Barrier movement operator having service reminders
Contents
1. NVRAM 88 which stores set points and other cus tomized digital data related to the operation of the control unit An obstacle detector 90 which comprises the emitter 42 and the infrared detector 46 is coupled via an obstacle detector bus 92 to the microcontroller 84 The obstacle detector bus 92 includes lines 44 and 48 The wall switch 39 is connected via the connecting wires 39a to a switch biasing module 96 that is powered from the 5 volt supply line 74 and supplies signals to and is controlled by the microcontroller 84 a bus 100 coupled to the microcontroller 84 The micro controller 84 in response to switch closures will send signals over a relay logic line 102 to a relay logic module 104 connected to an alternating current motor 106 having a power take off shaft 108 coupled to the transmission 18 of the garage door operator 0020 As further shown in FIG 3 the microcontroller 84 also is coupled to a number of input devices for receiving external data These devices include a time counter 124 a temperature sensor 120 a force sensor 122 a cycle counter 136 and a switch 140 The time counter 124 is a real time clock RTC such as the Dallas Semiconductor DS1307 for measuring elapsed time Alternatively a simple oscillator maybe used instead to generate pulses that are counted by the microcontroller 84 to determine elapsed time or the microcontroller 84 can count its own internal clock The cycle counter 136 counts the number of ope2. comprising an LED config ured to turn off and on 20 The movable barrier operator of claim 18 wherein the alert state comprises an LCD configured to display the existence of an alert condition and to display information regarding a required service 21 The movable barrier operator of claim 18 wherein the alert state comprises a coded audible sound signal indicating that the operating data has reached a third predetermined threshold Feb 3 2005 22 The movable barrier operator of claim 15 wherein the alert state is activated based on the number of cycles having executed 23 The movable barrier operator of claim 15 wherein the alert state is activated based on a result of a function of distance traveled by the barrier between opening and clos ing 24 The movable barrier operator of claim 15 wherein the first threshold has a value and the value of the first threshold varies based on the operating data received by the controller 25 The movable barrier operator of claim 18 wherein the first threshold has a value and the value of the first threshold varies based on the operating data received by the controller 26 The movable barrier operator of claim 18 wherein the alert state is based on a result of an accumulation function of the number of opening and closing cycles having reached a fourth predefined threshold 27 34 Canceled
3. user the service that needs to be performed on the garage door operator In another aspect the microcontroller 84 is programmed to generate an LCD display signal that scrolls across the face of the display thereby enabling short messages to appear Such messages may include specific operating parameter information or the name and number of a preferred service provider 0033 Referring to FIGS 4 6 in the foregoing discussion it was shown that the alerting devices mounted on the display unit 160 are connected to their respective signaling lines from the microcontroller 84 It is to be noted that the connection is accomplished in one of many ways including wired wireless or a combination of both In a particular embodiment the display unit 160 includes a mounted RF transceiver not shown for receiving and transmitting sig nals to an RF transceiver in the controller 70 Preferably short range wireless signals are used such as Bluetooth for communicating between the transceivers However other RF signaling protocols also maybe used including one way communications methods 0034 Referring to FIG 7 the garage door operator is shown in operation Upon initial power on in step 200 the microcontroller checks the NVRAM in step 204 to deter mine whether any existing operating data is stored A checksum validation also maybe performed to ensure that the data is valid particularly if the system is being activated for the first time The mi
4. 0022451 US 2005 0022451 Patent Application Publication Feb 3 2005 Sheet 2 of 5 cel vel ding 26 F EE NON vidy 06 yO193 140 3712 1590 TWOlLdO x 8 lt Old 96 BE DNISVI8 JINAGOW HOLIMS HOLIMS 5 001 W6E O 8 98 Q ze 08 HOSNAS SYN LVHSdWAL ze AN 0 02 US 2005 0022451 Patent Application Publication Feb 3 2005 Sheet 3 of 5 vel AV1dSIG eel Ind1n0 H LHON GVSHYSA0 Old gel 06 801 1091010 TWNOIS ANNOS 0 061 LEL 88 WYHAN w 391440 H3TIOHINOOSOHNOIN B ONILNdWOD H3JN009 BEF 9 99 961 HOSN3S HOSNIS SONILI3S dWaL 39404 HOLIMS ost cok Ovi Patent Application Publication Feb 3 2005 Sheet 4 of 5 US 2005 0022451 160 GARY G DOEHR THE GARAGE DOOR SPECIALIST 1 888 555 5555 FOR SERVICE 163 172 174 176 el FIG 6 FIG 5 Patent Application Publication Feb 3 2005 Sheet 5 of 5 US 2005 0022451 START 204 CHECK INPUTS 208 DO CALCULATIONS ON DATA 212 DETERMINE THRESHOLDS 216 THRESHOLD REACHED 220 YES IDENTIFY PARAMETER S THAT REACHED THRESHOLD 222 DETERMINE REQUIRED ACTION 224 OUTPUT ALERT SIGNAL INDICATING REQUIRED ACTION 228 ACTION TAKEN 232 YES
