A blind is arranged such that minimal force is required to rotate the tilt drum to tilt the slats from the fully open to the fully closed position and back, with each of the front and rear tilt cables sharing the load nearly equally throughout the entire path from the fully open to the fully closed position and back.

A driving assembly for window blinds includes a mounting plate, a winding roller and driving wheels that are engaged with one another, at least one first guiding roller, and at least one second guiding roller. An elastic element is elastically wound around the driving wheels, a pull rope has a starting end fixed to the winding roller and is divided into at least two sections, under a first status, the pull rope partially winds around the winding roller then winds around the second guiding roller and the first guiding roller in turns along outer edges of the second and the first guiding rollers; while under a second status, the pull rope disengages from the winding roller, the second guiding roller and the first guiding roller in turns. The driving assembly has simple structure and convenient assembly, and brings effortless and quick operation to pull or lift the window blind.

Various embodiments of operating systems and rail assemblies configured for use with coverings for architectural structures are described herein. Additionally, the present subject matter is also directed to coverings that incorporate one or more embodiments of the operating systems and/or rail assemblies described herein.

The system includes a headrail, which includes a motor, a gearbox, and one or more tiltable slats. At least one slat includes sliding tracks. The system further includes one or more PV cells movably disposed within the sliding tracks. The PV cells slide in move along the tracks with regard to an amount of sunlight incident on the cells. Methods of operating a solar powered window covering are also disclosed. The methods generally include detecting a tilt of at least one window covering slat. The slat includes one or more PV cells disposed in sliding tracks in the slat, and the tilt indicates an amount of sunlight incident on the cells. The methods also include sliding the PV cells in the tracks with regard to the amount of sunlight incident on the cells.

The invention is a motorized gearbox assembly. The motorized gearbox assembly includes a motor that drives an output shaft. The output shaft actuates a window covering by applying torque to a tilt rod of the window covering. The output shaft extends substantially an entire length of the motorized gearbox assembly. It also has a through-channel that extends substantially an entire length of the output shaft, so that the tilt rod can pass entirely through the motorized gearbox assembly. Because of this, the motorized gearbox assembly can be used for retrofitting blinds. In some embodiments, the motorized gearbox assembly has a diametrically polarized magnet driven by the output shaft, and a position encoder that measures the output shaft's position and number of rotations.

A slat angle adjustment mechanism for Venetian blind includes a body shell and a transmission unit including a transmission gear set and retractable member. The transmission gear set includes a gear having a position-limiting hole corresponding a second through hole of the body shell, and a screw rod with an extension shank. The retractable member is connected to and movable back and forth along the extension shank of the screw rod. When pulling the retractable member, the retractable member is moved along the extension shank of the screw rod from a first position; when pushing the retractable member, the retractable member is moved along the extension shank of the screw rod from the second position back to the first position. Thus, subject to the retractable characteristic, the slat angle adjustment mechanism prevents damage during packaging.

A blind is arranged such that minimal force is required to rotate the tilt drum to tilt the slats from the fully open to the fully closed position and back, with each of the front and rear tilt cables sharing the load nearly equally throughout the entire path from the fully open to the fully closed position and back.

A motorized window covering switching mechanism is described herein. The switching mechanism includes a deflectable arm and a pull cord. The deflectable arm is connected to a first contact, and the pull cord is connected to the deflectable arm such that, as the pull cord is tugged, the deflectable arm deflects to move the first contact toward a second contact, thereby converting gestures of the pull cord into electrical signals that control a motorized window covering. In some embodiments, cord gestures that deflect the deflectable arm include pull sequences, numbers of pulls, strength of pulls, or combinations thereof. Additionally, in some embodiments, a controller receives the cord gestures and translates the cord gestures into operational commands to control and operate a window covering gearbox assembly.

A drive including a commutator motor having a motor housing, an end shield secured to the housing, feedthroughs defined in the end shield, brushes mounted in the feedthroughs; and at least one stranded conductor forming a direct electrical and mechanical connection between a brush and the terminal contact arranged outside the motor housing.

A tilt mechanism for a blind includes a spool, two transmission shafts, two transmission sleeves and a driven shaft. The spool has an inner gear. Each transmission shaft has an assembling portion and a gear. The gears are engaged with the inner gear. The transmission sleeves are respectively engaged with the assembling portions of the transmission shafts, and each transmission sleeve has an outer surface and a worm gear located at the outer surface thereof. The driven shaft has a teeth portion, and the teeth portion is engaged with the worm gear. The transmission shafts and the transmission sleeves are simultaneously rotatable by being driven by the spool, and the driven shaft is rotatable between a start position and a stop position along an operating direction by being driven by the transmission sleeves.