US3138196A - Retractable apparatus - Google Patents

Description

June 23, 1964 H. A. KRIEGl-:R

RETRACTABLE APPARATUS Filed April 19, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 III.;

INVENTOR Harold -Krieger June 23, 1964 H. A. KRIEGER RETRACTABLE APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 19, 1962 4/ INVENTOR ld Q.Kr

Har ieger BYQJ ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,l38,l96 Patented June 23, 1964 3,138,195 RETRACTABLE APPARATUS Harold A. Krieger, 631 E. 266th si., Euclid sz, olii Filed Apr. '19, 1962, ser. No. 138,740 1s Ciaims. (cl. 16o-191) The present invention relates to retractable apparatus including a movable object having resilient means associated therewith which is stressed during movement of the object in one direction so that it will return, or will aid in returning, the object to its original position when the force upon the object is released. More particularly, it relates to apparatus including an actuating member moveable in response to the movement of an object and a plurality of members to be actuated, each of which has resilient means associated therewith and in which the members to be actuated are selectively engaged by the actuating member to lock them together and to place tension on the resilient means when the actuating member is moved in one direction and in which the resilient means is eiective in returning or in aiding in the return of the object to its original position when the force of the object upon the actuating member is released.

In many installations, such as overhead garage doors, it is desirable during the closing of the door to place tension upon a spring, or preferably a pair of springs, one of which is arranged on each side of the door, and each of which has one end secured to a floating pulley. In such installations, a cable having one end fixed to the frame of the door is trained around one end of the iloating pulley and a fixed pulley and its other end is secured to the lower portion of the garage door and the tension placed upon the springs when the garage door is closed assists the operator in opening the door as the tension on the springs is released. In a like manner, in the case ot' house or office doors, and particularly doors leading into school houses7 resilient means associated with the door is placed under tension when the door is opened so that it will close the door when the operating force upon the door is released.

My'invention, however, is not limited to retractable apparatus in which resilient means is stressed during the e opening or closing of doors as it may be utilized in association with apparatus for various purposes. For instance, the movable object may be a fitting having an air, gasoline, or garden hose connected thereto which is normally wound upon a reel and in which resilient means associated with the reel is stressed when the hose is pulled outwardly and in which the stressed resilient means is eliective in rewinding the hose upon the reel when the force upon the object is released. It may also be utilized to stress resilient means associated with a reel in a telephone receiver box when the cord connected 'to the coinbined ear and mouth piece is pulled outwardly from the reel in which case the stressed resilient means rewinds the cord upon the reel within the receiver box While the receiver is being placed back on the hook. It may also be utilized in association with a reel upon which an electrical conductor is Wound in which tension is placed upon resilient means associated with the reel when an object to which the conductor is electrically connected is moved away from the reel to unwind the conductor from the reel and in which the resilient means aids in rewinding the conductor upon the reel when the object is moved toward the reel.

In former devices in which resilient means have been stressed during the movement of an object, such as when when the door is closed, because the door is in a vertical position at that time, it is somewhat difficult to open even when the operator is aided by the tension of the springs and in such case if the tension ot the springs is increased n While the door is being initially opened, the amount of tension required to move the door to a fully open position after the upper portion of the door is in a level or substantially level position may be in excess of that required which may cause the door to travel at a speed greater than that desired. In a like manner when tension is placed upon resilient means when an office or house door is opened, it sufficient tension is provided to cause the door to close iirmly, the tension during the initial and intermediate travel of the door may provide such impetus that the door will slam. In my improved apparatus, the stress placed upon the resilient means may be such that the door will close gently from its fully open position to its substantially closed position at which time the tension of the resilient means which effects movement of the door may be so regulated that it will rmly close and latch the door. It will therefore be seen that while in former practice the stress that is placed upon the resilient means may be regulated, it is not possible to regulate the amount of stress placed upon the resilient means over any particular area Without varying the tension on other areas so that the desired force may be provided by the resilient means to perform a particular function at a particular time.

