face. The width of the connection box is then such that it allows to cover a connection interface to the battery power cables and to escape the joinery of the window against which the box is placed to access said connector. These two points require cutting the sheet metal of the box on a wide strip, which has the effect of weakening this area. In addition, it is clear that this method also has the following disadvantages: an increase in production time to machine the sheets and fix this connection box, an increase in the complexity of installing the box containing the roller shutter, because it is necessary to wedge the box to take into account the extra thickness of the connection box, particularly in the event that the slides associated with said box are fixed against the window joinery. Summary of the invention

[0008] The aim of the present invention is therefore to propose a box for guiding a roller shutter or similar with autonomous motorization equipped with a battery, a photovoltaic panel for electrically powering a motor allowing the winding and unwinding of said roller shutter or similar, and a connection interface to the power cables of said battery allowing easy recharging, if necessary, of the battery, said connection interface being easy to implement on said box without, on the one hand, mechanically weakening the latter and, on the other hand, increasing the production time of said box and the complexity of its installation.

[0009] According to the invention, there is therefore proposed a box for a roller shutter or similar with autonomous motorization, containing at least one winding shaft driven in rotation by an electric motor powered by a battery connected to a renewable electrical energy source, and to which is attached an apron, each lateral edge of which is arranged to move vertically inside a guide slide, and a tulip arranged at the upper end of each guide slide and making it possible to make the connection between the guide slides and the box, remarkable in that the tulip integrates at least part of the electric cables making it possible to recharge the battery, and a connector connected to said electric cables and arranged to be connected to an external charger.

[0010] Advantageously, each tulip comprises a guide chute comprising at least a first and a second wall extending perpendicular to the associated guide slide and arranged opposite each other so as to determine a channel, and the second wall located on the side of a rear wall of the trunk extends beyond the associated guide slide in the direction of the other guide slide and comprises a longitudinal recess opening at least at the longitudinal end of the second wall located on the side of said guide slide and configured to receive a portion of the electrical cables and the connector.

[0011] The second wall preferably has a removable lower hatch to allow access to the connector to extract it from the recess and connect it to the external charger.

[0012] According to an advantageous embodiment, the second wall comprises a vertical cutout at least in line with the guide slide, the widest portion of the second wall then containing at least the connector and being partly inserted into a cutout made in the rear wall of the trunk. Brief description of the figures

[0013] Other advantages and characteristics will emerge more clearly from the following description of an embodiment of the invention with reference to the appended figures in which: [ Fig 1 ] is a partial front perspective view of a trunk according to the invention, [ Fig 2 ] is a partial front perspective view of the trunk of the figure 1 on which the lower hatch is open, [ Fig 3 ] is another partial front perspective view of the trunk of the figure 1 on which the front and bottom walls are removed, [ Fig 4 ] is a partial front perspective view of the trunk of the figure 3 on which the lower hatch is open, [ Fig 5 ] is a partial rear perspective view of the trunk of the figure 1 , [ Fig 6 ] is a partial rear perspective view of the trunk of the Figure 5 on which the lower hatch is open, [ Fig 7 ] is another partial rear perspective view of the trunk of the figure 1 on which the rear wall is removed and the lower hatch is opened. Description of the embodiments

[0014] On the figures 1 to 7 , a box 1 is shown, according to the invention, for guiding a roller shutter or similar used to close or on the contrary free an opening, for example of the door or window type, arranged in an embrasure of a building not shown.

[0015] Conventionally, the trunk 1 is of generally tubular shape and comprises at least a front wall 2a, an upper wall 2b, a rear wall 2c and a lower wall 2d, the latter defining between them an internal volume 3 closed at each of its longitudinal ends by an end flange 4. Said trunk 1 further has a longitudinal slot 5 arranged between the lower wall 2d and the rear wall 2c and extending along the latter. In the example shown in the figures, the front 2a and lower 2d walls are formed by a single piece whose cross section is generally L-shaped, but it goes without saying that the front 2a and lower 2d walls could also be formed by two independent pieces, without departing from the scope of the present invention. The same applies to the other walls of the trunk 1.

[0016] Said box 1 contains, in its internal volume 3, a winding shaft resting by its ends on bearings secured to the end flanges 4 and to which is attached an apron or the like whose lateral edges are arranged to move vertically inside guide slides 6 secured to the associated opening or the embrasure surrounding said opening. The winding shaft and the apron are not shown in the figures, so as not to overload them.

[0017] In the following, a trunk 1 is described which is arranged horizontally; however, said trunk 1 may be inclined more or less with respect to the horizontal; terms such as, for example, horizontal, vertical, lower or even upper will then have to be adapted.

[0018] Here, the term "front" refers to any element or part of an element of the box 1 according to the invention arranged on the side opposite the opening and the term "rear" refers to any element or part of an element of said box 1 arranged on the opposite side, i.e. on the inside of the building.

[0019] Likewise, here, "internal" means elements or parts of elements oriented or arranged towards and inside the slide 1 and "external" means elements or parts of elements oriented or arranged towards and outside said slide 1.

[0020] The trunk 1 according to the invention comprises an autonomous motorization, that is to say that the winding shaft that it contains is driven in rotation by an electric motor powered by a battery, not shown, connected to a renewable electrical energy source, conventionally a photovoltaic panel 7. Generally speaking, the battery is placed in the trunk 1, and the photovoltaic panel 7 is placed on the face of the trunk most exposed to the sun, that is to say on the external face of the front wall 2a of said trunk 1.

