Abstract:
An Improved garage door opener wherein a motor is coupled to the drive shaft of the door at upper side with gear attached to the drive shaft thereof to operate the garage door and a clutch mechanism is provided to move the gear from engaging location to allow the door to be manually opened or closed. This invention results in a quieter environment both in garage and in the room above garage and a substantial simplification over current garage door openers which require a rail and trolley mechanism for opening and closing the door. No extra space required for this opener.

Description:
DESCRIPTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates in general to garage door openers and in particular to a simplified transmission method for a garage door opener which can be mounted above the drive shaft to open and close the door and which reduces the resonant effect from the motor and eliminates many parts of prior art garage door openers.  
         [0002]     Prior art garage door openers provide for a track which is mounted at the center of the door between the guide rails of the door and which carries a trolley which is moved either by a lead screw or a chain/belt drive so as to move the trolley back and forth on the guide rail. The trolley is connected to the door and opens and closes the door as the trolley moves.  
         [0003]     Efforts to simplify the drive mean and eliminate parts had been made in 1982 by U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,910 which mount the motor at one end of the drive shaft in. Currently, in reality, the most popular garage door opener available in the market still use track with trolley.  
         [0004]     The present invention comprises a closure operator for an overhead door comprising a pair of guide rails with vertical and horizontal portions in which the door is guided to open and close it, a frame member, a drive shaft rotatably supported by said frame member above the vertical portions of said rails, a motor assembly connected to drive said drive shaft in either direction to open and close said door, and a spring connected clutch stick mounted under said motor assembly to selectively disconnect said motor assembly and said drive shaft at any time and whether the motor means in energized or not, wherein said gear is formed with two pin screws and two identical grooved half gears engageable to adapter which is mounted to said drive shaft by pin and screws and provided spokes and open sections for engaging and disengaging the transmission as the said clutch stick is staying or move to the right side by pull down rope and handle which located in the end of said drive shaft.  
         [0005]     Other objects, features and advantage of the invention will be apparent from the following description of certain preferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure, and in which: 
     
    
     ON THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]      FIG. 1  is a plan view of the invention installed on a garage door;  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken on line II-II from  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0008]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the drive and clutch mechanism of the invention.  
     
