Methods and apparatus to control architectural opening covering assemblies are disclosed herein. An architectural covering assembly including an architectural covering; a tube to which the architectural covering is coupled; a manual controller operatively coupled to the tube to rotate the tube; a motor including a motor housing and a motor shaft; and a clutch assembly including a clutch and a clutch housing in which the clutch is disposed, the motor shaft coupled to the clutch and the clutch coupled to the manual controller to hold the motor shaft substantially stationary when the architectural covering is moved under an influence of the motor to cause the motor housing to rotate with the clutch housing and the tube.

A motor driven system for raising and lowering a window covering executes motor ramp trajectory speed control. The motor ramp trajectory limits acceleration of an external motor from the idle (stationary) state to full operating speed, and limits deceleration of the motor from full operating speed back to the idle state. This function reduces stresses on a continuous cord loop drive mechanism. A control system manages solar heating effects in response to sunlight entrance conditions such as system sensor outputs, external weather forecasts, and other data sources. The system automatically opens or close the window covering to increase or decrease admitted sunlight under appropriate conditions. The input interface of the control system includes a visual display and input axis, which are aligned vertically if the window covering mechanism raises and lowers the window covering, and are aligned horizontally if the window covering mechanism laterally opens and closes the window covering.

An automatic door opening system includes an element that is rotatable to change a position of a door. A potentiometer is coupled to the element such that rotation of the element in one direction increases a resistance of the potentiometer and rotation of the element in the opposite direction decreases the resistance. A controller is configured to rotate the element concurrently with monitoring the resistance of the potentiometer, and stop the rotation when the resistance of the potentiometer is indicative of a target position of the door.

The invention relates to a vertically movable gate with a gate panel comprising several gate panel segments, where two adjacent gate panel segments are each hingedly connected to one another by way of at least one hinge, and with a motorized drive which transmits a force for lifting and lowering the gate panel via at least one drive means to the gate panel, and a connection means for connecting the drive means to the gate panel. Gates of the type mentioned at the outset are improved according to the invention such that, though such a gate can be moved easily between an open and a closed position largely independent of the forces arising, it nevertheless provides a compact and simultaneously stable and fail-safe design in that several gate panel segments are each individually connected to the drive means.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed for door curtain breakaway detection. An example apparatus disclosed herein includes a sensor to detect a lateral edge of a door curtain within a guide of a door, and a controller to identify when the door curtain transitions from an operational state to a breakaway state based on a signal from the sensor, the operational state corresponding to when the lateral edge of the door curtain is enclosed by the guide as the door curtain moves between open and closed positions, and the breakaway state corresponding to when a portion of the lateral edge of the door curtain below an upper end of the guide breaks away from the guide.

Systems and methods for configuring a user device to remotely control a plurality of architectural structural coverings are described. A user device receives a plurality of broadcast signals from a plurality of architectural structural coverings. Each individual broadcast signal is associated with an individual architectural structural covering and relays position information for the individual architectural structural covering. Each broadcast signal is also associated with an individual entry in a list of entries displayed on a user interface of the user device. Each entry comprises a representation of an architectural structural covering having a displayed position that matches position information from the broadcast signal and a position control for controlling a physical position of the associated architectural structural covering. When a user adjusts the position via the position control, an adjusted position instruction is sent to the associated architectural structural covering. The displayed position of the representation on the UI is changed to mirror a change in the physical position of the architectural structural covering as the user device observes broadcast position data from the architectural structural covering.

A clock comprises an alarm clock housing having a front face, a clock display occupying at least a portion of the front face, a control on the housing for activating a shade positioning function, and a processor within the housing. The processor is responsive to the control for generating at least one shade positioning command to be transmitted to at least one motorized window shade, so as to cause the motorized window shade to move to one or more position at one or more corresponding predetermined interval relative to an alarm time.

This electromechanical actuator configured for controlling screens includes an electronically-commutated, brushless, DC electric motor, a rotor and a stator of the electric motor being positioned coaxially around an axis of rotation, the rotor including a rotor body provided with magnetic elements distributed over the outer surface of the rotor, the magnetic elements of the rotor being surrounded by the stator, the stator being formed by a stator core including a circular peripheral wall and pole elements supporting windings, the pole elements being distributed on the inside of the peripheral wall. The ratio between the outer diameter of the stator and the inner diameter of same is less than 1.7. Further, the ratio between the axial length of the stator and the outer diameter of the stator is greater than 1.5.

A motor driven system for raising and lowering a window covering executes motor ramp trajectory speed control. The motor ramp trajectory limits acceleration of an external motor from the idle (stationary) state to full operating speed, and limits deceleration of the motor from full operating speed back to the idle state. This function reduces stresses on a continuous cord loop drive mechanism. A control system manages solar heating effects in response to sunlight entrance conditions such as system sensor outputs, external weather forecasts, and other data sources. The system automatically opens or close the window covering to increase or decrease admitted sunlight under appropriate conditions. The input interface of the control system includes a visual display and input axis, which are aligned vertically if the window covering mechanism raises and lowers the window covering, and are aligned horizontally if the window covering mechanism laterally opens and closes the window covering.

The present invention relates to a gate with a gate panel, comprising several gate panel sections which are hingedly coupled to each other by way of hinges, where a hinge comprises two hinge panels of adjacent gate panel sections, at least one elongate drive means which is connected to at least one gate panel section, and at least one guide means which is suitable to guide the gate panel during its motion. In order to optimize the gate with regard to its installation space, in particular in the width and depth direction, and to ensure simple and inexpensive yet at the same time still reliable operation of the gate, it is proposed to arrange the elongated drive means at least in sections received in the gate panel section.