Improvements to curtain or blind track system

Abstract

A track system (2, Figure 1a) for at least one curtain (8, Figure 1a) or blind comprising a housing (4, Figure 1a) and a flexible elongate track 6 located within the housing. The flexible elongate mem

Description

The invention to which this application relates is to improvements to a curtain or blind track systems for use in domestic or commercial premises such as offices, hotels and the like. The invention is now described with regard to the use of the track system with curtains but it should be appreciated that this is in a non limiting manner and can equally be applied to blind systems. Track systems are provided to allow the curtains which are suspended from the track to be guided as they are drawn between a closed position, typically to cover over a window or windows, and an open position in which the window can be viewed and light passes through the same and into the interior. It is known to provide curtain track systems which include a plurality of curtain sliders which are movable along the track and each of the sliders is provided to receive a curtain hook in order to locate the curtain in connection with the hooks and in turn with the sliders and thereby allow the curtain to follow the movement of the sliders along the track system between the open and closed positions. The upper portion of the slider is trapped within the track so as to be linearly movable along the track but is prevented from falling or moving downwardly out of the track so as to thereby retain the curtain in position to extend downwardly from the track towards the floor. The track can, in certain instances, be located within a housing which, typically at the time of installation of the track system, is provided in a recess of the ceiling or wall, with the external surface of the ceiling or wall substantially flush with the external face of the housing. This therefore allows the track and sliders to be substantially masked from view by persons in the room and thereby provides a neater and more visually appealing appearance. It is also known to provide the track system as either a manual arrangement in which the curtains are physically pulled between open and closed positions which in turn slides the sliders along the track, or as a driven arrangement. In the driven arrangement, there is provided a drive motor at one or both ends of the track, and the motor drives a spigot wheel to rotate. The spigot wheel is connected to an endless belt located in and extending along the track between the spigot wheel at one end and at the other end of the track the belt passes round a pulley wheel and the belt is therefore driven to move along a front side of the track interior and a second, rear, side of the track interior. The belt is typically provided with a series of teeth or protrusions at spaced intervals therealong and which engage with the upper portions of the sliders such that when the belt is driven and moved by operation of the motor, the driven belt transfers the drive force to the sliders and causes the same to slide along the track and so move the curtains which are located with the sliders. In either embodiment, and in order to allow the space between the sliders to be maintained at a substantially uniform spacing, when the curtain is in the closed position, the sliders may be engaged by flexible members of equal lengths. A problem which is known is that the track is relatively bulky and the provision of the motor and the pulley at the respective ends of the track mean that the track protrudes beyond the curtain ends. This in turn means that it is difficult to provide a recess housing which accommodates the track therein. Furthermore, the motor typically depends downwardly from the track by some distance so that the same is again difficult to accommodate within a recess housing or, if not, the motor protrudes downwardly and is visually unappealing. A further problem is that when forming the recess housing, the housing is typically formed of lengths of track which are joined together and it can be difficult to move the track to the required location of use during installation procedures. Furthermore, if the track is to include one or more curved sections, the formation of the track and / or recess housing, which are typically formed of extruded straight lengths of aluminium, to accommodate the curvature in the track cannot be easily achieved in the recess housing and, if it is, has to be formed by a series of short straight sections joined end to end at offset angles. This makes it difficult for the belt and hence sliders to move therealong without snagging of the movement occurring. Furthermore, the provision of the belt drive creates a significant degree of friction which reduces the drive force imparted and can mean, in certain instances, that it may not be possible to use the driven arrangement, such as, for example, if there are a series of bends and joins between sections of the recess housing and / or if the curtain material is relatively heavy. Alternatively, a more powerful motor may be used but this is typically of a larger size which then creates additional problems with regard to the visual appearance of the motor as already discussed. Thus, it will be appreciated that there are significant problems with the current systems but, due to the significant appeal and demand for curtain systems of this type, these problems are either ignored or regarded as being something which has to be accepted. The aim of the present invention is to provide a curtain system which includes features which allow the mitigation of the problems discussed above and thereby provide a curtain track system, whether manually or power driven, which has significant advantage both in terms of installation and subsequent use of the same. In a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a track system for guided movement of at least one curtain or blind members between substantially open and closed positions, said track system including a track, a plurality of sliders to support the said at least one curtain or blind members from the track, said sliders engaged with and linearly movable along said track, wherein said track is formed by an elongate flexible member which, in turn, is substantially located within a housing. In one embodiment, the said housing is formed of a material which is more rigid than that of the said track. In one embodiment, the said housing is formed of an extruded metal or metal alloy such as aluminium and is provided with engagement means to allow the engagement therein of said elongate flexible member so as to retain the elongate flexible member in a predetermined position within and along said housing. Typically, the said position is to ensure that a slot formed along the length of the track is aligned with the base of the track so that sliders mounted in and movable along said track, depend downwardly from the said track system. Typically, the said slot has a longitudinal axis which is substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the elongate flexible member. In one