Operating device, shielding device

Abstract

This technology provides an improved operability for shielding devices. [Solution] An operating device 6 for operating the shielding material of a shielding device, comprising: a clutch mechanism 67 that switches between a fixed state in which the winding pipe 26 is fixed to a support shaft 671 that supports the winding pipe 26 for opening and closing the shielding material so as to be able to rotate integrally with the support shaft 671, and an unfixed state in which the winding pipe 26 can rotate relative to the support shaft 671 in accordance with the rotation of a pulley 62 using an operating cord 63; and a rotation mechanism 66 that can rotate the winding pipe 26 without going through the pulley 62 by rotating the support shaft 671 in the fixed state.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present embodiment relates to an operating device for operating a shielding member included in a shielding device, and a shielding device including the operating device. [Background Art]

[0002] Conventionally, as a shielding device of this type, the blind disclosed in the following Patent Document 1 is known. This blind includes a shielding member and an operation unit that performs lifting operation of the shielding member. The operation unit includes a rotatable pulley, an operation member one end of which is connected to the pulley so as to be able to be wound and unwound, a spring that biases the operation member in a direction in which the operation member is always wound onto the pulley, and a stopper that restricts winding of the operation member onto the pulley by a predetermined amount or more. The blind is characterized in that the hanging portion of the operation member whose winding is restricted by the stopper is used as a grip portion that can be gripped by an operator. [Prior Art Literature] [Patent Literature]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-241693 [Summary of the Invention] [Problem to be Solved by the Invention]

[0004] In shielding devices including the above-mentioned blind, improvement of operability has been desired.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a technology capable of improving the operability of a shielding device. [Means for Solving the Problem]

[0006] To solve the above-mentioned problems, one aspect of the present invention is an operating device for operating a shielding material of a shielding device, comprising: a clutch mechanism that switches between a fixed state in which an opening / closing pipe for opening and closing the shielding material is fixed integrally and rotatably to a support shaft that supports the opening / closing pipe, and an unfixed state in which the opening / closing pipe can rotate relative to the support shaft in accordance with the rotation of a pulley using an operating member; and a rotation mechanism that allows the opening / closing pipe to be rotated without the pulley by rotating the support shaft in the fixed state. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This is a side view showing a blind according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a front view showing an operating device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] This is a perspective view showing the operating device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] This is an exploded perspective view showing the clutch device removed from the operating device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] This is an exploded perspective view of the rotation mechanism with the clutch device according to the first embodiment removed. [Figure 6] This is a side view of the rotation mechanism according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] This is a partial cross-sectional view of a clutch device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] This is a diagram illustrating the movement of the cam drum in the second clutch mechanism according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the blind according to the first embodiment. [Figure 10] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the blind according to the second embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the description will be based on an example in which the present invention is applied to a dimmable roller screen equipped with a plurality of slats that can be raised, lowered, and rotated as a shielding material. In the following description, the indoor side of the blind will be referred to as the front, the outdoor side as the back, the direction consisting of the front and back will be referred to as the front-to-back direction, and the width direction of the blind will be referred to as the left-to-right direction. Furthermore, in this specification and drawings, components having substantially the same function will be denoted by the same reference numerals to avoid redundant explanation.

[0009] <First Embodiment> (Overall structure) The overall configuration of the blind according to the first embodiment will now be described. Figure 1 is a side view showing the configuration of the blind according to this embodiment. In Figure 1, the blind 1 has the slats 4 and bottom rail 5 in a substantially horizontal state (horizontal state), that is, a light-transmitting state.

[0010] As shown in Figure 1, the blind 1 according to this embodiment comprises a support member 2, front and rear sheets 3A, 3B, a plurality of slats 4, a bottom rail 5, and an operating device 6.

[0011] The support member 2 includes a bracket 22 provided on the upper surface of a set frame (not shown) that is elongated in the left-right direction and fixed to a fixed surface such as a window frame or wall using fasteners such as screws, a pair of side plates 24 individually connected to both ends of the set frame in the left-right direction, and a winding pipe 26 that is rotatably supported between the pair of side plates 24.

