Automatic door
What is meant by automatic door?
An automatic door is a door that cannot be opened or cannot be opened exclusively by manual operation, for example by pushing, pulling or sliding. Supported by a mechanism, the automatic door is opened fully or partially automatically.
In everyday use, the term “automatic” does not presuppose that the door opens and closes fully automatically, for example, utilizing a motion sensor. One also refers to an automatic door if the user has to trigger the opening mechanism himself, for example, by pressing a button. Therefore, the term “automatic” refers more to the drive mechanism that takes over the function of opening and closing the door, which would conventionally be performed by human force or human movement.
The term automatic door says nothing about the type of door. For example, whether it is a revolving door or a sliding door or the opening direction of the door. It refers solely to the fact that the door opens fully or partially supported by a mechanism.
Automatic doors are used when, due to the high throughput of people or according to the user’s requirements, the door should open or close without or only through partial action of the user. For example, in shopping centres where the user (usually a customer of the shopping centre) pushes a shopping trolley or in the area of accessibility where the user (e.g. wheelchair user) is not or only partially able to open the door himself.
Automatic doors are often equipped with sensors that trigger the door’s movement when people approach the door. In this case, the door usually closes by itself after a defined hold-open time. In this case, the sensors that detect the movement are often supplemented by so-called presence sensors that detect persons in the movement area who are no longer detected by the movement sensor. For example, because the movement is too small or the person is outside the motion sensor’s detection range.