5. TURN OFF OUTPUT ALERT SIGNAL FI G US 2005 0022451 BARRIER MOVEMENT OPERATOR HAVING SERVICE REMINDERS FIELD OF THE INVENTION 0001 The present invention relates generally to barrier movement operators and more particularly to service reminders indicating the need for maintenance of the barrier movement operator based on diverse operating conditions BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0002 Garage door operators over the years continue to increase in sophistication through the use of advanced electronic components and control techniques Despite such advances a garage door operator inherently is a mechanical device requiring the use of motors springs rails and other mechanical parts to raise and lower a garage door Typically proper maintenance of the garage door operator requires the user to lubricate the rails of the garage door operator check for wear of the components such as the springs and test the system safety devices on a periodic basis For example it is recommended that the feature for reversing a door in response to an obstruction be tested every month This requires the user to open the garage door fully and place a 1 thick piece of wood such as a 2x4 laid flat on the floor in the center of the door The user then pushes the transmitter or wall button to close the door The door should reverse when it strikes the wood If the door does not reverse the owner should adjust the door or the garage door oper
6. US 20050022451A1 Patent Application Publication Pub No US 2005 0022451 Al United States Fitzgibbon et al 43 Pub Date Feb 3 2005 54 BARRIER MOVEMENT OPERATOR HAVING SERVICE REMINDERS 75 Inventors James J Fitzgibbon Batavia IL US William G Gioia Winfield IL US Correspondence Address FITCH EVEN TABIN AND FLANNERY 120 SOUTH LA SALLE STREET SUITE 1600 CHICAGO IL 60603 3406 US 73 Assignee The Chamberlain Group Inc 21 Appl No 10 931 084 22 Filed Aug 31 2004 Related U S Application Data 63 Continuation of application No 10 145 799 filed on May 15 2002 Dh TD HA p Publication Classification GDE ICE on ea E05F 15 20 C enen 49 31 57 ABSTRACT An electronic service reminder to automatically notify a user as to when and what type of maintenance should be per formed on the garage door operator based on a variety of factors including time materials and operating environ ment The garage door operator is configured to automati cally generate an electronic service reminder in the form of an audible or visual alert based on one or more operating parameters of the garage door operator meeting or exceeding a predefined threshold The predefined threshold is variable based on the values of the operating parameters Patent Application Publication Feb 3 2005 Sheet 1 of 5 US 2005
7. ator As such regular maintenance of many components of the garage door operator is an important aspect of ensuring safe and proper trouble free operation of the garage door opera tor 0003 Presently maintenance schedules prescribing the service intervals and types of service required to keep the garage door operating properly typically are printed in the owners manual for the users convenience Unfortunately manuals tend to become misplaced discarded or ignored and their instructions forgotten In many cases subsequent home or business owners never are provided the opportunity of reading the owners manual before acquiring the garage door operator As a result maintenance schedules may not be followed over significantly long time periods resulting in unnecessary wear and tear of the equipment and eventual premature failure SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0004 In accordance with the present invention there is provided an electronic service reminder to automatically notify a user as to when and what type of maintenance should be performed on the garage door operator based on a variety of time materials and environmental factors For example the garage door operator produces a notification alert based on the amount of time since the garage door operator was initially installed or since maintenance was performed on the operator previously Other variables also are used in determining the maintenance schedule such as the travel distanc
8. barrier operator the operating data including information representative of a number of opening and closing cycles of the barrier a spring having an identifiable type for assisting the movable barrier operator in moving the barrier between an opened and closed position the identifiable type of the spring indicating at least one operating condition of the spring and an alert state of the movable barrier operator responsive to operating data indicating that the number of opening and closing cycles having reached a first predefined threshold representative of the identifiable type of the spring 16 The movable barrier operator of claim 15 further comprising a counter for determining a number of opera tions executed by the movable barrier operator representa tive of a count of opened and closed cycles executed by the US 2005 0022451 movable barrier operator wherein the alert is activated based on a result of a function of the number of cycles having executed operating data and the identifiable type of the spring having reached a second predefined threshold 17 The movable barrier operator of claim 16 further comprising a user controlled input device for indicating the identifiable type of the spring assisting the barrier 18 The movable barrier operator of claim 15 wherein the alert state indicates that the spring requires service 19 The movable barrier operator of claim 18 wherein the alert state is a visual indicator
