US1589067A - Garage-door opener and closer - Google Patents

Description

June 15 1926. 1,589,067

O. M. GILBERTSON GARAGE DOOR QPENER AND CLOSER Filed March 25. 1925 2 sheets-sheet 1 liarl @ab @la @www Jiine 15 1926.

O. M. GILBERTSON GARAGE DOOR OPENER AND CLOSER Filed March 23. 1925 2 sheets-sheet 2 jaar-P... E

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UNITED stares' VOTTO M. GILBERTSON, OF LA GROSSE, WISCONSIN.

GARAGE-DOOR OPEN'FR. AND CLOSER.

Application inea March 23, 1925. serial no. 17,5789.

My invention relates to improvements lin opening and closingV means for garage doors, and it has reference more particularly to door-operating mechanisms of thetype employing a depressible member which is adapted tobe actuated by the wheels ot an automobile, to bring the door-operating means into play. lt is the principal object ofthe invention to provide a new and improved construction, in which the depressible member is successivelyA engaged by the front and-rear wheels of a machine approaching the garage, yor successively engaged by the rear and front vwheels oit-a machine backing out of the garage, the wheels serving to depress said member twice vwhile the machine is passing over it. These two depressions o'f the wheel-actuated member are utilized for completely opening or complete ly closing the door, `as the case may be, and by thus making useoftwo successive depressions oi" the wheel-actuated member, instead of only one depressionthereon it is not .necessary that the movement ot said great as'would be otherwise required.

The depressible member above referred to, is located at a point spaced outwardly from the garage, and it is a lurther object to provide novel door-operating; means controlled by said member or other'wise,'for operating a two-sectiondoor.

'Vith the oregoingin view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, the description being supplemented bythe accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a plan view partly in section and partly broken away illustrating .the invention.

Figure 2 Vis a vertical sectional view on line Q-Q'of Fig. 1.

Figures 3 anda are detail vertical sections as indicated by lines 3-8 and 1 -4 of Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is a diagrannnatic side elevation showing the doors closed and a machine approaching the depressible operating member.

Figure 5n shows in a diagrammatic plan view, the relation o'f'parts shown in Fig. 5.

Figure G is a view similar to Fig. 5 but illustrating the depressible member in its first lowered position, showing the door partly open.

Figure 6a is a plan view showing the relation of parts depicted in Fig. 6.

Figure 7 is a viewsimilar to Figs. 5 and 6 but illustrating the depressible member forced downwardly for the second time, effecting complete opening of the door.

Figure-7a is a plan view illustrating more clearly thev relation of parts disclosed in` In the drawings above briefly described, a

garage door is shown comprising two hinged" 9 from which a second bar 10 extends, this barbeing pivoted to a bracket 1ly securedv to the door section 2. By this .association of parts, when the door stands closed as seen in Figs. 1, 5 and 5a, rotation of the shaft 6 for one-halt revolutioinwill e'ltect opening' olf said door. This occurs when a: machine isapproaohing the garage vto enter the same. Then the doors have been opened by hand however and a machine lleaves the garage, one-halt revolution of the shaft 6 will effect closing of the doors, and it maybe explained atl this point thatwhen the machine isto be taken from the garage, the doors are opened'by hand but automatically closed by the invention. Similarly, when entering the garage with a machine, the latter automaticallyV opens the doors but the latter are again closed by hand.'

For eiilecting the required movement of the shat't 6, to produce the results above set out, a novel arrangement of parts is provided. I provide a pit 12 in a portion of the driveway leading to the garage doors, said pit being preferably ormedby the interior of a metal casing 13, which casing may well have an outstanding fian'ge 14 at itsl upper end to engage the driveway. Secured in one corner of this casing, is a vertically elongated guide member 15 which is closed aty its lower end as indicated at 16, the upper end of said guide member being preferably provided with an outstanding liange 17, a portion of which may be secured to the flange 14; by screws or the like 18. A top plate 19 is suitably connected with the Hangs 17 and is formed with an opening 20, and I have illustrated a top plate 21 for the casing 13, secured to the above named flange 14.

Passing slidably through the opening 2O and received slidably in the guide member 15, is a vertical rack bar 22 having a wheelengaging head 23 at its upper end, of any desired design. The lower end of this rack bar contacts with the upper end of a coiled compression spring 24, and the lower eX- tremity of this spring engages an adjusting screw 25 threaded through the closed lower end 16 of the guide member 15. This screw may be adjusted to co-act with the spring 24 when the latter is fully compressed to limit the descent of the rack bar 22.

