Programmable motor for window coverings

Abstract

An architectural window covering having a programmable electric motor is disclosed. The architectural window covering includes a head rail comprising at least one cavity, a shade coupled to the head rail, a bottom rail coupled to the shade, and at least two tandem stacked motors coupled to the shade via a drive rail such that the at least two motors fit within the at least one cavity of the head rail.

We claim: 
     
         1 . An architectural window covering, comprising:
 a head rail comprising at least one cavity;   a shade coupled to the head rail;   a bottom rail coupled to the shade; and   at least two tandem stacked motors coupled to the shade, wherein:   the at least two motors cooperate to rotate a single drive shaft and the at least two motors fit within the at least one cavity of the head rail.   
     
     
         2 . The architectural window covering of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two tandem stacked motors are electrically coupled in parallel. 
     
     
         3 . The architectural window covering of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one cavity is defined in part by a front panel having one or more light pipes. 
     
     
         4 . The architectural window covering of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two tandem stacked motors operate according to a predefined characteristic. 
     
     
         5 . The architectural window covering of  claim 4 , wherein the predefined characteristic is defined in part by a pulse width modulated signal. 
     
     
         6 . The architectural window covering of  claim 5 , further comprising a microprocessor that stores positional information of the architectural window covering prior to powering the architectural window covering off. 
     
     
         7 . The architectural window covering of  claim 6 , where the architectural window covering operates along the predetermined characteristic at a position stored in the microprocessor prior to powering the architectural window covering off. 
     
     
         8 . The architectural window covering of  claim 1 , further comprising an encoder coupled to the shaft, wherein the movement of the architectural window covering is profiled using the encoder. 
     
     
         9 . The architectural window covering of  claim 8 , wherein each of the at least two tandem stacked motors includes an encoder. 
     
     
         10 . A method of operating an architectural window covering, comprising the operations of:
 monitoring two or more motors that cooperate to rotate a drive shaft, whereby the motors are physically coupled together in tandem within a head rail of the architectural window covering and whereby the motors are electrically coupled together in a parallel fashion;   measuring a movement characteristic associated with at least one of the two or more motors; and   generating an error signal based on the movement characteristic associated with at least one of the two or more motors.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the error signal comprises a modulated signal representing the difference between a desired movement characteristic and the measured movement characteristic. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising the operation of programming the movement characteristic using one or more switches. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the operation of programming the movement characteristic includes the speed at which the architectural window covering moves within a window. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the operation of monitoring includes utilizing a magnetic encoder. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising the operation of profiling positional information about the two or more motors based on measurements from the magnetic encoder. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising the operation of storing positional information for the architectural window covering prior to powering down the architectural window covering.