Pleated Roller Shade Hembar 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, requiring lamination for use, which compromises their soft look and feel, and prior drapery systems require additional space when fully open, limiting their application in windows with limited side space.
Innovation Solution
A roller shade system featuring a rotatably-mounted roller tube with a pleating hembar that causes the shade fabric to hang with pleats, allowing it to be wrapped around the tube in a vertical direction, using C-shaped hembar sections with interlocking structures to form a serpentine pattern and an elongated pleating assembly to fold the fabric into folds, ensuring even wrapping and minimal 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 soft look and feel are improved, but the fabric cannot hang flat and roll evenly
Solution Approach 1:
The hembar is divided into multiple C-shaped sections that can independently flex and articulate. Each section contains pleats that can fold and unfold, allowing the hembar to segment the fabric into controlled pleated units that maintain even wrapping while preserving fabric flexibility and soft appearance.
Solution Approach 2:
The hembar is designed as a dynamic structure with flexible C-shaped sections that can change shape during operation. The pleats within each section can expand and contract as the roller tube rotates, allowing the hembar to adapt its configuration to maintain fabric tension and even wrapping while accommodating the thin fabric's natural flexibility.
2Reliability
If lamination is applied to thin fabrics, then the fabric can be wound about a roller tube, but the soft look and feel are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The pleated hembar acts as an intermediary mechanism between the thin fabric and the roller tube. Instead of directly bonding the fabric to a stiff backing, the hembar provides the necessary structural mediation through its pleated C-shaped sections, enabling the thin fabric to wrap evenly around the tube while maintaining its inherent softness and flexibility.
3Ease of operation
If prior art draperies are used, then horizontal movement of pleated fabric is achieved, but additional space is required on sides of the window
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions from horizontal movement (prior art draperies) to vertical movement (roller shade system). By rotating the roller tube vertically, the fabric is wound up and down rather than sliding horizontally, eliminating the need for lateral clearance space while maintaining the pleated fabric configuration through the specialized hembar design.
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 hembar contained within a hembar pocket of the shade fabric. The hembar is characterized by a non-linear shape, such as a serpentine shape, for causing the shade fabric to hang with a plurality of pleats. The hembar may comprise a plurality of C-shaped hembar sections flexibly coupled to each other. The system may also comprise an elongated pleating assembly mounted parallel to the roller tube and having a fabric-receiving opening that defines a non-linear (e.g., serpentine) path. The shade fabric may be received through the fabric-receiving opening and folded by the pleating assembly, such that the shade fabric is wrapped around the roller tube in folds as the roller tube rotates.