Venetian blind tilter operating mechanism with snap-on wand connection

Claim 1

A venetian blind tilter operating mechanism comprising a head rail, a rotary stub shaft depending from the head rail and rotatable to effect slat tilting, a cross piece on the depending end of said stub shaft, a manually actuable wand for end-to-end connection to said stub shaft and gravitational dependence therefrom, a resilient clip on one end of said wand for resilient snap engagement about said cross piece, said clip including a pair of generally upwardly extending resilient legs having a space therebetween rotatably receiving said cross piece, said space having a reduced throat between the free ends of said legs, and said throat being dimensioned less than said cross piece for retention of the latter in said space against inadvertent removal and permitting of deliberate removal by the resilience of said legs, and a generally U-shaped member including a pair of laterally outwardly projecting arms on the depending end of said stub shaft, said cross piece extending between said arms, said stub shaft depending obliquely inwardly from said head rail, and said cross piece being of laterally distended cross sectional configuration oblique to said stub shaft so that the major axis of said laterally distended cross section does not pass through a vertical position so as to prevent inadvertent disengagement of the clip and removal of the wand, while said cross piece presents its minor axis for snap engagement into said clip with the wand unobstructed by the environment.