[0021] Furthermore, the box 1 comprises a support plate 8 arranged in its internal volume 3 and secured to each of the end flanges 4, and a tulip 10 arranged in its internal volume 3 of the box 1 in line with the slot 5 and at the upper end of one of the guide slides 6 and being advantageously fixed to the corresponding end flange 4.

[0022] Advantageously, one of the support plates 8 has substantially in its center an internal orifice 9 of suitable shape to receive the end of the winding shaft of the roller shutter containing the electric motor.

[0023] Each tulip 10 makes it possible to make the connection between the guide slides 6 and the box 1, so as to facilitate the introduction and the guiding of one of the lateral edges of the apron of the roller shutter in the corresponding guide slide 6, during the raising and lowering of said apron. For this, each tulip 10 comprises a guide chute of known type, and a foot comprising a tab, of generally rectangular shape, extending perpendicularly from the guide chute and being intended to be introduced into the corresponding guide slide 6.

[0024] Said guide chute comprises at least a first and a second wall 11, 12 extending perpendicular to the associated guide slide 6 and arranged opposite each other so as to determine a channel 13 allowing the passage of a lateral edge of the roller shutter apron, said channel 13 being advantageously of flared shape in the direction of the box 1 to guide said apron in the associated guide slide 6, in particular when closing said roller shutter.

[0025] The second wall 12, which is located on the side of the rear wall 2c of the trunk 1, extends beyond the associated guide slide 6 in the direction of the other guide slide 6 and comprises a longitudinal recess 14 extending perpendicular to the associated guide slide 6 and opening at least at the longitudinal end of the second wall 12 located on the side of said guide slide 6 (Cf. figures 6 And 7). The recess 14 of the second wall 12 of the tulip 10 is configured to receive a portion of the electric cables 15 allowing the battery to be recharged, if necessary, and a connector 16 connected to said electric cables 15 (Cf. figures 4 And 7 ) and arranged to be connected to an external charger, not shown in the figures. Said second wall 12 further comprises a removable lower hatch 17 in order to be able to access the connector 16 to extract it from the recess 14 and connect it to the external charger.

[0026] According to an advantageous embodiment, in order not to increase the overall dimensions of the trunk 1 according to the invention, the second wall 12 comprises a vertical cutout 18 (Cf. figure 7) at least to the right of the associated guide slide 6 in order to limit the space between the channel 13 and the internal face of the rear wall 2c of the trunk 1 so as to be able to apply said guide slide 6 against said internal face, the widest portion of the second wall 12 then containing at least the connector 16 and being partly inserted into a cutout 19 (Cf. figure 6 ) arranged in the rear wall 2c of the trunk 1. This configuration not only makes it possible to limit the overall dimensions of the trunk 1 according to the invention, but also to guarantee sufficient space at the level of the recess 14 to contain said connector 16.

[0027] With this particular configuration consisting of integrating at least a part of the electric cables 15 and the connector 16 into the tulip 10, more precisely into the second wall 12 of the guide chute of said tulip 10, the box 1 makes it possible to guarantee easy access to said connector 16 whatever the arrangement of the opening in the building, and to limit the machining of said box 1 and therefore not to alter the mechanical resistance of the entire box 1, said machining being limited to the cutout 19 made in the rear wall 2c of said box 1.

[0028] This particular configuration also makes it easier to install the box 1, since there is no longer any excess thickness at the right of the guide slides 6.

[0029] The box 1 according to the invention finds a particular application for guiding a roller shutter or similar equipping an opening of a building and being associated with an autonomous motorization.

[0030] Finally, it goes without saying that the examples of trunk 1 in accordance with the invention which have just been described are only particular illustrations, in no way limiting of the invention.

Claims

1. Housing (1) for roller shutter or similar with autonomous drive, containing at least one winding shaft driven in rotation by an electric motor powered by a battery connected to a renewable electrical energy source, and to which is attached an apron each lateral edge of which is arranged to move vertically inside a guide slide (6), and a casing(10) disposed at the upper end of each guide slide (6) and allowing making the connection between the guide slides (6) and the housing (1), characterised in that the casing (10) incorporates at least part of the electrical cables (15) allowing recharging the battery, and a connector (16) connected to said electrical cables (15) and arranged so as to be connected to an external charger.

2. Housing (1) according to claim 1 characterised in that each casing (10) comprises a guide channel comprising at least one first and second wall (11, 12) extending perpendicularly to the associated guide slide (6) and arranged opposite one another so as to determine a duct (13), and in that the second wall (12) located on the side of a rear wall (2c) of the housing (1) extends beyond the associated guide slide (6) toward the other guide slide (6) and includes a longitudinal recess (14) opening at least at the longitudinal end of the second wall (12) located on the side of said guide slide (6) and configured to receive a portion of the electrical cables (15) and the connector (16).

3. Housing (1) according to claim 2 characterised in that the second wall (12) includes a removable lower hatch (17) in order to be able to access the connector (16) to extract it from the recess (14) and connect it to the external charger.

4. Housing (1) according to claim 3, characterised in that the second wall (12) comprises a vertical cutout (18) at least in line with the guide slide (6), the widest portion of the second wall (12) then containing at least the connector (16) and being partially inserted into a cutout (19) formed in the rear wall (2c) of the housing (1).

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