Our construction method is to use the manufacturers specified system which involves 4 tapered stainless steel lock pins at every joint. A specialist expanding bonding agent applied to every joint and then if necessary an M6 Tie rod, internally fitted inside the door to add one last additional aspect of strength to the construction.

We use a common anti finger trap guard section at the rear edge of our doors. This gives excellent protection against trapped hands and fingers at the rear edge of the door leaf.

Most swing doors can be automated with automatic swing operators.

There are so many devices that do this on the market now, so how do you know which one is right?

When you start to look closely at the differences between various models you will notice that it is getting harder and harder to tell the differences apart.

So, what do you need to consider when thinking about this type of automatic door system?

A lot of the models you see on the market now are programmable, so they can cope with a wide range of settings and requirements for each automatic door situation, but after that, the next issue is: can each model cope with the size and weight of the door that it's connected to?

Then we need to consider how does the automatic swing doors operator cope with general day to day use. We see a lot of entrance doors that receive a great deal of aggression directed at the doors and this can be as simple as the end users kicking and pushing the door open very hard so it slams against a wall or door stop.

So when you look deeply at these types of issues you will find that things start to get a little muddy in terms of which model is best suited to cope with these types of environments.

Each type of site has its own issues, its own complications and problems to deal with so experience counts a great deal and if your door supplier has some knowledge and better yet, actual experience with a site that's as close to yours as possible, then that will usually help them to provide a better suited product.

There are other units that will deal with anything you throw at them, but they look like a sherman tank bolted on to your door frame and make the door very heavy and difficult to manually operate.

So finding a well specified door operator is tricky. We have tried 7 different types over the last 10 years and we now find that there is a very good all round model that is programmable, hard wearing and can actually cope with heavy handed use and even a little aggression directed at the doors. 

Here are the advantages of the DFA 127 Swing Drive:

1. One operator controls all functions: Left / Right / Push / Pull / Fully Auto and Low Energy.
2. CAN BUS communication means that the Program selector gives a full diagnostic readout in a user friendly view to the customer; this allows an 80% opportunity to diagnose over the phone with any problems, and so the customer does not have the doors out of action any longer than is absolutely necessary.
3. The BDE-D (BDE= Program Selector and “D” = Digital Display) allows all programming of the unit with out any other devices to plug in; hence, a fire alarm engineer required to interface to this is able to do so remotely over the phone without the delay or costs of an additional call-out.
4. The DFA uses a direct mechanical drive from the motor to the door and is therefore free from any oil leaks with extremely quiet operation; ideal for libraries, care homes and other quiet locations (-18dB).
5. The unit is fire rated to 35 min.
6. It is tested to 500,000 operations which is a full open and close cycle.