Window Blind Headrail and Mounting Bracket

This application relates to pending application Ser. No. 07/395,036 filed Aug. 17, 1989, R. Yannazzone entitled "Window Blinds", and application Ser. No. 07/493,175 filed Mar. 14, 1990 entitled "Venetian Blind", Schaefer et al. filed herewith, both applications being assigned to the same Assignee as this application.

This invention relates to a mounting bracket for a window blind having a headrail. More particularly the invention is directed to a headrail/mounting bracket combination in which a mounting bracket can be mounted either vertically or horizontally adjacent to a window opening, sash or frame, and a horizontal headrail snapped into engagement with the bracket. The headrail may mount Venetian blinds, pleated shades or other vertical blinds.

Headrails of window blinds are normally supported either by side edge brackets (U.S. Pat. No. 2,231,778), corner brackets (U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,852), top brackets with a movable latch pivotable over headrail rolled edges (U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,281), friction clamp (U.S. Pat. No. 3,334,682), a spring hook bracket (U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,401) or a ceiling-mounted hook and shelf support bracket (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,235,406 and 4,406,435). In the latter two patents the headrail contains an inwardly facing hook at the interior top edge of the headrail which hooks onto a facing bracket hook and wherein an exterior-facing bottom edge of the headrail is slid onto the bracket horizontal shelf which with the hook connection supports the headrail. In the '401 patent a separate adapter is used to mount the bracket on a vertical side wall. It is seen that none of the above mounting brackets are capable of universal mounting. "Universal mounting" as used herein means that the same bracket or brackets can be mounted 1) horizontally on a ceiling mount or on an upper horizontal window frame portion or 2) vertically on a vertical room wall above a window or on an upper vertical window frame portion.

The universal support bracket of this invention permits the installer, be it a professional installer or a do-it-yourself home dweller, to first mount the support bracket in the most convenient position dictated by the particular window frame, window, ceiling and wall construction to which the overall window blind is to be mounted. Once the support bracket, either one long central bracket or a pair or more of spaced shorter brackets, is mounted by appropriate fasteners to a wall, window frame and/or stud surface by screws or Moly-bolt or the like, the headrail and its attached window slat structure, i.e. the overall window blind, is easily snapped into horizontal position into either a horizontally or vertically mounted support bracket. Further, the headrail and slat structure is easily removed without tools from the support bracket, if it is necessary to remove the overall window blind for repair, leaning, replacement or room painting or window repair.

The universal mounting capability is provided in the present invention by a mounting bracket having a base portion mountable to a window-adjacent surface by an appropriate mechanical connector or adhesive bonding, a pair of integral spaced bracket hooks extending from end portions of the base portion and a leaf spring confined in one of the hooks. The headrail is in the form of an elongated box-like enclosure having a horizontal bottom. As known in the prior art, window blind slat tilting and slat lowering and raising mechanisms are mounted in the enclosure of the headrail. The headrail of the invention includes a pair of integral spaced headrail hooks extending upwardly from a top, generally open side of the headrail enclosure, and an integral hook keeper extending downwardly from an exterior facing vertical side of the headrail enclosure.

After the mounting brackets have been mounted on a window frame, casement, ceiling or wall surface, the headrail and overall blind is lifted into position adjacent the brackets, the headrail slightly tilted and one of the headrail hooks engaged with and pushed against the spring in one of the bracket hooks to compress the spring. Upon sufficient spring compression, the headrail is rotated slightly from its tilted position back to a horizontal position to allow the other of the headrail hooks or the hook keeper, dependent on horizontal or vertical bracket orientation, to fit into the other headrail hook such that the then outwardly acting spring force of the compressed spring forces the headrail hooks into a clamped position in the bracket hooks in a horizontal bracket mounting mode and forces the spring-contacting hook and the hook keeper into a clamped position in the bracket hooks in a vertical bracket mounting mode.

The above headrail construction allows the headrail to be an extruded one-piece part, made typically of aluminum, dispensing with the prior art rolled metal sheet(s) construction normally employed in headrail manufacture. Further, in both the vertical and horizontal modes of mounting, the brackets are either entirely concealed or essentially entirely concealed from the view of an observer in the room by the front and bottom walls of the headrail.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of vertically installed mounting brackets and a window blind with its headrail about to be mounted thereon.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of horizontally installed mounting brackets and a partial view of a window blind about to be mounted thereon.

FIG. 3 is a perspective exploded view of the mounting bracket.

