Gate-opening and closing assembly

An assembly for shifting a member from a first position to a second position and from the second position to the first position, said assembly comprising:

• (a) a drive motor,
• (b) a first lever arm operatively coupled to said drive motor, and capable of being driven through an arcuate path upon energization of said motor,
• (c) a second lever arm pivotally coupled to said first lever arm by a pivotal connection, said second lever arm also moving through a somewhat arcuate path upon movement of said first lever arm, said first and second lever arms each being substantially smaller in length than the length of movement of said member in one direction and said first lever arm having its longitudinal axis parallel in space to the longitudinal axis of said second lever arm and when the member is in the first position, said lever arms being aligned with one another when said member has moved over a portion of the distance between the first and second positions, said lever arms crossing over one another when said member has moved over a further portion of the distance between the first and second positions in the direction of travel and said lever arms separating away from the aligned position after crossing over one another in the same direction of travel so that said member further moves across said distance in the same direction of travel,
• (d) and means pivotally coupling said second lever arm to said member.

An apparatus for driving a driven member through a rotatable path with an engine and optionally with manual actuation thereof, said apparatus comprising:

• (a) a main drive shaft having a central bore extending therethrough,
• (b) a driven member mounted on one end of said drive shaft and being rotatable with said drive shaft,
• (c) a clutch member operatively mounted on the opposite end of said drive shaft,
• (d) a clutch shaft extending through the central bore of said main drive shaft,
• (e) an engine operatively coupled to said drive shaft to cause rotation thereof when said engine is energized,
• (f) a manually operable handle operatively mounted on one end of said clutch shaft corresponding to the first named one end of said drive shaft, said manually operable handle being shiftable from a first position where said engine is operatively coupled to said drive shaft to a second position where said engine is operatively disconnected from said drive shaft,
• (g) and spring means operatively located on the opposite end of said clutch shaft and permitting operative engagement of said engine to said drive shaft when said handle is in said first position and being released to permit disengagement of said drive shaft from said engine when said handle is shifted to said second position.

An assembly for shifting a driven member from a first position to a second position and from the second position to the first position, said assembly comprising:

• (a) a drive motor,
• (b) a main drive shaft driven by said motor and having a central bore extending therethrough,
• (c) a first lever arm mounted on said drive shaft and capable of being driven through an arcuate path upon energization of said motor,
• (d) a second lever arm pivotally coupled to said first lever arm by a pivotal connection, said second lever arm also moving through a somewhat arcuate path upon movement of said first lever arm, said second and first lever arms each being substantially smaller in length than the length of movement of said member in one direction and each of said lever arms having one of their axes parallel in space to a similar axis of the other of said lever arms,
• (e) means pivotally coupling said second lever arm to said member,
• (f) a clutch device operatively mounted on the opposite end of said drive shaft,
• (g) a clutch shaft extending through the central bore of said main drive shaft,
• (h) a manually operable handle operatively mounted on one end of said clutch shaft corresponding to the first named one end of said drive shaft, said manually operable handle being shiftable from a first position where said motor is operatively coupled to said drive shaft to a second position where said motor is operatively disconnected from said shaft,
• (i) and spring means operatively located on the opposite end of said clutch shaft and permitting operative engagement of said motor to said drive shaft when said handle is in said first position and being released to permit disengagement of said drive shaft from said motor when said handle is shifted to said second position.

Apparatus for controlling the degree of rotational movement of a drive shaft having a driven member mounted on said drive shaft for rotational movement therewith, said apparatus comprising:

• (a) an outer housing,
• (b) a drive shaft extending through said housing and having a first end and a second end with a central bore extending therethrough,
• (c) an inner shaft extending through the central bore of said drive shaft and having a first end corresponding to the first end of said drive shaft and a second end corresponding to the second end of said drive shaft,
• (d) a driven member mounted on the first end of said drive shaft and being rotatable therewith,
• (e) a clutch plate mounted on the second end of said inner shaft,
• (f) a cooperating clutch member mounted on said drive shaft and being engageable with said clutch plate,
• (g) at least one limit bar on said clutch plate and being adjustably positional thereon,
• (h) and a cooperating stop bar associated with said housing and being located to be engageable by said limit bar to control the rotational movement of said drive shaft and said driven member.

