Garage Door Opener
If you've ever driven home in the rain or arrived home from work right in the middle of a wet, snowy blizzard only to find that your garage door opener had stopped working, chances are pretty good that you appreciated that garage door opener a whole lot more when it was finally fixed. Or, maybe you're someone who doesn't even have a garage door opener, in which case you really know how hard it can be to have to drive up to your house, schlep out of the car in any and every kind of inclement weather, pull the garage door open, only to have to get back into the car and drive into the garage. And pulling the garage door shut again ... forget it! You've got to reach up and darn near pull your arm out of its socket to pull the thing back down! Thank you, modern science, for garage door openers! Most people probably go about their day never thinking twice about how useful garage door openers are and how much convenience they add to our lives.
History
Garage door openers are great little gadgets that have been around ... are you ready for this? ... Since 1926! That's almost as long as cars and garages themselves! Not long after garages, which evolved from the carriage house that once housed horses, first started to be included in home designs for cars rather than horses, American inventor C. G. Johnson devised the very first electric overhead garage door opener. In Hartford City, Indiana, Johnson came up with the first garage door opener when he saw a need to assist people who had trouble pulling down heavy garage doors.
How does it work?
Garage door openers basically all work the same way. They are mechanically operated with an electric motor that is energized by a set of motor contactors that turn the opener's motor in a clockwise motion. This action is what raises the garage door. When the motor contacts turn the motor in a counterclockwise motion, this is what closes the garage door. A series of limit switches that are tuned in a precise manner open and close the door, and a long chain makes the rotational motion of the motor to lower or raise the garage door. These limit switches typically are placed adjacent to the track of the chain.
Looking further into the subject
The design of a garage door opener includes tracks, a drive mechanism, and a dual spring system. It is the tracks that guide the garage door along as it is being raised and lowered. It is this spring system that helps to raise and lower the garage door. Additionally, it is the drive system that actually physically works to raise and lower the door. The drive system includes a motor and chain system that makes the door open or close when signaled to do so. The remote control of a garage door opener is the signaling system that tells the door to raise or lower with a sensor attached to the drive system mechanism. The drive mechanism utilizes a motor as well as spring tension to guide the door along the tracks until it is successfully raised or lowered.
The remote control used in conjunction with the garage door opener utilizes a low radio frequency to raise and lower the door. (It is this frequency that can sometimes cause other garage doors in the same neighborhood to open or close unintentionally. If this happens, the frequency needs to be altered.) Inside the remote control there is another series of small switches that can be turned to either the 'off' or 'on' position. Inside the garage door opener is a corresponding set of small switches that work in conjunction with the remote control.
Garage door openers ... they're just another one of life's little niceties brought about by innovations in electrical engineering. Sure, a garage door opener isn't a necessity. Anybody can get out of their car, open up the garage door, get back in their car, drive inside, get back out of the car, and then close the garage door. But who wants to do all that, especially at the end of a stressful day at work? It's just so much nicer to be able to whip out that trusty little remote and click a little button. Thanks, garage door openers!
History
Garage door openers are great little gadgets that have been around ... are you ready for this? ... Since 1926! That's almost as long as cars and garages themselves! Not long after garages, which evolved from the carriage house that once housed horses, first started to be included in home designs for cars rather than horses, American inventor C. G. Johnson devised the very first electric overhead garage door opener. In Hartford City, Indiana, Johnson came up with the first garage door opener when he saw a need to assist people who had trouble pulling down heavy garage doors.
How does it work?
Garage door openers basically all work the same way. They are mechanically operated with an electric motor that is energized by a set of motor contactors that turn the opener's motor in a clockwise motion. This action is what raises the garage door. When the motor contacts turn the motor in a counterclockwise motion, this is what closes the garage door. A series of limit switches that are tuned in a precise manner open and close the door, and a long chain makes the rotational motion of the motor to lower or raise the garage door. These limit switches typically are placed adjacent to the track of the chain.
Looking further into the subject
The design of a garage door opener includes tracks, a drive mechanism, and a dual spring system. It is the tracks that guide the garage door along as it is being raised and lowered. It is this spring system that helps to raise and lower the garage door. Additionally, it is the drive system that actually physically works to raise and lower the door. The drive system includes a motor and chain system that makes the door open or close when signaled to do so. The remote control of a garage door opener is the signaling system that tells the door to raise or lower with a sensor attached to the drive system mechanism. The drive mechanism utilizes a motor as well as spring tension to guide the door along the tracks until it is successfully raised or lowered.
The remote control used in conjunction with the garage door opener utilizes a low radio frequency to raise and lower the door. (It is this frequency that can sometimes cause other garage doors in the same neighborhood to open or close unintentionally. If this happens, the frequency needs to be altered.) Inside the remote control there is another series of small switches that can be turned to either the 'off' or 'on' position. Inside the garage door opener is a corresponding set of small switches that work in conjunction with the remote control.
Garage door openers ... they're just another one of life's little niceties brought about by innovations in electrical engineering. Sure, a garage door opener isn't a necessity. Anybody can get out of their car, open up the garage door, get back in their car, drive inside, get back out of the car, and then close the garage door. But who wants to do all that, especially at the end of a stressful day at work? It's just so much nicer to be able to whip out that trusty little remote and click a little button. Thanks, garage door openers!