Abstract: A door operator includes a motor-driven mechanism to move a door between an open position and a closed position in response to activation of an improved control circuit. The improved control circuit includes circuitry to initialize the sequence of operation of the motor upon connection of power after installation of the door operator or upon restoration of power after a power outage. Obstruction detection circuitry is also included in the control circuit to stop or reverse the motor if the door encounters an obstacle during movement between the open and closed positions. Time delay circuitry cooperates with the obstruction detection circuitry so as to prevent stopping or reversing the motor due to the inertia of the door and of the drive mechanism as the door starts to open or close upon activation of the control circuit. During the time delay period, however, further manual activation of the control circuit is operative to stop and/or reverse movement of the door.

Abstract: A decorative plastic sheet material having intersecting tear lines formed in the surface of the sheet material whereby the material may be torn by hand in more than one direction. The decorative sheet material is composed of a polymeric material incorporating a dispersed phase. The sheet material is particularly suited for the manufacture of decorative surface coverings such as shelf liners and the like which require sizing of the material in both a lengthwise and widthwise direction to conform it to the dimensions of the surface being covered.

Abstract: Polymer blends of a polyester and polyvinyl alcohol, or their copolymers, may be fabricated into barrier packaging materials having very low permeabilities to oxygen, other fixed gases and moisture.

Abstract: A door operator includes a motor-driven mechanism to move a door between an open position and a closed position in response to activation of an improved control circuit. The improved control circuit includes circuitry to initialize the sequence of operation of the motor upon connection of power after installation of the door operator or upon restoration of power after a power outage. Obstruction detection circuitry is also included in the control circuit to stop or reverse the motor if the door encounters an obstacle during movement between the open and closed positions. Time delay circuitry cooperates with the obstruction detection circuitry so as to prevent stopping or reversing the motor due to the inertia of the door and of the drive mechanism as the door starts to open or close upon activation of the control circuit. During the time delay period, however, further manual activation of the control circuit is operative to stop and/or reverse movement of the door.

Abstract: Plastic films or sheets having tear lines formed therein are disclosed. These films are made by forming a score along a predetermined line in the surface of a plastic film to form a tear line and then restoring the scored film surface without eliminating the line of tear. The products tear very easily along predetermined lines even though the restored plastic films have enhanced impact strengths. By restoring the surface of the scored film, score lines become invisible to the naked eye and the useful life of the film is extended. Single-ply or multi-ply products are disclosed including products having an embossed or textutred surface, still without eliminating the capability for a smooth line of tear. The products have many utilities as structural materials which may be sized or torn by hand, including wall coverings, window shade coverings, rupturable packages and envelopes, to mention a few.

Abstract: Improved traveler and guide rail apparatus for use with a garage door operator includes an elongated guide rail having a longitudinal screw channel and outwardly extending integral flanges disposed along the screw channel. An elongated T-shaped flange extends upwardly from the screw channel. An improved traveler apparatus for use with the guide rail includes a screw-driven traveler and a coupling traveler, each mounted on respective tracks formed by separate outside surfaces of the guide rail. The screw-driven traveler carries a nut engaging a screw in the screw channel through a slot between the flanges and further includes opposed U-shaped channels slidably mounted over the exterior surfaces of the guide rail flanges for slidable movement along the guide rail.

Abstract: An improved traveler apparatus includes a screw-driven traveler and a coupling traveler which are both slidably mounted within a track that is formed by the interior surfaces of opposed U-shaped channels of a guide rail. The guide rail also includes a screw channel which communicates through a longitudinal slot with the track. The screw-driven traveler includes a nut that engages a screw in the screw channel through the slot. The coupling traveler includes a manually actuable, bistable latch to selectively engage and disengage the coupling traveler and the screw-driven traveler for cooperative and independent slidable movement within the track, respectively, and the coupling traveler is adapted for connection to a closure, such as a garage door, to open or close same as the coupling traveler is moved along the track.

Abstract: This invention is directed to a window shade cutter for manually trimming the end of a rolled shade to conform to the size of the window opening into which the shade is to be mounted. The cutter includes a cylindrical clamping sleeve, having an annular guide groove at one end thereof, adapted to slip over the shade and clamp in place and a cutoff tool receivable in the guide groove including a generally planar U-shaped holder and a planar blade mounted on the holder. In a preferred form, the blade has a rounded, dull end with a central V-shaped notch therein in which a pair of cutting edges are located. The cutoff tool is adapted to interlock in the guide groove and to rotate about the shade with cutting of the shade taking place in the V-shaped notch a few layers at a time as the tool is urged towards the shade and rotated. In accordance with the invention disclosed, window shades can be safely and easily trimmed by the consumer in the home thus eliminating the need for cutting machines.