9. crocontroller then begins receiving input from the sensors including the force sensor tempera ture sensor and time counter in step 208 More particularly the system enters a monitoring mode of operation where the microcontroller accumulates operating data from the various input sensors as the garage door operator is used The data from the sensors includes the ambient temperature in which the garage door operator is operating a running total of the number of times the door has been lifted and closed and the force difference between opening and closing of the door 0035 Based on the input data parameters from the vari ous sensors the microcontroller calculates in step 212 initial threshold values based on a function of the present and past data received by the sensors In another aspect the system is configured with an additional variable that is used to accrue variations in the input parameters and the threshold is based on this mathematical variable 0036 The threshold values are a result of the calculations performed on the input data and are variable depending on the change in the data values For example if the ambient temperature experiences a decrease then the spring life may be extended by a certain time period As such the service reminder to check the springs may be delayed by an amount of time beyond that recommended in the owners manual Similarly if the ambient temperature experiences an increase lubrication may be req
10. e 138 such as a personal laptop or handheld computer In one mode data that is read from or written to the NVRAM 88 is output on the com US 2005 0022451 munications port 137 to enable a user to view the data being transferred into and out of the system using an attached computing device 0024 The switch 140 is used to specify to the microcon troller 84 various parameters relating to service intervals such as the type of spring being used in the system A dual inline package DIP switch having one or more switch levers maybe used although any similar type of switch is also acceptable Based on the position of the switch levers the microcontroller 84 is able to determine thresholds for identifying a need for service The microcontroller 84 cross references the switch settings with the particular character istics of the installed spring which are stored in the NVRAM 88 Spring characteristics may include information relating to the predicted lifespan of the spring optimum operating parameters and spring constant among others For example the switch settings are used to identify whether the spring is a five thousand ten thousand or fifty thousand cycle spring 0025 Additional levers on the switch 140 or even another switch not shown also are provided to specify to the microcontroller 84 the type or weight of the garage door that the garage door operator 10 is lifting and lowering The switch settings include preprogra
11. e of the garage door the life expectancy of the door and springs and the ambient temperature Thus the garage door operator is configured to automatically generate an electronic service reminder in the form of an audible or visual alert based on an operating parameter of the garage door operator meeting or exceeding a predefined threshold Feb 3 2005 0005 For example if the garage door has been opened and closed a predefined number of times then an alert will notify the user that the springs on the door should be checked Advantageously the number of usages at which the alert is provided is variable based on the type of spring being used the distance the door travels when opening and closing or a combination of both Other operating parameters such as ambient temperature cycle count and travel distance also maybe used to dynamically vary the thresholds such that as each input parameter is reached the threshold is immedi ately varied 0006 Notification that maintenance is required may take on many forms In one form a light or light emitting diode LED is activated to light or backlight a display message indicating the type of maintenance required of a user and or to illuminate a business card of a repair or installation business Alternatively an LED display maybe provided to display codes corresponding to the maintenance required Similarly a liquid crystal display LCD device maybe used to display a text message precisely