embodiment, the said elongate flexible member is formed of a plastics material. Typically, the track is provided from a roll of elongate flexible member and can be cut to the required length so as to match the predetermined length of the track. Thus, no joints are required to be provided in the track. Typically, the track elongate flexible member has sufficient flexibility so as to allow the same to be bent or curved to form a curved section of track within a predefined range of possible curvature. In addition, or alternatively, the track can be moved into location with the engagement means of the housing by movement which causes the slot to narrow in width as the track is inserted into position and then resiliently return outwardly so as to allow the elongate member to engage in the housing and thereby form the track in position. In one embodiment, the track system is a motorised system such that the movement of the sliders is driven along the track and in one embodiment, the said motor or motors which are provided to provide the driven movement of the sliders are located within the said track. Typically, the said motor or motors are located at a first and / or second end of the said track. In one embodiment, the sliders are maintained at a predetermined distance apart by a series of spacer members of predetermined length and which are positioned between adjacent sliders so as to retain the spacing of the sliders as they move along the said track. Typically, as the track is formed as a single piece, and may also be formed of a material which improves ease of movement of the sliders as they slide along the same, the previous concerns with regard to the size of motor required to allow the movement of the sliders and hence curtains are suspended therefrom are reduced. Furthermore, the ability to secure and locate the motors at, and preferably within, the ends of the track, mean that the motors can be introduced at a later time so as to allow the track system to be changed from a manual to a driven system or alternatively, the motors can be removed from a track system to allow the same to be maintained, replaced or to change the systems to a manual system. In one embodiment, the said elongate flexible member is substantially circular in cross section and has a hollow interior. In one embodiment, the said flexible elongate member is tubular. In one embodiment, the engagement means which allow the retention of the elongate flexible member in position in the housing, engage with the side walls of the slot formed in the elongate flexible member. Typically, the track system includes sliders with means to allow the same to easily slide along the interior of the track. In one embodiment, the slider includes one or more wheels and the portion of the slider which includes the wheels, and the wheels themselves, are located in the interior of the said track elongate flexible member. In one embodiment, the provision of the slider in this form allows this slider, and a plurality of sliders to be moved simultaneously under the drive force exerted by the motor provided at an end of the elongate flexible member and without the need for a drive belt to be provided as the spacer members allow the transfer of power and driven movement between adjacent sliders irrespective of whether the drive forces provided by a motor or alternatively, by a person manually moving a curtain, and, in turn moving the sliders and hence spacer members. In one embodiment, the motors may be provided with power from one or more battery units and in one embodiment, the said battery units can also be located in the said track elongate flexible member and thereby overcoming the need for any external wiring to be provided or be visible. Specific embodiments of the invention are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures la and b illustrate a track system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention in use to suspend the curtains in position; Figures 2a and b illustrate the track and housing of the track system in cross section along line AA and showing one embodiment as the track is inserted into position in the housing; Figure 3 illustrate a portion of the track and housing viewed from the underside of the same; Figure 4 illustrates a portion of the track in a battery powered embodiment of the track system; Figure 5 illustrates an arrangement between sliders and spacer members in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Referring to Figures la and b there is illustrated a track system 2 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The track system is provided to be substantially located within a housing 4 and the housing can be provided so as to be located substantially within a recess in a ceiling of the building or room so as to be substantially hidden from view. The applicant has one known type of recess system which is sold under the Registered trade mark Perimeos which allows the housing to be located within a recess in the ceiling and other systems may also be available and applicable for use with the invention as herein described. The housing includes therein a track 6 which is described in more detail subsequently, and the track typically extends substantially along the housing so as to allow curtains 8,10 to be moved between an open position as shown in Figure la and a closed position as shown in Figure lb. Located within the track and movable there along, are a series of sliders 12 with a body portion 29 which moves linearly along the inside of the track and also have a lower portion 28 depending downwardly from the track so as to receive retention means such as conventional curtain hooks which are located on the curtains 8,10 at regular intervals and which allow the curtains to be suspended from the track system and be movable linearly along the longitudinal axis 14 of the track. Figure la illustrates the curtains in an open position and figure lb illustrates the curtains in a closed position and it should also be appreciated that the curtains can be moved to any of the positions intermediate those shown in Figures la and b by the appropriate movement of the same along the track. In one embodiment, the movement of the curtains can be achieved manually such as by a person simply gripping the curtains and then pulling the same in the direction that they wish to so as to either move the same between open or closed positions. In this embodiment, the sliders 12 follow the movement imparted by the curtains and slide along the track. In accordance with the invention in one embodiment, and as illustrated in Figure 4, one or more motors, in this example one motor 16, are provided to drive the sliders and allow the same to be driven to slide along the track. The motor 16 is in this embodiment positioned intermediate the slider or carrier 12, which is adjacent the leading edge 13 of the curtain, and the 2nd carrier 12’ and when operated moves along the track 6 in the appropriate direction as indicated by arrows 15,17 to close or open the curtain position with respect to the window. As the motor moves along the track it provides driven movement