Industrial door system responsive to an impact
First Claim
1. A system responsive to a force above a certain magnitude, the system comprising:
- a door that is moveable, during a normal operation of the door, between an open position and a closed position relative to a doorway opening having a width; and
a sensing circuit adapted to sense the force exceeding the certain magnitude and being exerted on the door, and including a conductor which is in a conductive state during the normal operation of the door to provide the sensing circuit with an electrically conductive path that extends substantially across the width of the doorway opening to conduct current substantially across the width of the doorway opening and which changes to a nonconductive state in response to the force exceeding the certain magnitude.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An impact sensing system for a powered roll-up door combines an electrical switch and a breakaway coupling. To avoid damage or injury resulting from the door'"'"'s roll-up curtain accidentally closing upon an obstacle or something striking the curtain, the breakaway coupling responds to such a collision by breaking away, which releases a lower portion of the curtain from between its two vertical guide tracks. Each breakaway coupling includes a set of electrical contacts that make or break in response to the coupling breaking away. When the curtain'"'"'s lower portion becomes effectively derailed from its guide track, the electrical contacts disable continued operation of the door to prevent the door'"'"'s drive motor from jamming the curtain. In some embodiments, the breakaway coupling is releasably held together by way of magnetic attraction between two coupling segments, with one electrical contact on each segment to comprise one set of functional contacts.
78 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A system responsive to a force above a certain magnitude, the system comprising:
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a door that is moveable, during a normal operation of the door, between an open position and a closed position relative to a doorway opening having a width; and
a sensing circuit adapted to sense the force exceeding the certain magnitude and being exerted on the door, and including a conductor which is in a conductive state during the normal operation of the door to provide the sensing circuit with an electrically conductive path that extends substantially across the width of the doorway opening to conduct current substantially across the width of the doorway opening and which changes to a nonconductive state in response to the force exceeding the certain magnitude. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A door including a system responsive to a force above a certain magnitude being exerted on the door, wherein during a normal operation of the door, the door is moveable between an open position and a closed position relative to a doorway opening at least partially defined by a lateral edge, and comprising in combination:
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a vertically-extending member disposed adjacent to the lateral edge of the doorway opening;
a first member associated with the vertically-extending member;
a door panel capable of movement between the open position and the closed position;
a sensing circuit adapted to sense the force exceeding the certain magnitude; and
including a conductor releasably coupled to the first member such that the conductor and the first member have a coupled state and an uncoupled state, wherein the conductor and the first member are in the coupled state and move together during the normal operation of the door to place the conductor and first member in electrically conductive contact with each other such that current is conducted through the coupled conductor and the first member, and wherein the conductor and the first member are otherwise in the uncoupled state wherein they are capable of independent relative movement to electrically separate the conductor from the first member.- View Dependent Claims (6)
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7. A method of controlling an electrical current used to signal the separation of a breakaway coupling that selectively couples and uncouples a roll-up panel to a carriage, wherein the carriage travels along a track to help guide the roll-up panel, comprising:
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conveying the electrical current through the breakaway coupling;
uncoupling the roll-up panel from the carriage by way of the breakaway coupling; and
sensing the interruption of the electrical current through the breakaway coupling upon uncoupling the roll-up panel from the carriage. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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Specification