In accordance with my invention, a resilient means for each of the members to be actuated is provided and the tension placed on each resilient member may be varied so that if a greater force is required to return the actuating member to its original position at a particular time during its travel than at other times, such tension may be readily provided. To provide such effect, a series of shoes are provided, each having resilient means associated therewith and in which an actuating device which is secured to a movable object selectively engages the toes of the shoes to lock the shoes together and place tension on each of the resilient members so that when the force upon the actuating member is released, the stressed resilient means selectively forces the toes of 111e shoes to engage the actuating member and progressively returns it to its original position as the stress on each of the members to be actuated is released. In accordance with my invention, means are provided to regulate the amount of tension that is placed on each resilient member so that in the event the strength of the resilient means changes during the life of the apparatus, increased tension may be placed on all the resilient means. Because in my improved apparatus, however, resilient means is associated with each shoe, the tension placed upon each of the resilient means may be individually regulated to the particular needs required when the object to be moved is being aided in its movement at a particular time by a particular shoe.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device consisting of a movable actuating member and a plurality of members to be actuated, each having resilient means associated therewith and in which the actuating member during its movement successively engages the members to be actuated to lock them together and to place tension on each of the resilient means which tension is effective in returning the actuating member to its original position when the force upon the actuating member is released.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device consisting of a movable actuating member and a plurality of members to be actuated, each of which has resilient means associated therewith which is stressed during the movement of the actuating member and `in which the stressed resilient means returns or aids in returning the actuating member to its original position after the force upon the actuating member is released.

A further object of the invention is to provide in combination with a garage door, a device including a plurality of members to be actuated, resilient means associated with each member to be actuated and an actuating member which is connected to the door and is movable with the door when the door is closed to lock the members to be actuated together and to place tension on said resilient means so that when the garage door is opened, the resilient means will move the actuating member in the opposite direction to aid in opening the door.

Another object of the invention is to provide in combination with a garage door a device including a plurality of shoes to be actuated, a spring associated with each shoe, and an actuating member which is connected to the door and is movable with the garage door when the door is closed to lock the shoes together and to place tension on said springs so that when the garage door is opened the springs will successively move the actuating member in the opposite direction and will aid in opening the door and means whereby the tension on those springs which are first released during initial upward movement of the garage doorV is greater than the tension placed on each of the other springs so that only a comparatively small torce is required to initiate the opening of the door.

Another object of the invention is to provide in combination with a door, apparatus including a plurality of members t be actuated, resilient means associated with each member to be actuated and an actuating member which is connected to and is movable with the door when the door is opened to lock the members to be actuated together and to place tension on the resilient means associated with each of the members to be actuated, and means whereby greater tension may be placed upon the resilient means associated with the members to be actuated which are released when the door approaches its closed position.

My invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a garage door having a cable secured to each end of the door;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of my improved apparatus with parts broken away as seen from a plane passing through the line 2 2 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction ofthe arrows;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of my improved apparatus with parts broken away and parts in section and showing the actuating member at one end orP the apparatus and the shoes in a released position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 3 but showing the actuating member at substantially the opposite end of the apparatus and substantially all of the shoes in a locked position;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on a plane passing through the line 5-5' of FIG. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FiG. 6 is an enlarged detail view of three of the shoes and the actuating means showing the shoes in full lines in their locked position and in dotted lines in their released position;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the upper portion of a door with parts broken away and showing an elevational view of my improved apparatus;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of my improved apparatus with parts secured to a door and parts secured to the door frame and showing the parts in fulllines when the door is in its closed position and in dotted lines when the door is in its open position;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of my apparatus secured to a door with parts shown in plan, parts shown broken away, and parts in section;

FIG. 10 is partly a side elevational view and partly a sectional view taken on a plane passing through the line lil- 14) of FIG. 9, looking in the direction of the arrows and with parts shown broken away; and

FIG. 1l is an enlarged detail View illustrating the man- L' ner in which the tension of the springs associated with each shoe and pintle may be adjusted.

