59-444: A hardtop is a rigid form of automobile roof , typically metal, and integral to the vehicle's design, strength, and style. The term typically applies to a pillarless hardtop, a car body style without a B-pillar . The term "pillared hardtop" was used in the 1970s to refer to cars that had a B-pillar but had frameless door glass like a pillarless hardtop. In limited cases, a hardtop roof can be detachable (often designed to store in
118-505: A Venetian blind. Conservatory blinds are often made with Pinoleum. In Malaysia, an outdoor blind is sometimes called a "chik". The word was carried over from India by the British during the colonial times. Faux wood blinds are an alternative to real wood blinds. Faux wood is also known by the trade name Plaswood (a portmanteau of plastic & wood ). Made of a composite of man-made materials and natural wood particles, faux wood can be
177-568: A closed position where slats overlap and block out most of the light. There are also several types of window coverings, called shades, that use a single piece of soft material instead of slats. The term window blinds can also be used to describe window coverings more broadly. In this context window blinds include almost every type of window covering, whether it is a hard or soft material; i.e. shutters, roller shades, cellular shades (also called honeycomb shades), wood blinds, Roman shades, standard vertical, and horizontal blinds (also called Venetians). In
236-483: A concern that U.S. federal safety regulations would be onerous for pillarless models to pass. The ascendancy of monocoque construction also made the pillarless design less practical. Some models adopted modified roof styling, placing the B-pillars behind the tinted side window glass and painting or molding the outer side of each pillar in black to make them less visible, creating a hardtop look without actually omitting
295-422: A convertible look and padded nylon or cotton was applied over the roof contributing to the soft-top appearance. Two-door hardtops became popular with consumers in the 1950s, while the two-door sedan body design fell out of favor among buyers. In 1955, General Motors introduced the first four-door hardtops. Following the pattern established by the two-door variants, GM utilized the same special sub-designations for
354-605: A genuine hardtop sedan with its Laurel . Toyota introduced a genuine four-door hardtop with the Toyota Carina ED followed by the Toyota Corona EXiV . Mazda marketed its Luce and Subaru from 1989 until 2009 with their Legacy / Outback sedans and station wagons as a pillared hardtop. A detachable hardtop is a rigid, removable roof panel that is often stored in a car's trunk/boot . A retractable hardtop (also known as coupé convertible or coupé cabriolet)
413-461: A home's total thermal loss, according to the Department of Energy (United Kingdom) . This applies to heat loss in winter as well as entry of undesired heat in summer. When air inside the room comes in contact with windows, it is cooled or warmed. By convection , this air then circulates around the room. Cell shapes in the blinds hold trapped air and create a barrier between the window surface and
472-582: A less expensive choice than natural wood. These blinds have become more popular as the products have matured, becoming cheaper and more versatile at the same time offering more of a natural wood look. Current faux wood blinds are warp resistant, have UV ratings as high as 500 and come in colors that would be hard to find in natural wood blinds. Because of their resistance to warping, faux wood window blinds are suitable for areas with extreme temperature swings or high moisture, such as bathrooms and kitchens. Venetian blinds, both horizontal and vertical, are available in
531-425: A lot of moisture, such as bathrooms or windows above a kitchen sink. Roller blinds are a type of window blind that is typically made from a polyester fabric wrapped around a plastic or metal roller. The roller may either be exposed or enclosed inside of a frame and can be placed at the top of the window recess or outside of the recess. To control the roller blind there is typically a chain or string on either side of
590-689: A number of different materials and manufactured in a number of different ways. This usually determines the name by which the blind is commonly known. Blinds (otherwise referred to as "shades") made of fabric can either be rolled up (on a tube; Roller shades), folded up (Roman shades) or pushed up in an accordion style (Pleated and Cellular shades). Many fabrics are used including cotton, polyester, wool, viscose and silk to create these shades. A silk cloth can be present or embroidery stitch, which will give tissue varied terrain. Wooden blinds are generally known as Venetian blinds. A number of horizontal wooden slats are joined by corded pulleys which can either gather all
649-403: A number of man-made materials (either resembling wood or metal or simply plastic). These are better suited to areas where moisture or direct contact with water is likely to cause a problem, such as bathrooms and kitchens. These blinds are often available with micro slats (as small as 16 mm or 5 ⁄ 8 in or less). The result of smaller slats is that more have to be used to obscure
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#1732783936359708-451: A panel shape that run along a track. Almost any fabric or paper can be employed, although 90% of all shoji blinds use white polyester to imitate ' washi ' Japanese paper. Cellular shades or cellular blinds, sometimes referred to as honeycomb shades, are a type of window blind made of a long and continuous fabric with a cellular structure when opened and fold onto themselves when closed. The honeycomb shades were introduced in 1985. The fabric
