Obstruction sensing system for a gate

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6209262
  • Patent Number
    6,209,262
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, January 27, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, April 3, 2001
    23 years ago
Abstract
A sensing system for a gate to protect persons and equipment from impact damage by actuating a gate operating system when the end of the gate comes in contact with an obstruction. The force required to actuate the device varies between 3 and 5 pounds. Once the force is applied to the edge of the gate, the gate opening or closing operation will either stop or reverse depending on the specific safety requirements of the gate installation. The force can be applied to any available direction and the system will be activated.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




This invention relates in general to a sensing system for a gate and more specifically to a sensing system that is applied to the vertical leading edge of a gate.




2. Description of the Prior Art




There are many devices on the market that sense an object being in the path of a closing gate or closing garage door that will take corrective action. The requirement for the above stems from the a 1995 Federal mandate that governs the parameters of safety devices installed on residential garage doors which must be fail-safe, therefore, the automatic garage door must reverse itself without producing a force that would injure. Recently, the same requirement has been imposed on automatic gates. Some of the patents on sensing edges are:




1. U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,835 to Miller et al. This patent has a sensing edge with a switch assembly positioned thereon.




2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,552 to Miller et al. This patent includes a proximity sensing switch that detects a change in capacitance to actuate the device that controls a door.




3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,387 to Miller et al describes a sensing edge for a gate. Two layers of conducting material are spaced apart such that a force on the gate edge will cause the conducting material to contact and close a circuit.




4. U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,058 to Richardson describes an electrosensing edge for a garage door. A cable on the bottom edge is moved when the bottom edge strikes an object and thereby actuates switches attached to the ends of the cable.




U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,417 to Strand describes a photocell beam shining through the door edge and if an object blocks the beam, the photo switch provides a signal to reverse the motion.




What is needed, is an inexpensive device that uses mechanical means to activate a switch whereby the force can be multiple directional.




From the foregoing, the need should be appreciated for an inexpensive and simple gate sensing system. Accordingly, a fuller understanding of the invention may be obtained by referring to the Summary of the Invention, and the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment, in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is the object of the present invention to provide a novel sensing edge for an automatic gate.




It is another object of the present invention to provide a sensing edge that can be activated in multiple directions.




It is yet another object of the present invention where the activation of the sensing edge will provide a signal to be transmitted to the gate mechanism.




It is still another object of the present invention where the activation of the sensing edge will directly provide an input signal to the gate mechanism.




Briefly, in accordance with the present invention there is providing a sensing edge that is mounted on the vertical edge of a powered gate. If the gate edge encounters an object in its path, a pressure of three to five pounds on the gate edge will activate the gate mechanism. The edge is designed such that any object in the gate path on the front, right or left side will activate the gate mechanism.




The novel features which are believed to be characteristics of the invention, both as its organization and its method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings in which a presently preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for purposes of illustration and description only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.











DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention:





FIG. 1

shows a partial view of a gate with the sensing system attached to the leading edge of the gate.





FIG. 2

shows a switch box including the switch mechanism required to control the movement of the gate.





FIG. 3

shows the principle behind the gate sensing system.





FIG. 4

shows an alternate way to send a signal to the gate control mechanism.











These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent upon detailed consideration of the following Description of the Preferred Embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings.




DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Turning now to

FIG. 1

there is seen a gate generally described as


10


. The gate has an opening and closing mechanism (not shown) that is powered. Attached to the leading edge


12


of the gate


10


is a plate


14


fastened by any acceptable fastening means. Fastened to the plate


14


are lower ball retaining members


16


and


18


held by fastening means


17


and


19


. On the top of the lower ball retaining members


16


and


18


are round balls


20


and


22


. The balls


20


and


22


may be made from any hard material such as metal or plastic. A rectangular tube


24


is used to conform to the shape of the leading edge of the gate. Fastened inside of the tube


24


are upper ball retaining member


26


and


28


. The fastening members are shown as


30


and


32


. The tube


24


is held in place on balls


20


and


22


by gravity. On the top of tube


24


is fastened a plate


34


which is more clearly seen in FIG.


2


.





