Garage door operator with plastic drive belt

摘要

A garage door operator includes a head unit held by a supporting structure remote from the garage door. A rail has a first end held by a supporting structure adjacent the door and a second end fixed adjacent to and in alignment with a toothed drive wheel carried by the head unit. The garage door operator further includes an endless drive belt assembly trained about the drive wheel and a pulley held by the rail adjacent the garage door. The belt assembly includes a length of a plastic belt having teeth on one surface thereof matching the teeth on the drive wheel. The belt assembly further includes a trolley for connection to the garage door and a connector for joining one end of the plastic belt to one end of the trolley. The plastic belt has a lower surface to which the belt teeth extend, and the drive wheel has an upper surface to which the wheel teeth extend. Thus, the belt assembly can be installed by moving the plastic belt lower surface over the drive wheel upper surface until the respective sets of teeth are aligned, and moving the belt downwardly to train it about the drive wheel.