Swing Door Cycle Counter for Maintenance Scheduling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manually operated swing doors, particularly safety-relevant emergency exit, panic, and fire protection doors, lack a mechanism to track opening and closing cycles, leading to inadequate maintenance and potential safety hazards due to inconsistent usage patterns, resulting in unnecessary maintenance or premature component failure.
Innovation Solution
Equipping these doors with a counter that counts opening and closing cycles by utilizing the pivoting movement of the door leaf relative to the frame, with the counter powered by the door's movement and attached via a rebate, allowing for accurate maintenance scheduling and eliminating the need for separate power sources or visible installations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If maintenance is carried out extremely often to ensure safety, then reliability is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to unnecessary maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism through a counter that continuously monitors and records the actual number of opening/closing cycles of the door. This feedback information is displayed to maintenance personnel, enabling them to make informed decisions about when maintenance is actually needed based on real usage data rather than following fixed schedules, thus eliminating unnecessary maintenance while ensuring safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The door system performs self-monitoring of its own usage through the integrated counter mechanism. The system automatically tracks and records operational cycles without external intervention, generating maintenance information autonomously. This self-service capability provides accurate usage data that guides maintenance timing, preventing both over-maintenance and under-maintenance scenarios.
2Measurement precision
If a counter is installed to track door cycles, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the counter device with the door's existing rebate structure. The counter is integrated into the rebate in such a way that it utilizes the existing spatial and structural features of the door assembly, combining the counting function with the door's architectural elements. This merging approach adds the measurement capability while minimizing the increase in overall device complexity by reusing existing structural components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs an intermediary mechanism within the counter that translates the mechanical movement of the door leaf into countable units. The counter acts as an intermediary device that converts the continuous pivoting motion into discrete, measurable cycles, providing precise measurement without requiring complex sensing or electronic systems. This intermediary approach simplifies the measurement process while maintaining accuracy.
3Use of energy by moving object
If the counter is powered by door movement, then use of energy is reduced, but reliability may worsen due to dependency on mechanical energy
Solution Approach 1:
The counter is designed to be self-powered through the mechanical energy of the door's own movement. The counting mechanism harvests energy from the natural pivoting motion of the door leaf, eliminating the need for external power sources such as batteries or electrical connections. This self-service energy system reduces overall energy consumption while maintaining reliability, as the counter operates autonomously using the door's inherent motion without requiring additional power infrastructure that could fail.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables precise maintenance timing for door components, reducing unnecessary maintenance and ensuring reliable operation over the door's expected life, thereby enhancing safety and cost-effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
DE 20200600973 U1 shows a device which can be arranged on a pivoting door and is used to convert mechanical energy from the movement of the pivotable leaf relative to the frame into electrical energy
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a swing door that can be opened manually and is a safety-relevant functional door in a building – in particular an emergency exit, panic, or fire door – which has a fixed frame (1) and a leaf (2) pivotally attached to it about a vertical axis. For the purpose of detecting maintenance requirements of the swing door, it has a counter (6) which counts opening and closing cycles of the leaf (2) relative to the frame (1), wherein the respective counting pulses can be triggered by the pivoting movement of the leaf (2) relative to the frame (1).