Self-Repairing High-Speed Door

A great solution for rapid and continuous transit routes, for transporting materials, for example, is being tested in Linz. What is remarkable about the Linz test: at the entrance to the shifting platform hall, a self-repairing high speed door has been installed for the first time. Self-repairing? The greatest problem with plastic covered roller doors is well-known: if forklifts or other vehicles collide with the door they can cause damage. In addition to repair costs, the door is also out of action for a considerable time.

A development by a company in Upper Austria should put an end to it. "The new self-repairing PVC high speed doors is an ideal solution for rapid and continuous transit routes, like the ones we use for transporting materials", says facilities engineer Gerhard Caravias. "Thanks to the window in the door much more light is let into the hall and the tightness of the system saves valuable energy."

The door system consists of a galvanised structure in which the PVC door elements are mounted on self-greasing rails. The secret of the door is the ingenious design of the mounting rails. On standard roller doors, the guide rails are inseparable from the door mountings and are also affected if there is damage to the door.

On this model, however, the door mountings and guide rail are joined by a kind of zipper system, that releases if the door is impacted so that the guide rails remain undamaged. The high-speed door then zips into place again when it rolls up. This is made possible by a cut-out a few centimetres long in the upper section of the guide rails that work in the same way as a conventional zip to connect the mountings and rail together again.

The new door is being tested and then TS will assess to what extent this technology can be used. At the TS plant in Linz alone there are 26 doors of this type in operation, while throughout the TS group there are many more. "We are optimistic that the testing of this door system will be positive", says Gerhard Caravias. The first few days with the self-repairing high speed door were certainly highly satisfactory.

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