The Garage Door Encyclopedia

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The opener

A common misconception regarding openers is that the door opener lifts the door directly, however, most of the lifting is done by the counterbalance system using either torsion springs or linear expansion springs. There are also several clever counterweight systems. All of these systems allow the door to be moved with much less force and allows the door to come to rest in partially open positions.

The most common style of operator for residential use is the trolley operator. The motor hangs near the center of the ceiling and a rail guides the trolley across the ceiling to the top of the doorway. The trolley is attached to the door arm that is then attached to the top of the door.When the trolley traverses the rail the door opens and closes.

There are several ways to make the trolley move across the rail. Older systems include a rotating rail with a wheeled trolley that used the rotary motion of the rail (pole) to force the trolley across the distance. It was called a monkey on a pole. It was too dangerous, but it did inspire the screw drive system which the Genie Company originally marketed.

The screw drive system uses a long screw that is encased in the rail. The rail guides the trolley and the screw pushes the trolley. This system opens a door slower than a chain or belt drive system, but can apply more force. This system is best used on a one piece door known as a California Door or heavy doors such as carriage house doors. The heavier the door the slower it should move for safety and longevity of the door and operator.

Most current systems have a chain loop or a steel-reinforced rubber belt that pulls the trolley across the rail. The rubber belt reduces the noise during operation.

The trolley style operator often is encumbered with obstacles (beams, pipes, etc) or it becomes an obstruction itself. For these situations, another style of operator is used: the jackshaft operator. It works only with the torsional spring type of counterbalance system. Instead of attaching to the door, the operator attaches to the spring shaft. Rotation of the shaft still allows the springs to do most of the lifting while adding the extra force to move the door. The major advantage is that this operator is mounted to the side of the door and does not require a rail.

Jackshaft operators are not as popular due to the cost of the additional hardware required to overcome the inherent security and safety issues:

• An electrical solenoid lock to prevent the door being opened by force.
• A mechanism, such as a cable tension monitor mounted between the drum and the door, to detect that the door is not closing due to an obstruction.

Neither of these additional components is necessary with a trolley style operator.

Yet another style of opener available is one that is attached directly onto the spring shaft alongside with the torsion spring, and is located directly in the space on top of the door mounted to the wall. Such systems eliminate the rail, belts, and jackshafts, although this is a relatively new technology.

A recently introduced feature in the garage door opener market is a battery backup system. When power to the home is lost, residents are still able to get in and out of their garage. An added feature is that all opener safety features still function while the unit is operating on battery power.

The torsion spring itself is a physics marvel , there are three variables involved in a typical garage torsion spring (see Picture B) Length, inside diameter, and wire size or gauge. Each variable works independently of the other and can be varied to lengthen the lifetime of the spring. Torsion springs come in two different varieties galvanized or standard oil tempered springs, the galvanized being the better choice of the two. A galvanised torsion spring tends to have a longer lifetime and tend to be non corrosive. The most common grade
of torsion springs will last about 10,000 cycles. The steel experiences large amounts of force each time the door opens or closes. Gradually,the steel fatigues and eventually breaks, usually releasing its stored energy in an instant with a loud

bang.

Forces are developed in torsion springs, wound on a steel tube or “torsion tube” traditionally located above the header. When installing a garage door system a technician will wind the torsion springs and lock them in place on the tube The springs then store potential mechanical energy which is distributed via torque, as a tension on both sides of the garage door. Of course a set of garage door springs must develop enough tension in the cables to counter balance gravities effect on the door itself. door weight=mg=f Newtons famous equation works great here it gets a little more difficult to understand what spring size to use for what weight of door.

The garage door is an amazing dynamic system with torques, tensions and gravitational force all in one. Prior to the existence of the automobile, the primary method of transportation was by horse and carriage. When not in use, people stored horse carriages in what were known as a carriage house, barn-like outbuildings with swing doors for access.

During the early years of the 20th century, cars were working their way into society. Ford Motor Co. was one of the pioneers of the automotive revolution, shipping its first vehicle to a Detroit physician on July 20, 1903. One hundred later, cars have become a pillar of the industrialized world with an estimated 42 million vehicles produced per year.

When the automobile replaced the horse and carriage as the preferred method of transportation, storage of the automobile became an issue. Until about 1910, most people parked their cars in public parking garages where you could a space for a monthly fee. Soon, however, there wasn’t enough room in these garages and car owners began to incorporate garages onto their properties or near their homes.

Early garage doors were similar to carriage house doors using strap hinges and opening outwards. These doors were heavy and awkward to open. Hinges often broke or screws pulled out of the wood. If there was snow on the ground, the doors couldn’t easily be opened. A better door was truly needed. There are two main types of garage doors on the market today roll ups and one-piece-doors either way they are both

overhead doors.

The History

You won’t find his name in history books, but our founder, C.G. Johnson, invented the upward-lifting garage door in 1921. Followed by the electric door opener in 1926.

Today, the company he began is still recognized as the leading single source manufacturer of integrated door and operator systems for commercial, industrial and residential applications.

Now it was by no mistake that the invention of the over head garage door came about, it was aproximatly 20 years after Henry Ford invented the quadricycle. The production of the ford Motor cars were stating to flood the market place. Just Imagine if you had to get out of your Model-T in order to manually open your garage door.

The garage door encyclopedia is a compilation of information about all things having to do with garage doors

Indeed, the purpose of an encyclopedia is to collect knowledge disseminated around the globe; to set forth its general system to the men with whom we live, and transmit it to those who will come after us, so that the work of preceding centuries will not become useless to the centuries to come; and so that our offspring, becoming better instructed, will at the same time become more virtuous and happy, and that we should not die without having rendered a service to the human race.—Diderot[2]

Likewise, the purpose of the garage door encyclopedia is to act as one volume of information on the branch of knowledge compiled over the ages on garage doors.

Powered By: Omega Garage Door Service

A garage door spring is a lever in a way weather it is stretching or twisting its primary function is to lift the garage door below are a picture of different garage door springs in order of oldest to newest….

One-Piece Garage Doors

One piece doors use extension springs and a cantilever mechanism that help increase the lift.

1. The first type was super old and cannot really be found anywhere any more…  The extension spring would be mounted via a chain or system of rods coupled like a chain all the way in the back of the garage onto the wall, there was actually no safety strap inside them so when the garage door spring broke it would sometimes fly right through the wall of the garage. (DANGEROUS)
2. The Next type of Extension garage door spring is what you see in the picture above, these are standard on all one-piece garage doors today.
3. The third type of extension spring was used on older roll up garage doors and can be seen in the picture below

Then someone finally wised up with and created the modern garage door torsion system. At first and still today colled rolled steel was used for the coils but generally speaking a galvanised garage door torsion spring seems to last the longest (bottom right)

garage door springs