of the sliders and in turn the curtain. The motor can be provided with power from a mains power cable or, in the embodiment shown in Figure 4, is provided with power from a power pack 18 including one or more power cells or batteries 48. The power pack 18 is also mounted within the elongate flexible member and adjacent to the motor so as to be pushed or pulled along the track along with the sliders 12 by the movement of the motor 16. In this embodiment the power pack is located intermediate the second slider or carrier 12’ and third slider or carrier 12”. It will be appreciated that in this embodiment there is no need for any external wiring to be provided to allow the power supply to be connected to drive the motor. Instead, all that will typically be required is replacement of the power unit from time to time to charge the batteries or replace batteries with charged batteries, which can be achieved by sliding the power unit 18 outwardly from the end of the track. Also, if the track system is provided as a manual system initially, the current invention allows the track to be adapted to a driven system by the insertion of the motor unit 16 on the interior of the elongate flexible member and the power unit 18 without the need to dismantle, remove or replace any other parts of the track system. Typically, the sliders or carriers 12 are provided in a spaced apart configuration along the track and are spaced part by a predetermined distance determined by the provision of a series of spacer members 20 with one of the spacer members located between adjacent sliders as illustrated in Figure 5 which shows a cross section through the track 6 and illustrates a series of the sliders 12 respectively located with curtain hooks 22 connected to the curtain 8. The provision of the spacers allows the sliders 12 to be spaced apart by the required distance and prevents the curtains from becoming bunched and unsightly, and allows a drive force created by the motor 16 to be transferred via the respective spacers 20 to the sliders 12 and hence move the same along the track 6. In accordance with the invention, the track 6 is provided as an elongate flexible member, typically of a plastics material and the housing 24 can be provided of a relatively rigid material such as extruded aluminium. As shown in Figures 2a and b which show a cross section of the track and housing along line A-A, the track 6 is provided to be located within the housing 24 and the elongate flexible member includes a slot 26 which extends substantially along the length of the said elongate flexible member and hence track. The provision of the slot 26 allows the lower portion 28 of each slider 12 (one of which is shown in broken lines in Figure 2b) to pass therethrough and be located below the track so as to be engageable with the curtain hooks with the upper, body portion 29 of the slider 12 located in the interior 30 of the elongate flexible member track 6. In order to locate the track inside the housing 24 for use the same could be slid along the housing from one end but in many instances that may not be possible due to other obstacles of the building in which the system is to be installed, such as other walls etc. Thus, in accordance with the invention, it is possible for the track to be inserted upwardly into the housing once the housing 24 is in position on the ceiling or wall. The provision of the slot 26 in the elongate flexible member allows the member to be adapted by pushing the side walls inwardly as indicated by arrows 32, 34 to reduce the width of the slot 26 as the track 6 is pushed into the housing as indicated by arrow 36 as indicated in Figure 2a and so allow the track to pass through the passage 38 formed along the housing 24 so as to allow the elongate flexible member of the track to be fully inserted into the interior 39 of the housing. Once in position, the track 6 moves to contact with engagement means 40,42 on the housing as shown in Figure 2b and the resilience of the elongate flexible member which forms the track 6 causes the same to expand and the width of the slot 26 to widen and hence prevent the track from falling back through the passage 38 such that the track is then securely positioned within the housing and in the correct orientation so that the slot 26 is at the base of the track 6 as shown in Figure 3. In turn, this allows and the sliders 12 lower portions 28 to pass through the slot 26 and the passage 38 in the housing to be engaged with the curtains. Figure 3 also illustrates the manner in which the elongate flexible member which forms the track 6 is located within the housing 24 and that the slot 26 in the track is aligned with the passage 38 of the housing so as to allow the sliders for the curtains to pass through both the slot and the passage. The slider 12 is engaged with the interior of the elongate flexible member, and hence the tracks and so is prevented from passing entirely through the slot by the provision of the slider body portion 29 which is wider than the width of the slot 26 when the elongate flexible member is in position in the housing. In one embodiment the slider body 29 may be provided with contact surfaces which allow the sliding of the slider along the interior surface of the track or, in addition or alternatively, and as shown, may be provided with one or more wheels 44, 46 as shown in Figure 2b which are rotatable, and which contact with the interior wall of the elongate flexible member and allow improved movement of the slider along the track and with reduced friction and therefore allow the possibility of a motor 16 of a reduced power to be used to achieve the driven movement of the sliders. As previously discussed and as shown in Figure 4, the motor 16 can be provided of a form and have dimension so as to be located within the interior 30 of the track 6 and as a result is contained within the track and does not protrude outside of the track or the housing as would conventionally be the case. Typically the motor 16 is located between the leading slider or carrier 12 and the next adjacent slider or carrier 12’ for the curtain. Thus the motor and, if provided, power pack 18 are inserted and located within the interior 30 of the track. When the power cells of the power pack are required to be charged, then a plug and cable connection can be inserted into the power cell unit 18 or alternatively, the power cell unit can be removed typically via an end 50 of the track and taken to another location to be charged. It will also be appreciated that if the track system is initially a manual system, then the same can be relatively easily and quickly adapted to be a driven system by the insertion of the motor and power cell units into the end of the track which typically, can be accessed by a removable portion of the housing and there will be sufficient space available so as to allow the insertion and removal of the motor and power units which can then be slid into the track. This therefore allows the adaptation and maintenance of the track system to be achieved without the need for large scale removal or refitting of track components.

