Attic door rope apparatus
An attic door rope apparatus for retractably storing an attic door rope may comprise a spool rotatably coupled with a rotation mechanism, and a stored-energy mechanism having a first end coupled with the spool and a second end coupled with the rotation mechanism, wherein the stored-energy mechanism is configured to impart a torque on the spool about a rotation axis of the spool. Another attic door rope apparatus for retractably storing an attic door rope may comprise a winding mechanism configured to rotate in an unwinding direction and a winding direction, a motor coupled with the winding mechanism configured to turn the winding mechanism in at least the unwinding direction, a sensor configured to detect a user command and send a command signal to the motor, and a power source in electrical communication with the motor and the sensor.
1. An attic door rope apparatus for retractably storing an attic door pull rope, the apparatus comprising:
a winding mechanism configured to rotate in an unwinding direction and a winding direction to dispense the attic door pull rope;
one or more rope guides configured to facilitate the travel of the attic door pull rope from the winding mechanism;
a motor coupled with the winding mechanism configured to turn the winding mechanism in at least the unwinding direction;
a sensor configured to detect a user command and send a command signal to the motor to turn the winding mechanism to dispense the attic door pull rope; and
a power source in electrical communication with the motor and the sensor.
2. The attic door rope apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising a stored-energy mechanism configured to apply a torque to the winding mechanism in the winding direction.
3. The attic door rope apparatus according to claim 2 , the stored-energy mechanism comprising a torsion spring.
4. The attic door rope apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the motor is configured to turn the winding mechanism in the winding direction.
5. The attic door rope apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the sensor is configured to command the motor to turn the winding mechanism in the unwinding direction in response to a first user command, and in the winding direction in response to a second user command.
6. The attic door rope apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the motor is a stepper motor.
7. The attic door rope apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor is an optical sensor.
8. The attic door rope apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the user command comprises a hand waving motion in detectable range of the optical sensor.
9. The attic door rope apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a touch sensitive mechanism.
10. The attic door rope apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to command the motor to turn the winding mechanism for a duration proportional to the duration of the user command.
11. The attic door rope apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to issue the command signal to the motor only after detecting the user command for a predetermined duration.