SHUTTER ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A shutter assembly including a plurality of shutter panels arranged side-by-side. Each shutter panel has a respective plurality of louvers and a respective operable tilt mechanism configured to adjust the tilt angle of the respective plurality of louvers. A control shaft operates the tilt mechanisms. The control shaft is configured to drive simultaneously the respective tilt mechanisms of all of the plurality of shutter panels.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A method for operating a shutter assembly, the shutter assembly including a plurality of shutter panels arranged side-by-side, each shutter panel including a respective plurality of louvers and a respective operable tilt mechanism configured to adjust a tilt angle of said respective plurality of louvers, the method comprising: simultaneously driving said respective tilt mechanisms of all of said plurality of shutter panels via a control shaft operatively coupled to said respective tilt mechanisms; and disengaging said respective tilt mechanism of at least one shutter panel of said plurality of shutter panels from said control shaft to allow said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel to be operated independent of said control shaft.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said at least one shutter panel is movable between a closed position, at which said at least one shutter panel is configured to be aligned with other of said plurality of shutter panels along a plane, and an opened position, at which said at least one shutter panel is pivoted away from said plane.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein disengaging said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel comprises disengaging said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel from said control shaft when said at least one shutter panel is at said closed position.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein disengaging said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel comprises disengaging said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel from said control shaft when said at least one shutter panel is moved to said opened position.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein disengaging said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel comprises decoupling said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel from said control shaft via a clutch coupled between said control shaft and said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein decoupling said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel from said control shaft via said clutch comprising slipping said clutch when said tilt angle of said respective plurality of louvers of said at least one shutter panel is manually adjusted.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein decoupling said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel from said control shaft via said clutch comprising slipping said clutch when said respective plurality of louvers of said at least one shutter panel have been tilted to a maximum tilt angle.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising continuing to drive a remainder of said respective tilt mechanisms after said respective plurality of louvers of said at least one shutter panel have been tilted to said maximum tilt angle.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein disengaging said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel comprises disengaging said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel from said control shaft to allow said respective plurality of louvers of said plurality of shutter panels to be aligned relative to one another.

25. The method of claim 16, further comprising driving said control shaft with a single motor rotationally coupled to said control shaft.

Description

[0043] The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0044] FIG. 1 illustrates an array of shutter panels;

[0045] FIG. 2 illustrates an array of shutter panels in a frame;

[0046] FIG. 3 illustrates a tilt mechanism for a shutter panel;

[0047] FIG. 4 illustrates schematically the use of a control shaft with an array of shutter panels;

[0048] FIG. 5 illustrates the arrangement of a control shaft in a frame;

[0049] FIG. 6 illustrates the control shaft with a motor;

[0050] FIG. 7(a) illustrates part of a transfer mechanism;

[0051] FIG. 7(b) illustrates a clutch device between the output of a control shaft and a respective transfer mechanism;

[0052] FIG. 8 illustrates a disengageable transfer mechanism;

[0053] FIGS. 9(a) and (b) illustrate operation of a disengageable transfer mechanism;

[0054] FIG. 10 illustrates a pivotably openable shutter panel;

[0055] FIG. 11 illustrates a disengageable connector for an openable shutter panel; and

[0056] FIGS. 12(a) to (d) illustrate parts of a transfer mechanism.

[0057] A shutter assembly can be constructed with a plurality of shutter panels, each shutter panel having a plurality of slats or louvers mounted in stiles of the shutter panel.

[0058] FIG. 1 illustrates three such shutter panels 2 arranged side-by-side. Each shutter panel 2 includes a respective plurality of louvers 4 and respective edge members 6 forming stiles for supporting the louvers 4. As illustrated, the louvers 4 have a longitudinal extent in a horizontal direction and are arranged as a side-by-side array in a vertical direction. Thus, in the illustrated arrangement, the respective side-by-side arrays of Louvers 4 are perpendicular to the side-by-side arrangement of shutter panels 2. The louvers 4 are pivotable about longitudinally extending axes so as to open or close respective shutter panels.

[0059] The shutter panels 2 may be individually mounted adjacent to one another in an architectural opening or may be provided within a frame 8 as illustrated in FIG. 2.