The teeth of the bar 22 mesh with a pinion 2G on a short horizontal shaftl 27 which is rotatably mounted in appropriate bearings 2S. By bevel gears 29, l have shown this shaft 27 connected with another short horizontal shaft 30 which is rotatably mounted in a bearing 31 in the casing 13. The shaft 31 is provided with a. ratchet wheel 32 which co-operates with an appropriate spring-pressed dog 33, said dog being mounted on a disk 34 which is ca 1ried by one end of a hor'sontal shaft 35, said shaft being connected by bevel gears 35 with the lower end of the shaft 6. The shaft 35 preferably passes through a pipe 37 embedded in the driveway, said pipe leading from the casing 13 to a gear box 38 in which the gears 36 are located. Two sides of this box may well have any desired form of bearings for the shafts 6 and 35 at the points 39. At 40, another bearing` is shown for the shaft 35, said bearing being located in the casing 13.

A friction brake co-acts with the disk 34 to hold the sl'iafts35 in any position to which it is turned, it being understood of course that the frictional contact between the brake and the disk can be overcome by hand when the doors must be manually manipulated. This brake is shown most clearly in Figs. 1 and 4. 41 designates a brake shoe engaging the periphery of the disk 34 and provided with guide pins 42 passing slidably through openings in an angle metal bracket 43 which is secured to the inner side of the casing 13. For illustrative purposes, a compression spring 44 has been shown for engaging the brake shoe 41 with the disk 34, and a set screw 45, threaded through the bracket 43, has been shown for adjusting the spring to the desired strength.

Assuming that the door stands closed and an automobile is approaching the garage to enter the same, the operation is as depicted in Figs. 5 to 7 and 5a 'to 7a. @ne front wheel of the machine strikes the head 23 and depresses it shown in Figs. G and 6a. This causes descent of the rack bar 22, which elfects rotation of the shafts 27 and 30, the latter serving to rotate the shaft 35 through the instrumentality of the oneway driving connection formed by the ratchet wheel 32 and the dog 33. During this first depression of the head 23, the dooroperating mechanism is operated sutiiciently to open the door sections half way, as shown in Figs. 6 and 6a. As soon as the front wheel of the machine leaves the head 23, the rack bar 22 is again raised by the spring 24. Then, a rear wheel again depresses said head, so that a second rotation of' the shafts 27, 30, 35 and 6 is effected, which movement completely opens the door sections as shown in Figs. 7 and 7'". Each time the head 23 is freed, the rack bar 22 is raised by the spring 24, and during this movement, the shafts 27 and 30 rotate, but the shaft 35 is frictionally held by the brake 41, and the ratchet wheel 32 merely idles with respect to the dog 33.

After the machine has entered the garage, the. doors are closed by hand and when it is again desired to take the auto from the garage, said doors are opened by hand. llhen this is done, and the car leaves, successive engagement of its wheels with the head 23, serves to again close the doors. Thus, it is not necessary for the driver to leave the machine and give the doors manual attention, either when leaving the garage or when entering the saine.

By using two depressions of the rack bar or the like 22 to effect either opening or closing of the doors, it is only necessary that said member shall be depressed to a rather slight extent by each wheel of the machine, whereas if one depression of said member were made to completely move the doors from open to closed position, or vice versa, greater depression would be necessary and consequently the depressible member would have to project a very undesirable distance above the surface of the driveway.

While any desired means may be employed to limit the ascent of the rack bar 22, under the influence of the spring 24, I prefer to provide said bar with a lateral lug 22a which is adapted to strike the lower side of the plate 19 as shown in Fig. 3.

Excellent results may be obtained from the general construction herein disclosed, but it is to be understood that this disclosure is for illustrative purposes only and that within the scope of the invention as claimed, numerous modifications may be made.

1 claim:

l. A garage door operator comprising rotatably mounted shaftinr positively connected with the door, and pawl and ratchet driving means for said shafting having a wheel-depressed operating member spaced from the door, said pawl and ratchet driving means and said shafting being effective to completely open or to completely close afi the door upon two successive depressions of said Wheel-depressed member.

2. A garage door operator comprising a pit having a top formed With an opening, a vertical rack bar passing slidably through said opening and having a Wheel-engaging head at its upper end, means for raising said rack bar after each depression thereof, a short horizontal shaft mounted rotatablyr in said pit and operatively connected with said rack bar, door-operating means including a relatively long drive shaft axially alined with said short shaft, and a ratchet and paivl driving connection between the two shafts.

3. A garage door operator comprising a pit, a vertically elongated guide member mounted in the pit, said member being closed at its lower end, a vertical bar slidable in said guide member and having a Wheel-engaging head at its upper end, a compression spring in the aforesaid guide member between its closed lower end and said bar for raising the latter after each depression thereof, a top plate for said guide member, a lateral stop on said bar adapted to strike said top plate to limit the ascent of the bar, and door-operating means connected operatively With said bar.

4. Operating means for a two-section door, comprising a Vertical shaft and means for rotatably mounting the same at one side of the door frame, an eccentric secured to said shaft, an eccentric band surrounding said eccentric, a lateral crank on one end of said shaft, a bar pivoted to said crank and adapted for connection With one. section of the door, another bar connected to said eccentric strap and adapted for connection to the other door section, and means for rotating said shaft one-half revolution in one direction to open the door and the other half revolution in the same direction to close the door.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

OTTO M. GILBERTSON.

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