Although as previously stated, the essential features of my invention may be utilized in combination with apparatus of any desired type in which resilient means is stressed during the movement of an element or combination of elements and in which the stressed resilient means returns or aids in returning the element or combination of elements to their original position, for purposes of illustration, my improved apparatus is shown in FIGS. l to 6 in combination with an overhead garage door and the resilient means are stressed when the garage door is closed so they will aid the operator in opening the door when the stress on the resilient means is released.

As shown in the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a garage door arranged to close an opening in a frame 2 to which a cable 3 is secured by suitable means, such as a stud 4 having an opening therein through which the cable extends. The opposite end of the cable is trained around a xed pulley 5 and a tloating pulley 6 and is then secured to the frame. As shown in FIG. 2, my improved apparatus is designated generally by the numeral 7 and includes a casing a plurality of members 9 to be actuated, an actuating member 1t?, and resilient means 11 associated with each of the members to be actuated.

As shown more particularly in FIG. 5, a bar 12 which may be welded or otherwise secured to the rear wall or" the casing provides a support for a plurality of spaced pintles l13, each of which is secured by a pressed tit in an aperture in the bar 12 and upon each of which a shoe 14 is rotatably mounted. Each of the shoes includes a heel 1S and a toe le and associated with each shoe and pintle is one of the resilient means which as shown is in the form of a spring il. Each of the springs 1l has one end anchored in the heel of the shoe and is coiled around the pintle 13 and its opposite end is anchored in a disc or support 17 secured to the free end of the pintle and in accordance with my invention, means are provided to provide access to the pintles for adjusting the springs. As shown in FIG. 5, the front of the casing is in the form of a panel 1S which is removably secured to the casing in any desired manner. As shown, the top wall of the casing has a downwardly extending llange 19 which has 'spaced threaded openings therein and the bottom wall has an upwardly extending lange 20 having spaced threaded openings therein and a panel 18 is secured to the flanges 19 and 2G) by suitable means, such as studs, threaded throughthe panel and the threaded openings in the upper and lower anges.

To adjust the spring 11 associated with each of the pintles, the disc or support 17 is provided with a collar 21 which surrounds pintle 15 and has a plurality of aligned apertures therein. Tre outer end of thc pintle is also provided with an aperture and a pin 22 extends through the aligned apertures in the collar and the aperture in the pintle which holds support I7 in place. When pin 22 is removed, however, support 17 may be rotated around pintle 13 and the pin may be inserted through a different pair of apertures in the collar and the aperture in pintle 13 or if support 17 is rotated through 360 the pin 22 may be inserted through the same pair of apertures to extend through the pintle. As shown, the collar 21 is provided with three pairs of apertures.

When the garage door is open, the actuating member 10 is in the position shown in FIG. 3 and consists of a metal block which as shown has a curved portion between its front and upper faces and any suitable means may be provided, such as cable 23, which may be welded or otherwise secured to the actuating member and the movable pulley 6, to move the actuating means within the casing. As shown, the cable 23 extends through the forward end of the casing and a supporting ferrule 24 welded or otherwise secured to the forward end of the casing and is secured to a clevis 25 through the arms of which a pin 26 extends upon which pulley 6 is rotatably mounted.

With the parts in the position shown in FIG. 2, it will be apparent that when the garage door is closed, floating pulley 6 to which the actuator 10 is secured is moved to the right to the position shown in FIG. 2 and as the actuating block is moved forwardly it successively engages the toe of each shoe, moving the heels of the shoes in engagement with each other to lock them in place as shown more particularly in FIG. 6 of the drawings and also placing tension on each of the springs 11. It will be noted that as the actuating block is moved forwardly, each toe of each shoe is engaged by the forward face of the block and as the actuating block is moved forwardly the toe iirst slides over the curved portion of the block between the front and top face and as the block proceeds in this forward direction, the heel of the next shoe raises the toe of the preceding shoe to space it from the upper face of the actuating block.

When the door is in its fully closed position, the heels of shoes are locked together and tension is placed on each of the springs. When the operator opens the door, however, the force upon the actuating block is released and the spring surrounding the pintle 13 of shoe 9a forces block rearwardly whereupon the front face of the block is then engaged by the toe of shoe 9b as shown in FIG. 4 and the toes of each of the other shoes in succession until the block reaches the rearward end of the casing. The resilient means therefore aid in opening the door. When the garage door is completely closed, it is in a vertical position and because such doors are comparatively heavy, a

` comparatively large force is required to open the door.

