Pleated Roller Shade Fabric Wrapping for Soft Thin Materials
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
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 solutions that laminate them to a stiffer backing compromise their soft look and feel, while existing drapery systems require additional space when fully open.
Innovation Solution
A motorized roller shade system with a rotatably-mounted roller tube and a pleating bar that folds the fabric into folds as it wraps around the tube, allowing the fabric to hang with pleats and minimizing storage space, using a pleating bar with T-shaped structures and support bars to guide the fabric into a serpentine path.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If thin, flexible fabrics are used in traditional roller shades, then the soft look and feel are improved, but the fabric cannot hang flat and cannot roll up evenly
Solution Approach 1:
The fabric is divided into multiple pleats or folds that are individually formed and then collectively managed by the pleating bar. Each pleat acts as a segment that can be independently controlled, allowing the thin fabric to maintain its soft appearance while achieving even distribution and proper hanging when all segments work together in the rolled-up configuration
Solution Approach 2:
The pleating bar serves as an intermediary device between the thin fabric and the roller tube. It provides the necessary structure and guidance to form pleats in the fabric, enabling the soft material to hang flat and roll evenly without requiring lamination to a stiff backing
2Reliability
If thin fabrics are laminated to a stiffer backing, then the fabric can hang flat and roll evenly, but the soft look and feel are lost
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a continuous stiff backing through lamination, the fabric is segmented into pleats that provide the necessary structure locally while allowing the overall fabric to remain soft and flexible. The pleating bar creates these segments without requiring permanent attachment to a rigid substrate
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses the thin fabric itself as a flexible shell that is shaped into pleats. Rather than attaching the fabric to a stiff backing, the pleating bar manipulates the flexible fabric into a configuration that provides both hang-flat reliability and soft appearance when in use
3Shape
If prior art draperies are used to cover windows, then the fabric can hang with pleats, but additional space is required on the sides of the window when fully open
Solution Approach 1:
The pleating bar transforms the fabric from a two-dimensional flat material into a three-dimensional pleated structure that can be compactly rolled around the roller tube. This dimensional transformation allows the pleated fabric to be stored vertically along the roller tube rather than requiring horizontal side space, enabling full window coverage without side clearance
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.