Pleated Roller Shade Structure for Thin Fabric Winding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Thin and flexible fabrics, such as silk, are not suitable for traditional roller shades as they do not hang flat and roll evenly, and prior art solutions require additional space when fully open, limiting their use in windows with limited side space.
Innovation Solution
A roller shade system with a rotatably-mounted roller tube and a pleating bar that allows the fabric to hang with pleats and wrap around the tube in a non-linear path, enabling vertical movement and minimizing fabric thickness and storage space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If thin and flexible fabrics are used in traditional roller shades, then the fabric maintains its soft look and feel, but the fabric does not hang flat and does not roll up evenly on the roller tube
Solution Approach 1:
The fabric is divided into multiple pleats that are individually formed and then collectively guided by the pleating bar. This segmentation allows each pleat to maintain the soft fabric's natural drape while the pleating bar ensures uniform formation and even rolling onto the tube.
Solution Approach 2:
The pleating bar acts as an intermediary device between the fabric and the roller tube. It provides a structured path that guides the fabric through a non-linear route, ensuring that thin flexible fabrics are evenly distributed and rolled without compromising their soft appearance.
2Shape
If prior art draperies are used to cover windows, then the drapery fabric can be suspended with pleats, but additional space is required on the sides of the window to hold the drapery fabric when fully open
Solution Approach 1:
The pleated fabric is arranged to roll vertically onto the roller tube rather than horizontally along the window sides. This dimensional change from horizontal to vertical storage eliminates the need for additional side space while maintaining the pleated shape of the fabric.
Solution Approach 2:
The pleated fabric nests onto the roller tube in a compact vertical arrangement. When fully open, the fabric rolls up tightly around the tube, similar to a nested doll structure, maximizing space efficiency and eliminating the need for lateral storage space.
3Ease of operation
If lamination is applied to thin fabrics to be wound about a roller tube, then the thin fabrics can be used with roller shades, but the thin fabrics lose their soft look and feel
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses the fabric itself as a flexible element that forms pleats, eliminating the need for lamination. The pleating structure provides the necessary rigidity and form retention while the fabric remains unlaminated, preserving its soft look and feel.
Data Source
AI summary
A pleated roller shade system allows a thin flexible shade fabric, such as, for example, silk, to be wrapped around a roller tube. The system comprises a pleating bar mounted parallel to the roller tube and having a fabric-receiving opening that defines, for example, a serpentine path. The shade fabric is received through the fabric-receiving opening and is folded by the pleating bar, such that the shade fabric is wrapped around the roller tube in folds as the roller tube rotates. The shade fabric is neatly wrapped around the roller tube (i.e., bunching of the shade fabric is avoided) and is stored out-of-sight when rolled up.