[0012] The front sheet 3A is positioned on the front side of the blind 1, and the rear sheet 3B is positioned on the rear side of the blind 1. Both are translucent or transparent sheet-like materials, such as lace, that extend over substantially the entire left-right area of ​​the blind 1 and are light-transmitting. The front and rear sheets 3A and 3B are supported by the winding pipe 26 so that they can be wound up and unwound, by connecting their upper ends to the winding pipe 26 at a predetermined distance in the front-rear direction, preferably the diameter of the winding pipe 26. The front and rear sheets 3A and 3B also support the bottom rail 5, which extends in the left-right direction, by connecting their lower ends to the bottom rail 5 at a predetermined distance in the front-rear direction, preferably at a distance greater than the distance between their upper ends.

[0013] Multiple slats 4 are provided between the front sheet 3A and the rear sheet 3B, spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction. The multiple slats 4 and the front and rear sheets 3A and 3B may be connected by adhesive or sewing. The slats 4 are sheets made of any material such as woven fabric, knitted fabric, nonwoven fabric, paper sheet, synthetic resin sheet, or wood sheet made of synthetic resin fibers or natural fibers, and preferably do not transmit light so as not to transmit light when shielded. The slats 4 may also be flexible.

[0014] In the lighting condition shown in Figure 1, the front and rear sheets 3A and 3B are completely unwinded from the winding pipe 26, and the front sheet 3A and the rear sheet 3B are separated to their greatest extent in the front-to-back direction. Due to this separation, the front and rear ends of each slat 4 are at approximately the same position in the vertical direction, and are approximately perpendicular to each other, i.e., approximately horizontal, with an open space between adjacent slats 4. In this state, the bottom rail 5 connected to each sheet also maintains an approximately horizontal state, similar to the slats 4. In the lighting condition, external light such as sunlight can pass through the rear sheet 3B, be reflected by the slats 4, pass through the front sheet 3A, or the light that has passed through the rear sheet 3B can directly pass through the front sheet 3A and enter the room.

[0015] An operating device 6 is provided at one end of the winding pipe 26. The operating device 6 includes a pulley 62 (see FIG. 2) housed in a case 61 and capable of rotating the winding pipe 26, a string-shaped operation cord 63 wound around the pulley 62, an operation portion 64 through which the operation cord 63 is inserted, and a hollow grip portion 65 connected to the lower end of the operation portion 64 so as to be relatively rotatable. One end of the operation cord 63 is connected to the pulley 62, and the other end is inserted into the operation portion 64 and the grip portion 65 so as to hang downward from the front side of the blind 1 in the case 61, and is connected to a cord stopper 631.

[0016] Although the pulley 62 is biased in the direction of winding the operation cord 63 by a spiral spring (not shown), further winding of the operation cord 63 is prevented because the cord stopper 362 abuts against the lower end of the grip portion 65. When a user pulls down the cord stopper 631 to separate it from the grip portion 65 and then releases the hand, the operation cord 63 is wound by the spiral spring, and the cord stopper 631 and the grip portion 65 come into contact again. When the cord stopper 631 is pulled downward in this manner, the pulley 62 is rotationally driven, and this rotation is transmitted to the winding pipe 26.

[0017] The operation portion 64 includes: a hollow rod-shaped operation rod 642 that supports the grip portion 65 so as to be relatively rotatable; a hollow joint portion 644 connected to an upper end portion of the operation rod 642 so as to be integrally rotatable; and a hollow rotation input portion 645 that swingably supports the joint portion 644 and is connected to the joint portion 644 so as to be integrally rotatable. When a user grips the grip portion 65 and rotationally operates the operation rod 642, the rotation is transmitted to the rotation input portion 645 via the joint portion 644.

[0018] Hereinafter, the detailed configuration of the operating device 6 will be described. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the operating device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view thereof. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a state where a clutch device is removed from the operating device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a rotation mechanism in the state where the clutch device is removed according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a side view of the rotation mechanism according to the present embodiment. Note that in FIGS. 2 to 5, the case 61 is not illustrated for the sake of explanation.

