A Little History about the Electric Garage Door Opener

Ever wonder where the electric garage door opener came from?  Believe it or not, it was invented as early as 1926 complements of inventor C.G. Johnson from Hartford City, Indiana. I imagine being from the Midwest he probably came up with it after tiring of having to exit his new Ford Model T Speedster in the hard cold winters to open his manual garage door in several inches of snow.  Having grown up in the automobile capitol myself with a manual garage door, like many, I am grateful for this wonderful creation.

Electric garage door openers started to become really popular when Era Motor Company of Chicago offered a model commercially after World War II where the overhead garage door could be opened via a key pad located on a post at the end of the driveway or by a switch inside the garage.

Oddly, most people don’t know that the electric opener does not provide the actual lifting power to open and close a heavy garage door. Design had a lot to do with it.  The actual lifting power comes from the counterbalance springs attached to the door. These springs are under tension to lift the garage door via steel counterbalance cables. The electric opener only controls how far the door opens and closes and the force the garage door exerts. In most cases, the garage door opener holds the door closed in place of a lock.

The typical electric garage door opener consists of a power unit that contains the electric motor that attaches to a track. A trolley connected to an arm that attaches to the top of the garage door slides back and forth on the track to open and close the garage door. The trolley is then pulled along the track by a chain, belt or screw that turns when the motor is activated. A quick-release mechanism like a cord is attached to the trolley to allow the garage door to be disconnected from the opener for manual operation during a power failure in case of an emergency. Limit switches on the power unit control the distance the garage door opens and closes once the motor receives a signal from the remote control or wall push button to operate the door.

As technology has improved, recently another type of opener called the jackshaft opener has become even more popular.  This style of opener was used frequently on commercial doors but in recent years has been adapted for residential use. These include a cable tension monitor to detect when a cable is broken and a separate locking mechanism to lock the door when it is fully closed. These have the advantage of freeing up ceiling space that an ordinary opener and rail would occupy. The one disadvantage however is that the door must have a torsion rod to attach to the motor.

The future of garage door openers looks even brighter.  With voice activated and Internet technologies the future looks even brighter for consumers of the garage door opener market. Just imagine having your door open before you pull in your driveway with one voice command programmed with your specific voice that also activates a heater inside your garage. Perhaps a robotic butler could be there to greet you with a toilette, refreshment and pre-dinner snack as well. Don’t be surprised!

Author Bio:
I am Aaron Lerner and my team and I write about the Garage Door Industry! We help expose all the Garage Door Hardware companies to give you the TRUTH! We provide extremely relevant information about all Garage Door Openers, Remotes, Parts, and more through our blog. Our experience of 20 years in the garage doors industry makes us an authority to provide you FREE and IMPORTANT information.