Bead Chain or Cord Retainer

The present invention relates to a bead chain or cord retainer, especially to a bead chain or cord retainer which prevents the bead chain or cord from tangling and further avoids accidental strangulation.

A curtain body of curtains is open or closed manually by pulling a control rope such as a cord or a bead chain beside the curtain body. When the control rope is not fixed, it is laid down naturally beside the curtain body and located close to windows. When wind blows, the control rope moves with the winds to hit window sides or walls and make annoying noises. Moreover, the dangling control rope may catch surrounding objects so that the objects come off and get damaged. The hanging control rope may attract curious children to play, and even worse, put the cord around their necks to have fall accidents or choking hazards.

In order to solve the problems of the control rope mentioned above, applicants have developed a plurality of retainers. Refer to, the design of the retainer ensures a cord mounted in a winding space of the retainer is fixed, without sliding off the winding space. Refer to Taiwanese Pat. No. M415669, a bead chain and a cord are respectively secured in a first fixing hole and a second fixing hole of the retainer. Thus the bead chain and the cord will not get tangled with each other to make children safe while playing near the hanging bead chain or cord. Refer to Taiwanese Pat. No. M470616, a cord and bead chain used to control on/off and turning of curtains are positioned firmly by the retainer. Thus the cord and bead chain will not become loose, dangling or get tangled for children's safety.

Thus there is room for improvement and there is a need to provide a novel retainer in order to address safety issues mentioned above and meet latest safety norms.

Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a bead chain or cord retainer in which a bead chain or cord is clipped and positioned firmly, without being pulled before the retainer being mounted to a building. This helps installation of the retainer. While the retainer being fixed on the building, the bead chain or cord is pulled straight property, without redundant length to avoid tangling and accidental strangulation. The bead chain or the cord can only be pulled smoothly within a passage formed in the retainer for opening or closing curtains.

In order to achieve the above object, a bead chain or cord retainer according to the present invention includes a frame, a moving part, and an elastic member.

The frame consists of a first wall, a second wall disposed opposite to the first wall, a third wall connected with a side of the first wall and a side of the second wall, a space defined by the first wall, the second wall, and the third wall and penetrating vertically, a limit rod disposed between the first wall and the second wall and across the space, and a through hole mounted to the third wall.

The moving part is composed of a first moving unit, a second moving unit, and a passage. The first moving unit consists of a first vertical wall, a connection segment connected to a top of the first vertical wall, and an extension segment extending from a bottom of the first vertical wall toward the second moving unit.

The second moving unit is a vertical wall arranged opposite to the first vertical wall. A top end of the second moving unit is connected with a side of the connection segment in an assembled manner. The passage is defined by the first vertical wall, the second moving unit, and the connection segment, penetrating horizontally, and used for allowing a bead chain or a cord to insert through. The second moving unit is provided with an installation hole. A fastener is inserted through the installation hole and the through hole to be fastened into a building. By the connection segment of the moving part aligned with the limit rod of the frame, the first vertical wall and the second moving unit are inserted and mounted in the space of the frame and a part of the passage is overlapped with the first wall and the second wall.

The elastic member is arranged between the limit rod and the extension segment for allowing the moving part to be elastically mounted in the space. Thus the bead chain or the cord can be clipped or released by changing of an area size of the passage overlapped with the first wall and the second wall.

Preferably, the top end of the second moving unit is integrally connected with the side of a connection segment.

Preferably, an upper surface of the limit rod is a toothed surface.

Preferably, a lower surface of the limit rod is provided with a bulging block projecting toward the extension segment while a bump is arranged at an upper surface of the extension segment and projecting toward the limit rod. Two ends of the elastic member are fitted to the bulging block and the bump correspondingly to be positioned.

Preferably, a cover plate is disposed between a side of the first wall away from the third wall and a side of the second wall away from the third wall. Thus the cover plate is opposite to the third wall. The side of the first wall away from the third wall and the side of the second wall away from the third wall are both provided with a joining edge. The cover plate includes two joining steps which are disposed on two sides of the cover plate and joined with the two joining edges correspondingly.

Preferably, the side of the first wall away from the third wall and the side of the second wall away from the third wall are both respectively provided with at least one locking hole. Each of the two sides of the cover plate is further respectively provided with at least one locking block, corresponding to the locking holes. The locking blocks are able to be mounted into the locking holes correspondingly.

