Patents by Inventor Alan Dane Smith

Alan Dane Smith has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method and apparatus for determining a position of a movable barrier
    Patent number: 6956199
    Abstract: A movable barrier operator includes an absolute position detector which provides a unique value for each position of the barrier along its path of travel. The absolute position detector employs multiple binary serial streams and one multiple clock stream. After the first five cycles of the clock stream, the binary streams can be decoded by a processor to produce an absolute position. Every clock edge produces a new absolute position along the path of travel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2005
    Assignee: The Chamberlain Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan Dane Smith, Christopher M. Valente, Martin Rathgeber, Mark D. Siegler, James J. Fitzgibbon
  • Method and apparatus for determining a position of a movable barrier
    Patent number: 6878927
    Abstract: A movable barrier operator includes an absolute position detector which provides a unique value for each position of the barrier along its path of travel. The absolute position detector employs multiple binary serial streams and one multiple clock stream. After the first five cycles of the clock stream, the binary streams can be decoded by a processor to produce an absolute position. Every clock edge produces a new absolute position along the path of travel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2005
    Assignee: The Chamberlain Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan Dane Smith, Christopher M. Valente, Martin Rathgebe, Mark D. Siegler, James J. Fitzgibbon
  • Method and apparatus for determining a position of a movable barrier
    Publication number: 20040169133
    Abstract: A movable barrier operator includes an absolute position detector which provides a unique value for each position of the barrier along its path of travel. The absolute position detector employs multiple binary serial streams and one multiple clock stream. After the first five cycles of the clock stream, the binary streams can be decoded by a processor to produce an absolute position. Every clock edge produces a new absolute position along the path of travel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2004
    Publication date: September 2, 2004
    Applicant: The Chamberlain Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan Dane Smith, Christopher M. Valente, Martin Rathgebe, Mark D. Siegler, James J. Fitzgibbon
  • Method and apparatus for determining a position of a movable barrier
    Publication number: 20020175276
    Abstract: A movable barrier operator includes an absolute position detector which provides a unique value for each position of the barrier along its path of travel. The absolute position detector employs multiple binary serial streams and one multiple clock stream. After the first five cycles of the clock stream, the binary streams can be decoded by a processor to produce an absolute position. Every clock edge produces a new absolute position along the path of travel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2002
    Publication date: November 28, 2002
    Inventors: Alan Dane Smith, Christopher M. Valente, Martin Rathgeber, Mark D. Siegler, James J. Fitzgibbon
  • Method and apparatus for determining a position of a movable barrier
    Patent number: 6376832
    Abstract: A movable barrier operator includes an absolute position detector which provides a unique value for each position of the barrier along its path of travel. The absolute position detector employs multiple binary serial streams and one multiple clock stream. After the first five cycles of the clock stream, the binary streams can be decoded by a processor to produce an absolute position. Every clock edge produces a new absolute position along the path of travel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2002
    Assignee: The Chamberlain Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan Dane Smith, Christopher M. Valente, Martin Rathgeber, Mark D. Siegler, James J. Fitzgibbon
  • Method and apparatus for determining a position of a movable barrier
    Publication number: 20020030156
    Abstract: A movable barrier operator includes an absolute position detector which provides a unique value for each position of the barrier along its path of travel. The absolute position detector employs multiple binary serial streams and one multiple clock stream. After the first five cycles of the clock stream, the binary streams can be decoded by a processor to produce an absolute position. Every clock edge produces a new absolute position along the path of travel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2001
    Publication date: March 14, 2002
    Applicant: THE CHAMBERLAIN GROUP, INC.
    Inventors: Alan Dane Smith, Christopher M. Valente, Martin Rathgeber, Mark D. Siegler, James J. Fitzgibbon