[0019] As shown in Figs. 2 to 6, in addition to the above-described case 61, pulley 62, operation cord 63, operation portion 64, and grip portion 65, the operation device 6 further comprises: a rotation mechanism 66 disposed on the right side of the pulley 62 in front view, to which rotation of a rotation input portion 645 is transmitted; and a clutch device 67 disposed on the left side of the pulley 62 in front view and connected to a winding pipe 26.

[0020] (Rotation mechanism 66) First, the rotation mechanism 66 will be described in detail. The rotation mechanism 66 has a rotation transmission portion 661 that is relatively rotatably supported by a cover member 68 to be described later and configured to transmit rotation of the rotation input portion 645 to the winding pipe 26. The rotation transmission portion 661 has a substantially cylindrical transmission shaft 661a, and a gear portion 662 having tooth profiles formed along a circumferential surface around the rotation axis is provided at a lower end of the rotation transmission portion 661 so as to be capable of integral rotation therewith. The rotation input portion 645 of the operation portion 64 is disposed adjacent to the transmission shaft 661a, and a hollow gear portion 646 having tooth profiles formed along a circumferential surface around the rotation axis is provided at an upper end of the rotation input portion 645 so as to be capable of integral rotation therewith.

[0021] The gear portion 646 and the gear portion 662 are meshed with each other so that rotational force can be transmitted, and thus rotation of the rotation input portion 645 can be transmitted to the rotation transmission portion 661 via the gear portions 646 and 662. It is preferable that the rotation input portion 645 is non-detachably supported by the case 61; for example, a circumferential surface portion below the gear portion 646 may be relatively rotatably supported by a support portion formed on the case 61.

[0022] The rotation input portion 645 is disposed on the left side of the rotation transmission portion 661 in front view, and as a result, is located below the pulley 62. The operation cord 63 hanging down from the pulley 62 is introduced into the hollow portion of the gear portion 646 and guided into the rotation input portion 645. By disposing the rotation input portion 645 on the left side of the rotation transmission portion 661 in front view such that the rotation input portion 645 is located below the pulley 62 in this manner, winding and unwinding of the operation cord 63 are not obstructed, and space saving can be achieved.

[0023] The rotation transmission unit 661 has a worm gear 661b with helical teeth, which is integrally rotatable at the upper end of the transmission shaft 661a. The teeth of the worm gear 661b are provided between a pair of spaced-apart disc-shaped support parts 661c, described later, on its shaft, and mesh with a spur gear worm wheel 663 so as to transmit rotational force. The worm wheel 663 is provided with a cylindrical protruding fitting part 663a that protrudes out of plane from the center of its left side when viewed from the front. The worm wheel 663 is supported by the cover member 68 so as to be able to rotate relative to it when the protruding fitting part 663a is fitted from the right side when viewed from the front into an insertion hole 681 formed in the center of a disc-shaped cover member 68. The protruding fitting part 663a has a rectangular prism-shaped recess 663b formed inside it, and one end of the rectangular prism shape of the support shaft 671 of the clutch device 67 can be integrally rotatably fitted into this recess 663b. As a result, when the worm gear 661b rotates together with the transmission shaft 661a, its vertical rotation is converted into horizontal (left-right) rotation via the worm wheel 663 and input to the support shaft 671, thereby allowing the support shaft 671 to rotate. In other words, the rotation transmission unit 661 is located between the worm wheel 663 and the operating rod 642, and can transmit the rotation of the operating rod 642, which is input via the rotation input unit 645, to the worm wheel 663.

[0024] In this embodiment, the winding pipe 26 has a built-in winding spring (not shown) that biases the winding pipe 26 to rotate in the direction of winding the front and rear sheets 3A and 3B (hereinafter referred to as the winding direction). Therefore, the winding pipe 26 is always biased in the winding direction, and similarly the support shaft 671 is also biased in the same direction. However, because the worm gear 661b and the worm wheel 663 are meshed, a so-called self-locking function is at work, in which the rotation of the worm wheel 663 is restricted by the worm gear 661b. Therefore, in the fixed state, which will be described in detail later, the rotation of the winding pipe 26 and the support shaft 671 in the winding direction is restricted.