767-442: A response to America's newly discovered fondness for sportier looking cars that resembled a convertible, but had the comfort and convenience of a two-door sedan." In one instance, stylists added faux ribbing to a hardtop roof to make it appear to be like a convertible top, By the mid-1960s, optional vinyl roofs became widely available in virtually all model lines, reinforcing the convertible look in hardtops. A pillarless hardtop
826-408: A second layer that typically includes a blackout lining for even greater filtration when necessary. A Venetian blind is a type of window blind made from overlapping horizontal slats that are typically lowered and drawn together by pulling a cord. The slats are typically manufactured using a rigid material such as aluminium, plastic, or wood and move in unison through a series of wires that run through
885-459: A two-door hardtop body styles, with the latter "rendered as a premium quality personal car." Subaru introduced a new compact coupe as a genuine two-door hardtop with the Subaru Leone in 1971. The pillarless hardtop models were more expensive and luxurious than the sedan versions. In the 1980s, Toyota continued the design with a pillared four-door hardtop Mark II , while Nissan again offered
944-606: A variety of hardtop-like body styles dating back to 1916. Chrysler Corporation built seven pillarless Town and Country hardtop coupes as concept vehicles in 1946, and even included the body style in its advertising that year called the Town and Country Custom Club Coupe . In 1951, Plymouth offered the Cranbrook Belvedere as a low priced hardtop two-door until 1953. Mass-production of hardtops began with General Motors , which launched two-door, pillarless hardtops in 1949 as
1003-510: A variety of materials; some expensive and some less so. Less expensive blinds are usually made in polyester, aluminum, or PVC. These are inexpensive materials that are all easily accessible and yet durable at the same time. A window blind is a means of screening a window, achieving similar results to those obtained by fitting curtains. Blinds are typically the same width and height as the window itself or slightly wider and taller—depending on whether they are fixed inside (Recess) or outside (Facefix)
1062-505: A wall switch or keypad, remote control, or computer, eliminating the need for cords and allowing control of otherwise inaccessible windows. A number of modern homes are integrating blind control with central C-Bus solutions. This control provides ease of use and is effective for controlling blind operation to reduce heat loss during winter or minimize heat from the sun during summer. Panel blinds, sometimes referred to as Japanese blinds as they are based on Japanese shōji , are thin blinds in
1121-440: Is a type of convertible that forgoes a folding textile roof in favor of an automatically operated, multi-part, self-storing roof where the rigid roof sections are opaque, translucent, or independently operable. Automobile roof An automobile roof or car top is the portion of an automobile that sits above the passenger compartment, protecting the vehicle occupants from sun, wind, rain, and other external elements. Because
1180-613: Is inherently less rigid than a pillared body, requiring extra underbody strength to prevent shaking. Production hardtops commonly share the frame or reinforced body structure of the contemporary convertible model, which is reinforced to compensate for the lack of a fixed roof. The hardtop design received criticism that its roof structure may not provide adequate protection during a rollover crash. However, subsequent research reported that rates of serious or fatal injury in hardtop models (both two- and four-door versions), as well as four-door station wagons, were significantly lower than sedans while
1239-422: Is made up of several long horizontal or vertical slats of various types of hard material, including wood, plastic or metal which are held together by cords that run through the blind slats. Vertical blinds run along a track system which can tilt open and closed and move side-to-side. Window blinds can be manoeuvred with either a manual or remote control by rotating them from an open position, with slats spaced out, to
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#17327839363591298-471: Is often made from soft paper or cloth-like material and is available in a variety of different structures including single cell, double cell or triple cell. Cellular blinds work by trapping air inside the cell structure once opened and create a barrier between the window surface and the room. Due to the unavailability of standardized tests, no ranking system currently exists to compare the efficacy of these blinds. Windows and doors make up for almost one-third of
1357-459: Is their availability and cost, whereas blinds that are made to measure will be more expensive but better fit the dimensions of a window. Aside from coming in different dimensions, window blinds can also come in a variety of different styles, materials, colours and patterns. Below is a list of several popular styles of blinds: Window blinds can be drawn manually using a cord, or automated through motorization. Controls for motorized blinds can be from
