Roller Shutter Slats With Lateral Cable Slots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing roller shutter designs face challenges with high assembly costs, unfavorable optics, and suboptimal light transmission, particularly due to the use of rigid connections and unstable tubular elements that hinder efficient assembly and appearance.
Innovation Solution
The roller shutter features slats with transverse slots for lateral insertion of a flexible tension element, such as a cable, and retaining clips with latching mechanisms to secure the slats at a defined distance, allowing for efficient assembly and maintaining a sleek appearance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If slats are connected by rigid wire or drilled with bores for cable insertion, then assembly precision and structural stability are improved, but assembly effort and manufacturing complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The connection system is segmented into modular components: retaining clips with integrated latching mechanisms that attach to notches on slats, and cable segments between clips. This modular approach allows rapid assembly without drilling or complex fastening operations, reducing assembly effort while maintaining structural stability through the distributed notching system on each slat.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining clips are pre-formed with latching mechanisms and the slats are pre-provided with notches during manufacturing. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for on-site drilling, punching, or complex fastening operations, significantly reducing assembly effort while ensuring precise positioning and reliable structural connection.
2Reliability
If sleeves are pulled over wire rope to keep slats at distance, then structural stability is improved, but aesthetic appearance deteriorates due to visible sleeves
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining clips are integrated directly onto the cable segments, merging the spacing function and the attachment function into a single component. This eliminates the need for separate sleeves that would interfere with the filigree appearance, while the cable itself remains visible as a delicate wire rope structure, preserving aesthetic appeal.
Solution Approach 2:
The problematic sleeves that obscured the wire rope appearance are extracted from the design. Instead, the retaining clips are designed to be minimally intrusive, allowing the cable to remain visible and maintain its filigree aesthetic while still providing the necessary structural stability and spacing.
3Reliability
If slats are connected with rigid wire, then structural stability is improved, but winding capability deteriorates due to lack of flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The cable connecting the slats is designed as a flexible wire rope that can bend and rotate, allowing the slats to wind around the roller tube. This flexible connection maintains structural stability through the retaining clips and latching mechanisms while enabling the necessary winding and unwinding motion for operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection system transitions from rigid to dynamic: the cable can change its configuration during winding, and the retaining clips can rotate with the slats as they wind around the roller tube. This dynamic capability allows the structure to maintain stability in the extended position while adapting to the coiled configuration during winding operations.
4Reliability
If holes are drilled in slats for cable insertion, then structural stability is improved, but aesthetic appearance and light transmission deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of drilling holes through the entire slat, the connection system uses notches that are segmented features on the slat surface. The retaining clips engage with these notches, providing structural stability without creating large holes that would compromise light transmission. The notches are minimal openings that maintain the slat's optical properties while enabling secure attachment.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3a~3c
AI summary
The invention relates to a roller shutter, particularly for mounting on a building opening (1), having a plurality of coupled slats (3), wherein the slats are interspersed by at least one flexible tensioning element, particularly a cable (16) on which the slats (3) are spaced relative to each other, characterized in that the slats (3) have at least one or more lateral slits (13), into which the at least one tensioning element, particularly the cable (13), is inserted. According to a variant, clip holders (17) are disposed on the tensioning element (16) as connecting elements, engaging in openings, particularly grooves (9), of the slats. The mounting of the slats (3) to the clip holders (17) is preferably done with the aid of a continuously pivoting snap movement.