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A garage door opener is a motorized device that opens and closes garage doors. Most are controlled by switches on the garage wall, as well as by remote controls carried in the garage owner's cars. A garage door is a large door on a garage or carport that can either be opened manually or by a garage door opener. ...
For other uses, see Remote control (disambiguation). ...
Car redirects here. ...
 A residential garage door opener. The motor is in the box on the upper-right.
The opener A common misconception regarding openers is that the door opener lifts the door directly, however, most of the lifting is done by the counterbalance system using either torsion springs or linear expansion springs. There are also several clever counterweight systems. All of these systems allow the door to be moved with much less force and allows the door to come to rest in partially open positions. Simple Crane A counterweight is an equivalent counterbalancing weight that balances a load. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
The most common style of operator for residential use is the trolley operator. The motor hangs near the center of the ceiling and a rail guides the trolley across the ceiling to the top of the doorway. The trolley is attached to the door arm that is then attached to the top of the door. When the trolley traverses the rail the door opens and closes.
There are several ways to make the trolley move across the rail. Older systems include a rotating rail with a wheeled trolley that used the rotary motion of the rail (pole) to force the trolley across the distance. It was called a monkey on a pole. It was too dangerous, but it did inspire the screw drive system which the Genie Company originally marketed.
The screw drive system uses a long screw that is encased in the rail. The rail guides the trolley and the screw pushes the trolley. This system opens a door slower than a chain or belt drive system, but can apply more force. This system is best used on a one piece door known as a California Door or heavy doors such as carriage house doors. The heavier the door the slower it should move for safety and longevity of the door and operator.
Most current systems have a chain loop or a steel-reinforced rubber belt that pulls the trolley across the rail. The rubber belt reduces the noise during operation.
The trolley style operator often is encumbered with obstacles (beams, pipes, etc) or it becomes an obstruction itself. For these situations, another style of operator is used: the jackshaft operator. It works only with the torsional spring type of counterbalance system. Instead of attaching to the door, the operator attaches to the spring shaft. Rotation of the shaft still allows the springs to do most of the lifting while adding the extra force to move the door. The major advantage is that this operator is mounted to the side of the door and does not require a rail. A British Rail Class 04 switcher with a jackshaft under the cab. ...
Jackshaft operators are not as popular due to the cost of the additional hardware required to overcome the inherent security and safety issues:
- An electrical solenoid lock to prevent the door being opened by force.
- A mechanism, such as a cable tension monitor mounted between the drum and the door, to detect that the door is not closing due to an obstruction.
Neither of these additional components is necessary with a trolley style operator.
Yet another style of opener available is one that is attached directly onto the spring shaft alongside with the torsion spring, and is located directly in the space on top of the door mounted to the wall. Such systems eliminate the rail, belts, and jackshafts, although this is a relatively new technology.
A recently introduced feature in the garage door opener market is a battery backup system. When power to the home is lost, residents are still able to get in and out of their garage. An added feature is that all opener safety features still function while the unit is operating on battery power.
Remote control The first garage door opener remote controls were simple and consisted of a simple transmitter (the remote) and receiver which controlled the opener mechanism. The transmitter would transmit on designated frequency; the receiver would listen for the radio signal, then open or close the garage, depending on the door position. The basic concept of this can be traced back to World War II. This type of system was used to detonate remote bombs. While novel at the time, the technology would run its course when garage door openers would become widely available and used. Then, not only did a person open their garage door, they opened their neighbor’s garage door as well. While the garage door remote is low in power and in range, it was powerful enough to interfere with other receivers in the area. Antenna tower of Crystal Palace transmitter, London A transmitter is an electronic device which, usually with the aid of an antenna, propagates an electromagnetic signal such as radio, television, or other telecommunications. ...
In radio terminology, a receiver is an electronic circuit that receives a radio signal from an antenna and decodes the signal for use as sound, pictures, navigational-position information, etc. ...
For other uses, see Bomb (disambiguation). ...
The second stage of the wireless garage door opener system deals with the shared frequency problem. To rectify this, systems required a garage door owner to preset a digital code via dip switches on the receiver and transmitter. While these switches provided garage door systems with 28 = 256 different codes they were not really designed with security in mind, the main idea was to avoid interference with similar systems nearby. For the use of the term in networking, see Wireless networking. ...
For other uses, see Frequency (disambiguation). ...
A DIP switch is an electric switch that is packaged in a standard Dual-Inline Package (DIP). ...
The current garage door opener market uses a frequency spectrum range between 300-400 MHz and most of the transmitter/receivers rely on hopping or rolling code technology. This approach prevents perpetrators from recording a code and replaying it to open a garage door. Since the signal is supposed to be significantly different from that of any other garage door remote control, manufacturers claim it is impossible for someone other than the owner of the remote to open the garage. When the transmitter sends a code, it generates a new code using an encoder. The receiver, after receiving a correct code, uses the same encoder with the same original seed to generate a new code that it will accept in the future. Because there is a high probability that someone might accidentally push the open button while not in range and desynchronize the code, the transmitter and receiver generate look-a-head codes ahead of time. A rolling code (or somtimes called a hopping code) is used in keyless entry systems to prevent replay attacks (Where an eavesdropper records the transmission and replays it at a later time to cause the receiver to unlock.) Such systems are typical in garage door openers and keyless car entry...
Additional features Additional features that have been added over the years have included automatic courtesy lights that turns on when the door opens (or via motion sensors) and automatically turns off after a preset amount of time. Remote lockout feature which basically turns off the radio receiver while you are on vacation. The availability of accessories has increased as well like wireless keypads and keychain remotes.
More exotic features are also available, such as an integrated carbon monoxide sensor to open the door in case of the garage being flooded with exhaust fumes. Other systems allow door activation over the internet to allow home owners to open their garage door from their office for deliveries. This feature violates UL safety codes that states the door must be in line-of-sight of the person operating the door for safety reasons. R-phrases , , , , S-phrases , , , , Flash point Flammable gas Related Compounds Related oxides carbon dioxide; carbon suboxide; dicarbon monoxide; carbon trioxide Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ...
The UL Mark Underwriters Laboratories Inc. ...
When viewing a scene, as in optics, photography, or even hunting, the line of sight is the straight line between the observer and the target. ...
Another recent innovation in the garage door opener is a fingerprint wireless keypad. This unit attaches to the outside of the garage door on the jamb and allows users to open and close their door with the swipe of a finger, rather than creating a PIN. This is especially helpful for families with children who may forget a code and are "latch-key" kids.
See also This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
A swing door operator (or swing door opener or automatic swing door operator) is a device that operates a swing door for pedestrian use. ...
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