Patent Review

What inspired us...

A few notable existing patents were reviewed and listed here.

US5878530A

Remotely Controllable Automatic Door Operator Permitting Active and Passive Door Operation

This patent inspired us to explore the idea of a clutch design for passive use. This design uses an electronically controlled clutch to allow passive use. The clutch engages the motor drive and operator arm only when the motor opens the doors.

Link to Patent

US20110094160

Door Operator

A manual force to open or close the door will overcome static friction
between the operator arm and the friction discs in the clutch assembly, operatively
disengaging the operator arm and output shaft until the manual force is removed.

Link to Patent

US20090139141A1

Automatic door opener

This patent uses stored energy from manually moving a door to automatically open doors. This patent was reviewed further to broaden the scope of potential design solutions.

Link to Patent