Importance

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Abstract

A safety edge assembly, for a movable closure such as a garage door, automatically reverses the direction of travel of the door when the door encounters an obstruction. The safety edge assembly includes an electrically conductive mounting rail fixed to the door, and a deformable tubular member supported on the mounting rail. A conductive member on the tubular member is movable, upon deformation of the tubular member, from a first position normally spaced from the conductive mounting rail into a second position in engagement with the conductive mounting rail to complete an electrical circuit for controlling the direction of movement of the door. An end plug for closing the open end of the tubular member has a nonconductive portion for insertion between the end of the conductive member, which may fray or otherwise move out of position while being cut to length in the field, and the end of the conductive mounting rail to provide electrical insulation therebetween. A method of controlling operation of a movable door includes the step of moving an electrically conductive member on a deformable member on a leading edge of the door into electrical contact with an electrically conductive mounting rail on the leading edge of the door, under the influence of forces applied to the deformable member by contact of the tubular member with an obstruction, to control actuation of the movable door.

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First Claim