Garage door safety device
AssigneeBuena Vista Investments Ltd.
InventorBenjamin C. Giese
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A garage door assembly includes a torsion spring counterbalance apparatus mounted on a header wall above a garage door, the apparatus comprising at least one spring wound on a shaft, and a safety device. The safety device includes a capture device mounted on the header wall above the garage door, and a shackle attached by way of a pin to a clamp device attached to the torsion spring counterbalance shaft at a location proximate to the capture device on the header wall, wherein the shackle rotates with the torsion spring counterbalance shaft. The shackle is capable of extending away from the shaft under centrifugal force to engage the capture device and thereby stop the garage door from further free-falling.
Claims10
A garage door assembly comprising a torsion spring counterbalance apparatus mounted on a header wall above a garage door, the apparatus comprising at least one spring wound on a shaft, and a safety device, the safety device comprising:
- a capture device mounted on the header wall above the garage door;
- and
- a shackle attached by way of a pin to a clamp device attached to the torsion spring counterbalance shaft at a location proximate to the capture device on the header wall, wherein the shackle is configured to be repositionable along an axis of the torsion spring counterbalance shaft,
- wherein the shackle rotates with the torsion spring counterbalance shaft, and
- wherein the shackle is capable of extending away from the counterbalance shaft under centrifugal force to engage the capture device and thereby stop the garage door from further free-falling.
A garage door assembly comprising a torsion spring counterbalance apparatus mounted on a header wall above a garage door, the apparatus comprising at least one spring wound on a shaft, and a safety device, the safety device comprising:
- a hook mounted on the header wall above the garage door;
- and
- a shackle attached at a location on the counterbalance shaft proximate to the hook, wherein the shackle is configured to be repositionable along an axis of the counterbalance shaft, and
- wherein when the shaft is rotating without resistance from the torsion spring counterbalance apparatus, the shackle is configured to extend away from the shaft under centrifugal force and engage the hook to stop the garage door from free-falling.
A method of stopping a free-falling garage door, the garage door comprising a torsion spring counterbalance apparatus mounted on a header wall above the garage door and having at least one spring wound on a shaft, the method comprising:
- providing a shackle attached to the shaft and that rotates with the shaft, wherein the shackle is configured to be repositionable along an axis of the shaft, and further providing a capture device attached to the header wall and proximate to the shackle;
- configuring the shackle and corresponding capture device such that:
- when lowering the garage door and rotating the shaft at a lower speed due to increasing resistance provided by the torsion spring counterbalance apparatus, the shackle does not engage the capture device;
- and
- when lowering the garage door and rotating the shaft at a higher speed due to little or no resistance provided by the torsion spring counterbalance apparatus, the shackle extends away from the shaft due to centrifugal force and engages the capture device, and thereby stops further lowering the garage door.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.