Flexible or portable closure – partition – or panel – Plural strip – slat – or panel type – With mounting or supporting means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-07
2001-12-04
Purol, David M. (Department: 3634)
Flexible or portable closure, partition, or panel
Plural strip, slat, or panel type
With mounting or supporting means
C160S201000, C049S200000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325134
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention generally relates to operators for doors. In particular, the present invention relates to power-driven operators for opening and closing doors. More specifically, the present invention relates to a disconnect for a jack shaft operator that prevents unauthorized access. More particularly, the present invention relates to a motorized operator for a sectional overhead garage door having a disconnect for separating the drive motor from the counterbalance system that is not easily accessible to thereby preclude forced or unauthorized entry.
BACKGROUND ART
Garage door operators that directly connect to sectional garage doors are well known and must have a manual disconnect that allows the operator to be disconnected from the door. The disconnect mechanism is required to make it possible to operate the door manually in the case of power failures, fire, or emergency situations where entrapment of a person or object occurs. In these instances, the disconnect operates to allow manual displacement of the door to free any obstruction beneath the door or make it possible to enter or exit the structure.
In a trolley-type operator, the manual disconnect is typically a rope extending from the trolley with a handle as will be described below. The majority of motorized operators for residential garage doors employ the trolley-type system. These systems apply force to a section of the door powering it between the open and closed positions. In normal situations, the trolley-type door operator directly connects to the top section of a segmented garage door, and, for universal application, may be powered to operate doors of vastly different size and weight, even with little or no assistance from a counterbalance system. As its name suggests, the trolley-type mechanism has a trolley that operatively connects the top section of the door to the motor. As the door moves between the opened and closed positions, the trolley translates along a track toward the rear and front of the garage, respectively. The disconnect rope for trolley-type operators is typically suspended from the trolley and operates to disconnect the operator from the top door section.
The disconnect rope and handle must extend within six feet of the floor to permit grasping and actuation by a person. In the case of a garage opening for a single car, the centrally-located disconnect rope and handle, being positioned medially, can catch on a vehicle during movement or be difficult to reach due to its positioning over a vehicle located in the garage. As a further detriment, placement of the disconnect rope on the trolley over the vehicle makes it difficult to find the rope in a darkened garage during a power outage or the like.
In terms of security, the trolley's movement places the rope closest to the garage door opening when the garage door is closed. When windows are added to the top section of the garage door, a window may be broken, and the disconnect, easily within reach of an intruder, may be used to separate the operator from the door preparatory to manually opening the garage door.
A separate concern is created by other known disconnects that are weighted or sprung toward the connected position. The spring or leverage must be overcome to operate the disconnect such that the door can be moved. These biased disconnects allow for automatic engagement of the disconnect when the door is manually moved to the original position of the door, i.e., the position where the disconnect was disengaged. In some bias disconnects, the disconnect will automatically engage when the trolley is moved by the motor to the position that the door was in. Disadvantageously, a user will have to wait until the trolley is in the former position in order to engage a disconnect mechanism. This type of system is very limiting because the trolley will engage the disconnect in only one position. Furthermore, the user is unable to control engagement of the disconnect mechanism, as the mechanism automatically engages as soon as the trolley reaches the disengagement position. This automatic disengagement prevents manually moving the door a short distance and then manually engaging the disconnect mechanism at the new position, which may be useful when an object is lodged beneath the door.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an operator having a disconnect with a disconnect handle that does not interfere with the ingress or egress of a vehicle. Another object of the present invention is to provide such an operator that does not require trolley rails and a moving trolley that has a disconnect handle but rather has a disconnect handle positioned in a fixed location within the garage, such that it is easy to locate.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an operator mounted in a fixed location, having a disconnect located on the operator that is actuated by a handle attached to the disconnect. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an operator having a disconnect with a handle that may be positioned away from windows and other points of entry, which could be used to wrongfully access the disconnect. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an operator having a disconnect that is actuated by a handle connected to the disconnect by a cable, wherein the handle is mounted at any desired location in the structure and the cable is routed to the disconnect.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an operator having a disconnect that may be engaged independently of door position. A further object of the present invention is to provide such an operator having a disconnect that separates the driving mechanism from the counterbalance system. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an operator having a disconnect that includes a retractable coupler attached to the drive train such that the drive train and coupler rotate together, wherein the coupler is selectively retractable between engaged and disengaged positions respectively applying/releasing the motor force to the counterbalance system. Still another object of the present invention is to provide such an operator where the drive shaft and driven shaft are connected by a pair of gears, and the coupler selectively engages the gear on the drive shaft to apply the motor force to the gear and consequently to the driven shaft. Another object of the present invention is to provide such an operator with a gear having a plurality of recesses for receiving a tooth mounted on the coupler, wherein engagement of the motor to the drive gear occurs when the coupler rotates to a position where the tooth engages the of the recesses, thereby rotationally driving the gear.
Therefore, the present invention provides an operating system for controllably moving a sectional door between open and closed positions, including a counterbalancing system having a drive tube interconnected with the sectional door and an operator motor mounted adjacent to the drive tube, a drive train interconnecting the drive tube and the operator motor for selectively driving the drive tube for moving the sectional door between open and closed positions, a coupler in the drive train selectively retractable from a driving position, and a remotely-actuated disconnect assembly operatively attached to the coupler, wherein operation of the disconnect assembly retracts the coupler, whereby the sectional door may be manually moved toward either of the open position or the closed position.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3512302 (1970-05-01), Sivin et al.
patent: 4085629 (1978-04-01), Fogarollo
patent: 4098023 (1978-07-01), Slopa
patent: 4191237 (1980-03-01), Voege
patent: 4472910 (1984-09-01), Iha
patent: 4618174 (1986-10-01), Duke
patent: 4852706 (1989-08-01), Pietrzak et al.
patent: 4884831 (1989-12-01), Emon
patent: 4993533 (1991-02-01), Brown
patent: 5419010 (1995-05-01), Mullet
patent: 5509233 (1996-04-01), Peterson
patent: 5698073 (1997-12-01), Vincenzi
patent: 5931212 (1999-08-01), Mullet
patent: 6055885
Purol David M.
Renner Kenner Greive Bobak Taylor & Weber
Wayne-Dalton Corp.
LandOfFree
Disconnect for sectional door operation does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Disconnect for sectional door operation, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Disconnect for sectional door operation will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2599649