WO1988007345A1

WO1988007345A1 - Shade and method for the manufacture thereof

Info

Publication number: WO1988007345A1
Application number: PCT/US1988/000911
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ren Judkins
Original assignee: Verosol Usa, Inc.
Priority date: 1987-03-25
Filing date: 1988-03-22
Publication date: 1988-10-06
Also published as: AU1716788A

Abstract

This invention relates to a shade, and a method for the manufacture thereof. The shade is a piece of pleated material (14) and has two sections forming each rear projecting pleat secured together to form a rear projecting tab (22). Cord holes (26) are formed utilizing each of the tabs (22), the cord holes (26) being formed through the tabs (22) for preferred embodiments of the invention. The rigidity of the pleats may be substantially enhanced by providing double-weld joints (24) for the tabs (22) or by otherwise providing a multiple or continuous bond between the two fabric layers forming the tab (22). A joint (24) used to form a tab (22) may also be used as a splice joint to secure together two pieces of material (14, 14') either for repair of a defective or damaged shade, to achieve a desired aesthetic effect or to customize the length of the shade. A second piece of material (14R) may be positioned behind a first piece of material (14F). The second piece of material (14R) may have tabs (22R) formed in the same manner as the first piece, the pieces of material (14F, 14R) being hung with the tabs (22F, 22R) facing each other.

Description

SHADE AND METHOD FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF

Background of the Invention

This invention relates to a shade construction and method for the manufacture thereof and more particularly to a shade construction which results in the cords and cord holes not being visible from the front of the shade and in enhanced durability and energy efficiency.

In a standard pleated shade construction, a piece of macerial is prepleated into a plurality of horizontal sections which stack one on top of the other when the shade is in its raised position. Alternate pleats face toward the front and rear of the shade. Each section has at least one hole punched through the center thereof which holes are aligned when the shade is folded. Normally, there would be two or- more aligned rows of holes formed in the shade sections. Cords passing through the aligned holes are utilized to control the raising and lowering of the shade.

One problem with this construction is that short segments of cord are visible in each of the

forward-facing pleats of the shade when the shade is in its lowered position.^" In some applications, the appearance of these cords is not aesthetically acceptable. A more serious problem is the holes in the shade sections which pass bright light rays during the day and which permit room light to be seen and reduce privacy at night. Another problem with having cord holes is that they reduce the insulating effect of the shade. Further, while the standard pleated shades, particularly ones having a metalized layer, provide some level of insulation, they are of only limited value as a vapor barrier.

Another limitation with existing pleated shades is that it is virtually impossible to repair a portion of a large shade which is defective or has become damaged by splicing in a replacement section, a capability which is desirable in large shades, and it is virtually impossible to splice together two sections of shade to achieve a shade of a desired length, forcing shades to be cut to custom lengths, or to achieve a desired aesthetic effect.

Additional problems with existing pleated- shades are that, when a shade remains down for an extended period of time, particularly for long, heavy shades, there is a tendency for the pleats to pull out, resulting in the shade not stacking properly when the shade is again closed. Further,

the pleats have little structural rigidity and therefore tend to bow or buckle if there is a substantial width of pleat between cords. This necessitates using three or more cords for shades of moderate width in order for the shade to operate properly and to maintain acceptable aesthetic appearance.

While some of the problems discussed above are overcome by existing honeycomb shades which are formed by securing together cylinders of the desired material which have opposed creases preformed therein, these shades are relatively complicated and expensive to manufacture and are not adapted to the requirements of certain applications.

In view of the above, it is apparent chat a need exists for a pleated shade construction which does not result in cords and holes being visible from the front of the shade, which provides enhanced energy efficiency, which provides stronger and more durable pleacs which are less likely to pull out in use and which provides significantly enhanced rigidity so as to reduce the number of cords required while still being relatively simple and inexpensive to fabricate and providing design flexibility and adaptability to numerous applications.

