Drive system for garage door
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A movable barrier system comprising:
- a moveable barrier shiftable between open and closed positions;
a drive shaft driven for rotation to shift the barrier between one of the open and closed positions to the other of the open and closed positions;
an actuator assembly including a flexible actuator connected between the drive shaft and the barrier for shifting the barrier from the one position to the other upon rotation of the drive shaft;
a biasing mechanism including a resilient biasing member between the flexible actuator and the barrier that exerts a generally linear biasing force in a predetermined linear direction for keeping the flexible actuator tensioned as the barrier is shifted; and
a stop assembly of the biasing mechanism that keeps resilient flexing of the biasing member and shifting of the barrier absent drive shaft rotation from the other position toward the one position to a predetermined limited amount, the stop assembly including connections to the biasing member to resiliently flex the member along the linear direction upon shifting of the barrier absent drive shaft rotation, and the resilient biasing member comprises a compression spring, and the stop assembly includes a pair of pull devices with one of the pull devices operatively connected to the flexible actuator and the other of the pull devices operatively connected to the barrier, the pull devices and compression spring being configured to compress the spring therebetween when the barrier is shifted from the closed position toward the open position absent drive shaft rotation until the barrier reaches the predetermined limited amount of shifting.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A drive system is provided for a moveable barrier, such as a garage door, that limits unauthorized shifting thereof. The drive system includes a flexible actuator for raising and lowering the door. The flexible actuator is tensioned with a biasing mechanism to minimize actuator throw, and a stop assembly of the biasing mechanism limits unauthorized travel of the garage door from the closed position by a predetermined amount that is sufficiently small so as to keep intruders out of the garage. The flexible actuator may for example, be a cable, a belt or a chain.
58 Citations
33 Claims
-
1. A movable barrier system comprising:
-
a moveable barrier shiftable between open and closed positions;
a drive shaft driven for rotation to shift the barrier between one of the open and closed positions to the other of the open and closed positions;
an actuator assembly including a flexible actuator connected between the drive shaft and the barrier for shifting the barrier from the one position to the other upon rotation of the drive shaft;
a biasing mechanism including a resilient biasing member between the flexible actuator and the barrier that exerts a generally linear biasing force in a predetermined linear direction for keeping the flexible actuator tensioned as the barrier is shifted; and
a stop assembly of the biasing mechanism that keeps resilient flexing of the biasing member and shifting of the barrier absent drive shaft rotation from the other position toward the one position to a predetermined limited amount, the stop assembly including connections to the biasing member to resiliently flex the member along the linear direction upon shifting of the barrier absent drive shaft rotation, and the resilient biasing member comprises a compression spring, and the stop assembly includes a pair of pull devices with one of the pull devices operatively connected to the flexible actuator and the other of the pull devices operatively connected to the barrier, the pull devices and compression spring being configured to compress the spring therebetween when the barrier is shifted from the closed position toward the open position absent drive shaft rotation until the barrier reaches the predetermined limited amount of shifting. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A movable barrier system comprising:
-
a moveable barrier shiftable between open and closed positions;
a drive shaft driven for rotation to shift the barrier between one of the open and closed positions to the other of the open and closed positions;
an actuator assembly including a flexible actuator connected between the drive shaft and the barrier for shifting the barrier from the one position to the other upon rotation of the drive shaft, the flexible actuator extending between an end of the barrier and the drive shaft and another flexible actuator extending between an opposite end of the barrier and the drive shaft, the flexible actuators undergoing different relative travel amounts to define a travel differential therebetween that varies up to a maximum differential travel amount as the barrier is shifted between the open and closed positions;
a biasing mechanism including a resilient biasing member between the flexible actuator and the barrier that exerts a generally linear biasing force in a predetermined linear direction for keeping the flexible actuator tensioned as the barrier is shifted; and
a stop assembly of the biasing mechanism that keeps resilient flexing of the biasing member and shifting of the barrier absent drive shaft rotation from the other position toward the one position to a predetermined limited amount, the biasing mechanism having the stop assembly arranged to allow the biasing mechanism to take-up the maximum differential travel amount so that the maximum differential travel amount substantially corresponds to the predetermined limited amount of barrier shifting allowed by the biasing mechanism and stop assembly. - View Dependent Claims (10)
-
-
11. A system for shifting a moveable barrier between predetermined positions, the drive system comprising:
-
a first flexible actuator adopted to be operably connected to the barrier to shift the barrier from a first one of the predetermined positions to a second one of the predetermined positions;
a second flexible actuator adopted to be operably connected to the barrier to shift the barrier from the second predetermined position to the first predetermined position, the first and second flexible actuators undergoing different travel amounts relative to each other to define a travel differential therebetween that varies up to a maximum differential as the barrier is shifted between the predetermined positions thereof;
a resilient take-up device associated with the first flexible actuator that provides a bias force to the first actuator by a resilient deflection thereof to minimize slack in the first actuator due to the actuator travel differential during barrier shifting; and
a limit assembly of the take-up device which defines a predetermined maximum level of deflection of the take-up device to avoid overflexing thereof and allowing the predetermine maximum deflection level of the take-up device to be preselected to generally correspond to the maximum actuator travel differential for keeping the predetermined maximum deflection level to a minimum. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A system of claim wherein 11 the first and second flexible actuators are distinct actuator members.
-
23. A drive system for a moveable barrier that is shifted between open and closed positions, the drive system comprising:
-
a drive shaft driven for rotation and adopted for connection to a barrier to shift the barrier between one of the open and closed positions to the other of the open and closed positions;
a drum assembly including a drum mounted for rotation with the drive shaft and allowing a predetermined amount of relative rotation therebetween;
an actuator assembly including a flexible actuator connected between the drum and the barrier for shifting the barrier from the one position to the other upon rotation of the drive shift, the flexible actuator being taken upon the drum during shifting from the one position to the other position and being taken from the drum during shifting from the other position to the one position;
a biasing mechanism including a resilient biasing member operatively connected between the drum and the drive shift that exerts a biasing force for keeping the flexible actuator tensioned as the barrier is shifted; and
a stop mechanism of the drum assembly that limits shifting of the barrier absent drive shaft rotation from the other position toward the one position to a predetermined limited amount corresponding the predetermined amount of relative rotation between the drum and the drive shaft and wherein the of flexible actuator extends between an end of the barrier and the drum and another flexible actuator extends between an opposite end of the barrier and the drive shaft, and the flexible actuators undergo different relative travel amounts to define a travel differential therebetween that varies up to a maximum differential travel amount as the barrier is shifted between the open and closed positions, and the drum assembly has the stop mechanism arranged to allow the biasing mechanism to take-up the maximum differential travel amount so that the maximum differential travel amount substantially corresponds to the predetermined limited amount of barrier shifting allowed by the predetermined amount of relative rotation between the drum and the drive shaft. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
Specification