After the door is initially opened, however, part of the door assumes a level position and as the opening of the door continues, the force for moving the door to open position gradually decreases. In ordinary garage doors, if suicient tension is placed upon the springs when the garage door is closed to enable the door to be opened by a gentle lift, the movement of the door in its partly open position frequently moves it at a speed higher than is desirable. In accordance with my invention, however, the tension on the spring associated with the shoes 9a, 9b and 9c are stressed to a suicient extent to provide the necessary force to aid in moving the door from its fully closed to its partly open position and the tension on the remaining springs are so adjusted that the upper portion of the door after the door is partly opened will move laterally under only the required amount of force to fully open the door. This may be done by providing stronger springs surrounding those pintles which are tensioned as the door approaches its closed position than the springs surrounding the other pintles or if the springs surrounding pintles 9a, 9b and 9c at the forward end of the casing have the same strength as the other springs, a greater amount of tension is placed upon each of these springs than the spring which surrounds each of the pintles about which each of the other shoes is rotatable. As shown in FIG. 5, the block 10 is arranged to slide in proximity to the rear wall of the casing and to prevent lateral movement of the block, a metal strip 27 is secured by suitable means, such as welding, to the bottom wall of the casing.

Another modification of my invention is shown in FIGS. 7 to l1, inclusive, in which my apparatus is utilized to close a door, such as a house or ofce door, and particularly a school house door. As shown, a semicircular casing 28 is provided having outwardly extending flanges 29 and 3@ through which suitable fastening devices, such as screws 31, extend by means of which the casingmay be secured to the upper portion of a door'32.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and l0, the casing consists of a rear wall 33 and upper and lower covers 34 and 35, each of which is provided with a semicircular-shaped flange 36 and 37, respectively, which slidably engages the interior wall of the casing and abut against the inwardly extending semicircular anges 38 and 39, respectively, of similarly shaped annular supports 40 and 41 for the outer ends of the spaced pintles 42, the central portion of each of which Apintles extends through a semicircular inwardly extending support 43 having upwardly and downwardly extending abutments 44 and 45 which are engaged by the hubs 46 and 47, respectively, of a series of upper and lower shoes 48, each of which shoes consists of a heel 49 and a toe 50.

While the shoes snugly engage the pintles, they are rotatable thereon when an actuating device engages the toe of the shoe and resilient means associated with each shoe is stressed when the actuating member is moved in one direction which resilient means serves to move the actuating member in the opposite direction when the force upon the actuating means is released. As shown, the resilient means associated with each of the upper shoes consists of a coil spring 51 having one end anchored in the shoe in proximity to its heel and its opposite end anchored in the bifurcated portion of an arm or support 52 which is rotatable lon the pintle 42 but it held against rotation by a pin 53, the lower portion of which extends through aligned orifices in arm 52 and support 40. As shown, arm 52 is held in engagement with support 40 by suitable means, such as a pin 54. In a like manner, resilient means for each of the lower shoes consists of a coil spring 55, one end of which is anchored in a lower shoe in proximity to its heel andis coiled around pintle 42 and its outer end is anchored in the bifurcated end of an arm or support 56 which is held against rotation on support 41 by means of a pin 57, the lower portion of which is inserted in aligned apertures in arm S6 and support 41. Arm 56 is held in engagement with support 41 by any suitable means, such as a pin 54 extending through pintle 42 as shown in FIG. 11.

