US2592478A - Hook for curtains - Google Patents

Description

April 8, 1952 H- SHERMAN HOOK FOR CURTAINS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Oct. 26, 1950 INVENTOR: HARRY SHERMAN,

ATTORNEY April 1952 H. SHERMAN 2,592,478

HOOK FOR CURTAINS Filed on. 26, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 FIGJO.

INVENTOR;

,4 HARmms ATTO Patented Apr. 8, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention'relates to hook-bearing appliances attachable to draperies, curtains, and the like, for supporting them from usual rods, especially traverse rods, and more particularly it relates to such appliances whose hooks are adjustable or variable so as to control the length and evenness of the drapery.

The usual manner of supporting draperies from rods is to insert a unitary looped book through the fabric and suspend it from the rod. Such hooks must be carefully aligned or positioned in the drapery heading to produce a straight and even hanging drapery and the adjustments required are extremely time-consuming. A poorly shaped drapery hem or a supporting rod that is not precisely mounted will cause a variation in the edge of the drapery with respect to its mate.

It is therefore an object of thisinvention to provide an adjustably supported drapery hook adapted to be quickly and easily varied not only to adjust the length of the drapery but to align it without measuring. It is a further object to provide a movably adjustable drapery hook and its support that does not require to be sewn into the fabric, but which is easily removable from the drapery as a unit, if desired. A still further object is to provide a drapery hook movably adjustable on its supporting frame with the support adapted to hold the heading of thedrapery firmly and upright. Another object of the invention is to make such a hook movably adjustable on its support in distinction from being removable from its support and replaceable in a different or adjusted position.

These objects are attainable by providing a two-part appliance of which one part is a base or frame that forms the hook-support and comprises a substantially U-shaped drapery-contacting member made of wire shaped to have two almost parallel legs joined at the top by an arch or bow that is springy enough normally'to press the legs apart. These legs are provided with position-determining stops. The second part is a hook-bearing loop-like member that embraces or bridges the legs transversely thereof and carries a rod-contacting hook. So the'U-shaped hooksup-port is threaded through the loop of the hookbearing member. The spring bow is strong enough to press the legs apart while the distance they can be pressed apart is limited by the width of the hook-bearing member looped around or embracing those legs. When the'legs are compressed or moved toward each othenthe hook-bearing looped member. can. be, moved readily along the legs, that is in a direction longitudinal of the U-shaped hook-supporting member. But as soon as the legs are allowed to return to their normal spring-pressed-apart position, they render the hook-bearing looped member immovable due to engagement of that looped member with the position-determining stops that are on the outside contour of the legs.

Essentially then, if it is desired to adjust the hook-bearing looped member with respect to its position of the legs of the U-shaped hook-supporting member (that is also the drapery contacting member) the operator needs only to compress the legs, slide the looped member to the desired adjusted position on the legs, and release compression from the legs, whereupon they spring back to hold the looped member in adjusted position due to its engagement with the positiondetermining stops on the legs that thus are engaged by the looped hook-bearing member. This adjustable moving of the hook-bearing member while yet in embracing position on the hook-supporting member, can be accomplished irrespective of whether or not the appliance is attached to or apart from its drapery.

The best embodiment of this invention now known to me is shown and described herein but it is to be understood that it is used solely in an illustrative sense and in nowise a limiting one, for obviously certain changes and rearrangements can be made while still making use of the invention whose limits are defined in the appended claims but equivalents of elements specified therein are to be included in defining them.

Figure l 'is'a view of the back of the drapery heading showing the appliance partially slid into place.

FigureZ is a similar view showing the appliance hook completely in place.

Figure 3 and Figure 4 show the movable portion of the appliance in a front view and a side view respectively.

Figure 5 is a top View of the movable hookbearing member of the appliance.

Figure 6 is a front view of the appliance showing it compressed together by the operators fingers in a manner preparatory to having the looped movable hook-bearing member slipped over it and in place.

Figure '7 is a side view of the appliance show ing the manner of assembling it with the movable hook-bearing member being just slipped on to aportion of the drapery-contacting member.

Figure 8 is aside view of the appliance in position under the buckram heading H! of the drapery.

Figures 9 and 10 are a front and side view respectively of a variation of the appliance in which the drapery-contacting frame is secured to the drapery by means of an upstanding projecting prong for insertion directly into the fabric.

In the drawings, there is shown the front portion of the drapery H and its uppermost foldedover section l2 stiffened with buckram l3 and with pleats M having stitched seams i5. The appliance to be secured in position with respect to the fabric of the drapery comprises a draperycontacting frame or support indicated generally by F, and a hook-bearing looped member indicated generally by H. The frame or support F is generally U-shaped having legs is and I! joined to each other by a spring bow or arch l8 and at least one of the legs is equipped with positiondetermining stops on that part of the leg that is farthest from its mate. In the preferred form, these stops are provided by undulations or serrations and 2| respectively offered by makin the legs serpentine in shape. The bow I8 is made so that it tends to normally spring the legs apart. The hook-bearing member H is generally looped in plan view sufiicient to fit around and embrace the legs l6 and I! when they are somewhat compressed toward each other, but of an extent that the loop 23 forms a limit to the maximum distance the legs can be pressed apart by the spring bow l8. The hook-bearing member is preferably made of a single piece of wire or other bendable material curved to form this looped portion 23; a rod-contacting hook or hooked portion 24; and downward shaft 25 terminating in an eye 26. In forming this member, the wire is first made to form hook 24 and then bent to form arm 21. It is next bent at right angles into the horizontal loop 23 which continues around until it goes back to arm 21 when it is again bent at right angles to pass downwardly to form terminal shaft 25. The downwardly extendin terminal shaft 25 depending from the loop 23 has several possible functions, namely as a counterweight to the hook 24 to prevent the hook-bearing member H from tilting too much especially when in engagement with drapery, and also as a convenient fingerpull when the hook-bearing member H is to be adjusted from one position to the other with respect to the legs 16 and IT.