[0025] As shown in Figures 3 and 6, the cover member 68 has a substantially U-shaped worm mounting portion 682 projecting out of plane to surround the worm gear 661b and a substantially C-shaped cover mounting portion 683 projecting out of plane to surround the worm wheel 663 on its right side when viewed from the front. The worm mounting portion 682 has walls that face each other in the vertical direction, and a pair of notches are formed in these walls. The shaft portion of the worm gear 661b is inserted through the pair of notches, and a pair of support portions 661c are positioned between the pair of notches so as to individually abut each of the pair of notches, thereby supporting the rotation transmission portion 661 so as to be rotatable relative to the worm mounting portion 682.

[0026] The cover mounting portion 683 houses the worm wheel 663, which can be detachably attached to a case 61 (not shown) by fitting it into the case. Therefore, the cover member 68 is supported by the case 61 via the cover mounting portion 683.

[0027] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 5, the cover member 68 is provided with a cylindrical protruding fitting portion 684 that protrudes out of plane at the center of its left side when viewed from the front. The protruding fitting portion 684 fits into an insertion hole 621 formed in the center of the substantially disc-shaped pulley 62 from the right side when viewed from the front, thereby closing the right side of the pulley 62 when viewed from the front and supporting the pulley 62 so that it can rotate relative to it. A mainspring (not shown) is housed between the pulley 62 and the cover member 68, and a locking portion 685 for locking one end of the mainspring is provided near the protruding fitting portion 684, and a locking portion 622 for locking the other end of the mainspring is provided on the inner circumferential wall surface of the pulley 62. As a result, when the operating cord 63 is pulled down and the pulley 62 is rotated as described above, and then the hand is released from the operating cord 63, the pulley 62 will rotate in the reverse direction due to the restoring force of the mainspring. Furthermore, the reverse rotation of this pulley 62 is not transmitted to the winding pipe 26 by the clutch device 67.

[0028] As shown in Figure 4, the left side of the pulley 62 in a front view is provided with a plurality of engaging protrusions 623 that project out of plane at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the pulley 62. When the support shaft 671 of the clutch device 67 is inserted into the insertion hole 621 in a relative rotatable manner, these engaging protrusions 623 are inserted into a plurality of through holes 672a formed on the right side of the first clutch mechanism 672 of the clutch device 67, which will be described later, in a front view, corresponding to the engaging protrusions 623. This insertion allows the rotation of the pulley 62 to be transmitted to the first clutch mechanism 672 of the clutch device 67.

[0029] (Clutch device 67) The clutch device 67 will now be described. Figure 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the clutch device according to this embodiment. As shown in Figures 2 and 7, the clutch device 67 comprises the support shaft 671, the first clutch mechanism 672, the second clutch mechanism 673, and the lower limit stopper 674, which are housed in a clutch case 675 that is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape and can rotate integrally with the first clutch mechanism 672.

[0030] The support shaft 671 is positioned at the center of the first clutch mechanism 672 and the second clutch mechanism 673, respectively, so that its axis coincides with the axis of the winding pipe 26. The support shaft 671 is supported by the case 61 via the worm wheel 663 and the cover member 68, by fitting one end of the support shaft 671 (the right end in a front view) into the protruding fitting portion 663a of the worm wheel 663 so as to be integrally rotatable. In other words, the support shaft 671 supports the winding pipe 26 via the first clutch mechanism 672 and the second clutch mechanism 673.

[0031] The first clutch mechanism 672 is connected to one end of the winding pipe 26 and is configured to be switchable between a transmission state, in which the rotation of the pulley 62 is transmitted to the winding pipe 26, and a non-transmission state, in which the rotation is not transmitted. For example, when the operating cord 63 is pulled down, the first clutch mechanism 672 switches to the transmission state in conjunction with the rotation of the pulley 62, and the rotation is transmitted to the winding pipe 26. On the other hand, when the operating cord 63 is released after being pulled down, the first clutch mechanism 672 switches to the non-transmission state in conjunction with the reverse rotation of the pulley 62, and the rotation is not transmitted to the winding pipe 26.