FIG. 4A is a schematic end view of a headrail enclosure in a first installation step poised to start spring compression in a horizontally mounted bracket.

FIG. 4B is a schematic end view of a second installation step showing the leaf spring in compression and a front headrail hook poised to clear a front bracket hook.

FIG. 4C is a schematic end view of a third and last installation step showing the spring force clamping the headrail hooks in the bracket hooks.

FIG. 5A is a schematic end view of a headrail enclosure in a first installation step poised to start leaf spring compression in a vertically mounted bracket.

FIG. 5B is a schematic end view of a second installation step showing spring compression and a hook keeper poised to clear a bracket bottom hook.

FIG. 5C is a schematic end view of a third and final installation step showing a spring force clamping a headrail hook and headrail hook keeper in the bracket hooks.

FIG. 6 is a perspective exploded view of a second embodiment of the mounting bracket utilizing a wave spring.

FIG. 7 is a schematic end view showing an intermediate installation step where the wave spring is in compression and the bracket is mounted horizontally.

FIG. 8 is a schematic end view showing an intermediate installation step where the wave spring is in compression and the bracket is mounted vertically.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 in which a window blind 10 of the Venetian-type having a headrail 11, a bottom rail 12 and a series of parallel spaced slats 14 extending therebetween is to be mounted horizontally with respect to a window frame 15 having a horizontal top portion 16. A pair of mounting brackets 17 are spacedly affixed by screw 9, Moly-bolt or adhesive to frame portion 16. It is understood that the window-adjacent surface to which the brackets are affixed may be a vertical wall surface, a window frame portion, or any structural member to which it is desired that the headrail be affixed. Each bracket 17 comprises a flat base portion 18 which abuts the mounting surface, a relatively large integral hook 19, a smaller integral hook 20, each hook extending from an end of the base portion 18, and a leaf-spring 21 slidingly confined in hook 19. In the mounting mode shown, hook 19 is at the top edge of bracket 17. Hook 19 has a longer hook depth than hook 20.

In the FIG. 2 bracket mounting mode the brackets 17 are mounted on a ceiling 22 of a window recess 23 into which the window blind 10 is to be installed. In this horizontal mounting mode the larger spring-containing hook 19 is mounted with the hook opening facing the interior of the room having the window recess 23.

The bracket 17 is seen in detail in FIG. 3. The base portion 18 is apertured with orthogonally spaced slots 28 to receive a screw or other fastener for mounting the bracket to a window-adjacent surface with the underside of the base portion abutting that surface. The smaller hook 20 extends curvilinearly from one end of the base portion forming a distal hook portion 20b and a flat intermediate portion 20a. The larger hook 19 extends as an angular portion formed by wall 27 orthogonal to the base portion, an intermediate flat portion 19a and a distal hook end 19b. Spring-holding retention apertures 25 are formed between the inside of wall 27 and a transverse rib 29 extending across the base portion 18 and from an under-surface of opposite flat portion 19a. The leaf spring 21 is generally U-shaped with a curved concave pair of legs 21a and 21c and a pair of retention tabs 23 depending from a base edge which fit into and are staked with respect to the retention holes 25 and which abut rib 29. The distal ends 21b of the legs 21a, 21c in the non-compressed condition extend to the internal junction of flat portion 19a and wall 27 of the bracket (FIG. 4A). Access to the slot 28 between rib 29 and wall 27 is through the space 23a between the spring legs. When the spring 21 is compressed by an edge of a headrail hook, the legs become more concave and are placed into compression with the cantilevered distal spring ends being slidable on the interior of bracket wall 27. Transverse rib 29 which extends across a medial portion of base portion 18 which as seen in FIG. 5C also aids in holding the headrail orthogonally to the bracket.

The headrail 11 is seen schematically in end cross-section in the series of FIGS. 4 and 5, which illustrate a three step procedure used in mounting the headrail and its attached slats and bottom rail seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, to the brackets. The headrail is preferably constructed by extruding aluminum into an elongated box-like enclosure having a bottom wall 30 to which is mounted a slat tilt mechanism 31 and slat and bottom rail raising and lowering mechanism 32 as is known in the art. These mechanisms are operated respectively by a tilt rod 33 and a draw cord 34 (FIG. 1) extending from the headrail 11. The draw cord also extends through end apertures 35 in the slats 14 and is affixed interiorly of the bottom rail 12. String-type tilt ladders 36, operable by the tilt wand and tilt mechanism, as well known in the art, complete the blind construction.

