Release mechanism for industrial doors and a method for providing separation of an industrial door

A release mechanism for use in combination with an industrial door, which includes an extension member extending across the doorway opening when the door is in its doorway-blocking positions, the releasing mechanism including a roller mounted for movement with the extension member, and a track including a guideway for receiving the roller and guiding it during normal door operation, the roller and track being movable relative to each other upon application of a breakaway force to the extension member, thereby allowing the roller to escape from the track when a breakaway force is applied to the extension member, the breakaway force being defined as a force that has a component perpendicular to the plane of the door above a certain magnitude.