Apparatus for manufacturing an adjustable covering for architectural openings

摘要

An apparatus is disclosed for fabricating a laminate product having a pair of sheet materials spaced by a plurality of flexible parallel vanes which are secured to the sheet material so that planar movement of the sheet materials in opposite directions cause the vanes to shift between open and closed positions. The vane material is formed from a web of material by dyeing the material, drying the dyed material, applying spaced longitudinally extending lines of adhesive on opposite faces of the material, and cutting the material into a plurality of side-by-side strips with each strip having a bead of adhesive on each face and along opposite side edges. The cut material with adhesive applied thereto is taken up on a transfer roll and moved to a vane/strip handling station where the strips of material are processed and delivered to a laminating station in parallel overlapping relationship with each other. The laminating station feeds the sheets of material above and below the strips to form the laminate before passing it through the laminating station where the adhesive is first heat activated to bond the component parts of the covering product together, and subsequently cooled to cure the adhesive. The resultant product is wrapped around a take-up roller for delivery to a remote location where the product can be cut to size and operably connected to a control system to form the final covering product for an architectural opening.