Headrail 11 includes an outwardly facing large headrail hook 40 and an inwardly-facing smaller headrail hook 41. "Inward" as used herein refers to the interior of a room containing a window on which the blind is mounted. A headrail front wall 42 may have a distinctive room-facing surface 43. Depending tangs 44 and 46 extend downwardly from headrail hook 41 and aids in blocking light from entering past the headrail. A headrail integral rear wall 45 extends downwardly from hook 40 and terminates in tang 46 which also functions as a hook keeper extending orthogonally from and below enclosure bottom wall 30.

FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C illustrate the three step assembly of the headrail 11 into the brackets 17. In step 4A the headrail is tilted slightly downward at its room-facing longitudinal edge adjacent tang 44 so that headrail hook 40 clears the distal end 19b of bracket hook 19 and the outer surface 40a of headrail hook 40 is in position to then contact and compress the spring curvilinear legs 21a,21c by headrail push movement by the installer indicated by arrow 50. FIG. 4B shows the resultant compression of spring 21 with the legs substantially more concave in bracket hook 19. During this movement the edges 21b of the spring are free to slide slightly in the noted hook corner. The headrail hook 40 as seen in FIG. 4B is sufficiently into the bracket hook 19 so that the opposite small headrail hook 41 clears the other bracket hook 20, more particularly its distal end 20b, and the headrail pushed upward as seen by arrow 51 to a horizontal non-tilted position. Upon release of the headrail, the spring force exerted by the then expanding leaf spring 20 drives (as seen in FIG. 4C) the distal end of hook 40 into clamping position in the distal end 19b of hook 19 and the distal end 41a of hook 41 into clamping position in the distal end 20b of bracket hook 20. This spring-forced headrail movement is seen by arrows 52 and 53.

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C illustrate the installation of headrail 11 into a vertically mounted bracket 17. As seen in FIG. 5A, the headpiece 11 is slightly tilted upwardly at its interior-facing edge so that headrail hook 40 enters bracket hook 19 and is pushed against spring 21 as shown by arrow 60 to compress the spring. After the spring 21 has been sufficiently compressed as shown in FIG. 5B, the headrail hook keeper or tang 46 is able to clear the distal end 20b of bracket hook 20. The headrail is brought to an essentially horizontal position as indicated by arrow 62 in FIG. 5C and upon release of the headrail the expanding spring pressure of spring 21 as seen by arrow 63 forces a tip 40b of headrail hook 40 into clamped relation with the distal end 19b of bracket hook 19 and the headrail hook keeper 46 into clamped contact with the distal end 20b of bracket hook 20. The rear wall 45 of the headrail enclosure abuts the distal edge of bracket rib 29 so that the headrail is held in a cantilevered horizontal position extending from a pair of brackets. In this mounting mode the headrail hook 41 does not function as a holding member.

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the bracket which utilizes a wave-like spring 21' having ends 21a' and 21c' which are slidable in upper and lower slots 25' formed by ribs 26 extending interiorly from hook portion 19a' and the base portion 18'. The spring 21' contains an intermediate hump-like portion 21b' which extends outwardly from wall 27. As seen in FIG. 7, which illustrates a step similar to the step illustrated in FIG. 4B, the spring hump-like portion is pushed inwardly into compression by inward tilted movement of headrail hook 40. When the hook 41 clears the distal end 21b' of the bracket, the spring 21' expands hooking and locking the large headrail hook 40 into bracket hook distal end 19b' and headrail hook 41 into hook 20'.

FIG. 8 illustrates a vertically mounted bracket with the hook 40 compressing spring 21' similar to the FIG. 5B step. Upon pivoting of the headrail, as seen by arrow 61, the hook keeper 46 clears hook distal end 20b' and upon the release of spring compression forces the hook 40 into engagement with hook distal end 19b' and keeper/tang 46 into locked engagement with hook 20'.

While the invention has been illustrated and described utilizing a pair of spaced mounting brackets, it is contemplated that, depending on the length of the blind, more than two support brackets may be utilized; it is also contemplated that a single bracket of greater lateral width mounted at the center top of a window opening may be utilized with one or more springs confined in a bracket hook for spring connection to a hook(s) or keeper of an extruded headrail, as described above.

The above description of embodiments of this invention is intended to be illustrative and not limiting. Other embodiments of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art in view of the above disclosure.