John A Schaffer

US Patent:

50425536, Aug 27, 1991

Filed:

Mar 14, 1990

Appl. No.:

7/498247

Inventors:

John F. Schaffer - Corona del Mar CA
Sandra K. Young - Newport Beach CA
David C. Burns - San Francisco CA
Don S. Minami - Monte Sereno CA

Assignee:

Levolor Corporation - Sunnyvale CA

International Classification:

E06B 930

US Classification:

1601781

Abstract:

A window blind headrail mounting a Venetian blind or pleated blind includes a headrail enclosure, preferably of extruded aluminum construction, having integrally spaced headrail hooks and a hook keeper extending from the enclosure edges. A pair of or more universal mounting brackets are alternatively attachable to either a horizontal surface at the top of a window opening or to a vertical wall or vertical top surface of a window frame, dependent upon the type of installation. The brackets thus can be mounted horizontally or vertically on these respective surfaces. The mounting bracket includes a hook extending from each end of a base portion fixed to a window-adjacent surface. One of the hooks of each bracket contains a discrete wave-like leaf spring. After the brackets have been mounted adjacent the window, the headrail is positioned by an installer to have an integral headrail hook guided into the spring-containing bracket hook to compress the spring and allow the other headrail hook or the headrail hook keeper, dependent on whether the brackets are mounted horizontally or vertically, to clear a distal end of the other bracket hook. Upon a slight tilting of the headrail to essentially a horizontal position and the release of the compressed spring, the resultant spring force clamps the first headrail hook to the spring-containing bracket hook and either the other headrail hook or headrail hook keeper to the other bracket hook, again dependent on whether the brackets are mounted horizontally or vertically.