Preferably, the second moving unit is provided with a positioning hole located above the installation hole and an opening is disposed on the third wall of the frame. A positioning member is inserted and fixed in the positioning hole through the opening to fix the bead chain or the cord at a state of being clipped by the frame and the second moving unit when the elastic member is not compressed and the moving part is at a lower position.

Preferably, the positioning member is composed of an insertion pin and at least one limiting piece located beside the insertion pin and provided with limiting edges. Under the state that the insertion pin of the positioning member already being inserted into the positioning hole of the moving part and the moving part located at the lower position due to the elastic member without being compressed, the limiting edges of two of the limiting pieces are in contact with and abutting against an upper edge of the opening. Thus the bead chain or the cord is fixed at the state being clipped and limited by the frame and the moving part.

Preferably, the limiting piece has the limiting edge with at least two abutting levels which is defined as a distance between an axis of the insertion pin and the limiting edge.

Preferably, a truncated conical tenon is disposed on a rear end of the insertion pin and a slot is formed from the rear end of the insertion pin along the axis of the insertion pin.

Preferably, a mounting slot with an opening facing downward is disposed on the connection segment and two braking slots are located beside the mounting slot. The top end of the second moving unit is provided with a projecting piece projecting upward and two braking hooks projecting upward are located beside the projecting piece. Thereby the second moving unit and the connection segment are integrally connected to form one part by the projecting piece inserted into the mounting slot and the two braking hooks inserted into and locked with the two braking slots correspondingly.

Please refer, a bead chain or cord retainer according to the present invention includes a frame, a moving part, and an elastic member.

The frameconsists of a first wall, a second walldisposed opposite to the first wall, a third wallconnected with one side of the first walland one side of the second wall, a spacepenetrating vertically and defined by the first wall, the second wall, and the third wall, a limit roddisposed between the first wall andthe second walland across the space, and a through holemounted to the third wall.

The moving partis composed of a first moving unit, a second moving unit, and a passage. The first moving unitconsists of a first vertical wall, a connection segmentconnected to a top of the first vertical wall, and an extension segmentextending from a bottom of the first vertical calltoward the second moving unit. The second moving unitis a vertical wall arranged opposite to the first vertical wall. As to an embodiment shown in, a top end of the second moving unitis connected with one side of a connection segmentin an assembled manner. As to an embodiment shown in, a top end of the second moving unitis integrally connected with one side of a connection segment. The passageis penetrating horizontally, defined by the first vertical wall, the connection segment, and the second moving unit, and used for allowing a bead chain or a cordto insert through. The second moving unitis provided with an installation hole. As shown inand, a fasteneris inserted through the installation holeand the through holeof the frameto be fastened into a building. By the connection segmentof the moving partaligned with the limit rodof the frame, the first vertical walland the second moving unitare inserted and mounted in the spaceof the frameand a part of the passageis overlapped with the first walland the second wall. The rest part of the passagewithout being overlapped with the first walland the second wallforms a clipped and limited space for clipping and limiting the bead chain or the cord.

The elastic memberis installed between the limit rodof the frameand the extension segmentof the moving partfor allowing the moving partto be elastically mounted in the spaceof the frame. Generally, the frameand the moving partare abutting against by the elastic memberso that the moving partis located at a lower position and the clipped and limited space formed by the frameand the moving partis compressed. Now the bead chain or the cordis clipped and limited between an upper surface of the limit rodof the frameand an inner surface of the connection segmentof the first moving unit. In such state, the bead chain or the cordis held and fixed, unable to be pulled. When the moving partis lifted to compress the elastic member, the clipped and limited space formed by the frameand the moving partis expanded. At the moment, the bead chain or the cordis no more clipped and limited between the upper surface of the limit rodof the frameand the inner surface of the connection segmentof the moving part, changed into a released state. That means the bead chain or the cordcan be clipped or released by changing an area size of the passageoverlapped with the first walland the second wall.

