The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 10, 2004
Filed:
Apr. 11, 2001
John A. Corey, Melrose, NY (US);
Vinny Grosso, Albany, NY (US);
Arthur T. Karis, Stephentown, NY (US);
Rich Watkins, Lake Luzerne, NY (US);
Raymond E. Randall, Jr., New Hartford, NY (US);
Comfortex Corporation, Watervliet, NY (US);
Abstract
An architectural covering, such as a blind, for use primarily over windows and doorways, includes of a plurality of separate composite vanes made of an opaque rigid material and a sheer material, if desired. Each composite vane can be manufactured as a flat, rollable laminated assembly of strips and joined or bonded at least substantially on a line along the length of the strip and substantially along one edge of one strip. Several different embodiments of the composite vane are disclosed. In one embodiment, the composite vane comprises a generally flat, unexpanded opaque material with individual pieces of sheer material attached to an edge of the vane. In another embodiment, a laminated composite vane comprises a pair of strips with the transverse width of one strip greater than the other strip to form a torque tube when edge-joining the strips. In yet another embodiment, the laminated composite vane includes a pair of strips of substantially equal width with a resilient insert strip having a non-flat cross section inserted into the torque tube. The resilient insert strip can assume a flat transverse form, but return elastically to the predetermined cross-sectional shape when removed from the roll or be inserted after each vane is cut to its final length. Any combination of the above-mentioned embodiments is possible to connect single or double sheets of sheer material to the edges of the vanes while enabling the vanes to be oriented vertically or horizontally.