1416-476: The Buick Roadmaster Riviera, Oldsmobile 98 Holiday, and Cadillac Coupe de Ville . They were purportedly inspired by the wife of a Buick executive who always drove convertibles, but never lowered the top. The Kaiser-Frazer 1949 Virginian was an early example of a four-door hardtop albeit with a removable thin, chrome- and-glass 'B' pillar held on by five screws. The car was designed to have
1475-607: The Chrysler and Dodge 880 lines. Throughout the 1960s, the two-door pillarless hardtop was the most popular body style in most lines where such a model was offered. Even on family-type vehicles like the Chevrolet Impala , the two-door hardtop regularly outsold four-door sedans. Some car lines (such as the 1957-64 Cadillac and 1965–69 Corvair) only offered pillarless models with no pillared sedans. So prevalent were true hardtops that Popular Mechanics had to describe that
1534-551: The Ford Consul Capri (355) which, unlike American models, sold fewer cars than their regular center pillar saloon versions. A New Mini two-door sedan has been marketed as a hardtop in the U.S. includes a structural B-pillar on the inside that is disguised on the exterior by a black border on the fixed rear windows. The Mercedes E-class coupe W213 from 2016 is an example of a modern pillarless design. In July 1965, Toyota introduced Japan's first two-door hardtop in
1593-465: The United Kingdom , awnings are sometimes called blinds or shades. Window blinds are generally sold as either ready-made or made to measure . As the names suggest, blinds that are ready-made are manufactured to set sizes based on typical window dimensions, whereas blinds that are made to a measurement are cut to a specific width and drop to match the window. The advantage of ready-made blinds
1652-532: The 1970s there were few choices of fabric- usually beige or white, which had to have stiffener embedded to prevent fraying, rather like on roller blinds fabric but using a thicker textile. Vertical blinds became available in flat plastic (PVC), fabric, embossed PVC, also S-curved slats. A more modern modification is to offer them with wood trim at the top and bottom—sometimes midway as well—and these are usually described as "Japanese Vertical blinds" because they are often coordinated with Japanese style Shoji blinds using
1711-538: The Hardtop Taunus models had no B pillar and provided an open-air feel inside the car when all the windows were rolled down. DKW was the only German manufacturer that offered pillarless two-door windows, as well as wrap-around windows in the back of the glasshouse from 1953 (3=6 F91) on and with a wrap-around windscreen since 1959 (1000 Coupe). British pillarless hardtops included the Sunbeam Rapier and
1770-626: The Romans stack up evenly; when covering the full window height, they are smooth without overlapping. Roman blinds can be purchased with a blackout lining on the back to fully block out sunlight. However, there will always be small light gaps on the edges of the blinds if mounted on the inside of the window frame or peeking out from behind the blind if mounted on the frame around the window. Unlike other blinds, such as certain fabrics used for roller shades, vinyl vertical blinds, or vinyl horizontal blinds, Roman shades are not an ideal option for areas with
1829-431: The blind. When the side chain is pulled one direction the roller will raise, and if pulled in the opposite direction it will lower instead. Some manufacturers also produce a version of roller blinds with two layers of fabric, sometimes referred to as double roller blinds, for even greater control of light filtration through a window. Typically, one layer will be made of a sheer fabric that can be used to reduce glare, with
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1888-732: The blinds. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Venetian blinds were widely adopted in office buildings to regulate light and air. A large modern complex in the US that adopted Venetian blinds was Rockefeller Center's RCA Building (better known as the Radio City building) in New York City , completed in the 1930s. One of the largest orders for Venetian blinds ever placed was to the Burlington Venetian Blind Co., of Burlington, Vermont , which supplied blinds for
1947-682: The cold rooms of food businesses, this slows the heat leakage into the cold room. In warmer climates, vertical blinds discourage flies and some other insects from entering the building. In certain areas of the UK window blinds are used to disguise the fact that offices have PCs in them and are used as a burglary deterrent. Other varieties of window blinds include mini blinds (typically aluminum, Venetian-Style blinds with very narrow slats, usually 25 mm or 1 inch wide), micro blinds (usually 13 mm or 1 ⁄ 2 inch wide), louvers , jalousies , brise soleil and pleated blinds . Blinds can be made in
2006-639: The current Bentley Continental GT , the 2008 Bentley Brooklands , the 2001-2003 Renault Avantime , the Rolls-Royce Wraith , and the 2012-2017 Ford B-Max . The 1958-1964 Facel Vega Excellence is one of few four-door hardtops produced in Europe. German pillarless hardtops included cars from Taunus, a Ford subbrand. Namely the Ford Taunus P5 and Ford P7 including both P7A and P7B versions. They had regular coupe versions with B pillars, but
2065-521: The doors and the rear glass frames are removable and stored under or behind the seats. In the late teens, Cadillac offered a sedan with removable "B" pillars. Another form of early pillarless hardtop is the "California top", originating in Los Angeles and most popular from 1917 to 1927. These were designed to replace the folding roofs of touring cars , to enclose the sides of the car for better weather protection. One objective of these aftermarket tops
