pull cord thus the manual switch 130 on the front panel and the ir receiver are normally the only means for operating the window covering as shown in fig6 the motor 122 and its transmission 134 are operatively connected to a drive rod 136 having a square cross section the drive rod 136 is received by a telescoping reel shaft 124 which turns in spaced apart bearings 138 each integrally formed with a reel support 140 when the drive rod 136 turns the reel shaft 124 turns and also telescopes in an axial direction one rotation of the reel shaft corresponding to an axial movement approximately equal to the thickness of the lift cord 120 u2032 thus the lift cord passes through the bottom plate of the head rail at substantially the same position as it winds and unwinds thus as seen in fig6 the lift cord 120 u2032 is wrapped around the reel shaft 124 each turn abutting its neighbor without overlap and its end 142 secured to the reel shaft by a ring shaped clamp 144 fig7 illustrates the significance of having a particular lift cord 120 u2032 pass through the bottom panel 108 at the same position as it winds and unwinds a lift cord detector 146 formed as a reed switch is mounted on the inside surface of the bottom panel 108 the lift cord detector 146 is positioned such that the lift cord 120 u2032 abuts the detector 39 s reed 148 when there is tension in the lift cord 120 u2032 when it abuts the reed 148 the lift cord 120 u2032 closes a connection in the switch in the present design the detector 39 s reed 148 must be in abutment with the cord 120 u2032 for the.