Claims

l.A track system for guided movement of at least one curtain or blind members between substantially open and closed positions, said track system including a track, a plurality of sliders to support the said at least one curtain or blind members from the track, said sliders engaged with and linearly movable along said track, wherein said track is formed by an elongate flexible member which, in turn, is substantially located within a housing.2.Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the said housing is formed of a material which is more rigid than that of the said track.

3. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the flexible elongate member includes a slot formed along the length of the track and said slot is positioned at the base of the track so that the plurality of sliders mounted in and movable along the said track, depend downwardly through said slot.4.Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the longitudinal axes of said slot and elongate flexible member are substantially parallel.

5. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the said elongate flexible member is substantially circular in cross section and has a hollow interior.

6. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the said housing includes passage through which said sliders and / or curtain or blind members depend downwardly.7 Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the said housing is provided with engagement means to allowthe engagement therein of said elongate flexible member so as to retain the same in a predetermined position substantially within and along said housing.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the elongate flexible member is moved into location with the engagement means of the housing by narrowing the width of the slot to allow insertion of the elongate flexible member and then allowing the expansion of the slot width so as to allow the elongate member to engage in the housing and thereby retain the track in position.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the engagement means engage with side walls of the slot formed in the elongate flexible member.10.Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the said elongate flexible member is formed of a plastics material.

11. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the elongate flexible member is cut to the required length to form the required length of the track with no joints provided along the length of the said track.

12. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the elongate flexible member has sufficient flexibility to allow the same to be bent or curved to form a curved section of track.13 Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the movement of the sliders along the track is driven by one or more motors.14 Apparatus according to claim 13 wherein the one or more motors are contained within the elongate flexible member.15 Apparatus according to any of claims 13-14 wherein the one or more motors are introduced into position on the track as a retrofit to change the apparatus from a manual to a driven system and / or the motors can be removed from the track to allow the same to be maintained, replaced or to change the system from a driven to a manual system.

16. Apparatus according to any of the claims 13-15 wherein the one or more motors are provided with power from one or more battery units also located in the said elongate flexible member.17.Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the sliders are maintained at a predetermined distance apart by a series of spacer members of a predetermined length with a spacer member positioned between adjacent sliders.

18. Apparatus according to claim 17 wherein the at least one curtain or blind members are moved along the track by a movement force exerted by one or more motors on said sliders and spacer members.

19. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the said sliders include means to allow the same to slide along the interior of the track and be retained therein.

20. Apparatus according to claim 19 wherein the sliders include one or more wheels and a portion of the slider which includes the wheels is located in the interior of the said elongate flexible member.

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