Summary of the Invention

This invention overcomes the problems and achieves the objectives indicated above by providing a shade which has a head rail, a botto rail, and a piece of material having a plurality of pleacs preformed therein, alternate pleats projecting towards the front and back of the material. The material is connected at one end to the headrail and at the other end to the bottomrail. A means is provided for securing together the two sections of material forming each of the back projecting pleats along substantially the entire width of the material to form a narrow tab projecting from the rear of each of such pleats. The sections may be secured together by welding, gluing, sewing or other suitable means. Cord holes are formed utilizing each of the tabs, corresponding holes being aligned, and a cord is provided which extends from the headrail through each aligned set of cord holes to the bottomrail. For some preferred embodiments, the cord holes are formed in the tabs. At least .one of the cords is adapted, when operated, to control the raising and lowering of the shade. The rigidity of the pleats may be substantially enhanced by providing a double-weld joint for the tab or by otherwise providing a multiple or continuous bond between the two fabric layers forming the tab. The

joints used to form the tabs may be used as splice joints to secure together two pieces of material either for repair of a defective or damaged shade, to achieve a desired aesthetic effect, to customize the length of a shade, or for other purposes. The energy efficiency of the shade may be enhanced by providing a metalized coating or layer for the rear surface of the shade.

The energy efficiency of the shade may be further enhanced by providing a second piece of material positioned behind the first. If the second piece of material has tabs formed in the same manner as the first piece, the pieces of material may^' e hung with the tabs facing each other and a means may be provided for maintaining a predetermined relative position between corresponding tabs of said pieces of material. In particular, the tabs may be adjacent each other or may be offset by one pleat from each other and may be held in a desired relative position by having a single cord passing through corresponding cord holes in the tabs of both pieces of material. When the tabs are adjacent, they may be held together either by butt welding, by being butted and secured to a common bridging piece of material or by being overlapped and glued, sewn, welded or otherwise secured together. The latter configurations result in a honeycomb-like

structure. The rear layer of material may be formed of plastic film or other non-permeable material providing a vapor barrier.

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention as shown in the accompanying drawings: In The Drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a portion of a shade of preferred embodiment of the invention which shade is formed of a single piece of material. Fig. 2 is a rear perspective view of a portion of the shade shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side cross sectional view of the lower portion of the shade shown in Fig. 1 taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3A is a side cross sectional view of the lower portions of a shade having an alternative bottomrail structure.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of a shade of a second embodiment of the invention. Fig. 4A is a rear perspective v-iew of a portion of a shade of a third embodiment of the invention. Fig. 5 is a side sectional view of a portion of a shade of a fourth embodiment of the invention which shade is formed of two pieces of materials. Fig. 5A is a side sectional view of a portion of a

shade of a first variation of the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 6 is a side sectional view of a portion of a shade of a second variation of the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a side sectional view of a portion of a shade of a fifth embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a side sectional view of a portion of a shade of a sixth embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 9 is a side sectional view of a portion of a shade of an seventh embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a tab joint for an eighth embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 11 is a side sectional view of a shade of a ninth embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 12 is a side sectional view of a portion of a shade of a tenth embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Referring to Figs. 1-3, it is seen that the shade of a first preferred embodiment of the invention includes a headrail 10, which may be of standard construction and does not form part of the present invention, and a bottomrail 12. A piece of prepleated material 14 has its top pleat connected to headrail 10 in a conventional fashion and has its bottom pleat 16 connected to bottomrail 12 in a manner which may be best seen in Fig. 3. Referring

to Fig. 3, it is seen that botcom pleat 16 is glu-ed or otherwise secured to the top of profile 18 which profile fits inside oval-shaped housing 20. An end cap 21 is fitted on each end of housing 20 to give footrail 12 a finished appearance. If desired, a piece of material (not shown), which is either the same as material 14 or contrasts thereto in an aesthetically pleasing manner, may be fitted over housing 20 with its ends secured between profile 18 and housing 20 and may be further secured to the housing by gluing or other suitable means.

In accordance with the teachings of this invention, and as may be best seen in Fig. 2, the two sections of material forming each of the rear pleats of material 14 are secured together along substantially the entire width of the shade and at a point a short distance from the pleat to form a plurality of rear tabs 22. The joint or seam 24 which results in the tabs 22 may be formed by welding, sewing, gluing or other suitable means. For a preferred embodiment of the invention, the joint is formed by ultrasonic welding. The width of the tabs 22 will vary with application but are typically, for a shade having one inch pleated sections, approximately one-quarter inch wide.