The retainer is mounted to the building in order to allow the bead chain or the cordwound around a curtain controller (as shown in) able to be drawn smoothly to open or close curtains safely. First the clipped and limited space formed by the frameand the moving partis compressed because that the elastic memberis abutting against both the frameand the moving part. Thus the bead chain or the cordis clipped and positioned between the upper surface of the limit rodof the frameand the inner surface of the connection segmentof the moving part(as shown in). Thus a relative position of the bead chain or the cordwith respect to the retainer is fixed and this helps to measure the position of the retainer being mounted to the building easily. At the same time, the bead chain or the cordand the retainer will not rotate with respect to each other during packaging and transportation and this meets international safety regulations for operating the curtain chain or cord.

Refer to, pull the frameof the retainer down. The other end of the bead chain or the cordopposite to the end with the retainer is wound around a curtain controller so that the moving partis held by the bead chain or the cordand unable to be moved downward along with the frame. Thereby the elastic memberlocated between the frameand the moving partis compressed by the frame. Now the through holeon the third wallof the frameis exposed and the fastenercan be inserted through the installation holeand the through holeto be fastened into the building. Thus fixing of the retainer on the wall is completed. At the moment, the moving partis fixed at a lifted state so that the clipped and limited space formed by the frameand the moving partis expanded. That means the bead chain or the cordis no more clipped and limited between the upper surface of the limit rodof the frameand the inner surface of the connection segmentof the moving part, being in a released state. In this state, the bead chain or the cord is pulled straight property, without redundant length to avoid tangling and accidental strangulation. At the same time, the bead chain or the cordcan only be pulled smoothly within the passageformed by the frameand the moving partfor control of opening or closing of curtains.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in order to ensure that the bead chain or the cordis clipped and positioned between the upper surface of the limit rodof the frameand the inner surface of the connection segmentof the moving part, a positioning holeis arranged at the second moving unitof the moving partand located above the installation holeand an openingis disposed on the third wallof the frame. A positioning memberis inserted into the positioning holethrough the openingof the frame(refer to). By insertion of the positioning member, a relative position of the framewith respect to the moving partis limited and fixed. Now the elastic memberis not compressed and the moving partis in a lower position with respect to the frame. The bead chain or the cordis stably clipped by the frameand the moving partto be in a fixed state. The positioning memberwill not be pulled and removed until the bead chain or cord retainer is fixed on a building. Thus the frameand the moving partare released from the fixed state. Then the frameis pulled down and the fasteneris inserted through the installation holeand the through holeto be fastened into the building. Thereby fastening of the retainer on the building is completed.

The positioning memberis composed of an insertion pinand at least one limiting pieceeach of which is integrally connected with and located beside the insertion pinand provided with at least two limiting edgeson a periphery of the limiting piece. After the frame, the moving part, the elastic member, and the bead chain or the cordbeing assembled and the insertion pinof the positioning memberbeing inserted into the positioning holeof the moving partthrough the openingof the frame, the limiting edgesof the limiting pieceof the positioning memberis in contact with and abutting against an upper edge of the openingof the frameso that a relative positions of the framewith respect to the moving partis fixed securely. Thus the bead chain or the cordis precisely locked at the state being clipped and fixed by the frameand the moving part.

The limiting piecehas the limiting edgewith at least one abutting level which is defined as a distance between an axis of the insertion pinand the limiting edge. As shown in, the limiting pieceis provided with the two limiting edgeswhich have different distances to the axis of the insertion pinand form two different levels H, Hfor abutting of the moving part. According to an outer diameter of the bead chain or the cordinserted through the clipped and limited space between the frameand the moving part, a size of the clipped and limited space can be adjusted by changing positions of limiting edgeof the positioning memberabutting against the openingon the third wallof the framein response to the different outer diameters of the bead chain or the cord. For example, refer to,, and, when the positioning memberis abutting against the openingof the frameby the limiting edgewith the longer level, the clipped and limited space formed between the frameand the moving partis more compressed in response to the cordwith a smaller outer diameter. Refer to, the positioning memberis abutting against the openingof the frameby the limiting edgewith the shorter level so that the clipped and limited space formed between the frameand the moving partis looser in response to the cordwith the larger outer diameter. No matter the limiting pieceof the positioning memberis abutting against the openingof the frameby the limiting edgewith the longer level or the shorter level, the bead chain or the cordcan be secured firmly by the retainer without being able to be pulled while the retainer is not mounted to the building yet. Thereby safety requirements are met. In a preferred embodiment, the positioning membercan be removed only by tools.

