Roller tube

Abstract

A roller tube comprising a tube body which defines on its outwardly facing surface one or more blind substrate or shutter substrate receiving portions, wherein the tube body includes a plurality of sound damping elements located circumferentially around its inwardly facing surface, the sound damping elements extending longitudinally along at least part of the length of the tube body and defining a plurality of sound channels inside the tube.

Claims

1. A roller blind or a roller shutter including: (i) a roller tube comprising a tube body which defines on its outwardly facing surface one or more blind substrate or shutter substrate receiving portions, and defines on its inwardly facing surface a plurality of sound damping elements, wherein the sound damping elements are located circumferentially around part or all of the inwardly facing surface of the tube body, extend longitudinally along at least part of the length of the tube body and define a plurality of sound channels within the tube and wherein the sound damping elements define a plurality of closed longitudinal cells located at least partially around the internal circumference of the tube body, each closed longitudinal cell comprising a pair of radially inwardly projecting side walls joined at one end by the tube body and joined at the opposite end by a planar end wall; (ii) an electric motor separately receivable within the roller tube; (iii) a pair of opposed mounting brackets; (iv) a base element for each of said mounting brackets; (v) an idle end bush; and (vi) a vibration damping plate located between the motor and an adjacent one of said mounting brackets, wherein vibration-absorbing material is carried on and extends from at least one of the vibration damping plate, idle end bush, mounting brackets, and base elements.

2. The roller blind or a roller shutter according to claim 1, wherein the closed longitudinal cells are located around the entire circumference of the tube body.

3. The roller blind or a roller shutter according to claim 2, wherein the circumferential cells define a central core of the tube, wherein the core has a regular polygonal shape in cross section and wherein the polygon has three or more sides.

4. The roller blind or a roller shutter according to claim 3, wherein the core has a regular polygonal shape in cross section and the polygon has 3 to 12 sides.

5. The roller blind or a roller shutter according to claim 1, wherein one or more portions of the sound damping elements include secondary damping elements.

6. The roller blind or roller shutter according to claim 1, wherein the vibration absorbing material is a thermoplastic elastomer.

7. The roller blind or roller shutter according to claim 6 wherein the vibration absorbing material is carried on and extends from each of the vibration damping plate, idle end bush, mounting brackets, and base elements.

8. The roller blind or roller shutter according to claim 6 wherein the vibration absorbing material is co-molded with at least one of the vibration damping plate, idle end bush, mounting brackets, and base elements.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a roller blind according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view through the roller tube shown in FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the vibration damping plate shown in FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a first end cap shown in FIG. 1;

(6) FIG. 4B is a perspective view of a second end cap shown in FIG. 1;

(7) FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the base plate shown in FIG. 1; and

(8) FIGS. 6A to 6E show different options for the damping elements in the roller tube.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(9) For the avoidance of doubt, the skilled person will appreciate that in this specification, the terms “up”, “down”, “front”, “rear”, “upper”, “lower”, “width”, etc. refer to the orientation of the components as found in the example when installed for normal use as shown in the Figures.

(10) A roller blind assembly 2 is shown in FIG. 1. The assembly 2 comprises a roller tube 4 which is shown in more detail in FIG. 2. The roller tube 4 includes an outer tube wall 6 within which is defined a pair of opposed fabric receiving slots 8. In this embodiment, the two slots 8 are substantially identical. However, it will be appreciated that slots 8 having different dimensions may be incorporated.

(11) Projecting radially inwards from the outer tube wall 6 are eight side wall elements 10 which are equally circumferentially spaced from each other. Each pair of adjacent side wall elements 10 are joined at their inwardly facing end by an end wall 12. The arrangement of end walls 12 provides the roller tube 4 with an octagonally shaped core surrounded by six large closed cells 16 and four small closed cells 18, where each of the large closed cells 16 is defined by a pair of radial side wall elements 10, an end wall 12 and a portion of the outer tube wall 6, and each of the small closed cells 18 is defined by a side wall element 10, part of a fabric receiving slot 8, part of an end wall 12 and a portion of the outer tube wall 6.

(12) Located within the roller tube 4 is an electric motor 20 (Sonesse™ from Somfy Systems Inc., NJ, USA). The motor 20 includes an octagonal drive bush 22 which is sized and configured to engage the end walls 12 of the roller tube 4.

(13) To the motor 20 is connected a mounting plate 24 which is shown in more detail in FIG. 3. The mounting plate 24 is largely moulded from a rigid thermoplastic material to define a plate body 26. On its outwardly facing face (i.e. the face shown in FIG. 3 and which in use contacts a mounting bracket) is provided a central locating lug 28 and a pair of outer locating lugs 30. The outer face also includes portions 32 of a thermoplastic elastomer which extend beyond the face and which form a contact surface.

(14) A pair of securing holes 34 are provided through the mounting plate which correspond to threaded bores provided in an end face of the motor 20 such that the mounting plate 24 may be secured to the motor 20 via a pair of screws (not shown).

