1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motorized drapery system for moving a suspended drapery fabric, and more particularly, to a motorized drapery system that includes a master car having a non-driven portion that may be decoupled and pulled away from a driven portion of the master car.
2. Description of the Related Art
Motorized drapery systems allow for movement of a suspended drapery fabric covering, for example, a window or other opening. Typical motorized drapery systems include a drive system having a reversible motor that turns a drive pulley for moving a drive belt within an elongated track. The drive belt is connected to a master car to provide for movement of the master car in two opposite directions depending on the direction that the reversible motor is driving the drive belt. The drapery fabric is attached to the master car and a plurality of auxiliary cars that do not engage the drive belt. The master car and auxiliary cars include wheels received within the track to provide rolling movement of the cars. An elongated slot is provided in the track for connection between the cars positioned within the track and suspended drapery fabric.
Since the master car is fixedly connected to the drive belt, the drapery fabric may only be opened and closed by the drive system. Some prior art drapery systems have allowed a user to decouple the drapery fabric, such that user is able to manually adjust the position the drapery fabric (i.e., by gripping and pulling the drapery fabric). However, these systems either require multiple tracks for the master car and the auxiliary cars or require master cars of a large physical size, which prevents the drapery system from being used with all types of drapery fabrics, such as split-draw and ripple-fold draperies. Therefore, there is a need for a drapery system having a single track and a low-profile master car, which can used with split-draw and ripple-fold draperies and is able to be decoupled from the drive system when the user pulls on the drapery fabric.