<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (April 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> A garage door opener is a motorized device that opens and closes garage doors . Most are controlled by switches on the garage wall, as well as by remote controls carried by the owner . </P> <P> The electric overhead garage door opener was invented by C.G. Johnson in 1926 in Hartford City, Indiana . Electric Garage Door openers did not become popular until Era Meter Company of Chicago offered one after World War II where the overhead garage door could be opened via a key pad located on a post at the end of the driveway or a switch inside the garage . </P> <P> As in an elevator, the electric motor does not provide most of the power to move a heavy garage door . Instead, most of door's weight is offset by the counterbalance springs attached to the door . (Even manually operated garage doors have counterbalances; otherwise they would be too heavy for a person to open or close them .) In a typical design, torsion springs apply torque to a shaft, and that shaft applies a force to the garage door via steel counterbalance cables . The electric opener provides only a small amount of force to control how far the door opens and closes . In most cases, the garage door opener also holds the door closed in place of a lock . </P>

When was the first garage door opener invented