Each of the tabs 22 has at least one cord hole 26 formed therein. The exact number of.cord holes

will vary with the width of the shade-and the rigidicy of the material, but most shades will have at least two cord holes. The cord holes in each of the tabs are aligned so that a cord 28 may pass there chrough. In addicion to passing through the cord holes 26 in tabs 22, cord 28 enters headrail 10 in a substantially conventional fashion and passes over conventional mechanisms including locking mechanisms in headrail 10 and out the side thereof to concrol che raising and lowering of the shade. Cord 28 also passes chrough the center of botcom section 16 and through a hole in the center of profile 18. The lower end of cord 28 may be knocced as shown in Fig. 3, may be attached co a ring or washer, or may be held in bottomrail 12 in other convencional fashions. Cord 28 passing through the center of profile 18 permits footrail 12 to hang straight when the shade is lowered.

Since cords 28 pass through cord holes 26 in tabs 22 rather than through the center of the sections in material 14, the cords are not visible from the front of the shade providing a pleasing visual appearance. The absence of holes in the sections of material 14 also prevents light and air from passing chrough such holes and therefore enhances the insulating effect of the shade. This effect may be further enhanced by having a mecalized

rear layer or coating 29 on material 14. Joincs 24 enhance the memory strength of the pleats in material 14 and reduce the likelihood of the pleats pulling out when a shade, particularly a large heavy shade, is in its lowered position for an extended period of time. Joints 24 and tabs 22 also significantly enhance the rigidity of the pleats, reducing the tendency of the pleats to bow or buckle between cords 28 and therefore reduce che number of cords which are required for a shade of a given width for the shade to operate properly and to achieve a desired aeschetic effect. The memory strength and rigidity of pleats may be significantly enhanced by providing a multiple bond or a continuous bond between the fabric layers forming each tab. For example, a double-weld joint may be provided, as shown in Fig. 4 for a second embodiment of the invention, rather than a single-weld joinc as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or the two fabric layers may be glued together over substantially the entire area. Particularly with a multiple or continuous bond, the structural rigidity of the material may be increased by as much as 100%, providing the same effect as if a beam or rod where placed in the pleat. Finally, che tabs 22 are struccural members to which elemencs, such as spacers may be attached. Spacers are elements which control the amount by

which a pleat may be opened, thus preventing pleats from being opened beyond a point desired for a particular aesthecic effect and preventing stress from being put on pleacs which might result in their being pulled out.

Fig. 3A shows an alternative embodimenc 12A for the bottomrail. For this embodiment of the invention, a triangular steel rail 31 is fitted into the bottom rear pleac of material 14. Tabs 33 and 35 at the top and bottom of this pleat respectively fit over the top of rail 31, and rail 31 is held in place in che pleat by passing cord 28 through the cord holes in cabs 33 and 35 and through an opening in the cop of rail 31, the cord being held in rail 31 by passing it chrough a washer 37 and knotting it. If desired, material 14 may be attached to rail 31 in the area 39 by glue or ocher suitable means. With the bottom rail configuration of Fig. 3A, the rail is supported primarily by the macerial 14 and therefore tends to hang at an angle as shown in Fig. 3A, appearing subscancially as an additional pleat in the material.

Fig. 4A shows an alcernacive embodiment of che invention wherein a joint 24A, in this case a double-weld joint such as chac shown in Fig. 4, is being ucilized co splice cogecher two pieces of macerial 14 and 14' racher than to merely secure

together two sections of the same- piece of material. The joint 24A still results in the formation of a tab 22 having cord holes 26 formed therein through which a cord 28 may pass. A splice joint 24A might be used in a number of situations. One situation would be where one or more sections of a large expensive shade have flaws or become damaged and it is desired to replace such sections without replacing the entire shade. This embodiment of the invention would permit the flawed or damaged section or sections to be removed and either the remaining sections spliced together, resulting in a slightly shorter shade, or, when necessary, replacement sections being spliced in in place of the removed sections. Another situation might be where it was necessary to splice together two pieces of standard-length material in order to achieve a custom shade of desired length. A third situation might be where, to achieve a particular aesthetic effect or particular functional objective, two sections of different material are spliced together in a single shade. The pieces of material spliced together might be of the same or different widths, density, color or pattern. The ability to achieve an invisible splice joint in a shade thus provides substantial flexibility in shade design.