[0060] So that all of the slats or louvers 4 of a respective shutter panel 2 operate/tilt together/simultaneously, a tilt rod may be provided to connect together all of the louvers 4 of a respective shutter panel 2. Such a tilt rod may be provided centrally with respect to the longitudinal extent of the Louvers 4 or offset to one side. This type of tilt mechanism may also be provided hidden from view, for example behind the louvers, whereby a user manually operates the plurality of louvers 4 of a shutter panel 2 by manually adjusting one of the louvers 4 (and thereby adjusting the tilt of all of the louvers 4 for that respective shutter panel 2). The tilt mechanism may be hidden inside the edge member or stile of the shutter panel 2. One such tilt mechanism is described in US 2005/0252086.

[0061] FIG. 3 illustrates an appropriate tilt mechanism 10. Rack gear portions 12 are provided at appropriate intervals along opposing respective rack bars 14. At one longitudinal end of each respective Louver 4, a respective louver gear 16 is rotatable with the louver 4. In other words, by rotating a louvered gear 16 by a certain angle, the corresponding respective louver 4 will be tilted by that same angle. At least one of the two rack bars 14 is moveable/translatable along its length so as to rotate simultaneously all of the louver gears 16 and, hence, tilt all of the corresponding louvers 4. As illustrated, the tilt mechanism 10 can be housed within a stile 18 forming an edge member 6 supporting the corresponding respective plurality of louvers 4.

[0062] FIG. 4 illustrated schematically an embodiment of the present invention in which a single control shaft 20 is operable to drive simultaneously the tilt mechanisms of each one of a plurality of shutter panels 2.

[0063] As illustrated, the control shaft 20 extends alongside each one of the plurality of shutter panels 2. In this way, it is able to interact with and drive the tilt mechanisms housed within each of the shutter panels 2. The control shaft 20, in other words, extends alongside the side-by-side arrangement of shutter panels 2.

[0064] The control shaft 20 may provide drive to the respective tilt mechanisms of the shutter panels 2 by itself moving in any effective manner, for example up/down, left/right or back/forward along its elongate length. However, in a preferred embodiment, as illustrated, the control shaft 20 is rotatable about an axis extending along its Length.

[0065] The control shaft may be provided as a single integral unit or may be provided as a plurality of co-operating parts, optionally interlocking with each other. For example, each shutter panel 2 could have a respective sub-shaft or piece which co-operates and/or interlocks with the other sub-shafts or pieces to form the control shaft.

[0066] In the illustrated embodiment, the control shaft 20 extends above a horizontal side-by-side arrangement of shutter panels 2, but it could also be arranged below this arrangement. Also, for a vertical side-by-side arrangement of shutter panels, a control shaft could be arranged vertically on either the Left or right side of the arrangement.

[0067] As illustrated, respective transfer mechanisms 22 are provided for transferring drive from the control shaft 20 to each respective one of the shutter panels 2.

[0068] In accordance with the description of FIG. 2, the shutter panels 2 can be supported in a frame 8. With such an arrangement, the control shaft 20 may be housed within a portion of the frame 8, for example the upper portion as illustrated schematically in FIG. 5. Each transfer mechanism 22 may then extend between and be distributed across the interface between the frame 8 and the respective shutter panels 2.

[0069] In some embodiments, the control shaft 20 could be manually operated, for instance by means of a user-operable control rod or looped control cord or chain.

[0070] FIG. 6 illustrates schematically a preferred embodiment where a control motor 24 is additionally provided within the frame 8. This is a significant advantage over arrangements where individual respective motors are provided in each respective shutter panel.

[0071] A gear box 26 may be provided for transferring rotation of the motor 24 to movement of the control shaft. Where the control shaft rotates, it is possible that the gear box need only provide 0.5 revolutions for the control shaft.

[0072] As illustrated, the motor 24 is provided in the same portion of the frame 8 as the control shaft 20. It will be understood that, with an appropriate transfer mechanism, the control motor 24 could be provided in any other portion of the frame 8.

[0073] It should also be understood that the arrangement described with reference to FIG. 4 could also use a motor to operate the control shaft 20.

[0074] FIG. 7(a) illustrates a possible arrangement for each respective transfer mechanism 22. For each respective shutter panel 2, there is provided a pinion gear 27 rotatable with the control shaft 20. A respective actuator or actuator arm 28 engages with and is driven by the pinion gear 27 by virtue of a series of teeth 30 on one side of the actuator arm 28 transforming the actuator arm 28 into a rack. By rotating the control shaft 20 and pinion gear 27 in one direction or the opposite direction, it thus becomes possible to translate the actuator arm 28 up or down respectively. The actuator arm 28 drives a respective tilt mechanism so as to tilt the louvers 4 of a corresponding respective shutter panel 2.

