What Type of Automatic Door?

Automatic entrance doors are not just a common sight today but, in buildings with public access, they are increasingly the norm. We take them for granted yet, like most things in life, a lot of thought has usually gone into specifying a particular door in a specific location - or at least it should have. Numerous options need to be considered along the way to ensure that final performance matches up to expectations.


Sliding doors, like the Stanley Dura-Glide range, are probably the most effective option in that they provide the most overall benefits. Users don’t need to stand clear while the doors open or close regardless of the direction they approach the door. They are easiest for wheel chair users to operate and they can be made to fit almost any practical opening size. Provided the sensors are reliable and effective, they are most people’s first choice. However, the one downside with sliding doors is that you need somewhere for them to slide and that space is not always available, particularly in retrofit projects.

If some space is available then telescoping doors can be used. Here the door is divided into smaller leaves that overlap each other as they slide. This means the overall width needed for the door is less than twice the size of the clear opening. But, if there just isn’t any sliding space available then swinging or folding doors can be used. Swinging door operators like the Stanley Magic Force can be set for either low or full energy operation and can be fitted to existing doors so a new door isn’t always needed.

Perhaps most critical of all, the installation should be undertaken by an installer accredited to BS 7036:1996 (Safety at powered doors for pedestrian use) and then maintained to that standard thereafter. This code of practice covers not just the aspects of safety during the opening and closing cycle but also during the installation of the door. It also defines the maximum forces needed to operate the doors manually or breakout during an emergency. It even covers items like signage and the need for an annual inspection.

Although Axis are renowned for being the sole UK distributor of Stanley Automatic Door Gear, they also supply a number of manual doors too. These include the Kestrel Sliding Folding Aluminium Door systems.

The door leafs fold against each other while sliding along a track to one or both sides of the opening. These doors help you to improve access and maximise the operational area of your business. They don’t require a large amount of space for opening nor additional wall space to slide into or against. They are excellent where a business has an area divided off, perhaps for security, some of the time but needs to open it up to join with the adjacent area at other times. Examples would be a café with an exterior terrace. An Axis folding sliding door can create one large open area during the day but still be locked down at night.

The system is ‘bottom hung’ so the structural demands on the head fixing are much less than with top hung systems which means they can be fitted almost anywhere.

A new Axis Manual Doors brochure has just been published which gives more details. It is available from the download section of our website at http://images.pemc.co.uk/axis/brochure_download_2009.html or call 0844 504 6545 for a printed copy.

Welcome to the Automatic Doors Blog for Axis Automatic Entrance Systems.

We are the sole UK distributor of Stanley Automatic Door Equipment as well as supplying and installing a range of other products including aluminium shopfronts, curtain walling, car park barriers, roller shutters and some manual doors. Further information is available on our web site Automated Doors Equipment

New Automatic Door Brochures

Stanley Automatic Doors continue to be the fundamental basis of the axis Automatic Entrance Systems business and to support that we have launched a range of new brochures to illustrate the main types of automatic doors available.

These include the Dura-Glide range of Sliding and Telescoping Doors, The Magic Swing and Magic Force Swing Doors and the Automatic Bypass Doors.

These new brochures have been written specifically for the UK market so feature metric dimensions and UK power requirements. The photos that illustrate the various installations are from UK contracts. We hope these new brochures will provide our customers with the information and inspiration to select the right automatic door for their needs.

These brochures, and more, are available from the Download Page of our website or contact us on 0844 504 6545 for a printed copy.