Abstract: An improved position control apparatus is disclosed to control a motor-driven door operator to halt movement of a door at an open position and a closed position. The position control apparatus includes a control screw means in the form of a threaded shaft extension of the motor shaft or a threaded rod coupled to the motor shaft which is rotated when the motor is energized. A travel nut is threadedly engaged with the control screw means and is constrained against rotational motion so as to reciprocate along the control screw means. Position detection means, such as switches, are disposed near the control screw means for actuation by the travel nut to control the motor as the door approaches the open position and the closed position. In another embodiment, a toggle switch is mounted on the travel nut, and the switches are replaced by stops for actuation of the toggle switch to control the motor.

Abstract: A garage door operator includes a drive screw, rotationally and longitudinally movable in a shuttle track or guide rail, and a screw-driven shuttle mounted on the track and connected to the door. A lever arm is attached to the screw at a rearward end thereof and is pivoted to the operator at one side of the screw. Another end of the lever arm, adjacent an opposite side of the screw, is operatively disposed with respect to control switches and is spring-loaded, whereby door engaged obstructions cause the rotating screw to move longitudinally, against the spring bias, and to actuate, through the lever arm, a switch for stopping or for reversing the operator motor. A sleeve coupling permits longitudinal screw movement with respect to the operator's motor, and is provided with means to permit continued motor operation, drivingly disengaged from the screw, upon control malfunction, in order to prevent damage or injury.

Abstract: A Roman shade is formed from plastic sheet material having a heat sealable characteristic. Transverse, horizontally extending pleats are folded in the shade and are heat sealed to permanently secure them. A bottom hem is formed by folding and heat sealing a bottom portion of the shade together, and the terminal end portion of the shade may be joined to a bottom horizontally extending pleat, either within or adjacent the pleat, so that the bottom pleat and hem are formed at the same time. Apertures, through which shade pull strings are guided, are provided in the pleats.

Abstract: This invention is directed to a window shade assembly including a telescoping roller and a shade mounted on the roller which may be quickly and easily adjusted to conform to the size of the window opening into which the assembly is to be mounted. The shade at one end includes a first portion secured to the larger roller section and a second portion wrapped around the projecting end of the smaller roller section a number of times sufficient to form a tube having an outside diameter approximately equal to the outside diameter of the first roller section. The projecting smaller roller section is freely axially slidable within the tube. In accordance with a preferred form of the invention disclosed, the shade includes at the side adjacent the smaller roller section a plurality of spaced hand-strip lines, preferably invisible, extending from end-to-end parallel to the shade edge which permit hand-stripping of discrete widths of the shade while the shade is rolled on the roller.

Abstract: This invention is directed to a window shade whose width can be decreased, without cutting instruments, to conform to the size of the window opening into which the shade is to be mounted. The window shade includes a roller and a shade secured to the roller having at one or both edges a plurality of spaced strip lines, preferably invisible, extending from end-to-end parallel to the shade edges. The strip lines permit hand-stripping of discrete widths of the shade while the shade is rolled on the roller. The roller includes substantially coincident with the strip lines of the shade a plurality of longitudinally spaced, circumferentially extending strip lines permitting removal of a corresponding discrete length of the roller. In accordance with the invention disclosed, the shade includes a plurality of integral tabs at the hem end of the shade whose edges generally coincide with the strip lines to facilitate the stripping of discrete widths of the shade.

Abstract: This invention is directed to a window shade whose width can be decreased, without cutting instruments, to conform to the size of the window opening into which the shade is to be mounted. The window shade includes a roller and a shade secured to the roller having at one or both edges a plurality of spaced strip lines, preferably invisible, extending from end-to-end parallel to the shade edges. The strip lines permit hand-stripping of discrete widths of the shade while the shade is rolled on the roller. The roller includes, substantially coincident with the strip lines of the shade, a plurality of longitudinally spaced, circumferentially extending strip lines permitting removal of a corresponding discrete length of the roller. In accordance with the invention disclosed, the shade can be conveniently shortened by the consumer in the home, without the need for cutting of the shade, thus eliminating the need for cutting machines.

Abstract: A Roman shade is formed from plastic sheet material having a heat sealable characteristic. Transverse, horizontally extending pleats are folded in the shade and are heat sealed to permanently secure them. A bottom hem is formed by folding and heat sealing a bottom portion of the shade together, and the terminal end portion of the shade may be joined to a bottom horizontally extending pleat, either within or adjacent the pleat, so that the bottom pleat and hem are formed at the same time. Aperture, through which shade pull strings are guided, are provided in the pleats.