RB 500 Roller Shade Operating System Wins iF Product Design Award
29 March, 2012

POWAY, CA (March, 2012) - Hunter Douglas has announced that the 2012 iF jury awarded its RB 500® Roller Shade an iF Product Design Award in the “Furniture and Home Textiles” category. The roller shade system was recognized at a ceremony held at the BMW Welt in Munich, Germany, and was cited under its European name, Roller Blind EOS 500®.

“We are pleased that RB 500 roller shades won such a prestigious product award and were recognized in front of an outstanding group of guests from design, business, art, culture, media and politics,” said Rich Ries, Business Unit Manager of Hunter Douglas Contract’s Window Coverings division. “This not only shows the system’s aesthetic quality, but also its useful features and operational advantages.”

Design experts in the iF jury recognized the precision engineering invested in the RB 500 Roller Shade, including a metal clutch with a patented construction, a durable zamac housing with polished finish, and a chain drive unit that excels in maximum operating comfort. The chain drive unit is installed over two pins, which grasp into designated bracket holes. An extra spring loaded axial pin prevents dislocation.

This innovative RB 500 Roller Shade operating system offers the industry’s most comprehensive program, accommodating even exceptionally large or inclined windows.  The shades are designed to increase the amount of light entering a space for maximum interior comfort. Featuring a sleek operational and architectural design with unrivalled strength, the RB 500 roller shade is easy to install, easy to operate, and highly durable.  The roller shade also aids in a building’s overall rate of energy savings, thanks to the many fabric options available, including heat-reflective, acoustical, Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM, and insulating screen fabrics.

The benefits of the RB 500 Roller Shade operating system include:

• Heavy-duty tube to span large widths without distortion.
• Three different operating systems – chain, crank, and motorized. Automated shades include a comprehensive range of switch, timer, remote, and advanced controls.
• Spring-loaded locking bearing plug for simple and secure installation.
• Innovative integrated levelling device enables easy correction of uneven installation conditions.
• Multiple coupling options (both in-line and angled) with aligning disc that keeps bottom rails at same level from shade to shade.
• Variety of header cassettes.
• All components available in pearl chrome, white, or black.
• Available with aluminum decorator installation bracket to enhance aesthetics.

About iF Awards Design can be bold, intelligent and passionate; it can be humorous, serious and confident. But most of all, it can simply be excellent—and carry an iF design award.  Since 1953, iF has invited international manufacturers and designers to enter their products in the iF design awards. Design experts from all over the world come together in the iF juries to evaluate the entries: excellent design is recognized and rewarded. The iF design awards have long been a trademark feature of iF and the iF label is recognized the world over as a seal of design excellence.  The iF jury considered criteria such as design quality, finish, choice of materials, degree of innovation, environmental impact, functionality, ergonomics, visualization of intended use, safety, brand value and branding and aspects of universal design.