    
       [0009]      FIG. 1  illustrates a garage door which is formed with panels  11 ,  12 ,  13  and  14  which are connected together by hinges  15 ,  16 ,  17  and  18 . Hinges  16 ,  17  and  18  are provided with rollers. Other rollers located in brackets  19  and  20 . The door open and close as rollers ride in rails  21  and  22  in a conventional manner.  
         [0010]     A drive shaft  23  is supported by brackets  24 ,  25  and  26  from the wall of the door and counter balance spring  27  are connected to the shaft  23  so as to counter balance the weigh of the door in a conventional manner.  
         [0011]     Pair of pull-up reels  28  is mounted on shaft  23  on opposite ends of the door and carry cables  29  which are connected to the lower panel  14  of the door at bottom side of bracket  20  with suitable clamps.  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  shows a motor  1  is mounted on wall above garage door via base plate  6  and has an output gear  2  mates with drive gear  3  which is formed by two half gears with pin screws enclose the adapter  4  which is connected to drive shaft  23  with a through pin and screws so drive gear  3  can slide within the range between pin  4   a  and the longer spoke on the other side of adapter  4 , reference  FIG. 3 . A spring biased clutch stick  5  is mounted on said base plate under the motor assembly with guides  6   a  so the clutch stick can slide back and forth horizontally push the drive gear  3  disengaging and engaging to output gear  2 .  
         [0013]     If the door is in the down position, as shown in  FIG. 2 , when the motor is energized, the motor output shaft turns in clockwise direction so that the output gear  2  turns drive gear  3  in counterclockwise direction therefore the adapter  4 , drive shaft  23  and pair of pull-up reels  28  turn and then pull up the garage door as the cables are wound around the reels  28 . The motor will stop when the top edge of panel  11  touch the limit switch located in top end of guide rail  21 . When the door is to be lowered the motor will turn output gear  2  in the opposite directions so the reel  28  will release cable as the panels  11 ,  12 ,  13  and  14  lower down by their own weigh left from counter balance spring  27  and then close the door until a second limit switch in the lower end of rail  21  has been touched to stop the motor.  
         [0014]     At any time it is desired to disengage the drive gear  3  from the adapter  4  as for example when there has been a power failure, the rope and handle  7  can be pulled down to move the clutch stick  5  to the right of the open position thus allowing the door to be manually opened or closed. When it is desired to reengage the drive gear  3 , just release the pull down force from the rope and handle  7  then the clutch stick  5  will moved to the left side and push the drive gear  3  back to its engaged position in the adapter  4 .  
         [0015]     Conventional control and safety system still can be used in this invention except the light seat has to separate from the motor assembly to any other upper wall location where will not cause shadow from garage door. An integrated wall mount switch unit which combines the light seat and the conventional wall mount switch together and placed in a convenient location such as aside door frame is the idea in this invention.  
         [0016]     Although the invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiment, it is not to be so limited as changes and modifications can be made which are within the full intended scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.  
       DESCRIPTION  
       [0017]     This invention relates in general to garage door openers and in particular to a simplified transmission method for a garage door opener which can be mounted above the drive shaft to open and close the door and which reduces the resonant effect from the motor and eliminates many parts of prior art garage door openers.  
         [0018]     Prior art garage door openers provide for a track which is mounted at the center of the door between the guide rails of the door and which carries a trolley which is moved either by a lead screw or a chain/belt drive so as to move the trolley back and forth on the guide rail. The trolley is connected to the door and opens and closes the door as the trolley moves.  
         [0019]     Efforts to simplify the drive mean and eliminate parts had been made in 1982 by U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,910 which mount the motor at one end of the drive shaft in. Currently, in reality, the most popular garage door opener available in the market still use track with trolley.  
         [0020]     The present invention comprises a closure operator for an overhead door comprising a pair of guide rails with vertical and horizontal portions in which the door is guided to open and close it, a frame member, a drive shaft rotatably supported by said frame member above the vertical portions of said rails, a motor assembly connected to drive said drive shaft in either direction to open and close said door, and a spring connected clutch stick mounted under said motor assembly to selectively disconnect said motor assembly and said drive shaft at any time and whether the motor means in energized or not, wherein said gear is formed with two pin screws and two identical grooved half gears engageable to adapter which is mounted to said drive shaft by pin and screws and provided spokes and open sections for engaging and disengaging the transmission as the said clutch stick is staying or move to the right side by pull down rope and handle which located in the end of said drive shaft.  
         [0021]     Other objects, features and advantage of the invention will be apparent from the following description of certain preferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure, and in which:  
       ON THE DRAWINGS  
       [0022]      FIG. 1  is a plan view of the invention installed on a garage door;  
         [0023]      FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken on line II-II from  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0024]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the drive and clutch mechanism of the invention.  
         [0025]      FIG. 1  illustrates a garage door which is formed with panels  11 ,  12 ,  13  and  14  which are connected together by hinges  15 ,  16 ,  17  and  18 . Hinges  16 ,  17  and  18  are provided with rollers. Other rollers located in brackets  19  and  20 . The door open and close as rollers ride in rails  21  and  22  in a conventional manner.  
         [0026]     A drive shaft  23  is supported by brackets  24 ,  25  and  26  from the wall of the door and counter balance spring  27  are connected to the shaft  23  so as to counter balance the weigh of the door in a conventional manner.  
         [0027]     Pair of pull-up reels  28  is mounted on shaft  23  on opposite ends of the door and carry cables  29  which are connected to the lower panel  14  of the door at bottom side of bracket  20  with suitable clamps.  
         [0028]      FIG. 2  shows a motor  1  is mounted on wall above garage door via base plate  6  and has an output gear  2  mates with drive gear  3  which is formed by two half gears with pin screws enclose the adapter  4  which is connected to drive shaft  23  with a through pin and screws so drive gear  3  can slide within the range between pin  4   a  and the longer spoke on the other side of adapter  4 , reference  FIG. 3 . A spring biased clutch stick  5  is mounted on said base plate under the motor assembly with guides  6   a  so the clutch stick can slide back and forth horizontally push the drive gear  3  disengaging and engaging to output gear  2 .  
         [0029]     If the door is in the down position, as shown in  FIG. 2 , when the motor is energized, the motor output shaft turns in clockwise direction so that the output gear  2  turns drive gear  3  in counterclockwise direction therefore the adapter  4 , drive shaft  23  and pair of pull-up reels  28  turn and then pull up the garage door as the cables are wound around the reels  28 . The motor will stop when the top edge of panel  11  touch the limit switch located in top end of guide rail  21 . When the door is to be lowered the motor will turn output gear  2  in the opposite directions so the reel  28  will release cable as the panels  11 ,  12 ,  13  and  14  lower down by their own weigh left from counter balance spring  27  and then close the door until a second limit switch in the lower end of rail  21  has been touched to stop the motor.  
         [0030]     At any time it is desired to disengage the drive gear  3  from the adapter  4  as for example when there has been a power failure, the rope and handle  7  can be pulled down to move the clutch stick  5  to the right of the open position thus allowing the door to be manually opened or closed. When it is desired to reengage the drive gear  3 , just release the pull down force from the rope and handle  7  then the clutch stick  5  will moved to the left side and push the drive gear  3  back to its engaged position in the adapter  4 .  
         [0031]     Conventional control and safety system still can be used in this invention except the light seat has to separate from the motor assembly to any other upper wall location where will not cause shadow from garage door. An integrated wall mount switch unit which combines the light seat and the; conventional wall mount switch together and placed in a convenient location such as aside door frame is the idea in this invention.  
         [0032]     Although the invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiment, it is not to be so limited as changes and modifications can be made which are within the full intended scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.