(15) In order to close at each end the longitudinal cells 16, 18 of the roller tube 4, a pair of end caps 36, 38 are provided and these are shown in more detail in FIG. 4. The end cap 36 is adapted to close the cells 16, 18 at the control end of the roller tube 4 (i.e. the end that contains the motor 20) and comprises a substantially annular shaped body 40 which defines an octagonal-shaped inner core 42 corresponding to the core 14 of the roller tube 4 and a circular outer periphery corresponding to the outer tube wall 6. With this arrangement, the end cap 36 is adapted to close all of the cells 16, 18 defined by the roller tube 4 without interfering with motor 20 or its drive bush 22. In order to secure the end cap 36 to the roller tube 4, the end cap 36 further includes a number of securing legs 44 which provide a friction fit within the cells 16.

(16) Turning now to the end cap 38, this is adapted to close the cells 16,18 at the idle end of the roller tube 4. The end cap comprises a rigid body 46 which carries a thermoplastic elastomeric coating 48 having an octagonal cross-sectional shape sized to form a friction fit within the roller tube 4. At one end of the cap 38 is a flange 50 having a diameter equal to that of the outer tube wall 6. The flange is also covered with a thermoplastic elastomeric coating.

(17) Projecting axially from the end of the cap 38 is a conventional idle end bearing assembly 52 such as the one described in WO2010/139945.

(18) At either end of the roller tube 4 is located a respective mounting bracket 54, 56, which are known parts (available from Louver-Lite Limited) and which comprise apertures adapted to receive the locating lugs 28, 30 of the motor mounting plate 24 at one end and a cruciform engagement portion of an end pin forming part of the idle end assembly at the other end.

(19) The mounting brackets 54, 56 are typically secured to a supporting substrate (e.g. a wall) via respective base plates 58, which are shown in more detail in FIG. 5. The base plates 58 each comprise a rigid metal body 60 which is covered with a thermoplastic elastomer to reduce transmission of vibrations and sound energy. The elastomeric coating defines a peripheral ridge 62 around the front face of the base plate 58. The base plate 58 includes a pair of shaped apertures adapted to receive therethrough fixing elements (not shown), such as screws.

(20) A pair of cover elements 64 push fit onto the respective mounting brackets 54, 56 to provide an aesthetically pleasing finish.

(21) To assemble the blind assembly 2, a sheet of blind fabric (not shown) having the desired length is first secured to the roller tube 4 via one of the fabric receiving slots 8. The electric motor 20 is then inserted into one end of the roller tube and retained in place via the drive bush 22 and the end cap 36. The motor mounting plate 24 is secured to the end face of the motor 20 via a pair of screws (not shown) passing through the apertures 34 in the mounting plate 24. At the other end, the cells 16, 18 are closed by the idle end cap 38.

(22) The two mounting brackets 54, 56 are secured to a suitable support substrate, such as a wall, via respective base plates 58. The mounting plate 24 is then coupled to its respective mounting bracket 54 such that the locating lugs 28, 30 are located within the respective apertures in the mounting plate 54 and the support pin of the idle end assembly 52 is located in its mounting bracket 56. Finally, the two cover elements 64 are press-fitted to their respective mounting brackets 54, 56 and the motor is connected to its power supply and control assembly.

(23) In use, noise and vibration generated by the motor is suppressed by the cells 16, 18 and by the octagonal shape of the core 14, which together help to reduce amplification of the sound waves. In addition, the thermoplastic elastomeric portions 32 on the motor mounting plate 24 and the similar coatings on the end cap 38 and base plates 58 help reduce transmission of the vibrations and associated noise from the roller tube 4.

(24) Although one specific arrangement of the sound damping elements is shown in FIG. 2, other arrangements are possible and some examples of alternative arrangements of sound damping elements are shown in FIGS. 6a to 6e.

(25) The arrangement shown in FIG. 6a is similar to that shown in FIG. 2, except that in FIG. 6a, the roller tube 104 only includes a single fabric receiving slot 108. This results in seven large cells 116 and only two small cells 118 surrounding the core 114.

(26) FIG. 6b shows an arrangement of T-shaped sound damping elements 210 which define a number of sound channels having an open cell configuration, as there are gaps 211 between the crossbars of adjacent elements 210.

(27) FIG. 6c shows an alternating arrangement of Y-shaped damping elements 310 and ribs 313 having a rectangular cross section. Again, as there are gaps 311 between the damping elements 310 and the ribs 313, the sound channels have an open cell configuration.

(28) FIG. 6d shows a roller tube 404 which is similar to the tube 104 shown in FIG. 6a, except that in this embodiment, the end walls 412 of the tube 404 include secondary damping elements in the form of ridges 470 having a sinusoidal profile as shown more clearly in the enlarged section A.

(29) FIG. 6e shows a roller tube 504 which is similar to the tube 404 shown in FIG. 6d, but in this embodiment, the secondary damping elements 570 are in the form of ridges having a shallow sawtooth profile, as shown more clearly in the enlarged section B.