In accordance with my invention as shown in FIGS. 7 to 11, each of the shoes may be considered a member to be actuated and an actuating member is provided to simultaneously engage the toes of the upper and lower shoes and to move them to a position in which the upper series of shoes are locked together and the lower series of shoes are locked together and tension is placed upon the spring of each shoe which springs return the actuating member to its original position and close the door when the opening force upon the door is released. As shown, a bearing 58 which extends through cover 34 is secured to the wall '33 below the cover and a shaft 59 extends through the bearing, the upper portion of which is splined to mesh with similar internal splines in the hub 60 of lever arm 61 extending therefrom which is pivotally connected at its Vother end to a rod or link 62, the other end of which link is pivotally connected to a bracket 63 secured to the frame 64 of the door and secured to shaft 59 within the casing is an actuating member 59a which is shaped to engage the toes of the shoes and to lock the upper series of shoes together and the lower series of shoes together and to place tension on each of the springs 51 and S5 during the opening of the door. As shown in FIG. 9, during the opening of the door, the actuating member 59a is moved from the position shown in full lines in FIG. 9 to the dotted line position and the arm 61 and link 62 are moved from the full line positions shown in FIG. 8 to the dotted line positions and when the opening force upon the door is released, the tension on springs 51 and 55 engage the actuating member and return the door to its closed position. The manner in which the shoes are locked together during the movement of the actuating member is shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 of the drawing and the manner in which the actuating member is returned to its original position is shown in FIG. 4.

Means are also provided to vary the tension on each of the springs. As shown the upper and lower supports 40 and 41 each have a plurality of apertures adjacent each pintle and when it is desired to increase the tension on a spring, pin 53 is removed and arm 52 is rotated around pintle 42 to a position in which the pin passing through arm 52 may be inserted in another opening in support 40.

' As shown in dotted lines, arm 52 may be rotated to such an extent that the pin 53 may be inserted in the iifth aperture in support 40. The tension on spring 55 may,Y of

7 course be increased in a similar manner and covers 34 and 3S may be removed to provide access to the arms 52 and 56 and pins 53 and 57.

During the closing of house or oiice doors, it is generally desirable to provide suiiicient tension so that the door will close gently from its open position to its fully closed position without slamming but in which suiicient tension is provided to move the door to its fully closed position so that the latch will be actuated. It is therefore desirable to increase the tension on the springs which move the door to its final position or to provide springs for this purpose which may be stronger or made of stronger material than the other springs.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus including a casing, a series of spaced pintles, means arranged within the casing for supporting said pintles, a support connected to one end of each of said pintles, a shoe rotatably mounted on another' portion of each of said pintles, said shoe having a heel portion and a toe portion, a spring having one end anchored in the heel of each of said shoes and its other end anchored in the support connected to the pintle on which the shoe is rotatable, an actuating member arranged in said casing which is progressively movable into engagement with the toes of said shoes to place tension on each of said springs, and said pintles being arranged in such close proximity to each other that the heels of said shoes are progressively locked together as the actuating member progressively engages the toes of said shoes, and the tension on said springs being released when the force on the actuating member is released to cause the toes of said shoes to engage the actuating means and move it in the opposite direction.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said support is rotatable on said pintle and which includes means whereby said support may be set in a position to vary the tension on said spring.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim l in which an upper and lower series of shoes are provided and in which the actuating member progressively engages the toes of both series of shoes as it is moved in one direction to lock the heels of the shoes in the upper series together and the heels of the shoes in the lower series together and to place tension on each of said springs and in which the tension on the springs is progressively released to move the toes of both series of shoes into engagement with the actuating member to return the actuating member to its original position.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 including a door movable between open and closed positions, a frame surrounding the door, a semicircular casing secured to said door and said actuating member being arranged within the casing, a bearing extending through said casing, a shaft arranged within the casing to which the actuating member is secured, the outer portion of which shaft extends through said bearing, a first arm connected to the outer end of said shaft, a second arm pivotally connected to the frame of said door, and the outer end of said first arm being pivotally connected to the free end of the second arm, and said actuating member being movable by said arms during the opening of said door to engage the toes of said shoes to progressively place tension on said springs as the door is opened and said springs being effective during the release of tension on sai-d springs for forcing the toes of said shoes into engagement with said actuating means to move the actuating means to its original position and to close said door.

