Adjustment screw indicator mechanism

1 . A hydraulic door operator, comprising:

a body comprising a cavity;

a hydraulic regulation valve mounted to the body and operable to adjust an operating characteristic of the door operator, the hydraulic regulation valve comprising:

a lead nut mounted in the cavity for reciprocal motion along an axis; and

an adjustment screw threadedly engaged with the lead nut such that rotation of the adjustment screw about the axis moves the lead nut along the axis to thereby adjust the operating characteristic; and

a visual indicator rotationally engaged with the hydraulic regulation valve such that the rotation of the adjustment screw correspondingly adjusts a position of the visual indicator to provide a visual indication relating to a level of regulation provided by the hydraulic regulation valve.

2 . The hydraulic door operator of claim 1 , further comprising:

a pinion coupled to the adjustment screw for joint rotation with the adjustment screw; and

a gear component configured to vary a position of the visual indication when moved by the pinion.

3 . The hydraulic door operator of claim 2 , wherein the pinion is only partially-toothed and is configured to:

move the gear component during a first portion of the rotation of the adjustment screw; and

permit the gear component to remain stationary during a second portion of the rotation of the adjustment screw.

4 . The hydraulic door operator of claim 2 , wherein the gear component comprises a rack component configured to move linearly in response to rotation of the pinion.

5 . The hydraulic door operator of claim 2 , wherein the gear component comprises a ring gear configured to rotate in response to rotation of the pinion, and wherein the ring gear comprises the visual indicator.

6 . The hydraulic door operator of claim 5 , further comprising a planet gear that is rotatably driven by the pinion and is configured to rotate the ring gear.

7 . The hydraulic door operator of claim 1 , wherein the visual indicator comprises:

a first component that is movable relative to the body; and

a second component;

wherein one of the first component or the second component comprises a plurality of indicia, each of the indicia relating to a corresponding regulation level;

wherein the other of the first component or the second component comprises an indicator operable to selectively align with each of the indicia; and

wherein the first component is configured to move relative to the second component in response to rotation of the adjustment screw.

8 . The hydraulic door operator of claim 7 , further comprising a planetary gear set operable to move the first component relative to the second component in response to rotation of the adjustment screw.

9 . The hydraulic door operator of claim 7 , further comprising a rack and pinion operable to move the first component relative to the second component in response to rotation of the adjustment screw.

10 . The hydraulic door operator of claim 1 , further comprising a housing in which at least a portion of the visual indicator is mounted, wherein the housing is coupled to the body and prevents removal of the lead nut from the body.

11 . The hydraulic door operator of claim 1 , wherein the cavity is sized and shaped to prevent rotation of the lead nut relative to the body.

12 . A method of providing a visual indication relating to an operating characteristic of a door operator, the method comprising:

adjusting a hydraulic regulation valve mounted to a body of the door operator to vary the operating characteristic of the door operator;

wherein the adjusting comprises rotating an adjustment screw of the hydraulic regulation valve about an axis, and moving a lead nut threadedly engaged with the adjustment screw along the axis to thereby adjust the operating characteristic; and

in response to rotation of the adjustment screw, moving a first indicator component to align with a second indicator component, the first indictor component rotationally engaged with the adjustment screw of the hydraulic regulation valve such that the rotation of the adjustment screw correspondingly adjusts a position of the first indicator component to align with the second indicator component to thereby provide the visual indication relating to the operating characteristic of the door operator.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the rotation of the adjustment screw comprises a first rotational movement and a second rotational movement; and

wherein moving the first indicator component to align with the second indicator component comprises:

rotationally moving the first indicator component during the first rotational movement of the adjustment screw; and

maintaining a position of the first indicator component during the second rotational movement of the adjustment screw.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the moving of the first indicator component is performed at least in part by a rack and pinion.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the moving of the first indicator component is performed at least in part by a planetary gear set.

16 . A door operator, comprising:

a body;

a hydraulic regulation valve mounted to the body and operable to adjust an operating characteristic of the door operator, the hydraulic regulation valve comprising an adjustment screw operable to adjust the operating characteristic upon rotation of the adjustment screw;

a pinion rotationally engaged with the adjustment screw such that the rotation of the adjustment screw rotates the pinion;

a ring gear operable to be rotated by the pinion, wherein an axis passes through the ring gear such that the ring gear circumferentially surrounds a portion of the axis; and

a visual indicator configured to move in response to rotation of the ring gear such that the rotation of the adjustment screw correspondingly adjusts a position of the visual indicator to provide a visual indication relating to the operating characteristic of the door operator.

17 . The door operator of claim 16 , wherein the visual indicator comprises an indicator and a plurality of indicia that selectively align with the indicator to thereby provide the visual indication.

18 . The door operator of claim 17 , wherein the ring gear comprises the plurality of indicia.

19 . The door operator of claim 16 , further comprising a lead nut mounted to the body for reciprocal motion along the axis; and

wherein the pinion is threadedly coupled with the lead nut such that rotation of the pinion drives the lead nut along the axis to thereby adjust the operating characteristic.

20 . The door operator of claim 19 , further comprising a housing in which at least a portion of the visual indicator is mounted; and

wherein the housing is coupled to the body and prevents removal of the lead nut from the body.