Gate Operator – What is a Resistance Sensor?
SUNBEAM Gate Operators (or Sliding Gate Openers, Gate Motors, Electric Gate Opener) can be equipped with a Resistance Sensor used as an important safety feature. Typically, gates can be equipped with a front-end touch-stop sensor mechanism – when the front end of the gate collides with an object, a mechanism is compressed and the gate is stopped. There are times, however, when gate movement can be hindered from the sides, top or below – a heavy tree branch can fall on top of the gate, a car may bump into the side of the gate, wiring or debris can get caught up in the wheels – in all these cases, a front end touch-stop sensor will not be able to sense these and the gate just keeps going, making a bad situation worse, possibly burning out the motor.
SUNBEAM’s Resistance Sensor can measure any drag or resistance coming from any part of the gate and then stop the gate immediately. How does it do this? It uses sensors that measure drag or resistance through the axle transmission and relay that information to a special circuit board. It can be configured to stop the gate, reverse directions, or retry the current action (open or close). The best thing is that it does not require any unsightly 3rd party sensor attachments or wiring to the customer’s sliding gate itself.
See the Resistance Sensor at work on the “Video Page”, http://www.sunbeamgate.com/video.php. Play the “Gate Operator” video at 0:39 second mark. The lady is providing resistance from the rear side of the gate without any special wiring or sensor mechanisms on the gate itself!