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 door arrangement monitoring method, a safety device (5) and a door arrangement (1), including the safety device (5), are provided. The method monitors a monitored area positioned in front of a door opening, offset and parallel to a door closing plane, and performs a failure routine when an object (6) is detected in the monitored area and there is a risk of a collision of the object (6) with a door leaf (2). A current position of the object (6), and of a leading edge (23) of the door leaf (2), are detected. A direction of movement of the door leaf (2) is detected. The failure routine is initiated as a function of the current position of the object (6) and the leading edge (23) of the door leaf (2) as well as the direction of movement of the door leaf (2).

An example apparatus 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.

A motorized shade comprising a motor adapted to lower or raise a shade material for selectively covering an architectural opening based on a position of the sun. The motorized shade comprises a controller adapted to drive the motor phase according to a startup sequence by ramping up amplitude form an initial amplitude to a startup amplitude and ramping up frequency from an initial frequency to a drive frequency, drive the motor phase according to a full drive sequence to move the shade material by driving the motor phase according to a sinusoidal waveform at a set maximum amplitude and at a drive frequency, and drive the motor phase according to a wind down sequence by reducing frequency from the drive frequency to an end frequency and reducing the amplitude from the maximum amplitude to an end amplitude.

Motorized window treatment systems are disclosed. A motorized window treatment system may include a covering material, a sensor circuit, and a control circuit. The sensor circuit may be configured to generate sensor signals indicative of a position of the covering material. The control circuit may be configured to determine a present sensor state of the sensor circuit, determine a predicted sensor state for the sensor circuit based at least in part on a power-down position recorded at a first time and a final position recorded at a second time, compare the predicted sensor state with the present sensor state, and determine a present position of the covering material based on the comparison of the predicted sensor state and the present sensor state. Methods of adjusting a position of a covering material of a motorized window treatment also are disclosed.

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.

Improved systems and methods for operating moveable architectural elements (e.g., furniture) are described. The system can include improved features implemented throughout various elements, including hardware elements, controller elements, and/or software elements. As one example, the system can feature the ability to map a characteristic load profile across a particular length of actuation and, if during operation a measured load exceeds the profile, adjust (e.g., stop) the system's motion. The system can also advantageously map its current draw to increase energy efficiency. In addition, the system can include a positioning system that enables it to automatically determine its position upon start up and during operation. In some implementations, the system includes multiple moveable elements (e.g., furniture items). In some cases, power is distributed to the moveable element(s) using a moveable power distribution module. Many other improvements and features are contemplated and described.

This invention relates to an apparatus for vertically closing an opening, the apparatus comprising a fixed element attached to a surface and placed above an opening such as a window, doorway, or the like. The apparatus further comprising a roller connected to said fixed element, a shielding element attached to the roller, the shielding element being adapted to be wound on and unwound from the roller. The apparatus further comprising a number of sensor arrangements and a condition monitoring device configured to receive data from at least one of the number of sensor arrangements and to directly or indirectly compare the data with reference data such that a service need and/or a safety issue can be identified.

Systems, methods, and modes for controlling one or more roller shades in order to substantially synchronize and uniformly align a plurality of roller shades. Each shade comprises a roller tube, a shade material connected to the roller tube, a motor adapted to rotate the roller tube, and a controller. The controller is adapted to: drive the motor between a first limit position and a second limit position of the shade material at a first rotational speed; determine a run time it took the motor to move the shade material between the first limit position and the second limit position; using at least the determined run time, determine a second rotational speed for the controller to drive the motor between the first limit position and the second limit position within a predetermined run time; and set the motor to operate according to the second rotational speed.

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.