Sliding Automatic Door With Hinged Panels for Quick Service
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatic sliding doors lack versatility for applications beyond primary entryways, particularly in settings requiring a quick service window or drive-through functionality, and often present aesthetically unpleasing gaps when modified for such uses.
Innovation Solution
A door assembly incorporating sliding panels and hinged partial door panels that can transition between a full opening for ingress/egress and a partial opening for quick service, with the partial door panels aligned in a third plane parallel to the sliding panels to minimize gaps and maintain an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the door assembly is modified to provide quick service window or drive-through functionality, then the door gains versatility for different applications, but gaps and aesthetic appearance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The door assembly is divided into multiple independent panels: fixed sidelites, sliding panels, and hinged partial door panels. Each panel can operate independently or in combination, allowing the door to adapt between full ingress/egress mode and partial quick service window mode, while maintaining aesthetic appearance through proper segmentation and alignment
Solution Approach 2:
The door assembly incorporates multiple movable components including sliding panels that can move horizontally and hinged partial door panels that can swing open. These dynamic elements allow the door to transition between different operational states (full opening, partial opening, closed) while maintaining a clean, gap-free appearance in each state
2Ease of operation
If sliding panels are retracted to allow full breakout, then egress space is maximized, but gaps between panels increase
Solution Approach 1:
The hinged partial door panels are positioned in a third plane that is parallel to both the fixed sidelites plane and the sliding panels plane. When sliding panels are retracted for full breakout, the partial door panels can still provide a visual barrier or partial coverage in the third dimension, maintaining aesthetic appearance while allowing full egress space
Data Source
AI summary
A door assembly may include a first sidelite configured to be operably coupled to a first doorjamb, a second sidelite configured to be operably coupled to a second door jamb where the first and second sidelites are disposed in a common plane and define a door opening between the first and second sidelites, a first sliding panel, a second sliding panel where the first and second sliding panels are movable from a closed position disposing the first and second sliding panels to block access through the door opening and an open position in which the first sliding panel is proximate the first sidelite and the second sliding panel is proximate the second sidelite, a first partial door panel, and a second partial door panel. The first and second sliding panels are disposed in a second plane parallel to the common plane in both the open and closed position. The first and second partial door panels are operably coupled to the first and second sidelites, respectively, via hinge assemblies. The first and second partial door panels have a closed state in which the first and second partial door panels are each disposed in the common plane blocking access through the door opening, and an open state in which the first and second partial door panels are each disposed out of the common plane.