The embodiments of the inventions discussed to this point utilize a single pleated piece of material 14. However, in certain applicacions, improved insulation and a _..desired aesthetic effect can be achieved with a shade having two pieces of material, at lease one of which is a pleated piece of material with tabs, which are connected either in a honeycomb or in other manners to be discussed. Referring to Fig. 5, an embodiment of the invention having a front piece of prepleated material 14F and a rear piece of prepleated material 14 is shown. Pleated pieces of material 14F and 14R are connecced in standard fashion to a headrail 10' and at the other end, to a bottomrail 12* having end caps 21. The exact manner in which the connections are made to headrail 10¹ and boccomrail 12' do not form part of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 5, the incerior pleats of piece of material 14F have tabs 22F formed therein and the interior pleats of material 14R have tabs 22R formed thereon. As may be best seen in Fig. 5A and Fig. 6, a cord 28 passes between corresponding tabs 22F and 22R. While only a single cord 28 is shown in Figs. 5, 5A, and 6, it is to be understood that for most shades there will be at least two such cords, and that the

number of such cords for a given shade will vary with the width of the shade.

For the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 5A, corresponding tabs 22F and 22R are secured together by a piece of material 34 which spans the tabs over substantially the entire width of the shade but is not necessarily continuous and is secured to each of the tabs by being glued, sewn, welded or by ocher suitable attachment means. Cords 28 pass either through holes formed in piece of material 34, or through spaces between the pieces of material where material 34 is not continuous, and between corresponding tabs 22F and 22R. In the alternative, as shown in Fig. 6, corresponding tabs 22 may be butted against each other and secured together by a butc weld 36, or by gluing, stitching or other suitable means. Cord holes are formed in the joint between the tabs.

Fig. 7 shows an alternative embodiment of the invention which offers a slightly different functional and aesthetic effect. In this embodiment of the invention, the facing pleats of the two pieces of material 14F and 14R are spaced vertically from each other by one pleat and the holes 26F and 26R in the pleats are aligned so that a single cord 28 passes through correspond holes 26 in each set of tabs, securing the tabs and the pieces of material

together. For the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 7, the cord 28 is the only means securing the two pieces of material together.

The embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 8 is the same as that shown in Fig. 7 except that the facing tabs 22F and 22R are not vertically spaced from each other so that a honeycomb effect, such as that shown in Fig. 5, is achieved. For the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 8, there is nothing holding corresponding tabs 22F and 22R together except the cord(s) 28. The embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 9 is identical to the embodiment shown in Fig. 8 except that, in addition to being held together by cord(s) 28, corresponding tabs 22F and 22R are also held together by a weld joint 38 or by other suitable means such as gluing or sewing.

The embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 10 is the same as that shown in Fig. 9 except that instead of corresponding tabs 22F and 22R being held together by welding, gluing or the like, each tab 22R has a plurality of barbs 40 formed therein, one of which is shown in Fig. 10, and each of the tabs 22F has a corresponding plurality of openings 42 formed therein. Corresponding tabs are secured together by passing che barbs 40 through corresonding openings 42. While for purposes of

illustration, ba-rbs 40 have been shown formed in tabs 22R and openings 42 in tabs 22F, the tabs in which the barbs and openings are formed could of course be reversed.

Fig. 11 shows another alternative embodiment of che invention in which pieces of material 14F and 14R are connected to a common headrail 10' ', but each piece of material is connected to a separate bottomrail 12F and 12R. Bottomrails 12F and 12R could be of the type shown in Fig. 3 or Fig. 3A. The advantage of the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 11 is that cords 28F and 28R may be independently operated so that, for example, piece of material 14F may be semi-transparent affording some degree of privacy while permitting light to enter the room during the day while piece of material 14R may be opaque providing complete privacy when lowered at night, Both shades may be raised to permit maximum light to enter the room or for cleaning. Shade 14R may have tabs as shown in Fig. 11 or may be a standard shade without tabs. This is because cord visibility is not a problem for this shade; however, tabs would still be desirable to improve insulation, rigidity, pleat retention, and co eliminace lighc leakage.

