[R Harkness]

I've been cogitating on how to integrate the elements needed for a "high performance" projection room with the aesthetic demands involved in turning our living room into a home theater. I've finally hit upon how I can get everything I want...IF an automated curtain controller can do this....


Imagine staring at the screen wall. The screen is covered by typical center-opening curtains when not in use, which open up when you want to watch a movie on the screen. Now, typically what happens with an automated curtain is the motor is at the end of the curtain rod, and that end of the curtains stays put as the motor pulls the other end of the curtains toward it, opening the central portion of the curtains to reveal the screen.

So you end with the curtains being bunched to the side of the screen.


But instead of the curtains ending up bunched to the side of the screen, on the screen wall, when I press the "open curtain" button, I want each side of the curtain to travel all the way around the corner to end up covering the side walls - moving the curtain right off the screen wall to the side walls.

(among other benefits, this will allow me to use more of my front wall for a wider screen, since I wouldn't have to worry about curtain stacking room to the side, not to mention benefits of killing light reflections from the side walls, etc).


Now, I know you can get automated curtain rods that can go around corners.

So I know that in principle a curtain can be pulled around a corner. But that still usually involves one end of the curtain being stationary, on the side wall,

while the other end is pulled toward it. But I need the whole curtain sheet to move. Below is a very crude Sketchup representation of what I want, the purple blocks representing the curtains first covering the screen, and the second picture showing the "curtains" moved on to the side walls.


Does anyone know if this is possible to automate? Thanks.

 

[Dennis Erskine]

Yup. Possible and has been done. I suppose your next question is how?

So...before you ask, just let me say the solution doesn't come on the cheap.

 

[R Harkness]

Thanks Dennis....I think

I've been sourcing automated curtain rods so I'm pretty familiar with the prices.

Is there something "xtra special" that would need to be done in this case?


I was thinking that, even with the standard motor it should work. I place the curtain motor on the side wall, so it will pull the curtain to the side wall when it opens the curtain. But since the curtain corner wouldn't be against the motor there would be a gap between the motor and the edge of the curtain - about 8 foot distance. Couldn't I sort of fudge, or make up for, the missing section of curtain, keeping a continuity, by tying a line that connects to all the in-between hangers reaching the curtain edge. Then, in terms of pulling the curtain in it works pretty much as if there were actual curtains there connecting all the hangers when the curtain is pulled.


Wotcha think? And any insights you can give to the solution would be mighty appreciated.



Thanks.

 

[lellis]

These guys do curved curtain tracks...

http://www2.silentgliss.com.au/cord/cordap.htm

http://www2.silentgliss.com.au/room/roomap.htm

http://www2.silentgliss.com.au/electric/elecap.htm

 

[R Harkness]

Thank you lellis.


There are quite a few companies that do curved tracks for automated curtains - most of them offer both curved and straight. The issue here is the specific way I want the curtains to move - that is, all the curtain being pulled to a new spot, rather than the curtain just being pulled on one side and compressed.

 

[R Harkness]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis Erskine /forum/post/12934382


Yup. Possible and has been done. I suppose your next question is how?

So...before you ask, just let me say the solution doesn't come on the cheap.

I'm hoping you'll come back with some more details. You wouldn't let a poor

old AVS member hangin,' woudja?

 

[Dennis Erskine]

Curtain movement is controlled by the traveller. It pulls the curtain closed and pushes it open compressing the pleats. In your case, you'll need a custom system. It will require two motors (one for each panel) and each curtain panel will require two travellers (as opposed to one). Several of the manufacturers can build such a system. Your incremental expense will be in the extra motor and engineering the curve and traveller system.

 

[R Harkness]

Thanks Dennis.


Still, it seems to me that it could be done without an extra motor. As far as I can gather, from reading manufacturer web sites, even when you have curtains travelling around corners it's still a single motor system - that is when you are doing the standard system where only one edge of the curtain is pushed and pulled, the other stationary by the motor.


So...if instead of moving both edges of the curtain as I want, if I instead had one big curtain that curved from the side wall to the front wall, that would be a single motor system that would pull the single edge of the curtain around the wall corner to the motor.


But since I propose a gap between the motor and the edge of the curtain, why can't I just, for instance, use a very narrow section of curtain to span the gap between motor

and the full sized section - say, a 3 inch wide strip of curtain material to connect the two.


Wouldn't that provide the necessary link and pull to pull the curtain forward and backward, just as if it were a full section of curtain?



Thanks.

 

[Dennis Erskine]

Two motors.

In your original illustration, you have to move the entire panel. In a typical one motor system, you're never moving the entire panel. Even at that, as the fabric weight increases, you'll run across the need for dual motors.