2124-419: The earliest automobiles were designed in an era of horse-drawn carriages , early automobile roofs used similar materials and designs. In later years, many variations on the automobile roof developed. These include: Window blind#Roller Blinds A window blind is a type of window covering . There are many different kinds of window blinds which use a variety of control systems. A typical window blind
2183-577: The lowest-priced lines. Chrysler also offered two- and four-door hardtops for every brand, from Imperial, Chrysler, DeSoto, Dodge, and Plymouth. In 1956, the first four-door hardtop station wagons were introduced to the Rambler line by American Motors Corporation . The following year, the Mercury Commuter hardtop wagons became available in both two- and four-door body styles. Chrysler built four-door hardtop station wagons through 1964 in both
2242-457: The movement of inner lift cords. Some vehicles include or are retrofitted with sun blinds for rear and rear side windows. See also car glass . These blinds are used to protect the vehicle and the passengers from direct sunlight. Car shades are another common way to protect the vehicle. The shades for the rear and front windows are designed to be unfolded and sit against the window. They can be made of plastic or cardboard. The shades that go on
2301-512: The name Southampton , Packard named them Mayfair , and Hudson's were Hollywoods. Nash used the Country Club moniker while pillarless Studebakers were Starliners, a name that was later used by Ford for its Galaxie hardtop. By 1956, every major U.S. automaker offered two- and four-door hardtops in a particular model lineup. General Motors restyled their new models and offered four-door hardtops from every division and nearly every series except
2360-465: The new full-sized 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont models even included a "pillar" sedan . The U.S. industry's last pillarless two-door and four-door hardtops were in the 1978 Chrysler Newport and New Yorker lines. Since then, no U.S. manufacturer has offered a true hardtop in regular production. Various European manufacturers have produced hardtops without B-pillars (usually coupes). However, they are rarely marketed as pillarless hardtops. Examples include
2419-446: The option of lowering the top of the shade down, and/or the bottom of the shade up; commonly referred to as a Top-Down-Bottom-Up mechanism. Roman shades are a type of window blind used to help block out the sun. Although often called blinds, these are actually referred to as "shades" in the window covering industry. They are often referred to as Romans or Roman blinds in the UK . When opened,
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2478-424: The pillar. Some mid- to late-1970s models continued their previous two-door hardtop bodies, but with fixed rear windows or a variety of vinyl roof and opera window treatments. By the end of the 1990s, almost all hardtop designs were discontinued as structural integrity standards increased. Hardtops were typically more expensive than regular sedan models when new. They are more collectible than standard models of
2537-485: The pillarless four-door body types within all their brands in North America. The term de Ville was used for Cadillac, Riviera was used for Buick, Holiday was used for Oldsmobile, Catalina was used for Pontiac, and Bel Air was used for Chevrolet. Other manufacturers also designated unique names for their pillarless models. Ford called them Victoria, Chrysler used Newport, and their luxury division Imperial used
2596-415: The rates of any degree of injury for those same body styles were also significantly lower. A 1980 study for evaluation of rollover test devices reported that a greater degree of roof crush was associated with hardtop body styles, but severe passenger injury was not more frequent than in the other car body styles. The hardtop body style began to disappear along with convertibles in the mid-1970s, partly out of
2655-437: The room, thus lessening the transfer of heat. Shades, however, provide only slight control of air infiltration. In common with all blinds, cellular shades can reduce solar gain in summer and provide room darkening or blackout for sleeping. Like most other window treatments, they are raised and lowered with a string. Cordless cellular shades are available to reduce the risk of strangulation for small children. One may also have
2714-441: The same timber. Vertical blinds were most popular in the UK during the 1990s, since then sales have slowed as they lost popularity with a younger generation. Stationary vertical blinds are hung in the doorways of some homes and businesses which generally leave the door open. Movement of the blind may signal a change in airflow, or someone entering the doorway. More commonly, however, these vertical blinds are made of thick plastic. In
2773-480: The same vehicle, which have a B-pillar. Early automobiles had no roof or sides, but by 1900, several cars were offered with fabric roofs and primitive folding tops. However, cars with fully closed bodies (i.e., with a rigid roof and sides) grew in popularity and soon became the norm. In 1915–1918, the first pillarless hardtop cars were produced, then called "convertible cars" (or "touring sedans" or "Springfields"). The Springfield design featured folding upper frames on
