Adjustable pergola
A louver type roof structure includes a plurality of elongated parallel slats mounted on slat hinges pivotally supported on carrier beams transverse to the slats. The slats are pivotable between a closed position in which their longitudinal adjacent edges overlap each other, and an open position in which the slats are spaced apart. The slat hinges are mounted to the slats at their lower surface and allow pivoting of the slats between the closed position and an extreme open position by an angle of at least 90°, preferably 110°. The pivoting axis of the slat hinge is disposed substantially under the longitudinal edge of the slat which is overlapped by the adjacent slat. The roof structure may comprise a border slat adapted to be displaced when urged by an adjacent slat when the latter pivots towards its extreme open position.
1. A louver type roof structure including a plurality of elongated parallel slats mounted on slat hinges pivotally supported on carrier beams transverse to said slats so that said slats are pivotable between a closed position in which said slats lie roughly in one plane and their longitudinal adjacent edges overlap each other with respect to said plane, and an open position in which said slats are spaced apart, said slats having an upper surface facing the sky in said closed position, and an opposite lower surface, said slat hinges being mounted to said slats at said lower surface, wherein said slat hinges allow pivoting of said slats between said closed position and an extreme open position by an angle of at least 90°, said plurality of elongated parallel slats arranged in one or more subsets of slats, the slats of each subset being simultaneously operable, said roof structure further comprising a border slat disposed adjacent an end slat of said one or more subsets of slats, the border slat mounted to a linearly sliding hinge having a linearly sliding pivot point, said linearly sliding hinge and border slat, linearly slideable with relation to said one or more subset of slats in a confined track between two positions so as to allow the border slat to retract from a first position to a second position, away from the end slat, when the end slat is turned from a closed substantially horizontal position to an open upright position, allowing the end slat to reach the extreme open position the linearly sliding hinge being coupled to a spring that urges the linearly sliding hinge to the first position when not forced to retract by the end slat.
2. The roof structure of claim 1 , wherein said angle is at least 110°.
3. The roof structure of claim 1 , wherein the slats of each of said one or more subsets of slats being simultaneously operable by a connecting rod.
4. The roof structure of claim 3 , wherein said connecting rod is coupled to a pivoting lever provided on each of the slats of each of said one or more subsets of slats.
5. The roof structure of claim 1 , wherein said slat hinges are made each of one integral piece of material.
6. The roof structure of claim 5 , wherein said slat hinges are made of injection-molded plastic.
7. The roof structure of claim 1 , said border slat being spring-loaded by a spring element so as to return to an overlapping position when an adjacent slat returns to its closed position.
8. The roof structure of claim 1 , wherein said linearly sliding hinges are slidingly supported in said carrier beams.
9. The roof structure of claim 1 wherein said border slat is the same as at least one of said plurality of parallel slats.
10. The roof structure of claim 4 , wherein the pivoting lever and the connecting rod are disconnectable.