A sensor apparatus for a movable barrier system having a rotatable drum and an elongate member that winds up on and pays out from an external surface of the rotatable drum. The sensor apparatus includes a base portion, a sensing portion, and a controller. The sensing portion senses a first spaced apart proximity of the elongate member relative to the sensing portion and a second spaced apart proximity of the elongate member relative to the sensing portion. The controller detects a change in the proximity of the elongate member relative to the sensing portion without the elongate member contacting the sensing portion.

A window regulator system for a window coupled to a door and movable between fully open and closed positions and a short drop position and method of operation are disclosed. The system includes rails with window regulator lifter plate assemblies being moveable along the rails by cables. A motor winds the cables to move the window. An electronic control unit detects operation of at least one of a door handle and a latch of the door to identify a short drop request corresponding to the door shut or opened. The electronic control unit ensures that no freeplay exists in the window regulator system to provide accurate movement of the window and controls the motor to selectively raise the window to the fully closed position in response to the door being shut and temporarily lower the window to the short drop position in response to identifying the short drop request.

A tensioner for a fenestration unit operator includes a base and a guide including a track, the track slidably receiving the base such that the base is restricted to sliding in a first direction with respect to the guide along a sliding axis and a second direction with respect to the guide along the sliding axis that is opposite to the first direction. The tensioner includes a pawl and a ratchet each being a part of one of the sled and the guide, respectively, the pawl being in biased engagement with the ratchet to permit sliding in the first direction and restrict sliding in the second direction, the pawl being configured to be manually disengaged from the ratchet to permit sliding in the second direction. The tensioner includes a pulley coupled to the sled such that the pulley is free to rotate about a rotational axis that is transverse to the sliding axis.

A device for compensating cable play within a cable window-lifter, including a cable including at least one section with a Bowden, the device including a cable-guiding element configured to receive an end of the Bowden, mounted in an axially displaceable manner in a receptacle, the device including a spring arranged between a supporting surface of the receptacle and a head of the cable-guiding element, configured to keep the cable under tension and thereby compensating cable play, where stop surfaces are provided on the cable-guiding element and on the receptacle, which can engage with each other during the loading of the cable and thereby stop further compensation of the spring, and where an elastic material damping the stop noises is arranged between the stops.

The overhead door lift assembly integrates a traditional torsion spring and an electrically powered operator into a small package mountable in the available head space of conventional tractor trailers, cargo vehicles or other structures. The lift assembly includes a torsion spring counterbalance, electrical operator, and back tension mechanism. The electrical operator uses an electromagnetic clutch and gearbox that couples directly to the cable drums of the counterbalance. The electromagnetic clutch allows the overhead door to be manually raised and lowered in the event of a power interruption or operator malfunction. The back tension mechanism prevents cables from inadvertently unspooling from cable drums as the operator starts to move the overhead door from its horizontal open position to its vertical closed position.

A tailgate opening assembly includes a tailgate that is hingedly coupled to a trailer. The tailgate is positionable between a closed position and an open position. A pair of biasing members is each coupled to the trailer. Each of the biasing members is biased into a compressed position and each of the biasing members is stretchable into a stretched position. A plurality of pulleys is each coupled to a respective one of the biasing members and the trailer. A pair of cables is each of the cables is routed through respective ones of the pulleys and the tailgate such that the tailgate is in mechanical communication with each of the biasing members. Each of the biasing members assists a user with opening and closing the tailgate.

An adjustable length counterbalance mechanism for lift doors, frequently used for cargo trailers and garages. The adjustable length torque shaft of the counterbalance mechanism is able to accommodate many different lift door widths and is simpler to install than a fixed length torque shaft. In embodiments, the adjustable torque shaft is comprised of two outer torque shafts, each with a torsion spring and cable drum and a middle torque shaft that can be assembled together. The middle torque shaft can be inserted into each of the outer torque shafts to a selected depth to determine the length of the adjustable torque shaft.

A motor vehicle drive assembly which is equipped with a drive element and an abutment, and also with at least one spring between the drive element and the abutment. In addition, there is at least one drive element sensor which, depending on the application of force by the drive element counter to the force of the spring and an associated relative movement between the drive element and the abutment, transmits sensor signals to a control unites. According to the invention, the drive element sensor, depending on the application of force by the drive element, generates different force-dependent, sliding sensor signals which are evaluated by the control unites, for example to drive an actuating element.

An opening and closing body drive device for a vehicle opening and closing an opening and closing body of the vehicle includes a belt frame extending in a moving direction of the opening and closing body, a drive unit including an output shaft, a drive pulley connected to the output shaft of the drive unit, plural driven pulleys arranged spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction of the belt frame, a belt wounded around the drive pulley and the plural driven pulleys and fixed with a connector with respect to the opening and closing body, and a biasing member supported at the belt frame and pressing the belt from inward thereof.

A door tensioning system for an oven or other appliance includes a chain and spring assembled as a pull member attached at one end to a door and at an opposite end to a base member of the appliance in a manner maintaining spring-mediated tension between the door and the base/bulk of the appliance. The pull member is routed around a bracket-assembly-mounted pulley, where the bracket assembly includes at least one movable bracket member that is movable with the pulley in a manner that will increase or decrease tension in the pull member by increasing/decreasing its effective length between its ends.