In modern commercial buildings, hospitals, shopping malls and residential communities, automatic swing doors have become an indispensable part of people's daily travel with their convenience and intelligence. However, while pursuing efficient passage, safety has always been the core premise of the design and application of automatic swing doors. The safety protection system of automatic swing doors is a multi-dimensional integrated solution, which covers mechanical structures, intelligent sensors and emergency response mechanisms. It is precisely these well-designed protective measures that ensure that people of all ages and various passing scenarios can enjoy the convenience of automatic doors without potential safety hazards.
1. Core Mechanical Safety Devices: The First Line of Physical Protection
Mechanical safety devices are the basic guarantee for the safe operation of automatic swing doors, mainly through structural design to avoid direct physical harm to people during the door's movement. Among them, the anti-pinch and anti-collision mechanisms are the most critical components.
The anti-pinch design is mainly concentrated on the door leaf and the door frame. On the edge of the door leaf, most high-quality automatic swing doors are equipped with soft edge rubber strips with built-in pressure sensors. When the door leaf is closing and touches an object (such as a person's hand, body or stroller), the pressure sensor in the rubber strip will immediately detect the pressure change and send a signal to the control system. The system will quickly issue a command to stop the door leaf from closing and reverse it to open, thereby avoiding pinch injuries. Unlike the traditional rigid edge, this soft edge design not only improves the sensitivity of anti-pinch, but also reduces the impact force when the door leaf touches the human body, minimizing the risk of injury.
In addition, the door frame is also equipped with a buffer device. When the door leaf is opened to the maximum angle, the buffer device can absorb the kinetic energy of the door leaf, prevent the door leaf from colliding with the door frame due to excessive speed, and avoid damage to the door body and potential safety hazards caused by splashing parts. For large automatic swing doors used in industrial places, the buffer device is more reinforced to adapt to the larger weight and faster movement speed of the door leaf.
2. Intelligent Sensor System: Precise Perception to Avoid Risks
If the mechanical safety device is the "last line of defense" for automatic swing doors, then the intelligent sensor system is the "precise monitor" that prevents risks in advance. With the development of sensor technology, the perception ability of automatic swing doors has been continuously improved, which can accurately identify the presence of people, objects and their movement status, and adjust the operation of the door body in real time.
The infrared sensor is the most commonly used sensing component in automatic swing doors. It works by emitting infrared rays and receiving the reflected signals. When a person or object enters the sensing area, the infrared signal is blocked and reflected, and the sensor will send a signal to the control system to control the door leaf to open. The sensing range and sensitivity of the infrared sensor can be adjusted according to the actual application scenario. For example, in crowded places such as shopping malls, the sensing range can be expanded to ensure that the door can be opened in time when multiple people pass by; in quiet places such as hospitals, the sensitivity can be appropriately adjusted to avoid false triggering caused by small animals or floating objects.
For more complex scenarios, automatic swing doors are also equipped with microwave radar sensors and video recognition sensors. Microwave radar sensors have stronger penetration and anti-interference ability, and can work stably even in harsh environments such as strong light, rain and fog, which is suitable for outdoor automatic swing doors. Video recognition sensors, on the other hand, use computer vision technology to accurately identify human shapes, movements and trajectories. They can distinguish between people and inanimate objects, and avoid the door from opening by mistake due to the movement of items such as curtains and trash cans, while ensuring that they can respond in time when people pass by. This intelligent identification ability not only improves the safety of the door, but also reduces unnecessary opening and closing of the door, saving energy consumption.
3. Emergency Response Mechanism: Reliable Guarantee in Special Situations
In addition to daily safety protection, the emergency response capability of automatic swing doors in special situations (such as power outages, fires, etc.) is also an important part of safety design. These mechanisms ensure that the automatic swing door can still play a safe role when the normal operation system fails, and even become a key guarantee for personnel evacuation.
The power failure emergency opening function is a mandatory safety requirement for automatic swing doors. Most automatic swing doors are equipped with a mechanical emergency release device. When the power is cut off, the staff or passengers can manually unlock the device, and the door leaf can be pushed open easily without much force. For places with high evacuation requirements such as hospitals and theaters, some automatic swing doors are also equipped with backup power supplies. When the main power is cut off, the backup power supply can immediately start to supply power to the door body, ensuring that the door can be opened normally for a certain period of time to ensure the smooth evacuation of personnel.
In the face of fire emergencies, the automatic swing door can be linked with the building's fire alarm system. When the fire alarm is triggered, the control system of the automatic swing door will receive the signal and immediately control the door leaf to open to the maximum position and keep it open, so as to eliminate the obstacle of the door body for personnel evacuation and facilitate the entry and rescue of fire-fighting equipment. At the same time, some fire-resistant automatic swing doors are also made of fire-resistant materials, which can effectively block the spread of fire and smoke within a certain period of time, winning valuable time for evacuation and rescue.
4. Safety Design for Special Groups and Scenarios
The safety protection design of automatic swing doors also fully considers the needs of special groups and specific application scenarios, reflecting humanized care.
In places such as hospitals and nursing homes, the passing groups are mainly the elderly, patients and disabled people in wheelchairs. The automatic swing doors here are designed with slow opening and closing speed to ensure that the elderly and patients with slow movement can pass through safely. At the same time, the height of the sensor is also adjusted to adapt to the height of wheelchair users, ensuring that the sensor can accurately detect their presence. In addition, the ground near the door is usually designed to be flat without steps, which is convenient for wheelchairs and stretchers to pass through, avoiding falls caused by obstacles.
In industrial workshops, automatic swing doors need to bear the passage of forklifts, goods trucks and other vehicles. Therefore, the safety design here is more focused on impact resistance and heavy load capacity. The door leaf is made of high-strength materials such as stainless steel and aluminum alloy, and the frame is reinforced to prevent deformation and damage caused by vehicle collision. At the same time, ultra-wide range sensors are installed on both sides of the door to ensure that the door can be opened in time when the vehicle approaches, avoiding collision between the vehicle and the door body.
5. Compliance with Safety Standards: The Foundation of Reliable Protection
The safety protection design of automatic swing doors is not arbitrary, but must comply with strict international and national safety standards. For example, the European standard EN 16005 and the Chinese standard GB/T 30559-2014 have clear regulations on the safety performance of automatic doors, including anti-pinch performance, emergency opening function, sensor sensitivity and other indicators.
Manufacturers must carry out strict testing on the safety performance of products in accordance with these standards before they leave the factory, and only products that meet the standards can be put on the market. These standards not only restrict the production and design of manufacturers, but also provide a basis for users to purchase safe and reliable automatic swing doors. When purchasing automatic swing doors, users should pay attention to checking whether the products have relevant certification marks to ensure that the products meet the corresponding safety standards.
Conclusion
The safety protection design of automatic swing doors is a systematic project that integrates mechanics, intelligence, humanization and standardization. From the basic mechanical anti-pinch device to the intelligent sensor system, from the emergency response mechanism to the humanized design for special groups, every link is designed to maximize the safety of passengers. With the continuous progress of technology, the safety protection technology of automatic swing doors will be more advanced and perfect, bringing people a safer and more convenient travel experience. When choosing and using automatic swing doors, we should not only pay attention to their convenience and aesthetics, but also put safety in the first place, so that automatic swing doors can truly become a reliable "guardian" of people's travel.
