Covering for architectural opening including thermoformable slat vanes

1. A covering for an architectural opening, the covering comprising:

a support tube; and

a panel operatively connected to said support tube for moving said panel between an extended position and a retracted position, said panel including:

a support sheet coupled to said support tube; and

at least two vanes, each vane being coupled to said support sheet, wherein an appearance of an individual vane or a collection of vanes positioned below said support tube remains unchanged during movement between said extended and retracted positions; and

wherein:

said at least two vanes includes at least an upper vane and a lower vane, each of said upper and lower vanes comprising:

a vane material; and

a support member operably connected to said vane material and configured in a resilient arcuate shape to bias said vane material from said support sheet to form a pseudo-cell when said panel is in said extended position and to conform said vane material to an arcuate shape of said support member when said panel is in said extended position; and

said upper vane includes an unattached bottom edge extending downwardly towards said lower vane.

2. The covering of claim 1 , wherein said unattached bottom edge of said upper vane rests on said lower vane.

3. The covering of claim 2 , wherein said support member operably connected to said vane material of said upper vane contacts said lower vane when said panel is in said extended position.

4. The covering of claim 1 , wherein said support member is operably connected to an inner surface of said vane material.

5. The covering of claim 1 , wherein during movement from said extended position to said retracted position, said appearance of said individual vane or said collection of vanes remains unchanged until engagement of said individual vane or said collection of vanes with said support tube.

6. The covering of claim 1 , wherein said vane material is a flexible vane material.

7. The covering of claim 1 , wherein said support member is selected from one of a partially rigid material and a substantially rigid material, said support member being adapted and configured to retain a particular shape.

8. The covering of claim 7 , wherein said support member is adapted and configured to flex.

9. The covering of claim 1 , wherein said vane material of said lower vane is connected to said support sheet along an edge of said vane material to a front side of said support sheet.

10. The covering of claim 9 , wherein said edge of said vane material of said lower vane is positioned on said support sheet at about a mid-point of a height of said upper vane.

11. The covering of claim 9 , wherein each of said upper vanes and lower vanes are configured to extend away from said support sheet to an open position defining a chamber between said support sheet and each of said respective support members when said panel is in said extended position.

12. The covering of claim 11 , wherein said support sheet is configured to substantially collapse, substantially decreasing a size of said respective chambers when said panel is in said retracted position.

13. The covering of claim 1 , wherein a front surface of each of said upper and lower vanes includes a point of transition between a concave curved front surface portion and a convex curved front surface portion.

14. The covering of claim 1 , wherein a front surface of each of said upper and lower vanes includes a general “S” shape.

15. The covering of claim 1 , wherein said support member comprises a curvature that is substantially said same as a curvature for said support tube.

16. The covering of claim 1 , wherein said vane material and said support member are integrally formed together.

17. The covering of claim 1 , wherein said support member is impregnated into said vane material.

18. The covering of claim 1 , wherein said support member extends along an outer surface of said vane material.

19. The covering of claim 1 , wherein a bottom edge of said upper vane is biased towards said lower vane.

20. A covering for an architectural opening, the covering comprising:

a support tube; and

a panel operatively connected to said support tube for moving said panel between an extended position and a retracted position, said panel including

a support sheet coupled to said support tube; and

at least two vanes, each vane being coupled a front surface of said support sheet, wherein said panel positioned below said support tube is adapted and configured to maintain a constant appearance during movement between said retracted position and said extended position; and

wherein:

said at least two vanes includes at least an upper vane and a lower vane, each of said upper and lower vanes comprising:

a vane material; and

a support member operably connected to said vane material and configured in a resilient arcuate shape to bias said vane material from said support sheet to form a pseudo-cell when said panel is in said extended position and to conform said vane material to an arcuate shape of said support member when said panel is in said extended position; and

said upper vane includes an unattached bottom edge extending downwardly towards said lower vane.

21. The covering of claim 20 , wherein an appearance of each pseudo-cell during movement between said retracted position and said extension position is not affected.

22. The covering of claim 20 , wherein each pseudo-cell includes a first appearance, said first appearance defined by a height and an amount of curvature of said vane, wherein said first appearance does not substantially change during movement between said extended and retracted positions.

23. The covering of claim 20 , further comprising a second set of vanes coupled to a back surface of said support sheet, said second set of vanes including at least two vanes including at least an upper vane and a lower vane.

24. The covering of claim 23 , wherein each vane of said second set of vanes extends outwardly and curves upward towards said support tube.

25. The covering of claim 23 , wherein each vane of said second set of vanes includes a vane material but is completely devoid of a support member.