In a preferred embodiment, in order to ensure the positioning memberand the positioning holemounted with each other securely and the positioning memberis unable to be released from the positioning holeeasily, a truncated conical tenonis disposed on a rear end of the insertion pinof the positioning memberand a slotis formed from the rear end of the insertion pinalong the axis of the insertion pin. Thus the truncated conical tenonhas elasticity while being pressed. This is beneficial to the insertion of the truncated conical tenonthrough the positioning holeand the truncated conical tenonis expanded and returned to the original shape after being inserted through the positioning hole. Therefore, the positioning memberwill not come off easily.

In a preferred embodiment, the upper surface of the limit rodis designed into a toothed surface(as shown in) which increases a clipping force the limit rodof the frameand the connection segmentof the moving partapplied to the bead chain or the cordfor preventing the bead chain or the cordfrom sliding and moving easily while being clipped. Especially when the bead chainis used, beadseach of which is just mounted between two adjacent teeth on the toothed surfacein combination with the connection segmentof the moving partcan provide good clipping and limiting effect.

In a preferred embodiment, a lower surface of the limit rodis provided with a bulging blockprojecting toward the extension segmentof the moving partafter the frameand the moving partbeing assembled with each other (refer toand). A bumpprojecting toward the limit rodof the frameis arranged at an upper surface of the extension segmentof the moving part. Two ends of the elastic memberare fitted to the bulging blockand the bumpcorrespondingly so that the elastic memberis positioned.

In a preferred embodiment, a bead chain or cord retainer further includes a cover plate. Refer to,,, and, the cover platewhich is vertically movable is disposed between another side of the first walland another side of the second wall, which are respectively away from the side of the first wallconnected with the third walland the side of the second wallconnected with the third wall. The cover plateis arranged opposite to the third wall. The side of the first wallaway from the third walland the side of the second wallaway from the third wallare respectively provided with a joining edgeand a joining edge. The cover plateincludes two joining stepswhich are disposed on two sides of the cover plateand joined with the two joining edges,correspondingly.

In a preferred embodiment, the side of the first wallaway from the third walland the side of the second wallaway from the third wallare respectively provided with at least one locking holeand at least one locking hole(as shown in,, and). Each of the two sides of the cover plateis further respectively provided with at least one locking block, corresponding to the locking holes,. While the cover platebeing moved upward or downward to the furthest position, the cover platecan be positioned firmly by the locking blocksmounted into the locking holes,correspondingly.

In a preferred embodiment (refer toand), a mounting slotwith an opening facing downward is disposed on the connection segmentof the first moving unitand two braking slotsare located beside the mounting slot. The top end of the second moving unitis provided with a projecting pieceprojecting upward and two braking hooksprojecting upward and located beside the projecting piece. The projecting pieceand the braking hooksare respectively corresponding to the mounting slotand the braking slots. Thereby the second moving unitand the first moving unitare integrally connected to form one part by the projecting pieceinserted into the mounting slotand the two braking hooksinserted into and locked with the two braking slotscorrespondingly.

First the elastic memberis disposed between the first moving unitand the frame. Then the second moving unitis mounted into the framethrough a bottom of the frame. Next the bead chain or the cordis placed into the passageof the first moving unit. Then the projecting pieceof the second moving unitis inserted into the mounting slotof the first moving unitcorrespondingly while the two braking hooksof the second moving unitare inserted into and hooked with the two braking slotsof the first moving unit. Thereby the first moving unitand the second moving unitare connected and integrated into one part. The assembly of the frame, the moving part, the elastic member, and the bead chain or the cordis completed. By such design, the assembly of the retainer is easier and more convenient.

Moreover, the first moving unitand the second moving unitof the moving partcan also be connected integrally. As shown inand, a top end of the second moving unitis integrally connected with a side of the connection segmentof the first moving unit, which is different from an assembled structure of the embodiment shown in. The structure of this embodiment is different from that the of the above embodiment shown inis in the way of the bead chain or the cordinserted through the passage. The structure, assembled way, and operations of the rest components are the same as those of the embodiment shown inso that no more details are given.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, and representative devices shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalent.