Back to results
US 2004/0169133 A1Published application
Method and apparatus for determining a position of a movable barrier
AssigneeThe Chamberlain Group, Inc.
InventorsAlan Dane Smith, Christopher M. Valente, Martin Rathgebe, Mark D. Siegler, James J. Fitzgibbon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A movable barrier operator includes an absolute position detector which provides a unique value for each position of the barrier along its path of travel. The absolute position detector employs multiple binary serial streams and one multiple clock stream. After the first five cycles of the clock stream, the binary streams can be decoded by a processor to produce an absolute position. Every clock edge produces a new absolute position along the path of travel.
Claims18
A barrier operator position detector, comprising:
- a first rotary member encoded to generate a first five bit subcode selected from five sequential bits of a 32 bit code word, the first five bit subcode having the property that every selected subcode of five sequential bits of the 32 bit code word has a unique value;
- a second rotary member encoded to generate a second five bit subcode selected from five sequential bits of a 31 bit code work, the second five bit subcode having the property that every selected subcode of five sequential bits of the 31 bit code work has a unique value;
- and
- a controller, responsive to the first subcode and the second subcode, for generating a ten bit multibit subcode, wherein the ten bit multibit subcode is representative of a unique position output, the position output being reflective of a position of the barrier in its travel.
1 more element
A barrier operator position detector, comprising:
- a first rotary member encoded to generate a first N bit subcode selected from N sequential bits of a M bit code word, the first N bit subcode having the property that every selected subcode of N sequential bits of the M bit code word has a unique value, where N is greater than 1 and M is greater than N;
- a second rotary member encoded to generate a second N bit subcode selected from N sequential bits of a M-1 bit code work, the second N bit subcode having the property that every selected subcode of N sequential bits of the M-1 bit code work has a unique value;
- and
- a controller, responsive to the first subcode and the second subcode, for generating a 2N bit multibit code, wherein the 2N bit multibit subcode is representative of a unique position output, the position output being reflective of a position of the barrier in its travel.
1 more element
A movable barrier operator, comprising:
- a motor;
- a transmission connected to the motor to be driven thereby and to the movable barrier to be moved;
- a barrier operator position detector, comprising:
- a first rotary member encoded to generate a first N bit subcode selected from N sequential bits of a M bit code word, the first N bit subcode having the property that every selected subcode of N sequential bits of the M bit code word has a unique value, where N is greater than 1 and M is greater than N;
- and
- a second rotary member encoded to generate a second N bit subcode selected from N sequential bits of a M-1 bit code work, the second N bit subcode having the property that every selected subcode of N sequential bits of the M-1 bit code work has a unique value;
- and
- a controller, responsive to the first subcode and the second subcode, for generating a 2N bit multibit code, wherein the 2N bit multibit subcode is representative of a unique position output, the position output being reflective of a position of the barrier in its travel.
5 more elements
A barrier operator position detector, comprising:
- a first rotary member, responsive to movement of the barrier, encoded to generate a first N bit subcode selected from N sequential bits of a M bit code word, the first N bit subcode having the property that every selected subcode of N sequential bits of the M bit code word has a unique value, where N is greater than 1 and M is greater than N;
- a second rotary member, responsive to movement of the barrier, encoded to generate a second N bit subcode selected from N sequential bits of a M-1 bit code work, the second N bit subcode having the property that every selected subcode of N sequential bits of the M-1 bit code work has a unique value;
- and
- a controller, responsive to the first subcode and the second subcode, for generating a 2N bit multibit code, wherein the 2N bit multibit subcode is representative of a unique position output, the position output being reflective of a position of the barrier in its travel.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.