[0032] The second clutch mechanism 673 is configured to switch between a fixed state in which the winding pipe 26 is fixed to a support shaft 671 that indirectly supports the winding pipe 26 so as to be able to rotate integrally with it, and an unfixed state in which the winding pipe 26 is not fixed to the support shaft 671 and the winding pipe 26 can rotate in accordance with the rotation of the pulley 62 using the operating cord 63. For example, if the operating cord 63 is not pulled down or the pulled-down operating cord 63 is not released, it is in the fixed state, and if these actions are taken, it becomes the unfixed state.

[0033] The lower limit stopper 674 restricts the rotation of the winding pipe 26 at a preset lower limit position of the bottom rail 5 when a predetermined operation occurs, in this embodiment, a slight downward pull of the operation cord 63 (hereinafter referred to as the lower limit operation), and the rotation of the winding pipe 26 that unwinds the front and rear seats 3A and 3B and the downward movement of the bottom rail 5 continue by the second clutch mechanism 673.

[0034] These first and second clutch mechanisms 672, 673 and the lower limit stopper 674 can be existing devices. For example, the first and second clutch mechanisms 672, 673 can be the first clutch mechanism and the second clutch mechanism described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-148113 filed by the present applicant. Also, the lower limit stopper 674 can be the lifting height regulating device described in the same publication. Therefore, a detailed explanation of the configuration of the first and second clutch mechanisms 672, 673 and the lower limit stopper 674 will be omitted.

[0035] Next, the return movement between the cam drum 673a and the steel ball 673b of the second clutch mechanism 673 will be explained. Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating the movement of the cam drum of the second clutch mechanism according to this embodiment.

[0036] As shown in Figure 8, the cam drum 673a is disposed to be rotatable relative to the clutch case 675, and a guide groove 673c is formed on its outer circumferential surface. The guide groove 673c consists of an endless loop 673d that extends endlessly in the circumferential direction of the cam drum 673a, and a branched loop 673e that branches off from the endless loop 673d, with a stopping portion 673f and a locking portion 673g formed in the branched loop 673e. The steel ball 673b is provided to be rotatable integrally with the clutch case 675 and slidable in the axial direction (left-right direction), and is located within the guide groove 673c, thereby moving within the guide groove 673c in accordance with the rotation of the clutch case 675.

[0037] When the winding pipe 26 is stopped, the steel ball 673b is located at the stopping portion 673f of the guide groove 673c, as shown in Figure 8(a). When rotation is transmitted to the winding pipe 26 from this stopped state in the direction of unwinding the front and rear sheets 3A and 3B (hereinafter referred to as the unwinding direction), the clutch case 675 rotates together with the winding pipe 26.

[0038] As the clutch case 675 rotates, the steel ball 673b, which rotates with the clutch case 675 around the support shaft 671, departs from the stopping section 673f, moves a short distance along the endless loop 673d, and then re-enters the branched loop 673e, moving towards the locking section 673g, as shown in Figure 8(b). At this time, the winding pipe 26 is in an unfixed state, allowing rotation relative to the support shaft 671 by the second clutch mechanism 673. After reaching the locking section 673g, the cam drum clutch spring 676 relaxes, allowing the cam drum 673a to rotate and the winding pipe 26 to rotate. In this way, the front and rear seats 3A and 3B descend to their lower limit positions.

[0039] When the transmission of rotation in the unwinding direction of the winding pipe 26 stops, for example, when the operator releases their hand after pulling down the operating cord 63, or when the winding pipe 26 reaches its lower limit position and its rotation in the unwinding direction is restricted by the lower limit stopper 674, the winding pipe 26 rotates in the winding direction due to the biasing force of the winding spring built into the winding pipe 26. As a result, as shown in Figure 8(c), the steel ball 673b moves from the locking portion 673g to the stopping portion 673f by the clutch case 675 which rotates together with the winding pipe 26, the winding pipe 26 becomes fixed by the second clutch mechanism 673, and the rotation of the winding pipe 26 stops.

