Creative Schweiss team minds make amazing bifold doors - 29

Schweiss Doors has over the years manufactured many types and styles of bifold and hydraulic doors, among them are some real unique request bifold doors specially engineered for one purpose only. At this point in time, they are probably one of a kind Schweiss Doors. North Star Imaging, Inc. a manufacturer of industrial X-ray systems in the USA needed a specially engineered X-ray inspection lead-lined door. This radiation-shielded door had to be precisely engineered to provide protection during x-ray procedures, a Schweiss bifold liftstrap door was the perfect answer. The two units installed were both 40' wide and 9' high. The 'protective' lead liner was 1/8th inch diameter thick. Sandwiched with metal siding on both sides, total weight of these doors was 9,300 pounds. Schweiss provided a heftier framework plus equipped each door with seven of their patented extra strong liftstraps. The liftstrap mechanism is what makes this door so functional. Because of safety considerations of a unique door this heavy, Schweiss also constructed a special 'Dead Man' switch, which requires both hands of the door operator when opening and/or closing the door. Storefronts in Brooklyn, New York were constructed of shimmering, perforated steel security bifold liftstrap doors that serve as the storefront shopping center’s signature. When they are closed, the bifold doors, which are laser-cut into a grid pattern, emit light through hundreds of holes in the steel cladding bifold door. It’s cutting-edge technology. The five pairs of moving facade panels create an ever-changing expression of tectonics and purpose. By day, the panels fold up to create awnings for the stores and to shelter pedestrians, By night they secure the shops behind them and create an artful facade, which is defined by a pattern of internally illuminated laser cut corten and stainless steel. Each bifold is 18' tall giving 9' vertical clearance in the open position plus some shade and weather protection. What looked like a near impossible situation, with some totally new engineering design, turned out to be a remarkable solution to an extreme challenge for SMS Millcraft, Oil City, PA. The challenge? How to fit a "roof door" over a 20' by 30' sandblasting chamber. The answer was obvious: bifold "roof doors" that quickly and conveniently closed over the chamber prior to each sandblasting procedure. A strong Schweiss Door motor does its job of keeping the doors in place while keeping tension on the lift straps. It just simply runs very, very smooth. The roof door was the creative minds of the Schweiss team that actually made it work. But custom-made doors is what Schweiss is all about. Get creative minds on both sides of the table and amazing things can happen. The easy and reliable bifolds haven't slowed the sandblasting process and have definitely provided a cleaner working atmosphere for all employees. Herb Korthuis of Lynden, Washington wanted to have a large garage on his new home but he ran into a glitch with a local zoning ordinance which was restricting him to an 8 ft. tall door, too short to fit his 12.5 ft. tall motorhome in. Any garage door bigger than that wouldn't conform to uniformity code the city wanted for the neighborhood. The gears started turning and Korthius and Schweiss Doors came up with a door that wouldn't look like a door. The building inspector looked at a sketch and said that because the door blends into the rest of the architecture of the home and conforms to the look of the neighborhood there would be no problem. The Schweiss bifold liftstrap door is 12 ft. wide with a 14 ft. tall clear opening, making the total height of the door 16 ft. It’s a “Crazy Cool” door. Now you see it when it’s open, and now you don’t when it’s closed. Schweiss Doors can provide answers and manufacture custom bifold doors that others thought impossible.