Movable or removable closures – Safety means responsive to obstruction to closure – Closure drive stopping or reversal
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-27
2001-04-03
Redman, Jerry (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
Safety means responsive to obstruction to closure
Closure drive stopping or reversal
Reexamination Certificate
active
06209262
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a sensing system for a gate and more specifically to a sensing system that is applied to the vertical leading edge of a gate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many devices on the market that sense an object being in the path of a closing gate or closing garage door that will take corrective action. The requirement for the above stems from the a 1995 Federal mandate that governs the parameters of safety devices installed on residential garage doors which must be fail-safe, therefore, the automatic garage door must reverse itself without producing a force that would injure. Recently, the same requirement has been imposed on automatic gates. Some of the patents on sensing edges are:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,835 to Miller et al. This patent has a sensing edge with a switch assembly positioned thereon.
2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,552 to Miller et al. This patent includes a proximity sensing switch that detects a change in capacitance to actuate the device that controls a door.
3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,387 to Miller et al describes a sensing edge for a gate. Two layers of conducting material are spaced apart such that a force on the gate edge will cause the conducting material to contact and close a circuit.
4. U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,058 to Richardson describes an electrosensing edge for a garage door. A cable on the bottom edge is moved when the bottom edge strikes an object and thereby actuates switches attached to the ends of the cable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,417 to Strand describes a photocell beam shining through the door edge and if an object blocks the beam, the photo switch provides a signal to reverse the motion.
What is needed, is an inexpensive device that uses mechanical means to activate a switch whereby the force can be multiple directional.
From the foregoing, the need should be appreciated for an inexpensive and simple gate sensing system. Accordingly, a fuller understanding of the invention may be obtained by referring to the Summary of the Invention, and the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment, in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the present invention to provide a novel sensing edge for an automatic gate.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a sensing edge that can be activated in multiple directions.
It is yet another object of the present invention where the activation of the sensing edge will provide a signal to be transmitted to the gate mechanism.
It is still another object of the present invention where the activation of the sensing edge will directly provide an input signal to the gate mechanism.
Briefly, in accordance with the present invention there is providing a sensing edge that is mounted on the vertical edge of a powered gate. If the gate edge encounters an object in its path, a pressure of three to five pounds on the gate edge will activate the gate mechanism. The edge is designed such that any object in the gate path on the front, right or left side will activate the gate mechanism.
The novel features which are believed to be characteristics of the invention, both as its organization and its method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings in which a presently preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for purposes of illustration and description only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1752476 (1930-04-01), Boedtcher
patent: 3050155 (1962-08-01), Karmel et al
patent: 3168165 (1965-02-01), Bagnasco
patent: 4301621 (1981-11-01), Houweling
patent: 4944116 (1990-07-01), Mewald
Kenyon Howard A.
Redman Jerry
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