The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 16, 2010
Filed:
Feb. 29, 2008
Eric M. Gregori, Lindenhurst, IL (US);
James J. Fitzgibbon, Batavia, IL (US);
Carlos Jurado, Aurora, IL (US);
Robert R. Keller, Jr., Chicago, IL (US);
Matthew C. Stephan, Glen Ellyn, IL (US);
Colin Willmott, Buffalo Grove, IL (US);
Eric M. Gregori, Lindenhurst, IL (US);
James J. Fitzgibbon, Batavia, IL (US);
Carlos Jurado, Aurora, IL (US);
Robert R. Keller, Jr., Chicago, IL (US);
Matthew C. Stephan, Glen Ellyn, IL (US);
Colin Willmott, Buffalo Grove, IL (US);
The Chamberlain Group, Inc., Elmhurst, IL (US);
Abstract
A movable barrier operator having a motor controller () and motor () that control selective movement of a movable barrier () also has an obstacle detector () that utilizes an automatically determined excess force threshold value to permit reliable detection of an obstacle under a wide variety of operational circumstances, including changing physical circumstances, aging components, temperature variations, and motor runtime. In a preferred embodiment, a characteristic force value for the system is frequently updated as a function of actual measured force requirements (and further compensated, pursuant to various embodiments, with respect to other conditions such as temperature and motor runtime). This characteristic force value is then utilized to determine the excess force threshold value.