Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7355363?dq=5,973,252
Timestamp: 2017-12-12 16:32:09
Document Index: 619250514

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 136', 'arts 137', 'arts 136', 'arts 100', 'arts 137', 'arts 137']

Patent US7355363 - Barrier operator controller with optical limit switches - Google Patents
An operator for a barrier, such as an upward acting door, includes a control unit having two optical limit switches providing output signals to a controller to effect shut-off of the operator motor when the door reaches open and closed limit positions. The limit switches preferably include LED emitter...http://www.google.com/patents/US7355363?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7355363 - Barrier operator controller with optical limit switches
Publication number US7355363 B2
Application number US 10/989,479
Also published as CA2512226A1, CA2512226C, US7525267, US20060113935, US20080168711
Publication number 10989479, 989479, US 7355363 B2, US 7355363B2, US-B2-7355363, US7355363 B2, US7355363B2
Inventors Ralph C. Angiuli, Michael T. McMahon, Brett A. Reed
US 7355363 B2
An operator for a barrier, such as an upward acting door, includes a control unit having two optical limit switches providing output signals to a controller to effect shut-off of the operator motor when the door reaches open and closed limit positions. The limit switches preferably include LED emitter and phototransistor sensor elements and are preferably mounted on a circuit board in close proximity to a screw member which rotates in timed relation to the position of the door. Linearly movable nut members are mounted on the screw member and include or engage optical shield members which move into positions to provide respective output signals from the optical switches. The door closed optical limit switch may incorporate a pre-limit switch function to override a signal from a door bottom edge obstruction sensor.
Motorized garage door operators and the like have been developed of a type which utilize mechanical limit switches for controlling the operator motor when the door reaches open and closed limit positions, respectively. Typical door operators with mechanical snap-action type switches have been developed wherein the switches are mounted on a frame of the operator and in proximity to a rotating threaded shaft with one or more linearly traveling nut-like members mounted thereon which engage and actuate the limit switches when the door is traveling between open and closed positions. At least two mechanical type switches are generally required, a first switch for effecting control of the operator motor to shut off when the door reaches a full down or closed position and a second switch to effect motor shut off when the door reaches a full up or open position. Typically, in prior art operators, the first switch is provided with multiple sets of electrical contacts or a third mechanical limit switch is used to sense the door position just prior to the fully closed condition to disable obstruction sensing devices mounted on the lower edge of the door to prevent such devices from reversing door movement just prior to the door reaching its fully closed position.
The present invention provides a door operator which includes improved limit switches of the so called optical or opto interrupter type for providing signals to an operator controller to indicate the open and closed limits of door position. The present invention also provides a door operator controller having a circuit board which is mounted in such a way that opto interrupter type door limit switches can be mounted directly on the circuit board and in proximity to a mechanism for effecting operation of the limit switches when the door reaches opposed limit positions.
Referring now to FIG. 5, the optical switches 58 and 60 are shown in further schematic detail and are characterized in one preferred embodiment, respectively, by a light emitting diode (LED) type emitter 66 and a phototransistor type sensor 68. The emitters 66 are provided with a suitable electrical signal to direct a beam of electromagnetic energy toward the sensors 68, respectively. When the shields 50 a and 52 a move into a position, respectively, to block the transmission of electromagnetic energy from the respective emitters 66, the voltage output signal by the phototransistor type sensors 68 changes. For example, when the shield 52 a is not in a position to block signal emission from the emitter 66 toward the sensor 68 of switch 60, the phototransistor type sensor turns “on” and a low voltage signal is detected on circuit 70, including a suitable analog-to-digital converter circuit 72. However, when shield 52 a blocks light emitted from the LED 66 toward the phototransistor 68 of switch 60 the voltage output signal from the phototransistor becomes higher as imposed on the converter 72. Optical switch 58, of course, operates in the same manner and imposes a variable voltage signal on its analog-to-digital converter 74 by way of a conductor or circuit 76.
Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 10, another preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated wherein traveling nut members 93 and 95 are mounted on shaft or screw member 40 a and are engageable by a lock member 110 a, similar to lock member 110 and mounted on housing 42 a in substantially the same manner as lock member 110 is mounted and so that a flange 120 a may be disposed in the slots 96 and 98 of the respective nuts 93 and 95 to prevent rotation of these members but allow for linear translation along shaft or screw member 40 a as it is rotated in the same manner as described above for the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 through 8. Accordingly, lock member 110 a can be moved into and out of engagement with the respective nut members 93 and 95 to allow for adjusting the position of these members on screw member 40 a.
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, circuit board 44 is adapted to accommodate spaced apart elongated support block members 130 which are each provided with an elongated inverted T-shaped slot 132 formed therein, see FIG. 10. Members 130 are adapted to support respective optical shield members 134 which are each provided with a somewhat T-shaped support part 136 adapted to be slidably disposed in the slots 132 of the respective support members 130. Optical shield members 134 each include respective optical shield parts 137 spaced from the support parts 136 and aligned with the respective optical switches 58 and 60, as shown in FIG. 9, for interrupting a signal between the emitter and sensor of each of the optical switches. Accordingly, optical shield members 134 may function in the same manner as the optical shield members 50 a and 52 a and the optical shield parts 100 of the members 99, respectively. The members 134 include transverse flanges 138, respectively, which are disposed such that they are engageable with the respective traveling nuts 93 and 95 and operate to move the optical shield parts 137 with respect to the switches 58 and 60, respectively. The optical shield members 134 are biased by respective coil springs 140 disposed in the slots 132 of the members 130 in such a way that the optical shield parts 137 are normally in a position to not interrupt signals between the emitters and sensors of the optical switches 58 and 60, respectively. However, when the traveling nuts 93 and 95 are being moved in a direction to engage the flanges 138 of the respective optical shield members 130, these members function in the same way as the traveling nuts 50 and 52 and the traveling nut assemblies 92 and 94, respectively.
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U.S. Classification 318/466, 318/468, 49/26, 318/286, 49/28
Cooperative Classification E05F15/684, E05F15/603, E05Y2400/354, E05Y2800/00, E05Y2400/328, E05Y2400/34, E05Y2800/748, E05Y2400/324, E05Y2900/106
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:ANGIULI, RALPH C.;MCMAHON, MICHAEL T.;REED, BRETT A.;REEL/FRAME:015539/0610