2832-414: The same way as their horizontal counterparts (i.e. instead of drawing upwards to reveal the window, they draw to one side gathering in a vertical bunch). Pinoleum blinds are made up of small wooden twigs laid horizontally which are joined by vertical threading. The resulting weave is, as a result, only flexible vertically and can be drawn upwards once manufactured as a roller blind or in a similar fashion to
2891-439: The side windows of a vehicle are usually attached using either suction cups or static cling. Solid fabric and slat car blinds have given way to cheaper and more flexible, folding, wire-framed "dark-stocking" synthetic blinds. These are used where the car owner has not dark-tinted the glass of the car windows enough, or during the day, by drivers or passengers seeking more privacy. Most commercial airliners feature window blinds in
2950-653: The slats at the top of the window to reveal the view or simply angle the slats while allowing some light to travel through the blind yet retaining some level of privacy. Wooden blinds come in a number of finishes (determined by the type of wood used, which ranges from painted to most types of solid oak varieties) and sizes (determined by the width of each slat which is usually available in one of three widths—25 mm [1 in], 35 mm [ 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 in], or 50 mm [2 in]). Wooden Venetian blinds are also available as vertical blinds. These are usually made up of wider slats and operate in virtually
3009-641: The strangulation hazard; however, children have strangled on retrofit kits since 1995. The US CPSC recommends using cordless or cord-free window coverings where children live or visit. For window coverings that use continuous-loop cord systems, like vertical blinds, a wall cord cleat can be used to anchor the cord tightly to the wall and prevent children from having access to the dangling cord loop. Window blinds slats are held together with cords that allow for tilting slats, raising or lowering, and these are potentially dangerous if loose. As an added precaution, cord stops should be installed correctly and adjusted to restrict
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#17327839363593068-442: The streamlined look, versatility, energy efficiency, large variety of finishes. The construction includes a horizontal (occasionally, in custom designs, tilted) track with moving carriers and vertical strips, called vanes , hanging off the carriers (attached by clips ). The vanes can rotate, changing the amount of light entering the room, and, when in open position, traverse the track (and thus be stacked compactly on one side of
3127-532: The third generation Toyota Corona line. This was followed by several manufacturers offering the popular body style as a luxury car appearance. During the 1970s, Toyota produced the Toyota Crown in a genuine two-door hardtop, while offering a pillared four-door hardtop sedan. Nissan followed suit with the Nissan Cedric and Nissan Gloria but offered a genuine pillarless four-door hardtop along with
3186-451: The trunk), or retractable within the vehicle itself. The pillarless hardtop (abbreviated as "hardtop") is a post-World War II car body designed with no center or B-pillar or glass frames. If window glass frames are present, they are designed to retract with the window when lowered. This creates an impression of uninterrupted glass along the side of the car. Even the smaller automakers like Packard introduced two-door hardtops in 1952 "as
3245-482: The window completely. Conservatory blinds (i.e. ceiling fixed via a number of horizontal pulleys) are often made of man-made materials. Corded window blinds present a strangulation hazard to children, causing 184 deaths in the United States between 1996 and 2012. Recalls of window covering products have not significantly reduced the number of deaths since 1980. Retrofit kits have been used since 1995 to "reduce"
3304-414: The window's reveal (i.e. the wall recess within which the window itself is fixed). Window blinds have varying thermal effects: they can block unwanted heat of the summer sun and they can keep in heat in cold weather. But in both of these applications, they also reduce light to varying degrees, depending on the design. Many kinds of blinds attempt varying balances of privacy and shade. Blinds can be made of
3363-441: The window). When closed, the vanes tightly overlap, creating a good barrier against the sunlight penetration in summer and energy loss in winter. Unlike horizontal blinds, vertical blinds are less likely to collect dust because they stand vertically. Since they draw to the side rather than lifting and lowering, they are easier and faster to operate. They operate best on patio doors and sliding windows that slide from side to side. In
3422-626: The windows of the Empire State Building in New York City. In 1994, a design for Venetian blinds integrated with window glass panels was patented. This new type of blind overcomes the problems related to damaging and fouling. Usually, magnets are used for motor transmission in order to preserve the sealing inside the insulating glass. Vertical blinds were introduced in 1948 (Flexible Blind Company, Hunter Douglas ), and gained acceptance as an alternative to draperies due to
3481-451: Was to bring the cost of the closed car nearer to the prices of corresponding open cars. Automobile dealers were encouraged to equip an open car with a California top to demonstrate that they were "cool and clean in summer, and warm and dry in winter." The hard tops were frequently equipped with celluloid windows that retracted like a roller blind for open sided motoring offering a low-cost compromise between an open and closed car. There were
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