An assembly for shifting a gate from a closed position across an access opening to an opened position and from the opened position to the closed position, said assembly comprising:

• (a) a drive motor having a drive shaft,
• (b) a first lever arm operatively coupled to said drive motor through said drive shaft, and capable of being driven through an arcuate path upon energization of said motor,
• (c) a second lever arm pivotally coupled to said first lever arm by a pivot member forming a pivotal connection therebetween, said second lever arm also moving through a somewhat arcuate path upon movement of said first lever arm, said first and second lever arms each being substantially smaller in length than the length of movement of said gate across said access opening and each of said lever arms having one of their axis parallel in space to a similar axis of the other of said lever arms,
• (d) means pivotally coupling said second lever arm to said gate,
• (e) a non-rotatable disc-like element fixedly mounted in relation to said drive shaft,
• (f) a cooperating disc-like element rotatably mounted at said pivot member,
• (g) and continuous member extending between and trained about said disc-like elements to cause said cooperating disc-like element to rotate in relation to the rotation of said first and second lever arms, said non-rotatable disc-like element having a larger diameter than said cooperating disc-like element such that the continuous member causes said cooperating disc-like element to rotate when said lever arms move and thereby overcomes any tendency of said lever arms to stall.

Apparatus for controlling the degree of rotational movement of a drive shaft having a driven member mounted on said drive shaft for rotational movement therewith, said apparatus comprising:

• (a) an outer housing,
• (b) a drive shaft extending through said housing and having a first end and a second end with a central bore extending therethrough,
• (c) an inner shaft extending through the central bore of said drive shaft and having a first end corresponding to the first end of said drive shaft and a second end corresponding to the second end of said drive shaft,
• (d) a driven member mounted on the first end of said drive shaft and being rotatable therewith,
• (e) a clutch plate mounted on the second end of said inner shaft,
• (f) a cooperating clutch member mounted on said drive shaft and being engageable with said clutch plate,
• (g) at least one limit bar associated with said clutch plate and being adjustably positional with respect thereto,
• (h) and a cooperating stop bar associated with said housing and being located to be engageable by said limit bar to control the rotational movement of said drive shaft and said driven member.

A gage opening and closing assembly for moving a gate from a closed position through an access opening to an open position and back from the open position to the closed position, said assembly comprising:

• (a) motive means for powering movement of said gate,
• (b) a first lever arm,
• (c) first coupling means operatively coupling said first lever arm to said motive means and said first lever arm being powered for movement thereby,
• (d) a second lever arm,
• (e) second coupling means operatively coupling said second lever arm to said gate,
• (f) pivot means pivotally connecting the free ends of each of said first and second lever arms, said pivot means being generally aligned with the longitudinal axis of each of said first and second lever arms when said gate is in the closed position, said motive means causing said first and second coupling means to move toward each other in a generally horizontal path and said pivot means to progressively move downwardly away from said horizontal path as said gate is moved from one of said positions to the other of said positions, said lever arms becoming aligned with each other and thereafter crossing over each other during a portion of the movement of said gate from one of the positions to the other of the positions and said pivot means being vertically aligned with and beneath said first and second coupling means when said lever arms become aligned.

A gate opening and closing assembly for moving a gate from a closed position through an access opening to an open position and back from the open position to the closed position, said assembly comprising:

• (a) motive means for powering movement of said gate,
• (b) a first lever arm,
• (c) first coupling means operatively coupling said first lever arm to said motive means and said first lever arm being powered for movement thereby,
• (d) a second lever arm,
• (e) second coupling means operatively coupling said second lever arm to said gate,
• (f) pivot means pivotally connecting the free ends of each of said first and second lever arms, said pivot means being generally aligned with the longitudinal axis of each of said first and second lever arms when said gate is in the closed position, said motive means causing said first and second coupling means to move toward each other in a generally horizontal path and said pivot means to progressively move downwardly away from said horizontal path as said gate is moved from one of said positions to the other of said positions, said first coupling means crossing over said second coupling means and moving to the position initially occupied by said second coupling means, and said second coupling means moving toward the position initially occupied by said first coupling means after crossing over.