Rotating Garage Door Panels for Ventilation and Visibility

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Solution Overview

Problem

Traditional garage doors face issues such as heat buildup, lack of ventilation, and obstructed visibility, with prior solutions like windows and louvered slats offering limited improvements and requiring manual operation.

Innovation Solution

A garage door system with rotably operable and retractable panels, electronically actuated and controlled via a wireless communication device, allowing for automatic operation based on environmental inputs like carbon monoxide, temperature, or rain.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a traditional garage door is kept closed, then safety and protection are improved, but ventilation and visibility deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovesafetyVSAvoidheat buildup and lack of ventilation

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The garage door is divided into multiple independent panels, each capable of being opened or closed separately. This allows selective ventilation and visibility while maintaining security in other areas, resolving the contradiction between safety and ventilation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The door panels are made dynamically controllable through electronic actuators, allowing them to rotate between closed and open positions. This dynamic capability enables the system to adapt to different conditions (ventilation needed vs. security needed), simultaneously addressing both safety and ventilation requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Illumination intensity

If windows are added to the garage door, then visibility is improved, but ventilation capability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovevisibilityVSAvoidventilation capability

Core Design Contradiction:

Illumination intensityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The door panels serve multiple functions: they provide structural closure, enable ventilation when opened, and allow visibility when positioned to reveal the garage interior or exterior. This multi-functionality replaces the need for separate windows while maintaining both visibility and ventilation capabilities.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Object-affected harmful factors

If louvered slats are used in the garage door, then ventilation is improved, but visibility deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveventilationVSAvoidvisibility

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSIllumination intensity

Solution Approach 1:

Unlike fixed louvered slats, the door panels can be dynamically positioned and fully opened to provide unobstructed visibility while maintaining ventilation capability. The dynamic operation allows the system to achieve both ventilation and visibility simultaneously, which fixed slats cannot provide.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

4Device complexity

If manual operation of door panels is used, then device complexity is reduced, but ease of operation and responsiveness to environmental conditions deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemechanical simplicityVSAvoidautomatic operation capability

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The door system incorporates sensors that automatically detect environmental conditions (heat, carbon monoxide, rain) and trigger appropriate panel operations without manual intervention. The system serves itself by monitoring its own environment and autonomously adjusting its state, eliminating the need for manual operation while maintaining simplicity through intelligent automation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

Manual mechanical operation is replaced with electronic actuators and control systems that automatically respond to environmental sensors. This substitution enables automated operation while keeping the overall system relatively simple through the use of modern electronic components rather than complex mechanical linkages.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

5Ease of operation

If hinged panels or doors-within-the-door are implemented, then operability is improved, but device complexity and practicality deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepanel operabilityVSAvoidstructural complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The panels utilize a rotation mechanism that allows them to swing between closed and open positions, providing smooth and simple operability. This dynamic rotation is more practical and less complex than hinged panels or nested door structures, achieving ease of operation with reduced structural complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentUS10975613B2Garage door with operable rotating and retractable panels

Publication Date: 2021.04.13 NEW HEAVEN & EARTH DESIGNS LLC

AI summary

A garage door apparatus includes at least one panel integral to a garage door structure. The panel is rotatable with respect to the surrounding garage door structure, such that, as the panel is rotated, the panel substantially uncovers an opening in the garage door structure. The panel is also selectively retractable into the surrounding garage door structure such that the opening is unobstructed.