5. Apparatus as dened in claim 1 including a door movable between open and closed positions, a fran e surrounding said door, a semicircular casing secured to said door, a support connected to each end of said pintles and said shoes including an upper series, each of which is rotatably mounted on the central portion of one of said pintles, and a lower series, each of which is rotatably mounted on the central portion of one of said pintles, a spring anchored in each heel of each of the upper series of shoes which is coiled around the pintle upon which the shoe is mounted and the opposite end of which is anchored in the support at the upper end of said pintle, a spring anchored in each of the heels of each of the lower series of shoes which is coiled around tie pintle on which the shoe is mounted and is anchored in the support at the lower end of said pintle, a bearing extending through the upper cover of said casing, an actuating member arranged within the casing, a shaft arranged within the casing to which the actuating member is secured, the outer end of which shaft extends through said bearing, an arm conected to the outer end of said shaft, the outer end of which is pivotally connected to a second arm which second arm is pivotally connected to the frame of said door, and said actuating means being movable during the opening of said door to engage the toes of said shoes to progressively place tension on said springs as the door is opened and said springs being effective during the release of the tension thereon for forcing the toes of said shoes into engagement with said actuating means to move the actuating means to its original position and to close said door.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 in which the support on each of said pintles is rotatable and is settable in ditferent positions so that the tension on each of said springs may be varied.

7. Apparatus including a garage door, a frame surrounding said door, a cable secured to said door which extends around a iixed pulley and a oating pulley and is secured to said frame, a casing, a series of spaced pintles arranged in said casing, means for supporting said pintles, a support mounted on the free end of each of said pintles, a shoe rotatable on each of said pintles and having a heel portion and a toe portion, a spring coiled around each of said pintles and having one end anchored in said shoe and its opposite end connected to the support for each pintle, an actuating member movable in said casing and being connected to the oating pulley whereby when the garage door is closed, the actuating member is moved to engage the toes of said shoes to progressively lock the heels of the shoes together and place tension on said resilient means and the tension on said springs when released being effective in progressively moving said actuating member in the opposite direction to thereby assist in the opening of the garage door.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 7 in which the support on the outer end of each of the pintles is rotatable and means are provided to retain it in different angular positions to vary the tension on said springs.

9. Apparatus as dened in claim 8 in which the springs secured to the supports and shoes which are actuated as the garage door approaches closed position are tensioned to a greater extent than the springs surrounding the other pintles so that they will assist in opening of the door to a greater degree as the door is moved from its vertical position to a partial vertical and a partly horizontal position.

10. Apparatus including a plurality of spaced supports arranged in proximity to each other, a member to be actuated mounted for rotative movement on each support, resilient means associated with each support and the member thereon to be actuated, each of said members to be actuated having an outwardly extending portion, a heel portion, and a locking portion, an actuating member for successively engaging the outwardly extending portion of each of a plurality of members to be actuated and for rotating each member to be actuated on its support to a position in which the resilient means associated therewith is compressed and the locking portion of the second member to be actuated engages the heel portion of the rst actuated member and the locking portion of each of the succeeding actuated members engages the heel portion of each preceding actuating member to lock the actuated members together when the actuating member engages the outwardly extending portion of and successively rotates each ot the members to be actuated on its support during its movement in one direction and the outwardly extending portion of each of said actuated members being successively engageable with the actuating member to gradually return the actuating member to its original position when the force upon the actuating member is released.

11. Apparatus including a plurality of spaced supports arranged in proximity to each other, a member to be actuated mounted for rotative movement on each support, resilient means associated with each support and the member thereon to be actuated, each of said members to be actuated having an outwardly extending toe portion, a heel portion, and a locking portion, an actuating member having a front face, a top portion, and a curved portion between its front faceand its top portion, said actuating member being movable to cause its front face to successively engage the toe portion of each of the members to be actuated to move each of the toe portions upwardly and to cause it'to engage the toe portion of the next member to be actuated to move the second member to be actuated to a position in which its locking portion engages the heel of the preceding actuated member to lock the members to be actuated together when the actuating member engages the outwardly extending toe portions of and successively rotates each of the members to be actuated on its support during its movement in one direction and each of said resilient means being successively effective in forcing the outwardly extending toe portion of each of the members to be actuated into engagement with the front face of the actuating member to gradually return it to its original position when the force upon the actuating member is released.