12. ed on the outside of the garage having a plurality of buttons thereon and communicates via radio frequency transmission with the antenna 32 of the head unit 12 A switch module 39 is mounted on a wall of the garage The switch module 39 is connected to the head unit by a pair of wires 39a The switch module 39 includes a learn switch 39b a light switch 39c a lock switch 39d and a command switch 39e An optical emitter 42 is connected via a power and signal line 44 to the head unit 12 An optical detector 46 is connected to the head unit 12 via a wire 48 0018 As shown in FIG 2 the garage door operator 10 which includes the head unit 12 has a controller 70 that includes the antenna 32 The controller 70 includes a power supply 72 that receives alternating current from an alternat ing current source such as 110 volt AC and converts the alternating current to 5 volts zero and 24 volts DC The 5 volt supply is fed along a line 74 to a number of other elements in the controller 70 The 24 volt supply is fed along the line 76 to other elements of the controller 70 The Feb 3 2005 controller 70 includes a super regenerative receiver 80 coupled via a line 82 to supply demodulated digital signals to a microcontroller 84 The receiver 80 is energized by a line 85 coupled to the line 74 Signals may be received by the controller 70 at the antenna 32 and fed to the receiver 80 0019 The microcontroller 84 is also coupled by a bus 86 to an
13. ernatively a lighting device not shown is mounted behind the business card 163 to illuminate the business card 163 from the reverse side such that the business card 163 lights up when the lighting device is turned on The lighting device in the alternate configuration is like the LEDs inserted into a recess such that the business card 163 is able to sit flush against the base unit 0031 Referring to FIG 5 an LED display 171 is shown comprising two seven segment displays 172 174 In an alternate embodiment the LED display 171 is installed in place of the message panels 162 164 166 FIG 4 As such when an LED signal 126 from the microcontroller 84 FIG 3 is generated the LED display 171 will output a alpha numeric code representative of the maintenance required by the garage door operator 10 The user is then able to cross reference the code to a user manual or a chart that maybe located near the display unit 160 0032 Referring to FIG 6 an LCD display 176 is shown wherein in an alternate embodiment the LCD display 176 is installed into the display unit instead of either the LED display 171 or the message panels 162 164 166 A particu lar advantage of the LCD display 176 is its ability to display text based messages In particular the microcontroller 84 US 2005 0022451 FIG 3 produces an LCD signal that enables a variety of specific messages to be displayed on the LCD display 176 to explicitly indicate to the
14. indicating the required maintenance In another form an audible tone or a series of tones is emitted to indicate that the garage door operator requires maintenance The tone maybe audibly encoded to enable the user to determine the precise nature of the maintenance required In still another form a radio fre quency RF signal is transmitted to a receiving device for generating audio or visual alerts on a remote wireless device In an additional form notification is provided by turning the garage door operator overhead light on and off Thus there is provided a garage door operator that is able to actively and automatically communicate maintenance requirements to a user relative to conventional garage door operators that require the user to refer to a printed manual for standard time schedules 0007 The described embodiments are directed to a mov able barrier operator such as a garage door operator which includes a head unit housing an electric motor The motor is adapted to drive a transmission that is connectable to the movable barrier A wired or wireless switch or a combina tion thereof is in communication with a controller housed within the head unit for commanding the head unit to raise or lower the garage door The controller includes a micro controller or other processing device interfaced to a non volatile memory NVRAM for storing and retrieving opera tor related data and other data accumulated by the controller Areceive
15. m of a controller mounted within the head unit of the garage door operator employed in the garage door operator shown in FIG 1 0012 FIG 3 is a block diagram of input output devices connected to the microcontroller within the controller shown in FIG 2 0013 FIG 4 is a service reminder display unit for housing service reminder alerting devices 0014 FIG 5 is an LED display for mounting in the display unit of FIG 4 for displaying service reminder codes 0015 FIG 6 is an LCD display for mounting in the display unit of FIG 4 for displaying text based service reminder messages and 0016 FIG 7 is a flow diagram of a service reminder routine executed by the microcontroller DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 0017 Referring now to the drawings and especially to FIG 1 more specifically a movable barrier door operator or garage door operator is generally shown therein and referred to by numeral 10 includes a head unit 12 mounted within a garage 14 The head unit 12 is mounted to the ceiling of the garage 14 and includes a rail 18 extending therefrom with a releasable trolley 20 attached having an arm 22 extending to a multiple paneled garage door 24 positioned for movement along a pair of door rails 26 and 28 The system includes a hand held transmitter unit 30 adapted to send signals to an antenna 32 positioned on the head unit 12 and coupled to a receiver as shown hereinafter An external control pad 34 is position