[0075] FIG. 7(b) illustrates a development of the arrangement of FIG. 7(a) in which a clutch device 29 is provided between the pinion gear 27 and rotation of the control shaft 20. The clutch device 29 may selectively transfer rotation between the control shaft 20 and the pinion gear 27 or may allow relative rotation. In one example, the clutch may be an electromagnetic clutch which is controllable to selectively transfer rotation or allow relative slip. Where a motor is provided to drive the control shaft 20, the clutch device 29 may be controllable with the motor so that, when the motor is operated to rotate the control shaft 20, the clutch device 29 locks the rotation of the control shaft 20 to rotation of the pinion gear 27 and, when the motor is not operated, the pinion gear 27 is free to rotate relative to the control shaft 20. In this way, when the motor is not operated, a user may freely adjust the tilt of louvers manually. After a set of louvers has been tilted manually and then the motor and control shaft 20 is operated, in order to bring all of the louvers of the shutter panels back into alignment, the motor may operate the control shaft 20 beyond full till of the louvers so that the respective clutch devices 29 allow slip between the control shaft 20 and the louvers until the louvers of all the shutter panels are all aligned.

[0076] In certain embodiments, in particular where shutter panels are fixed within an architectural opening and manual operation of the louvers is not required, a respective actuator arm 28 can be formed integrally with the respective tilt mechanism, for example as an extension of part of the tilt mechanism, such as a rack bar 14 in the arrangement of FIG. 3.

[0077] For ease of assembly, it may be preferable for the actuator arm 28 and a portion of the tilt mechanism to be provided separately and engaged with one another during installation. There are also advantages in some arrangements for allowing the actuator arm 28 to engage and disengage with the tilt mechanism.

[0078] FIG. 8 illustrates schematically an actuator arm 28 extending from a frame 8, together with a tab 32 extended from a respective tilt mechanism and for engagement with the actuator arm 28. A similar arrangement may be provided for the example of FIG. 4 where shutter panels are mounted directly in an architectural opening.

[0079] As illustrated, the actuator arm 28 includes a recess 34 and the extended tab 32 includes a corresponding respective protrusion 36. It will be appreciated that this arrangement can be reversed with a protrusion provided on the actuator arm 28 and the recess formed in the extended tab 32. The extended tab 32 engages with the actuator arm 28 by inserting the protrusion 36 into the recess 34. When rotation of the control shaft 20 causes the actuator arm 28 to translate up and down parallel with its longitudinal extent, engagement of the protrusion 36 in the recess 34 causes the extended tab 32 similarly to translate up and down and operate the respective tilt mechanism.

[0080] One or both of the actuator arm 28 and extended tab 32 may be configured to allow some movement away from each other, so as to allow the protrusion 36 to disengage from the recess 34. The mounting mechanism for one or both of the actuator arm 28 and extended tab 32 may allow for this relative movement and/or the components may have sufficient resilient qualities to provide this.

[0081] FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b) illustrate schematically the arrangement in an engaged and disengaged state respectively.

[0082] In the engaged state of FIG. 9(a), rotation of the control shaft 20 and the pinion gear 27 clockwise or anticlockwise will cause the actuator arm 28 to move downwards or upwards respectively. The protrusion 36 of the extended tab 32 engages in the recess of the actuator arm 28 and is similarly moved downwards or upwards respectively. In this way, the respective tilt mechanism is operated.

[0083] With this illustrated arrangement, the extended tab 32 can disengage from the actuator arm 28. This is useful for embodiments as described below with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11 where a shutter panel 2 is swung open. Also, once a sufficient force is applied to the extended tab 32, it may force the protrusion 36 and recess 34 to become disengaged from one another, eg by resiliently flexing away from one another, such that the extended tab 32 and corresponding respective tilt mechanism may operate independently of the control shaft 20. This allows a user manually to tilt a set of louvers 4 of a respective shutter panel 2 irrespective of use of the control shaft 20. As illustrated, the actuator arm 28 includes a surface 38 upon which the protrusion 36 can slide in the disengaged state as illustrated in FIG. 9(b).