12. Apparatus including a plurality of spaced supports arranged in proximity to each other, a member to be actuated rotatively movable on each support, each of said members to be actuated having an outwardly extending toe portion, a heel portion, and a locking portion, a spring having one end anchored in the heel prtion of each of the members to be actuated and a portion coiled about and anchored to the support on which the member to be actuated is rotatable, an actuating member for successively engaging the outwardly extending toe portion of each of a plurality of the members to be actuated and for rotating each member to be actuated to a position in which the spring associated therewith is compressed and the locking portion of the second member to be actuated engages a heel portion of the rst actuated member and the locking portions of each of the succeeding members to be actuated engages the `heel portion of the preceding actuated member to lock the actuated members together when the actuating member engages they outwardly extending toe portion of and successively rotates each of the members to be actuated on its support to compress the spring associated therewith during its movement in one direction, means associated with each support and the coil spring surrounding it whereby some of the springs may be compressed to a greater extent than other springs during movement of the actuating member, and each of said resilient means being successively eiiective in moving the toe portion of each of themembers to be actuated into engagement with the actuating member with a force which is proportional to the amount that its spring is compressed to return the actuating member to its original position when the force thereon is released.

13. Apparatus including a garage door, a frame surrounding said door, a fixed pulley and a floating pulley, a cable secured to said door which extends around the fixed pulley and the oating pulley and is secured to said frame, a plurality of spaced supports arranged in proximity to each other, a member to be actuated associated with each support, resilient means associated with each support and each of lsaid members to be actuated having an outwardly extending toe portion, a heel portion, and a locking portion, an actuating member secured to said floating pulley and being movable during the closing of said door to engage the outwardly extending toe portion of each of the members to be actuated to rotate each member to be actuated on its support to a position in which the resilient means associated therewith is compressed and the locking member of the second member to be actuated engages the heel portion of the first actuated member and the locking portion of each of the other members to be actuated engages the heel portion of the preceding actuated member to lock the actuated members together when the actuating member engages the outwardly extending toe'portions of and successively rotates each of the members to be actuated on itsrsup-l port during its movement in one direction and each of said resilient members being successively effective when the door is opened in forcing the outwardly extending toe portions of each of the members to be actuated into engagement with the actuating member to ,gradually return the door to its original position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,425,528 Lind Aug. 15, 1922 2,166,746 Bami Juiy 1s, 1939 2,693,614 Morawetz Nov. 9, 1954

Claims (1)

1. APPARATUS INCLUDING A CASING, A SERIES OF SPACED PINTLES, MEANS ARRANGED WITHIN THE CASING FOR SUPPORTING SAID PINTLES, A SUPPORT CONNECTED TO ONE END OF EACH OF SAID PINTLES, A SHOE ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON ANOTHER PORTION OF EACH OF SAID PINTLES, SAID SHOE HAVING A HEEL PORTION AND A TOE PORTION, A SPRING HAVING ONE END ANCHORED IN THE HEEL OF EACH OF SAID SHOES AND ITS OTHER END ANCHORED IN THE SUPPORT CONNECTED TO THE PINTLE ON WHICH THE SHOE IS ROTATABLE, AN ACTUATING MEMBER ARRANGED IN SAID CASING WHICH IS PROGRESSIVELY MOVABLE INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE TOES OF SAID SHOES TO PLACE TENSION ON EACH OF SAID SPRINGS, AND SAID PINTLES BEING ARRANGED IN SUCH CLOSE PROXIMITY TO EACH OTHER THAT THE HEELS OF SAID SHOES ARE PROGRESSIVELY LOCKED TOGETHER AS THE ACTUATING MEMBER PROGRESSIVELY ENGAGES THE TOES OF SAID SHOES, AND THE TENSION ON SAID SPRINGS BEING RELEASED WHEN THE FORCE ON THE ACTUATING MEMBER IS RELEASED TO CAUSE THE TOES OF SAID SHOES TO ENGAGE THE ACTUATING MEANS AND MOVE IT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

Images