16. mmed positions for indi cating within what range of weights the garage door falls 0026 By determining the number of counted operating cycles the measured forces on the spring and the measured elapsed time the threshold at which an alert is generated is determined For example if the forces on the garage door show that the springs are no longer counter balancing the total weight of the door and the door is now 50 pounds heavier then the spring cycle threshold is shortened and an alert is generated after a relatively fewer number of oper ating cycles The converse is true as well Thus advanta geously by having a precisely tailored maintenance regi men the life of the springs is extended 0027 The microcontroller 84 also provides several out put ports that the garage door operator 10 uses to produce signals alerting users that maintenance of the garage door operator 10 maybe necessary The microcontroller 84 pro vides an LED output signal 126 for driving an LED not shown or an LED display 172 174 FIG 4 Alternatively or in addition to the LED output signal 126 the microcon troller 84 provides an LCD signal 128 for enabling text based messages to be displayed on an LCD 176 FIG 4 sound output 130 generates signals for driving a speaker preferably placed behind a protective speaker grill 168 FIG 4 The sound output signal 130 maybe modulated so that a user is able to determine the type of maintenance that is req
17. ning and closing operations that the garage door operator 10 executes 0021 The temperature sensor 120 which may be any commonly available temperature sensor such as the National Semiconductor LM75 is placed outside the head unit to measure the ambient temperature of the atmosphere sur rounding the garage door operator 10 The microcontroller 84 is able to query the temperature sensor 120 as needed to obtain the ambient temperature in which the garage door operator is operating The force sensor 122 measures the force required to move the door This force is an indication all the level of fatigue of the springs As with the time counter 124 the force sensor 122 maybe a software function of the microcontroller 84 0022 The results from the input devices are used in a number of ways to determine when and what type of alert is to be generated For example the measured elapsed time is used for generating an alert every thirty days to notify a user to perform an obstruction test In another example the measured elapsed time is used in conjunction with the number of counted cycles to generate an alert every six months or 1000 cycles of operating cycles whichever comes first 0023 A communications port 137 such as an RS232 universal serial bus USB or 1394 typically referred to as a firewire port or any other communications interface is provided to enable the microcontroller 84 to communicate with an external computing devic
18. r communication with the controller is provided for receiving radio frequency RF signals from the wireless switch An overhead light typically associated with garage door openers is turned off and on by the controller 0008 The microcontroller is configured to receive and send various different kinds of data during operation For example the microcontroller is interfaced to a force sensor and an ambient temperature sensor for receiving input data regarding the upward and downward forces generated by the door and the ambient air temperature outside the head unit In addition the microcontroller receives input data from a cycle counter time counter and a switch that is set by the user The microcontroller also includes interfaces for pro viding output signal data to drive a number of different devices such as one or more LEDs LCDs sound speakers and RF devices A universal asynchronous receiver trans mitter UART is provided as a serial communications port US 2005 0022451 such as an EIA RS 232 port to enable the controller to communicate with a personal computer PC BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0009 Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which 0010 FIG 1 is a perspective view of a garage door operating system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention 0011 FIG 2 is a block diagra