Fig. 12 shows scill another embodimenc of che invention wherein a piece of macerial 14 having cabs

22 is combined wich a piece of macerial 44 which is a standard piece of pleated material having holes 46 formed through the center of each shade section. For this embodimenc of the invention, the facing pleats are vertically spaced by one pleat length so that holes 26 in cabs 22 may be aligned wich the holes 46 permicting a single cord 28 to pass through corresponding holes 26 and 46 to secure the two pieces of macerial together. By having the piece of material 14 as a front piece of material, cord invisibility and hole elimination are obtained with an interesting aesthetic effect.

For any of che embodiments of the invencion shown in Figs. 5-12, a vapor barrier may be obtained, to prevenc liquid condensation on the window pane and enhance the insulating propercies of the shade, by forming the rear piece of material 14R of a plastic film or other non-permeable material. It is also apparenc that a pleated piece of material 14 having tabs 22 formed therein may be combined with an unpleaced piece of material in the embodiments of the invencion shown in Figs. 5-11 which piece of macerial has tabs formed therein, or which does noc have cabs. Further, while the invention has been described above with reference co preferred embodimencs thereof, the foregoing and other changes in form in detail may be made cherein

without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A shade comprising: a headrail; a bottomrail; a piece of material having a plurality of pleats preformed therein, alternate pleats projecting towards the front and back of said material, said piece of material being connected at¬ one end to said headrail and at the other end. to. said bottomrail; means for securing together the two sections of material forming each of said back projecting pleats along substantially the entire width of the material to form a narrow tab projecting from the rear of each of said pleats; at least one cord hole formed utilizing each of said tabs; and a cord extending from said headrail through the cord hole for each of said tabs to said bottomrail, said cord being adapted, when operated, to control the raising and lowering of said shade.

2. A shade as claimed in claim 1 wherein there are at least two cord holes formed utilizing each of said tabs, che cord holes for each tab being aligned 07345 ' '

20

with the corresponding cord holes for the adjacent tabs, a cord passing through each aligned set of holes.

3. A shade as claimed in claim 1 wherein the seccions of material are secured together by a single weld joint.

4. A shade as claimed in claim 1 wherein the sections of material are secured together by a pair of weld joints, each of which joints extends along substantially the entire width of the material.

5. A shade as claimed in claim 1 wherein che sections of macerial forming a tab are secured together over substantially the entire area of the tab.

6. A shade as claimed in claim 1 wherein said material has a metalized backing.

7. A shade as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bottomrail is positioned and shaped to hang straight when said shade is in its lowered position.

8. A shade as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bottomrail includes a rail member having a

triangular cross-section which is fitted in ac least partially and supported by the bottom pleat of said material.

9. A shade as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cord holes are formed in the tabs.

10. A shade as claimed in claim 1 including a second piece of material connected between said headrail and said bottomrail and positioned on the side of said piece of material adjacent said tabs.

11. A shade as claimed in claim 10 wherein said second piece of material is a piece of prepleated material having said tabs formed therein on the side thereof adjacent said piece of material; and including means for maintaining a predetermined relative position between corresponding tabs of said pieces of material.

12. A shade as claimed in claim 1 including a second piece of macerial having a rear projeccing end section; means for securing the end section of the second piece of macerial to an end section of the piece of material along che entire width of ac least

one of the sections and at a point slightly inward from the ends of the sections to form a narrow, rear-projecting tab and to splice the two pieces of material together.

13. A shade comprising: a headrail means; a bottomrail means; two pieces of material, each of which has a plurality of pleats preformed'thereon, alternate pleats of each piece of material projecting toward the front and back of said material; means for connecting one end of each of said pieces of material to said headrail means and the other end of each of said pieces of material to said bottomrail means; means for securing together the two sections of material forming the alternate pleat of each piece of material which pleat is projecting toward the other piece of material along substantially the entire width of the material to form a plurality of narrow tabs on each piece of material which tabs are facing each other; at least one cord hole formed utilizing each of said tabs; and at least one cord extending from said headrail through the cord holes for each of said

tabs co said foocrail, said cord being adapted, when operated, to control the raising and lowering of said shade.

14. A shade as claimed in claim 13 including means for maintaining a predecer ined relative posicion between the cabs of one of said pieces of macerial and the corresponding tabs of che other piece of material.

15. A shade as claimed in laim 14 wherein the tabs of one of said pieces of macerial overlay the tabs of the other piece of material; wherein said cord holes are formed in the tabs; and wherein a common cord passes chrough corresponding holes in che cabs of boch pieces of material.