[0084] In order for the control shaft 20 once again to regain control of all of the respective tilt mechanisms, it is sufficient to operate the control shaft 20 and all of the respective pinion gears 27 and actuator arms 28 between the full range of operation. In this way, all of the actuator arms 28 wilt inevitably re-engage with any of the extended tabs 32 which have been placed in a disengaged state as illustrated in FIG. 9(b).

[0085] Engagement between the actuator arm 28 and extended tab 32 may alternatively or additionally be achieved using one or more magnetic components. In the arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 9(a) and (b) a magnet 40 is provided at the base of the recess 34 and the protrusion 36 is formed from a magnet. One of these respective magnets could be replaced with a non-magnetised ferrous material.

[0086] The actuator arm 28 and extended tab 32 described above may not only form a respective connector connecting drive of the control shaft 20 to the respective tilt mechanism, but may also, with functions as described above for FIGS. 7(b), provide a respective clutch allowing, where required, relative movement between the control shaft 20 and the tilt mechanism. The functions of the clutch could alternatively be provided at some other position between drive of the control shaft 20 and the tilt mechanism such as described with reference to FIG. 7(b) where a respective clutch is provided between each respective pinion gear 27 and the control shaft 20. In the clutch formed between the protrusion 36 and recess 34 as described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, engagement is provided at one position and slip is allowed in all other positions. It is also possible to provide a clutch where engagement is provided in all relative positions, but slip becomes possible in all of these relative positions once a required predetermined force is applied. To return to a state where the control shaft 20 has full control of all of the Louvers of all of the shutter panels 2 in the same orientation, it would be sufficient for the control shaft 20 to rotate enough to tilt all of the louvers 4 from one extreme angle to the other. In this way, the respective sets of louvers 4 will be tilted until they reach their full angular tilt. Further rotation of the control shaft 20 will cause slip at the respective clutch for a set of louvers 4 that has reached its full tilt angle and remaining sets of louvers 4 will continue to tilt until they also reach their full tilt angle.

[0087] It may be desirable for individual shutter panels 2 to be pivoted from the plane of their normally closed orientation, for example the plane of the frame 8, to an open position with that shutter panel 2 extending out of the plane. This is illustrated in FIG. 10.

[0088] Although it would be possible to provide an actuator arm which translates along the pivot axis of a shutter panel 2 so that the control shaft 20 is able to operate the louvers 4 of a shutter panel 2 irrespective of its position (between closed and open positions), this may be an unnecessary level of complication noting that, usually, when a shutter panel 2 is open, a user will not require operation of the respective set of louvers by the control shaft 20,

[0089] FIG. 11 illustrates an arrangement using a connection between an actuator arm 28 and an extended tab 32 similar to that described with reference to FIG. 8. In the illustrated arrangement, the extended tab 32 is housed within an edge member or stile 6 of the shutter panel 2. The edge member 6 defines an elongate aperture 42 through which the protrusion 36 extends. The protrusion 36 of the extended tab 32 is able to move up and down along the extent of the aperture 42 so as to operate the tilt mechanism housed within the shutter panel 2. When the shutter panel 2 is pivoted to its closed position, the protrusion 36 swings into engagement with the recess 34 of the actuator arm 28. In particular, movement of the shutter panel 2 immediately into or out of its closed position is substantially parallel with the axis of protrusion between the protrusion 36 and recess 34. In the manner described above, if the protrusion 36 happens to be out of alignment with the recess 34, operation of the control shaft 20 between its full opposite rotational positions will cause the protrusion 36 to become engaged in the recess 34. The arrangement may additionally provide the feature of a clutch allowing a user to manually operate a set of louvers 4 irrespective of the control shaft 20 or, alternatively, the arrangement may be intended merely to re-engage the protrusion 36 of the extended tab 32 with the recess 34 of the actuator arm 28.

[0090] In the illustrated arrangement, the transfer mechanism formed by the actuator arm 28 and extended tab 32 is provided at a portion distant from the pivot of the shutter panel 2. In this way, the extended tab 32 and actuator arm 28 become disengaged with only a small angular opening of the shutter panel 2. Arrangements are possible with the transfer mechanism located closer to the pivot of the shutter panel 2, but larger opening angles may be required to ensure full disengagement.

[0091] FIGS. 12(a) to (d) illustrate an example of a practical arrangement of a transfer mechanism 22 providing the features of connector and clutch described above.