Low profile sliding door opener
First Claim
1. An opener for a closure panel movably mounted to slide along an elongated channel strip across a bottom of a wall opening between "panel closed" and "panel open" positions, said opener comprising:
- a housing member in the form of a threshold plate dimensioned, configured and adapted to extend nonintrusively across said bottom of said opening adjacent said channel strip;
a belt;
means for mounting said belt within said housing member for movement along a run longitudinally aligned with said channel strip;
means for attaching said panel to said belt at said run for movement therewith;
a motor; and
means mounting said motor at an elevation above said threshold plate for driving said belt mounting means by said motor to move said belt along said run to move said attached panel between said positions.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An opener for a sliding panel closure of a wall opening has a toothed belt horizontally disposed between a toothed sprocket and an arcuate grooved shoe located within a threshold plate extending across the opening adjacent a channel strip within which the panel slides. A bracket attaches the panel to the belt which moves the panel between closed and open positions by a shaft coupled through an electrical clutch between the sprocket and a motor. A solenoid driven armature raises and lowers a pin relative to the sprocket teeth to lock panel movement. A handle and latch provides override to unlock the panel for manual operation. The motor, clutch, solenoid and all other electrical components are separately housed marginally of the opening, at a location above the threshold to protect them from water.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An opener for a closure panel movably mounted to slide along an elongated channel strip across a bottom of a wall opening between "panel closed" and "panel open" positions, said opener comprising:
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a housing member in the form of a threshold plate dimensioned, configured and adapted to extend nonintrusively across said bottom of said opening adjacent said channel strip; a belt; means for mounting said belt within said housing member for movement along a run longitudinally aligned with said channel strip; means for attaching said panel to said belt at said run for movement therewith; a motor; and means mounting said motor at an elevation above said threshold plate for driving said belt mounting means by said motor to move said belt along said run to move said attached panel between said positions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An opener for a glass door panel movably mounted to slide along an elongated channel strip across a floor of a wall opening between "door closed" and "door open" positions, said channel strip having a height and said opener comprising:
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a first housing member in the form of a threshold plate extending across said floor of said opening adjacent said channel strip and having a height no greater than said height of said channel strip; a belt; means, including a rotating member, mounting said belt in a generally planar endless loop within said first housing member for movement of said belt along a run longitudinally aligned with said channel strip; means attaching said panel to said belt at said run for movement therewith; a second housing member positioned above said first housing member marginally of said opening; a motor mounted in said second housing member; and means extending between said first and second housing members for driving said rotating member by said motor to move said belt along said run to move said panel between said positions. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. In combination with a wall opening having a frame, including a channel strip extending across a bottom of said opening, and two glass pane closure panels mounted to said frame, at least one of said panels being mounted to slide along said channel strip between "panel closed" and "panel open" positions, said channel strip comprising an elongated track having inside and outside vertically extending partitions oppositely disposed relative to said at least one panel, an opener comprising:
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a first housing member in the form of a threshold plate extending across said bottom of said opening adjacent said track and having a height less than or equal to the vertical extent of said inside partitions; means, including a normally locked rotating member, mounting said belt in a generally planar endless loop within said first housing member for movement of said belt along a run adjacent to and longitudinally aligned with said inside partition; means attaching said at least one panel to said belt at said run for movement therewith; a second housing member positioned above said first housing member, marginally of said opening; a motor mounted in said second housing member; means extending between said first and second housing members for driving said rotating member by said motor, when said rotating member is unlocked, to move said belt along said run to move said panel between said positions; a solenoid mounted in said second housing member; and means extending between said first and said second housing members for selectively unlocking said rotating member by said solenoid when said motor is engaged.
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Specification