Patent ID: 7548037

Claim:
A method for detecting the presence of an object caught between a closure and its respective frame of a power system comprising: providing a closure for opening and closing via a regulator driven by an electric drive motor controlled by a control circuit; calculating a predicted variable parameter value utilizing a system equation, said system equation including a number of coefficients which are multiplied by a number of different parameter values measured over a period of time, such that said predicted variable parameter value for any one of a series of different times is based upon a plurality of measured parameter values measured over a period of time; sensing a variable parameter value of the power system during closing of the closure; comparing said sensed variable parameter value to a previously predicted variable parameter value based upon a presumption of how said predicted variable parameter value would behave without the presence of an object; and detecting an object caught between the closure and its respective frame based on the result of the compared parameter values.