16. A shade as claimed in claim 15 including means for securing togecher corresponding cabs of said two pieces of macerial in said overlapped posicions.

17. A shade as claimed in claim 14 wherein the pleat forming the tab on one of said pieces of material is spaced one pleat width from the pleat forming the tab on the other piece of material.

whereby the tabs of said two pieces of material are intersperced; wherein said cord holes are formed in the tabs; and wherein a common cord passes through corresponding holes in the tabs of both pieces of material.

18. A shade as claimed in claim 14 including means for securing together corresponding tabs of said two pieces of material.

19. A shade as claimed in claim 18 wherein said tabs are welded together.

20. A shade as claimed in claim 19 wherein said tabs are butt welded together.

21. A shade as claimed in claim 19 wherein said tabs are ultrasonicly welded together.

22. A shade as claimed in claim 18 wherein said cabs are sewn together.

23. A shade as claimed in claim 18 wherein said tabs are glued together.

24. A shade as claimed in claim 18 wherein said tabs are held together by a barb on one tab fitting into a corresponding hole in the tab to which it is to be secured.

25. A shade as claimed in claim 18 including a strip of material for each pair of tabs to be secured together, a portion of each of said strips being adjacent one of the corresponding tabs and an opposite portion of the strip being adjacent the other corresponding tab; and means for securing each of the corresponding tabs to the adjacenc portion of-the strip.

26. A shade as claimed in claim 13 wherein the rear one of said pieces of material is of a non-permeable macerial which forms a vapor barrier.

27. A shade as claimed in claim 26 wherein said material forming a vapor barrier is a plastic film.

28. A shade as claimed in claim 13 wherein said bottomraϋ means includes two separate boctomrails; wherein said means for connecting includes means for conneccing che ocher end of each of said pieces of macerial to one of said boctomrails; wherein said cord holes are formed in the

tabs; and wherein there is at least-one separate cord extending from the headrail through the cord holes in the tabs of each piece of material to the corresponding bottomrail; whereby each of said pieces of material may be independently raised and lowered.

29. A shade comprising: a headrail means; a bottomrail means; two pieces of material, at least one of which has a plurality of pleats preformed therein, alternate ones of the pleats for a given piece of material projecting toward the front and back thereof; means for connecting one end of each of. said pieces of material to said headrail means and the other end of each of said pieces of material to said bottomrail means; means for securing together the two sections of material forming the alternate pleat of at least one piece of material which pleat is projecting toward the other piece of material along substantially the entire width of the material to form a plurality of narrow tabs on the piece of material -which tabs are facing the other piece of

material; at least one cord hole formed in each of said tabs; and cord means adapted for controlling the raising and lowering of said shade, said cord means including a cord passing through at least one cord hole in each of said tabs, the cord holes passed through by said cord being substantially aligned.

30. A method of fabricating a shade comprising the steps of: securing together along substantially their entire width che two seccions of material forming each rear pleac of a piece of prepleaced material, said material having alcernace pleacs projecting towards the fronc and back, co form a narrow tab projecting from che rear of each said pleacs; forming at least one cord hole in each of said tabs; securing one end of said macerial to a headrail and the ocher end co a botcomrail; and providing a cord extending from che headrail chrough che cord holes in each of said tabs to said boccomrail, said cord being adapted, when operaced, to control the raising and lowering of said shade.

31. A method as claimed in claim 30 including the s ep of splicing a second prepleated piece of mater¬ ial to the piece of material by securing together a rear projecting end section of each of said pieces of material along substantially the entire width of at least one of said pieces of material and slightly inward from the ends of said section to form a narrow, rear-projecting tab at the joint.

32. A method of fabricating a shade comprising the steps of: securing together along substantially their entire width the two sections of material forming each rear pleat of first and second pieces of prepleated material, said pieces of material having alternate pleats projecting toward the front and back, whereby narrow tabs are formed projecting from the rear of each of said pleats; securing one end of each of said pieces of material to^" a headrail means and the other end of each of said pieces of material to a bottomrail means; and providing a cord extending from the headrail means through cord holes formed utilizing said cabs to said bottomrail means, said cord being adapted, when operating co control the raising and lowering of said shade.