Articulated grille

Claim 1

In a rollable grille, a plurality of flat links of substantially identical size and shape, each of said links having a hole in each end thereof and a hole in a medial portion thereof, the axes of the holes being at a right angle to the plane of the link, one end of each of the links being offset from the remainder of the link a distance at least equal to the thickness of the link with the remainder of the link being substantially planar, said links including end links arranged in pairs in generally parallel relation, the ends of adjacent, consecutive pairs of end links being overlapped such that an end link of one pair is interleafed between the pair of end links adjacent thereto maintaining the pairs of end links in spaceapart, generally parallel relationship, the remainder of said links being intermediate links arranged in pairs with their offset ends in face-to-face engagement, the engaging ends of each pair being positioned between the spaced ends of the next adjacent pair in one direction and over the engaging ends of the next pair of links in the opposite direction, the pairs of end links and pairs of intermediate links being arranged such that the respective medial and end holes in said links are in alignment, first flanged ferrules mounted in the end holes of said intermediate links and pivotally connecting the same in consecutive pairs so as to form a chain of intermediate links, second flanged ferrules Mounted in the end holes of said end links and pivotally connecting said end links in consecutive pairs so as to form a chain of ends links, a plurality of linkinterconnecting rods disposed loosely in said first and second ferrules of said end holes and rotatably accommodated therein so that said links may pivot thereabout, a plurality of linkpositioning rods disposed loosely in said medial holes in said pairs of links, a plurality of keeper means mounted on said rods serving to limit movement of said chain of intermediate links axially along said rods, end keeper means fixedly received over the ends of said link-positioning rods to limit outward movement of said chain of end links with respect to said rods, said second flanged ferrules on the ends of said link-interconnecting rods including substantially closed end portions mounted over the ends of said link-interconnecting rods and having radially outwardly extending flanges disposed inwardly of said chain of end links serving to limit inward movement of said chain of end links with respect to said interconnecting rods.