Device for operating a pocket door

An apparatus for automatically operating a pocket door which is mounted on a track in a wall having a pocket therein and an opening adjacent to the pocket, the door being movable on the track between an open position wherein it blocks the opening and a closed position wherein it is within the pocket and does not obstruct the opening, said apparatus comprising:

• drive means mounted on the wall beyond the opening therein for rotating a drive pulley in both directions about the axis of the pulley;
• an idler pulley spaced from the drive pulley;
• a cable looped around the drive and idler pulleys and attached to the door such that when the drive pulley rotates in one direction the door is urged to its open position and when the drive pulley rotates in the opposite direction the door is urged to its closed position;
• means for maintaining the cable taut and for further permitting a slight amount of slack to develop in the cable so that if the door encounters an obstruction during movement, the drive pulley will slip relative to the cable;
• and timing means for controlling the drive means, the timing means upon being actuated first causing the drive means to rotate the pulley for a first predetermined time in the direction which causes the door to open and then for a second predetermined time in the direction which causes the door to close, said first predetermined time being long enough to normally let the door move from its closed to its open position and said second predetermined time being long enough to normally let the door move from its open to its closed position, said first and second predetermined times being constant, the timing means being independent of the door so that once actuated the timing means will energize the drive means for said first and second predetermined times irrespective of the position of the door.

For use with a door mounted on a track and movable parallel to the track between open and closed positions relative to an opening in a wall, an improved apparatus for moving the door between its open and closed positions, said apparatus comprising:

• a drive pulley;
• an electric motor mounted in a fixed position relative to the door opening and connected to the drive pulley, the motor being capable of turning the drive pulley in either direction of rotation;
• an idler pulley spaced from the drive pulley;
• a cable looped around the drive and idler pulleys and attached to the door such that when the drive pulley is rotated in one direction, the door is urged to its open position, and when the drive pulley is rotated in the opposite direction, the door is urged to its closed position, the drive pulley being capable of slipping relative to the cable;
• and timing means which when actuated causes the motor to undergo a single door operating cycle wherein the motor rotates the drive pulley for at least one uninterrupted span of time in one direction so as to urge the door from one position to the other position, said span of time being constant and of sufficient duration to enable the door under normal circumstances to completely move from the one position to the other position, the timing means further being completely independent of the door position so that the time the motor rotates the drive pulley will be the same irrespective of the position of the door.