History And Features Of Revolving Doors

By Author: Stuart Spindlow
Total Articles: 14
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When designing a commercial, public or educational building, there are many door types to choose from, for a builder or contractor. There are automatic doors, manual doors and hybrid doors but the need behind a door is always the same. We want a door to control access to the inside, keep the inside safe and make it user friendly. Revolving doors are older than you think. Way back in 1899, a New York restaurant patented it and installed it but the patent application shows that more than 10 years earlier, a Philadelphia resident actually first conceived the design. More than 100 years later, these doors are still popular and are widely in use.

Revolving doors have 3 or 4 vertical panels which are called wings or leaves. These panels are attached to a central shaft which can rotate, carrying the leaves with it. The whole structure is kept inside a cylindrical structure and the panels are kept in such a fashion that the door is never really open, in the traditional sense. It means, at no point of time and for no positioning of the wings, there is a straight opening between the inside and the outside. The wings and ...
... the cylindrical structure are all made up of glasses mostly, for safety purposes as well as aesthetics. The glass allows the users to see other people around the door and operate the door accordingly.

There are automatic versions where the central shaft is powered and has sensors to jam the door when a potentially unsafe situation is at hand. There is a speed control feature and the wings can be folded to create an unobstructed open space between the inside and outside to move faster and move larger objects through, during emergency situation. However, the door needs to be in prime condition for easy access or emergency access and only a professional agency can do that for you. They can do the timely repair, change the decayed parts and even oil the hinges for better and smoother movement. Handing over the revolving door maintenance to a professional agency would really be a great idea.

Revolving doors don't allow quick movement which means there should be a secondary door. In some countries, a secondary door, just beside the revolving door, has been made mandatory. Revolving doors can't be used by the disabled people either so the secondary hinged door is essential.