19. stem in step 232 determines whether any action has been taken in response to the reminder message sufficient to disable the output alert signal Several valid responses are available First a test of the safety system maybe conducted that includes reversal of the garage door due to a force obstruction to confirm that the safety system has been tested Alternatively the system may turn off the alert based on a period of elapsed time or number of operations of the garage door operator lifting and lowering the garage door Additional valid responses include one or more operations from the wall or keyless entry controls a power on reset or even any specific command input as determined by the user Accordingly if any of the enumer ated responses are received the microcontroller will turn off the outputs in step 236 and continue accumulating operating data in step 208 0039 While the invention has been described in conjunc tion with specific embodiments thereof it is evident that many alternatives modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description Accordingly it is intended to embrace all such alternatives modifications and variations as fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims 1 14 Canceled 15 A movable barrier operator for opening and closing a barrier comprising a controller for accumulating operating data relating to operation of the movable
20. the display unit 160 the LED is completely covered by the message panel 162 Thus when the LED receives the LED signal 126 and turns on the message panel 162 will display brightly a service reminder message indicating the type of service required Each message panel is configured simi larly such that depending on the LED being illuminated the appropriate panel and message is illuminated 0029 A speaker connected to the sound output 130 of the microcontroller 84 for sounding an audible alert message is mounted behind a protective grill 168 on the display unit 160 Thus a user who may not notice the activation of LEDs will also be provided with an alert tone when the microcontroller 84 generates a sound output signal If the alert tone is coded then the user is able to decode the coded tones to determine the service required on the garage door operator 10 Alternatively a tone from the speaker 168 will alert the user to the fact that the display unit 160 needs to be examined for pending service reminder messages Alterna tively the sounds from the speaker can be modulated to create speech 0030 An additional feature that is provided is a holder for a business card 163 or note paper indicating a telephone number of a garage door operator service technician or the like The card 163 is held in place by four corner holders 165a 165b 165c 165d underneath a lighting device 170 such as a small incandescent light bulb or white LED Alt
21. uired at a time slightly earlier than recommended in the manual Threshold deter mination is dynamic and variable in that the threshold values may change immediately as data is read from the sensors and varies based on the values of the inputs received by the sensors If the threshold values are met or exceeded an alert is generated The threshold values are then set in step 216 That is the microcontroller will generate a signal on at least one of the alert outputs if a threshold value is met or exceeded as determined in step 220 Feb 3 2005 0037 In step 220 the microcontroller determines whether any of the threshold values determined in step 216 has been met or exceeded If no threshold value has been met or exceeded in step 220 the microcontroller returns to step 208 and continues collecting operating data However if a threshold value has been reached or exceeded during opera tion of the garage door operator in step 222 the particular parameter or parameters that reached the threshold limit is identified Based on the identity of the parameters and the algorithm used in determining threshold values the particu lar type of maintenance required is determined in step 224 In step 228 an output alert signal is generated by the microcontroller to illuminate the proper LED message panel or display the appropriate LCD text message and sound the appropriate tones 0038 Subsequent to the service reminder alert being generated the sy
22. uired by simply listening to the sound coming from the speaker In addition an RF transmitter 132 is provided as well to enable wireless messages to be sent to an RF signal receiving device for enabling alerts from the micro controller 84 to be transmitted to a remote wireless device not shown or to the display unit 160 FIG 4 The RF transmitter 132 also maybe configured as a transceiver device that is capable of receiving and transmitting RF commands from a remote source not shown or from the display unit 160 0028 Referring to FIG 4 several exemplary embodi ments of the service reminder are shown The display unit 160 is configured as a housing unit into which the service Feb 3 2005 reminder alerts are mounted As shown by way of example only since other messages in various other configurations are also possible the display unit 60 includes several reminder message panels including Lubrication Required 162 Check Springs 164 and Test Safety Sys tems 166 The message panels 162 164 166 are constructed of a light weight plastic or glass material of a predetermined color such as red or orange The messages themselves are printed using a white glass or plastic material The display unit 160 is configured with a recess not shown into which an LED in communication with the microcontroller 84 via the LED signal 126 is fitted The LED is fitted into the recess such that when the message panel 162 is affixed to
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