Есік жабатын механизмдар тарихы мен түрлері

Mechanical device that closes a door in a controlled manner

A door closer is a mechanical device that regulates the speed and action of a door’s swing. Manual closers store the force used to open the door in some type of spring and reuse it to close the door. Automatic types use electricity to regulate door swing behavior. Door closers can be linked to a building's fire and security alarm systems.

One of the first references concerning a device to close a door can be found in the writings of Hero of Alexandria who describes his "automata" which controlled the doors of temples, both opening and closing them automatically. Weights and levers have also been used to close doors, Another device for smaller domestic doors used a loop of rope or skein fixed to the door frame, that was twisted, with a piece of wood placed in between the twists to push the door. The opening of the door twists the skein further, when the door is released the rope's torsional force pushes the arm back against the door, thereby closing it. In more modern times the clock manufacturers Thwaites and Reed in 1850 claimed to be the original inventors of the spiral door spring. The earliest English patent for a door closing device consisting of weights and pulleys was issued in 1786 to Francis Moore The first English patent issued that mentions a spring can be traced to a few years later to that of Henry Downer. (Ironmonger) of Fleet Street, London recognised for the invention of a "spring to shut a door" (1790), There were even earlier devices invented to close a door, for instance, Mr Delevitz's model of a door with spiral spring hinges (1768) Earlier still is reference by way of a letter between Sir Edward Filmer (3rd Bart.) and his brother, Beversham Filmer dated 1748, in which they discuss a door spring. Whilst not a door closer, there was a mechanical statue, reported in the Stamford Gazette and displayed by a Monsieur Delanois at the White Swan in Stamford, December 21, 1736, that opened and closed his own door.

The first door closers consisted of just a spring mechanism only, as time went on the rate at which the door closed was arrested or checked by adding an additional checking device. Door closers at this time were known as a door spring and check. Later these two devices were combined into one unit that both closed the door and slowed the speed at which this was done. These early "door closers" used a pneumatic piston to check the speed, later models used a hydraulic or oil filled device for the same effect. The first patent for a pneumatic device to prevent the sudden slamming of a door was given to William Bullock and James Boaz, on May 13, 1813 (Patent Number 3695). An improved hydraulic device to prevent the "clapping" (slamming) of doors was patented by William Overden Snr and William Overden Jnr in 1864. Door closers that utilize the properties of vulcanised Indian rubber have also been patented and used. The use of door closers expanded during the Victorian era. Companies such as William Tonks and Son, James Cartland and Sons and William Newman and Son and were all based in and around Birmingham. receiving in 1974 an award for their one millionth door closer produced. In 1907 the Briton B was first placed on the market. In the United States, Lewis. C. Norton started his business in 1877, entering the door closer market in 1880 with a door check for the Boston Trinity Church. Eugene Blount, Francis Richards and Joseph Bardsley also played important parts in the development, improvement and commercialization of door closers along with other companies, including Yale, Norton, Rixson and The Shelby Spring Hinge Company. Since the 1970s/1980s Dorma and GEZE have pushed to dominate the door closer business, with Ingersol Rand, ASSA ABLOY, RIXSON having large portions of the American market.

A spring, hydraulic pressure, or a combination of both, is found in manual door closers. The energy used in opening the door is stored in a spring (compression, torsion, tension, volute or leaf), and released to close the door. Spring tension is typically adjustable, altering both opening and closing force. Most door closers use oil filled hydraulic dampers to limit closing speed, and allow for soft closing. Other types use a friction based mechanical speed control mechanism. “Controlled closers” use adjustable hydraulic valves to variously regulate the door’s opening and closing speed, latch speed, and delayed action return. These allow setting of the “sweep speed” (the rate which the door travels along the majority of its closure, the sole closing setting on basic closers); the “latch speed” (the rate in the last 10 to 15 degrees of closing arc, allowing it to be set faster than the "sweep" to ensure proper latch closure); “delayed action” (which slows sweep speed dramatically for roughly the first half of its range, allowing more time for passage), and opening speed (preventing a door from being opened too fast, a useful feature in crowded environments, and those where the young, old, or infirm may be present). It is also particularly well suited to exterior doors where there is a danger of wind catching and blowing them open, potentially harming the door, nearby objects, people, or pets.

Door closers are widely used in both residential and non residential settings. At home, they are most commonly found on screen and storm doors. They are also used in numerous applications in commercial, industrial, institutional, and public facilities from libraries and schools to museums and airports.

In non residential settings, door closers are most commonly installed on bathroom doors, fire doors, and exit doors. During a fire, any door that penetrates a firewall must be fire rated. Fire doors need to be closed in case of fire to help prevent the spread of fire and smoke. Any fire doors which are normally held open must automatically close and lock when a fire is present in the building. The function of an emergency exit rim device (crash bar or panic bar) will permit escape through a fire door, however it must re latch once released. (A fire door must not be "dogged" to disable its latch.) In most countries fire door performance will be governed by national standards.

Door closers also play a role in maintaining desired interior temperatures, reducing air movement in and out of conditioned space.

Door closers also play a role in security at building entrance doors, closing doors once somebody has passed through and re latching the door lock.

In buildings that require noise control (Studios) door closers play an important part in the suppression of unwanted noise both in and out rooms and the buildings themselves.

Door closers are often used to ensure privacy in toilets and washrooms.

Door closers can also play a part in keeping buildings and rooms free from dirt, debris and pests.