[0040] The distance traveled by the steel ball 673b from the locking portion 673g to the stopping portion 673f becomes the return allowance. In other words, because of the return allowance, the winding pipe 26 rotates in the winding direction (reverse rotation). Therefore, if one attempts to fine-tune the angle of the slat 4 solely by pulling down the operating cord 63, it is necessary to adjust the angle to account for the return allowance, which can make intuitive tilting of the slat 4 difficult. On the other hand, with the rotation mechanism 66 according to this embodiment, the rotation of the winding pipe 26 in response to the rotation of the operating rod 642 as a single operation by the user is a minute rotation compared to the rotation of the winding pipe 26 in response to the pulling down operation cord 63 as a single operation by the user using the operating cord 63 and pulley 62. Therefore, intuitive and minute tilting of the slat 4 is easy.

[0041] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the blind according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 9(a), first, the operating cord 63 is repeatedly pulled down to lower the front and rear sheets 3A and 3B until they reach the lower limit position of the bottom rail 5, as shown in Figure 9(b). When the lower limit position is reached, the front and rear sheets 3A and 3B are unwound from the winding pipe 26, exposing a part of the pipe's circumferential surface, and the lower limit stopper 674 is activated. As a result, the pulling operation of the operating cord 63 is restricted, and when the operation is stopped by releasing the operating cord 63, the winding pipe 26 undergoes the aforementioned return rotation. When the steel ball 673b moves from the locking portion 673g to the stopping portion 673f, the rotation of the winding pipe 26 stops, and the rotation of the winding pipe 26 in the winding direction is restricted. Subsequently, as shown in Figure 9(c), the operating rod 642 is rotated while gripping the gripping portion 65 so that the winding pipe 26 rotates in the unwinding direction. The rotation is input from the rotation input unit 645 to the rotation transmission unit 661 of the rotation mechanism 66, and the rotation of the rotation transmission unit 661 is transmitted to the worm wheel 663, causing the worm wheel 663 and the support shaft 671 to rotate together. At this time, since the winding pipe 26 is fixed to the support shaft 671 by the second clutch mechanism 673, the winding pipe 26 rotates. In other words, the winding pipe 26 can be rotated directly without going through the pulley 62 or the like. Here, since the rotation of the winding pipe 26 is in the unwinding direction, as a dimming operation, as shown in Figures 9(c) and 9(d), the front and rear sheets 3A and 3B are gradually unwound so that they separate from each other, and the slats 4 can be set to an angle that is approximately horizontal for light-gathering.

[0042] According to the embodiment described above, the winding pipe 26 can be rotated directly by the rotation mechanism 66 without going through the pulley 62, making it possible to make minute rotations of the winding pipe 26, that is, minute angle adjustments of the slats 4. Therefore, compared to the case where the angle of the slats 4 is adjusted only by pulling down the operating cord 63, the fine adjustment of the angle of the slats 4 can be made steplessly, intuitively and easily, greatly improving the operability of the blind. In particular, since the winding pipe 26 can be rotated without activating the second clutch mechanism 673, continuous dimming operation is possible without being affected by the return allowance mentioned above when switching from an unfixed state to a fixed state.

[0043] Furthermore, the winding pipe 26 can be rotated solely by the rotation of the operating rod 642, which is expected to further improve operability. In addition, since the rotation transmission unit 661 can transmit the rotation of the operating rod 642 to the support shaft 671, the rotation mechanism 66 can be realized with a simple and compact structure. Moreover, since the lower limit stopper 674 makes it easy to understand that the front and rear seats 3A and 3B have been lowered to their lower limit positions, a series of operations can be easily performed, such as raising and lowering the seats by operating the operating cord 63 to the lower limit position, and then adjusting the lighting by using the rotation mechanism 66 to set them to a daylighting state at the lower limit position.

[0044] In this embodiment, the support shaft 671 is described as being rotated by the operating rod 642 and the rotation transmission unit 661, but this is not the only way to go. Any configuration is acceptable as long as the support shaft 671 can be rotated directly without the pulley 62. For example, instead of the worm wheel 663, a dial that is integrally rotatable with the support shaft 671 and can be rotated manually can be provided, or a rack and pinion system can be used to convert linear motion into rotational motion of the support shaft 671 by moving the operating rod and rotation input unit 645 up and down without rotating them.

