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The Electronic Power Angling Rod for a Venetian Window Blind
The Electronic Power Angling Rod is a device that can replace the manual-only angling rod (also called wand, or baton), typically installed on a Venetian mini-blind. The Electronic Power Angling Rod will function automatically to angle the horizontal slats of a typical Venetian mini-blind window dressing to block or pass the sun’s ambient / direct light radiation from entering through a window and into a room of a structure. The Electronic Power Angling Rod is an energy and labor saving device. It can insure the energy savings accrued from window blinds used to block or pass the suns rays through a window into a structure are maximized. Blinds can reduce the heat coming through your windows by as much as 50% during the summer, and reduce heat loss in cold months by as much as 25%, so they represent a considerable financial and energy savings.
Interior mini-blinds have a shading coefficient of 0.51 where 1 represents no shade at all through a single pane of glass. During winter weather, there is an energy savings accumulated over time by leaving mini-blinds open toward the south east and south west of a structure. This passive radiance (greenhouse effect), helps heat a structure in the cold winter months. The Electronic Power Angling Rod would automatically allow the suns radiance to pass through the window / mini-blinds, heating the room during the day and then automatically closing, helping to block loss through the windows at night. The Electronic Power Angling Rod would automatically open the Venetian blind slat angle in the morning and close the slat angle at night fall. Many people do not have the time or the will to adjust blinds within their home to maximize energy savings that can be realized by blocking or passing the suns rays through a window.
The Electronic Power Angling Rod can be set to automatically close temporarily when the suns radiance raises the temperature within the area of the window of installation, as when the sun shines directly on the window in the summer months. Angling the Venetian blind slats closed temporarily during this period will save energy by reducing air conditioning. Prior devices (prior art), that perform the same or similar functions as the Electronic Power Angling Rod are installed by labor intensive effort and are made to fit one specific dimensional window size. The majority do not have the ability to retrofit to any window / mini-blind. The few that do are visually obtrusive because of their box shaped housings, and most likely do not sell extremely well. Windows / mini-blinds are manufactured in all sizes and mini-blinds are manufactured by a multitude of companies, all with slightly different designs especially regarding the angling mechanism. The most common aberration is the varying length of the angling shaft which protrudes from the head rail, usually with an eyelet at its terminal end and connected to the manual-only plastic or wood rod, baton, or wand.
The Electronic Power Angling Rod can be adjusted to fit the varying length of these angling shafts by means of a telescopic linear ratchet device built into the rotation slat angling shaft coming from the gear motor of the Electronic Power Angling Rod. The Electronic Power Angling Rod is an elongated tubular structure just as the manual-only rod it replaces. The design structure of the device deviates only slightly from the original structure of the manual-only rod and is a very important feature of the invention, if it is to sell well on the open market. The consumer is less likely to buy a labor saving device of this sort, if the device is an “eye-sore”. Because of its location on a mini-blind, aesthetically speaking, the structural design would be extremely important if the invention is to become a popular home automation gadget. Presently, there is only a niche market viable for the type of angling devices manufactured to date. An example of this niche market is an angling device being sold by Mark Window Products, that retrofits to the angling rod itself used typically to angle a mini blind. The device is in the form of a box which is attached to the window sill. The angling rod is frictionally attached to the gear motor shaft and the whole unit is controlled remotely by infrared light. It does not have photo-electric sensor / automatic functions, it is only remotely controlled. It is being marketed as a device to help the physically challenged, such as the elderly, bed ridden, etc. The device is physically obtrusive and deviates far from the original design of the typical mini-blind. Although the price is commendable ($45.00, the lowest price I have witnessed to date), I believe the device could not sell well to the mass market due to its boxy shaped structure.
The vast majority of inventions of this sort are extremely costly to the consumer, for example Hunter Douglas has been recently advertising their new automated Fabric Duet blind which retails for $652.00 each. A similar device for a very large arching window was sold back in the mid-eightys by Comfortex Corp. and sold for $686.00. The price has dropped very little and is still being marketed only to the wealthy. This marketing strategy might produce a good income for a few companies but does nothing to impact the energy waste that occurs in the majority of homes. The wealthy only represent about 2% of the population. Millions of mini-blinds have been sold in the past, and many millions more will probably be sold in the near future. As mentioned previously, people do not have the time, will, or ability to monitor the constant change of the suns position relative to the windows in their homes and businesses. They can’t always be around to adjust the angle of their mini-blinds to maximize the energy savings inherently acquired through passive heating in winter months and prevention of passive heating through windows in the summer months. Nationally, large energy savings could be realized over time if millions of mini-blinds were controlled automatically to angle their slats to the appropriate position needed to block or pass the suns rays into homes and businesses.
The knowledge that effective shading of windows especially windows facing the southeast and southwest can substantially reduce energy consumption has been realized, studied, and documented. But up until now no cost effective means for the average home owner has existed to control blinds automatically. Previously made prior art automated window dressings have been only affordable by the wealthy. The Electronic Power Angling Rod can automate the typical Venetian horizontal blind and the electronics could be adapted to produce a low cost automated vertical blind device. The Electronic Power Angling Rod could be manufactured easily due to its structural simplicity. Using plastic injection and extrusion molding techniques, automated printed circuit production utilizing surface mount technology, and readily available miniature motor gear heads, allows the production of simple, adaptable, easy to install, easy setup, highly effective, reliable and inexpensive after-market retrofit apparatus for in combination with just about any and all existing Venetian window blinds, or for use on newly manufactured Venetian blind units. The Electronic Power Angling Rod can save energy in a cost effective manner by means of its inexpensive manufacture, ease of installation, minuscule power needs, retrofitable structural form, and reliable function. The price should drop, as most products do over time, to the cost of a transistor radio or even less. Homeowners, apartment dwellers, businesses, etc. could automate the millions of existing Venetian mini-blinds and any new mini-blinds purchased with measurable savings in energy consumption over time. The most expensive component of the Electronic Power Angling Rod is the miniature dc gear head motor. The gear head motors used in my prototypes are of higher quality than is needed. The motor is only on intermittently for a few seconds per twenty four hours. The motor gear head should last indefinitely, and a high quality gear head motor is not required for this application. The lesser quality requirement allows for a reduction in cost per unit. The gear motors can be economically acquired if purchased in quantities of 10,000 to 20,000 per lot from companies located in the orient. Prototypes have been built and tested for six years. Each prototype built was a progressive experiment designed around a slightly different electronic configuration. The last prototype built worked without a flaw and is still working. Blue prints describing exact dimensions and parameters of all the components need to be produced before various manufacturers are consulted for production of various components, ie. containment housing made from extruded plastic tubing, gear motors, SMT electronics, p.c. board, etc. making up the Electronic Power Angling Rod. A company that designs and produces surface mount printed circuit boards using CAD software needs to be utilized so test market quantities of the electronics can be produced. A manufacturer that can populate the finished circuit boards with surface mount components (SMC) needs to be located. Plastics container manufacturers need to be consulted for production of the containment housing of the Electronic Power Angling Rod. A miniature motor and gear head manufacturer in the orient needs to be located for production of the miniature motor gear heads utilized.
Thank you,
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