Guiding device for a side margin of a flexible sheet material of an awning and an awning comprising the same

Abstract

The guide device according to the invention comprises a mounting rail (5), two spring profiles (6), and a guide rail (7). The mounting rail (5) has a partially enclosed interior space (8) and an access opening (9) extending in the longitudinal direction to the interior space 8. The spring profiles (6) are arranged in the interior space (8) on the mounting rail (5) and extend on both sides of the access opening (9) along the mounting rail (5) and in directions away from the access opening (9) to free end regions (6a). The guide rail (7) comprises a guide groove (10) and, in the area facing away from the guide groove, webs (11) with contact regions (12) leading away from the center plane on both sides of a center plane running centrally through the guide groove (10). The contact regions (12) can be pressed away from the access opening (9) by the free end regions (6a) of the spring profiles (6) to tension the flat material web (3).The access opening (9) has an opening width orthogonal to the longitudinal direction that is greater than the maximum extension of the guide rail (7) orthogonal to its center plane, so that the guide rail (7) can be inserted into the interior (8) through the access opening (9) with this maximum extension for placement in the interior (8). The guide device according to the invention allows for various procedures when installing awnings.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a guide device according to the preamble of claim 1 and an awning with this guide device.

[0002] Awnings, also known as sun blinds, can be used to provide sun, heat, glare, privacy, rain, insect, and object protection, and can be customized to the specific needs. To achieve this protection, a flexible flat material sheet is used that can be unwound from and wound onto a shaft of the awning. The flexible flat material sheet of an awning preferably comprises a material tailored to the desired protection, such as an awning fabric, a plastic sheet, or, if necessary, an insect net.

[0003] For awnings that must ensure a predetermined path for the two side edges of the flexible flat material web when unrolled, the side edges are guided in guide devices. A guide device designed to guide a side edge of a flexible flat material web of an awning comprises a guide element with a guide groove in which a guide area of the side edge is movable in the longitudinal direction of the guide element and held transversely to the longitudinal direction. The mobility and hold in the transverse direction must be guaranteed even under high wind loads acting on the flat material web. The flat material web should appear warped and wrinkle-free.

[0004] In common guide solutions, the guide area of the side edge is designed similarly to one of the two interconnected contact areas of a zipper. This guide area is held longitudinally in a guide groove and can be wound onto the awning shaft. Such guide solutions are called ZIP guides and ensure the long-term functionality of the awning.

[0005] EP 2 733 303 A1 and EP 2 977 540 B1 describe guide devices for guiding a thickened portion or a welt of a side edge of an awning fabric. These guide devices comprise a mounting rail, two elongated elastic elements, and a guide rail with a guide groove for receiving the thickened portion or welt. The mounting rail has an interior space and an access opening to the interior space extending along the mounting rail. The guide rail and the elongated elastic elements are arranged in the interior space of the mounting rail, with the elongated elastic elements being arranged on either side of the access opening and elastically holding contact areas of the guide rail at distances from support areas of the mounting rail on either side of the access opening.

[0006] Due to its contact areas with the elastic elements, the guide rail is wider than the access opening and must be inserted into the mounting rail from one end. Once the elongated elastic elements are attached to the contact areas, they are inserted together with the guide rail. In the designs shown in EP 2 733 303 A1 and EP 2 977 540 B1, in which the elongated elastic elements engage behind entry openings of grooves with holding areas leading away from one another, the elongated elastic elements must be inserted individually from one end into the mounting rail. Assembling the guide device is very complex, and installing the assembled guide device at the installation site of an awning is difficult.

[0007] The object of the invention is to find a solution in which the guide device can be used easily.

[0008] This object is achieved by a guide device having the features of claim 1 and by awnings having these guide devices. The dependent claims describe advantageous embodiments that achieve further objects.

[0009] A guide device according to the invention is designed to guide a side edge of a flexible flat material web of an awning. For this purpose, the guide device extends in a longitudinal direction and comprises a mounting rail, two spring profiles and a guide rail. The mounting rail has a partially enclosed interior space and an access opening to the interior space extending in the longitudinal direction. The spring profiles are arranged in the interior space on the mounting rail and extend on both sides of the access opening along the mounting rail and in directions away from the access opening to their free end regions. The guide rail comprises a guide groove extending along the guide rail and, facing away from the guide groove, on both sides of a central plane running centrally through the guide groove, webs with contact areas leading away from the central plane.After the guide rail has been positioned in the interior, the contact areas can be placed against the free end areas of the spring profiles and can be pushed away from the access opening by the spring profiles in the interior to tension the flat material web. The access opening has an opening width orthogonal to the longitudinal direction that is greater than the maximum extension of the guide rail orthogonal to its center plane, so that the guide rail can be inserted into the interior through the access opening with this maximum extension for installation in the interior.

[0010] The guide groove of the guide rail can be designed with a groove opening and a groove space in such a way that the side edge of a flexible flat material web with a guide area inserted into the guide groove can be moved along the guide groove and is securely held by the narrowed groove opening even in the case of tensile forces which pull the guide area in the guide groove against the groove opening.

[0011] The guide device according to the invention is designed in such a way that various approaches are possible when installing awnings. On the one hand, it is possible to first mount two fully assembled guide devices and then insert the two guide sections formed on either side of the awning fabric into assigned guide grooves. On the other hand, it is also possible to first mount the mounting rails without guide rails, insert the guide sections into assigned guide grooves of the guide rails that are at least partially still located outside the mounting rail, and then insert the guide rails with the inserted guide sections completely through the access opening into the mounting rail. The use of the guide devices is simple and can be adapted to the respective conditions.

[0012] Preferably, the spring profiles, in particular their position in the mounting rail, their shape and their elasticity, are designed such that the free end regions of the spring profiles arranged in the interior of the mounting rail can be pressed apart from the webs of the guide rail transversely to the longitudinal direction when the guide rail is inserted through the access opening into the interior and can be moved resiliently against the contact regions when the guide rail is inserted.

[0013] According to an advantageous embodiment, the spring profiles are deformable such that, when the free end regions of the spring profiles rest against the contact regions and the guide rail moves in one direction out of the access opening, they prevent the webs with the contact regions from exiting the access opening. This deformability is preferably achieved in that the movement of the contact regions against the access opening deforms the spring profiles such that partial regions of the spring profiles can be pressed between the free end regions of the webs and the edge regions of the access opening facing the interior, so that, supported by the edge regions, they form stops for the free end regions of the webs. The abutment of the webs against these stops ensures that the guide rail cannot be pulled out of the mounting rail.

[0014] A particularly advantageous embodiment is one in which the portions of the webs facing away from the contact areas are arrow-shaped or umbrella-shaped and preferably have the greatest distance from the guide groove at the center plane. The guide rail thus comprises an arrow-shaped or umbrella-shaped portion with the webs at the end facing away from the guide groove, which facilitates the spreading of the spring profiles when inserting the guide rail through the access opening.

[0015] In a further advantageous embodiment, the access opening has an opening width orthogonal to the longitudinal direction that is smaller than the sum of the maximum extension of the webs orthogonal to the center plane and the thickness of the spring profiles orthogonal to their extension away from the access opening. This means that gaps remain between the end regions of the webs and the edge regions of the access opening, the width of which is smaller than the thickness of the spring profiles.

[0016] In an advantageous embodiment of the guide device, the spring profiles can be secured to the mounting rail at the access opening using detachable click connections. In particular, each click connection has at least one recess on the mounting rail and at least one projection on the spring profile. These click connections ensure that the spring profiles can be inserted with their free end areas through the access opening into the interior and then fastened to the mounting rail at the access opening using the click connections. This means that they do not have to be inserted lengthwise into grooves in the mounting rail. The insertion and clicking in of the spring profiles can also take place once the guide rail is already arranged in the interior.

[0017] Preferably, the spring profiles in the click connections are made of a harder material than in the areas leading away from the click connections, with the spring profiles with the different hardness areas preferably being produced by coextrusion. Optionally, the free end areas of the spring profiles are also made of a harder material, so that the spring property of each spring profile is achieved essentially by a central area between the click connection and the free end areas.

[0018] In a further advantageous embodiment, the mounting rail is composed of a first and a second profile, wherein these two profiles are preferably connectable to one another via a releasable snap-in connection. In particular, the first profile extends in cross-section from a first side of the access opening over a first side wall, a rear wall, and at least a portion of a second side wall around a region of the interior of the mounting rail. The second profile, in combination with the first profile, extends from at least a portion of the second side wall to a second side of the access opening.

[0019] If the first profile is double-walled in an area on the first side and / or the rear wall, the heads of fastening screws installed in a double-walled area cannot protrude into the interior.

[0020] An awning according to the invention comprises a flexible flat material web, a winding shaft for winding and unwinding the flexible flat material web and two guide devices according to the invention, each of which is assigned to an edge of the flexible flat material web.

[0021] The invention is described in more detail below with reference to some figures. Figure 1 is a perspective view of an awning with two guide devices, each assigned to one side of a flexible flat material web, with a concealed end of a guide device shown enlarged. Figure 2 is a cross-section through a guide device when the guide rail enters the access opening. Figure 3 is a cross-section through a guide device in the state when the guide rail pushes the spring profiles apart. Figure 4 is a cross-section through a guide device in the state when the spring profiles spring back against the contact areas. Figure 5 is a cross-section through a guide device in the state when the contact areas are in contact with the free end areas of the spring profiles. Figure 6 is a cross-section through a guide device in the state when the guide rail is pushed maximally into the interior by the spring profiles. Figure 7 is a cross-section through a guide device in the state.when the guide rail loaded with a tensile force has partially deformed the spring profiles, Figure 8 shows a cross-section through a guide device in the state when the guide rail loaded with a tensile force has maximally deformed the spring profiles, Figure 9 shows a cross-section through a guide device in the state when the guide rail is maximally pressed into the interior by the spring profiles, Figure 10 shows a cross-section through a guide device in the state when the guide rail loaded with a tensile force has maximally deformed the spring profiles, and Figure 11 shows a cross-section through a guide rail.

[0022] The Figure 1 shows an awning 1 with two guide devices 2, each assigned to one side of a flexible flat material web 3. The flexible material web can be wound onto and unwound from a winding shaft in the box 4.

[0023] The Figure 1Enlarged guide device and the one shown in the Figures 2 to 10 The cross-sections through the guide device shown show a mounting rail 5, two spring profiles 6 and a guide rail 7. The mounting rail 5 has a partially enclosed interior space 8 and an access opening 9 extending in the longitudinal direction to the interior space 8. The spring profiles 6 are arranged in the interior space 8 on the mounting rail 5 and extend on both sides of the access opening 9 along the mounting rail 5 and in directions away from the access opening 9 to their free end regions 6a.

[0024] The guide rail 7 comprises a guide groove 10 extending along the guide rail 7, having a groove opening 10a and a groove space 10b. The groove opening 10a is preferably formed from a material having a low coefficient of friction. In the area facing away from the guide groove, the guide rail 7 comprises webs 11 with contact areas 12, extending away from the center plane on both sides of a center plane running centrally through the guide groove 10.

[0025] In the illustrated embodiment of the guide rail 7, the areas of the webs 11 facing away from the contact areas 12 are arrow-shaped and have the greatest distance to the guide groove 10 in the center plane. The arrow shape facilitates Figures 2 to 4 The illustrated insertion of the guide rail 7 through the access opening 9 into the interior 8 causes the spring profiles 6 to be pressed apart. Figure 4the free end areas 6a spring back against the contact areas 12 when the mounting rail 7 is inserted sufficiently far.

[0026] After the guide rail has been arranged in the interior 8, the contact areas 12 can be placed on the free end areas 6a of the spring profiles 6 (cf. Figure 5 , 6 and 9 ) and can be pushed away from the access opening 9 by the spring profiles 6 in the interior 8 for tensioning the flat material web 3 (cf. Figures 7 and 10 ).

[0027] The access opening 9 has an opening width orthogonal to the longitudinal direction that is greater than the maximum extent of the guide rail 7 orthogonal to its center plane, so that the guide rail 7 can be inserted into the interior 8 through the access opening 9 with this maximum extent for arrangement in the interior 8. In the illustrated embodiment, the access opening 9 has an opening width orthogonal to the longitudinal direction that is smaller than the sum of the maximum extent of the webs 11 orthogonal to the center plane and the thickness of the tongue profiles 6 orthogonal to their extent away from the access opening 9. This means that gap areas remain between the end regions of the webs 11 and the edge regions of the access opening 9, the width of which gap areas is smaller than the thickness of the tongue profiles 6, which prevents the guide rail 7 from being pulled out of the mounting rail 5.

[0028] According to the Figures 7 and 10the spring profiles 7 can be designed to be differently deformable. When the guide rail 7 moves in one direction out of the access opening 9, the different deformability leads to different types of contact of the free end regions 6a of the spring profiles 6 on the contact regions 12. An exit of the webs 11 from the access opening 9 is prevented in both cases, whereby Figure 8 preventing the exit due to a movement of the free end regions 6a of the spring profiles 6 against the guide groove 10.

[0029] In the illustrated embodiment of the guide device 5, the spring profiles 6 can be secured to the mounting rail 5 at the access opening 9 using detachable click connections 13. The click connection 13 has an L-shaped recess in the mounting rail 5 and two projections on the spring profile 6 that match the recess. The click connections 13 ensure that the spring profiles 6 can be inserted with their contact areas 6a through the access opening into the interior and then secured to the mounting rail 5 at the access opening 9 using the click connections 13.