[0045] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the operation of the blind 1 was described in which the winding pipe 26 is rotated in the unwinding direction by the rotation mechanism 66 after the front and rear sheets 3A and 3B are set to their lower limit positions. However, it is also possible to rotate the winding pipe 26 by the rotation mechanism 66 when the sheet is not at its lower limit position. Depending on the rotation direction of the operating rod 642, the front and rear sheets 3A and 3B can be raised and lowered in minute increments, allowing for fine adjustment of the raised and lowered positions. Moreover, the lower limit stopper 674 may be omitted, and the user may visually operate the bottom rail to the lower limit position or beyond before performing a minute rotation of the winding pipe 26 by the rotation mechanism 66.

[0046] <Second Embodiment> In the first embodiment, an example was described in which the present invention is applied to a blind 1 that includes front and rear sheets 3A, 3B and slats 4 as shielding material. However, the present invention may also be applied to a blind that includes an integrally constructed screen having a transparent portion and an opaque portion as shielding material.

[0047] Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the blind according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 10, the blind 1A differs in configuration from the blind 1 according to the first embodiment in that it is configured as a dimmable roll screen, with a screen 7 instead of front and rear sheets 3A, 3B, and a weight bar 5A instead of a bottom rail 5.

[0048] The screen 7 has one end, located at the front, connected to the winding pipe 26 and hanging downwards. It is then wound from front to rear on a rotating pipe 51, which is built into the weight bar 5A located below and whose axis faces left to right, and then folded back upwards. The other end, located at the rear, is connected to a set frame 28 that supports the side plate 24. Therefore, when the winding pipe 26 is rotated in the unwinding direction, only the front portion of the screen 7 is unwound from the winding pipe 26 by the rotating pipe 51 and descends together with the weight bar 5A. The screen 7 also has alternating transparent sections 7A that transmit light and opaque sections 7B that block light in the vertical direction. Therefore, when the winding pipe 26 is rotated in the unwinding direction, the transparent portion 7A and the opaque portion 7B descend on the front side of the screen 7. As a result, when the transparent portion 7A on the front side and the transparent portion 7A on the rear side overlap in a front view, a light-collecting state can be achieved, while when the transparent portion 7A and the opaque portion 7B overlap on the front and rear sides, a shielding state can be achieved.

[0049] Even in this type of blind 1A, the same operation as in the blind 1 according to the first embodiment can be performed. For example, as shown in Figure 10(a), first the operating cord 63 is pulled down to lower the front screen portion of the screen 7, and as shown in Figure 10(b), it reaches the lower limit position of the weight bar 5A. At the lower limit position, the screen 7 is in a shielded state. Therefore, to achieve good lighting conditions, as shown in Figure 10(c), the operating rod 642 is rotated (reverse rotation) while gripping the gripping part 65 so that the winding pipe 26 rotates in the winding direction. This rotation is input from the rotation input part 645 to the rotation transmission part 661 of the rotation mechanism 66, the rotation of the rotation transmission part 661 is transmitted to the worm wheel 663, and the worm wheel 663 and the support shaft 671 rotate together. At this time, since the winding pipe 26 is fixed to the support shaft 671 by the second clutch mechanism 673, the winding pipe 26 rotates in the winding direction, and as shown in Figure 10(d), it can be set to a light-collecting state.

[0050] According to the embodiment described above, even in the blind 1A, the winding pipe 26 can be rotated directly without going through the pulley 62, making it possible to make minute rotations of the winding pipe 26, that is, minute adjustments to the position of the screen 7. Therefore, the relative position of the transparent section 7A and the opaque section 7B can be reliably and easily positioned to the appropriate location.

[0051] In this embodiment, blinds 1 and 1A were described using dimmable roller screens having two sheets or two screen sections as examples of shading material, but the invention is not limited to these. The present invention can be applied to any shading device operating device that has an opening / closing pipe for opening and closing the shading material (including raising and lowering the shading material and dimming light), such as a general roller screen in which the lower end of one screen is connected to a weight bar without being folded back, a pleated screen, or a horizontal blind consisting only of slats without sheets on the front and back. It goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to the operating device of a shading device in which multiple opening / closing pipes are connected in the left-right direction, as long as the support shaft supports each opening / closing pipe.