The hook-supporting frame F has further details of construction in that at the ends of the legs l6 and I1, they are each bent inwardly for a short distance 2'! and 28 and then upwardly to form shafts 3B and 3| respectively with each terminating in a loop or eye 32 and 33 respectively. These shafts slope toward each other so that their eye portions 32 are pressed together by the force of the bow spring l8. These shafts are so formed because they are to grip between them a portion of the drapery for holding the frame F in place on the drapery. It is for this reason that this hook-supporting frame is also called the draperycontacting member. The loops or eyes 32 and 33 are provided so that when in drapery-contacting or gripping position, they will not tear or snag the fabric of the drapery.

To assemble the appliance, the draperycontacting hook-supporting frame F has its legs compressed as shown in Figure 6 so that its stopbearing legs l B and H are forced close together. The hook-bearing movable member H is threaded over loops or eyes 32 and 33, and then slid downwardly along shafts and 3], as shown in Figure 7. It then is passed around the inwardly bent portions, 28 and 29 and next upwardlyover the 4 position-determining stops or serrations 20 and 2| on the legs 16 and I! respectively, whereupon the assembled appliance is ready for attachment to the drapery.

This is accomplished by sliding the shafts 33 and 3| of the hook-support F upwardly and straddlingly along the stitched seam 15 of the pleat [4. These shafts are slid into position as far as they will go until the bends 28 and 29 of the legs reach the edge of the folded-over section I2 of the drapery. Here they are held in this position by the stitched seam l5 being gripped between the eyes 32 and 33 on the shafts 30 and 3|. In this way, the frame F is fixed to the drapery.

If, however, non-folded-over draperies are used, such as lined draperies, instead of the shafts 30 and 3| for frictionally fastening the frame F to the drapery, the modification of Figures 9 and 10 is used, wherein a sharpened prong 34 extends from the bow I8 connecting legs l6 and I1 so that the frame F can be secured in place by puncturing the drapery fabric with that prong. In this form the shafts 30 and 3| are eliminated and eyes or loops 35 and 35 substituted for them. Also the U-shaped frame is turned end for end from the first form, as shown in these figures.

Then, after having secured the hook-supporting frame F in drapery-contacting position, the hook-bearing member H can be movably adjusted to any desired position by compressing the legs together until the looped portion 23 of the hook-bearing member H is released from the stops or serrations 20 and 2| and can be slid upwardly or downwardly along the legs until the desired position is reached, whereupon the compression of the legs stops, and the bow spring 18 presses the legs apart again so that the looped section 23 engages stops or serrations and is thus locked in adjusted position.

It can be seen, therefore, that the appliance of this invention is easily fixable to a drapery, and in that position its hook-bearing member is easily movable into adjusted position to adjust the hanging drapery with respect to the curtain rod from which it depends.

What I claim is:

1. An adjustable drapery hook appliance including a drapery contacting generally U-shaped frame having substantially parallel legs joined at one end by a bowed resilient portion acting to bias the legs laterally outwardly from each other, the legs being movable toward each other by inward pressure applied to the free ends thereof, each of the legs having a series of stops at regular intervals along the same projecting laterally outwardly therefrom, the stops of both legs extending in a common plane with the legs, and the stops of one leg being disposed opposite the stops of the other leg, said U-shaped frame having means extending laterally from its lower end and thence upwardly longitudinally of the U-shaped frame at one side thereof in spaced relation therewith to engage an upper portion of a drapery, and a rod-attaching member including a transversely extending elongated loop member slidably embracing the legs of the U-shaped frame, and a rod-engaging hook member carried by said loop member having a shank portion integral with and extending longitudinally upwardly from one side of said loop member centrally of the ends thereof parallel to and to one side of the plane of said legs, and a part extending laterally and downwardly from the vupper. end of said shank portion, said hook member being disposed at that side of the U-shaped frame opposite the side thereof at which said drapery engaging means is located, the ends of the loop member being of a size in cross section to seat between pairs of the laterally projecting stops of said legs inwardly of the outer ends of the stops, and the loop member being slidably adjustable along th legs of the U-shaped frame when the legs are pressed inwardly toward each other, said loop member being engaged between opposite pairs of the stops on the legs when the legs are relieved of inward pressure and spring apart, the stops providing for positively supporting the loop member with the hook member carried thereby in different positions of adjustment along the legs of the U-shaped frame against movement in either direction longitudinally of the U- shaped frame.

2. An adjustable drapery hook appliance according to claim 1 and wherein the rod-attaching member has a shaft extending longitudinally downwardly from one side of the loop member below and in longitudinal alignment with the shank portion of the hook member and to one Side of the s of the U-shaped frame and constituting a finger grip in adjusting the rod attaching member along the legs of the U-shaped frame.

3. An adjustable drapery hook appliance according to claim 1 and wherein the means on the u-shaped frame to engage an upper portion of a drapery consists of an arm integral with and extending upwardly longitudinally from the lower end of each of the legs of the U-shaped frame and terminating at its upper end in a fabric gripping eye, said arms converging upwardly with the fabric gripping eyes of the arms pressed together in fabric gripping position.

HARRY SHERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 249,415 Stanton Nov. 8, 1881 444,603 Tirrill Jan. 13, 1891 694,739 Goldman Mar. 4, 1902 2,457,736 Schmidt Dec. 28, 1948

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