Patent ID: 8156992

Claim:
A garage door apparatus for a garage having a front wall defining a garage vehicle entrance, at least one side wall, a ceiling, and a floor, the apparatus comprising: an upper track extending from the front wall to the side wall within the garage; a lower track attached to or formed in the floor of the garage and extending generally parallel to the upper track from the front wall to the side wall within the garage; a garage door comprised of a plurality of vertically oriented panels pivotally interconnected with one another along side edges thereof, and disposed between the upper and lower tracks so as to be movable along a length thereof; a plurality of upper wheel assemblies extending from upper edges of the garage door panels and operably engaged with the upper track; a plurality of lower wheel assemblies extending from lower edges of the garage door panels and operably engaged with the lower track; and means for moving the garage door along the track from a generally closed position in the garage vehicle entrance to a generally open position away from the garage vehicle entrance and disposed adjacent to the side wall of the garage; wherein the upper and lower wheel assemblies include outer wheel assemblies disposed adjacent to a leading edge and a trailing edge, respectively, of the garage door, and inner wheel assemblies, the upper and lower wheel assemblies disposed above or below, respectively, a gap between adjacent side edges of the vertical panels of the garage door; wherein the inner wheel assemblies each include a support pivotally attached to a top edge of a first vertical panel and extending over a portion of a second adjacent vertical panel; and wherein at least a plurality of the upper or lower wheel assemblies each include a resilient member disposed between the wheel and the garage door panel to permit limited vertical movement between the wheel and the garage door panel while the wheel remains engaged with the track.