[0052] The present invention can be implemented in various other forms without departing from its essence or main features. Therefore, the embodiments described above are merely illustrative in all respects and should not be construed restrictively. The scope of the invention is defined by the claims and is not restricted by the text of the specification. Furthermore, all variations, improvements, substitutions, and modifications falling within the equivalent scope of the claims are all within the scope of the invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0053] 1. Blinds (shielding devices) 3A Front sheet (shielding material) 3B Rear seat (shielding material) 4 slats (shielding material) 26. Winding pipe (opening / closing pipe) 6 Operating device 62 Pulley (first rotation mechanism) 63. Operating cord (operating member, first rotation mechanism) 66. Rotation mechanism (second rotation mechanism) 661 Rotational transmission section 661a Transmission shaft 661b Worm gear 662 Gear section 663 Worm wheel (rotating component) 673 Second clutch mechanism (clutch mechanism) 674 Lower limit stopper (regulatory measure) 7. Screen (shielding material)

Claims

1. An operating device for operating the shielding material of a shielding device, A clutch mechanism that switches between a fixed state in which the opening / closing pipe for opening and closing the shielding material is fixed to a support shaft so as to be integrally rotatable with the support shaft, and an unfixed state in which the opening / closing pipe can rotate relative to the support shaft in accordance with the rotation of a pulley using an operating member, By rotating the support shaft in the aforementioned fixed state, a rotation mechanism is formed that allows the opening and closing pipe to be rotated without the pulley. An operating device equipped with the following features.

2. It further includes an operating rod that the user can grasp and rotate, The aforementioned rotation mechanism receives input from the rotation of the operating rod, and this rotation causes the support shaft to rotate, thereby rotating the opening and closing pipe. The operating device according to claim 1.

3. The aforementioned rotating mechanism is A rotating member is integrally rotatably connected to the aforementioned support shaft, A rotation transmission unit is located between the rotating member and the operating rod and transmits the rotation of the operating rod to the rotating member. The operating device according to claim 2, having the following features.

4. The aforementioned rotational transmission unit is A transmission shaft that rotates in accordance with the rotation of the aforementioned operating rod, A worm gear provided on the aforementioned transmission shaft and It has, The rotating member is a worm wheel that meshes with the worm gear, The rotation of the operating rod is transmitted to the support shaft via the transmission shaft, the worm gear, and the worm wheel. The operating device according to claim 3.

5. The pulley is positioned between the worm wheel and the opening / closing pipe. The upper end of the aforementioned operating rod is provided with a first gear section having a tooth profile formed around its axis of rotation. A second gear portion is provided at the lower end of the transmission shaft, which meshes with the first gear portion around its axis of rotation. The operating rod and the operating member are operable individually, and the operating member, which hangs down from the pulley, is inserted through the hollow portion formed in the operating rod and the first gear portion and protrudes from the lower end of the operating rod. The operating device according to claim 4.

6. Restricting means for restricting the rotation of the opening / closing pipe in the direction that lowers the shielding material in the aforementioned unfixed state at a preset lower limit position. The operating device according to claim 1, further comprising:

7. An operating device for operating the shielding material of a shielding device, An operating member is wrapped around the opening / closing pipe that opens and closes the shielding material when the operating member is pulled down, and a rotatable pulley is used. By being rotated, the opening and closing pipe can be rotated without the pulley, and An operating device equipped with the following features.

8. An operating device for operating the shielding material of a shielding device, A first rotating mechanism that allows a rotating opening / closing pipe to open and close the shielding material in response to user operation, A second rotating mechanism, different from the first rotating mechanism, is provided to allow the opening / closing pipe, which opens and closes the shielding material in response to user operation, to be rotated. Equipped with, The rotation of the opening / closing pipe by the second rotating mechanism in response to a user operation is minute compared to the rotation of the opening / closing pipe by the first rotating mechanism. Operating device.

9. A shielding device comprising an operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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