[0030] The spring profiles 6 shown are made of a harder material in the click connections 13 than in the areas leading away from the click connections 13. In the Figure 10In the embodiment shown, the free end regions 6a of the spring profiles 6 are also formed from a harder material, so that the spring property is essentially achieved by a region between the click connection 13 and the free end regions 6a.

[0031] In the illustrated embodiment, the mounting rail 5 is composed of a first profile 5a and a second profile 5b, wherein these two profiles 5a and 5b can be connected to one another via a detachable snap-in connection. In particular, the first profile 5a extends in cross-section from a first side of the access opening 9 over a first side wall, a rear wall, and at least a portion of a second side wall around a region of the interior 8 of the mounting rail 5. The second profile 5b, in the assembly with the first profile 5a, extends from at least a portion of the second side wall to a second side of the access opening 9.

Claims

1. A guide device (2) designed to guide a side edge of a flexible flat material web (3) of an awning (1), which guide device (2) extends in a longitudinal direction and comprises a mounting rail (5), two spring profiles (6), and a guide rail (7), wherein the mounting rail (5) has a partially enclosed interior space (8) and an access opening (9) extending in the longitudinal direction to the interior space (8), the spring profiles (6) are arranged in the interior space (8) on the mounting rail (5), and extend on both sides of the access opening (9) along the mounting rail (5) and in directions away from the access opening (9) to free end regions (6a), and the guide rail (7) has a guide groove (10) extending along the guide rail (7) and, facing away from the guide groove (10), webs (11) with contact regions (12) leading away from the center plane on both sides of a center plane running centrally through the guide groove (10). has,which contact areas (12) can be placed on the free end areas (6a) of the spring profiles (6) after the guide rail (7) has been arranged in the interior (8) and can be pressed away from the access opening (9) by the spring profiles (6) in the interior (8) in order to tension the flat material web (3), characterized in that the access opening (9) has an opening width orthogonal to the longitudinal direction which is greater than the maximum extent of the guide rail (7) orthogonal to its center plane, so that the guide rail (7) can be inserted into the interior (8) through the access opening (9) with this maximum extent for arrangement in the interior (8).

2. Guide device (2) according to claim 1, characterized in thatthe free end regions (6a) of the spring profiles (6) arranged in the interior (8) on the mounting rail (5) can be pressed apart transversely to the longitudinal direction by the webs (11) of the guide rail (7) when the guide rail (7) is inserted through the access opening (9) into the interior (8) and can be moved resiliently against the contact regions (11) when the guide rail (7) is inserted.

3. Guide device (2) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that when the free end regions (6a) of the spring profiles (6) are in contact with the contact regions (11) and the guide rail (7) moves in a direction out of the access opening (9), the spring profiles (7) are deformable in such a way that they prevent the webs (11) with the contact regions (12) from emerging from the access opening (9).

4. Guide device (2) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in thatregions of the webs (11) facing away from the contact regions (12) are arrow-shaped or umbrella-shaped and preferably have the greatest distance from the guide groove (10) in the center plane.

5. Guide device (2) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the access opening (9) has an opening width orthogonal to the longitudinal direction which is smaller than the sum of the maximum extension of the webs (11) orthogonal to the center plane and the thickness of the spring profiles (6) orthogonal to their extension away from the access opening.

6. Guide device (2) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the spring profiles (6) can be fixed to the mounting rail (5) at the access opening (9) by means of detachable click connections (13), wherein preferably each click connection (13) has at least one recess on the mounting rail (5) and at least one projection on the spring profile.

7. Guide device (2) according to claim 8, characterized in that the spring profiles (6) in the click connections (13) are formed from a harder material than in their areas leading away from the click connections (13), wherein the spring profiles (6) with the differently hard areas are preferably produced by coextrusion.

8. Guide device (2) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the mounting rail (5) is composed of a first profile (5a) and a second profile (5b), wherein these two profiles (5a, 5b) can preferably be connected to one another via a releasable snap-in connection.

9. Guide device (2) according to claim 8, characterized in thatthe first profile (5a) extends in cross-section from a first side of the access opening (9) over a first side wall, a rear wall and at least a part of a second side wall around a region of the interior (8) of the mounting rail (5) and the second profile (5b) in the assembly with the first profile (5a) extends from at least a part of the second side wall to a second side of the access opening (9).

10. Guide device (2) according to claim 9, characterized in that the first profile (5a) is double-walled in an area on the first side and / or on the rear wall.

11. Awning (1) with a flexible flat material web (3), a winding shaft for winding and unwinding the flexible flat material web (3) and two guide devices (2) according to one of claims 1 to 10, which are each assigned to an edge of the flexible flat material web (3).

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