FIG. 2

shows the plate


34


which is fastened to the top of tube


24


. Also seen in

FIG. 2

is a switch box


36


that is fastened to plate


14


by fastening means


38


and


40


. As seen in the cut away of

FIG. 2

, the switch box contains a snap action switch


42


that operates when plate


34


moves in an upward direction. Roller


43


moves on top of plate


34


when plate


34


moves in an upward direction.

FIG. 2

also shows a waterproof cover


37


fixed on the top of switch box


36


.





FIG. 3

shows the principle utilized in the sensing system in the present invention. As the force


44


is applied to an upper ball retaining member, either


26


or


28


, since the lower ball retaining members are fastened to the gate through plate


14


and the upper ball retaining members


26


and


28


are fastened to the tube


24


, the upper ball retaining members


26


and


28


will ride up the balls


20


and


22


and move the upper ball retaining members


26


and


28


in an upward movement. Since the upper ball retaining members


26


and


28


are fastened to tube


24


, the plate


34


fastened to the top of tube


24


will move upward and activate switch


42


. The action of switch


42


will complete a circuit and send a signal through wires


46


and


48


to transmitter


50


as seen in FIG.


1


. The transmitter


50


, in turn, will send a signal to the gate control mechanism (not shown) and the signal will either stop the gate control mechanism or reverse the gate control mechanism depending on how the gate control mechanism is configured which in turn depends on the safety requirement of the gate installation.





FIG. 4

shows an alternate method to send a signal to the gate control mechanism. The hard wire


54


directly sends a signal to activate the gate control mechanism. The hardwire can either be a curly wire or be in a spring retraction reel (not shown). As an option the leading edge of the tube


24


may have a rubber channel


25


fixed thereon.




Thus, it is apparent that there has been provided in accordance with the invention, a sensing edge for a gate that fully satisfies the objectives, aims, and advantages set forth above. While the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiment thereof it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the aforegoing descriptions. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A powered gate having a mechanism to open and close said gate comprising:a plate fastened to the leading edge of said gate; at least two lower ball retaining members fastened to said gate; a tube, said tube having at least two upper ball retaining members fastened thereon, said tube having a front and two sides; a ball placed between said upper ball retaining members and said lower ball retaining members; said tube being held in place by gravity, said tube resting on said balls; a switch box fastened to the upper end of said plate which is fastened to the leading edge of said gate, said switch box containing a switch; a plate attached to the upper end of said tube.
  • 2. A powered gate as described in claim 1 wherein said tube receiving a force, said tube will move vertically as said upper ball retaining members attempt to move over said balls.
  • 3. A powered gate as described in claim 1 wherein said plate will provide contact means when said plate moves in an upward direction.
  • 4. A powered gate as described in claim 3 wherein said plate moves vertically, said plate provides said contact means which, in turn, activates said switch and provides a closed circuit.
  • 5. A powered gate as described in claim 4 wherein said closed circuit in said switch box provides a signal from said transmitter, said signal activating said mechanism.
  • 6. A powered gate as described in claim 4 wherein a force is applied to said tube, said upper ball retaining members moving over said balls will cause said switch to close and said transmitter will send said signal to activate said mechanism.
  • 7. A powered gate as described in claim 4 wherein a force is applied to said tube, said upper ball retaining members moving over said balls will cause said switch to close and said hard wire sends said signal to activate said mechanism.
  • 8. A powered gate as described in claim 4 wherein a force on said tube may be applied multidirectional.
  • 9. A powered gate as described in claim 8 when said gate mechanism will stop when a force is applied.
  • 10. A powered as described in claim 8 wherein said gate mechanism will reverse when a force is applied.
  • 11. A powered gate as described in claim 1 wherein said gate has a powered transmitter attached thereto.
  • 12. A powered gate as described in claim 11 wherein said transmitter is electrically connected to said switch.
  • 13. A powered gate as described in claim 1 wherein said signal from said switch box to activate said mechanism is provided by hard wire.
  • 14. A powered gate as described in claim 13 wherein said hard wire is a curly wire.
  • 15. A powered gate as described in claim 13 wherein said hard wire is a spring biased reel.
  • 16. A powered gate as described in claim 1 wherein a force applied to said tube of three to five pounds will activate said gate mechanism.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Number Name Date Kind
1752476 Boedtcher Apr 1930
3050155 Karmel et al Aug 1962
3168165 Bagnasco Feb 1965
4301621 Houweling Nov 1981
4944116 Mewald Jul 1990