

Something New in Garage Doors - cek
http://www.davintosh.com/2015/01/01/something-new-in-garage-doors/

======
bbcbasic
"The biggest difference between this system and a traditional garage door is
that you don’t have the track rails extending into the garage space, and that
only half the height of the door ends up above the open doorway"

= Oops better look for another USP, because this alternative ingenious
solution has been around for years:

[https://www.factoryfast.com.au/p/automatic-garage-roller-
doo...](https://www.factoryfast.com.au/p/automatic-garage-roller-door-opener-
motor)

~~~
foobarian
Half the height of the door... that's actually kind of a lot? My garage door
does have tracks into the garage, but there is only about 10 inches from top
of the doorway to the ceiling.

~~~
lsaferite
Did you watch the video?

The comment about half the height of the door was in reference to how far the
folded panels extend HORIZONTALLY into the garage. The folding process never
goes above the top of the mechanism which looks to be less than 10 inches
above the top of the door.

------
rdl
It should open outward, not inward. Then, it takes up zero space internally,
and even provides a sun-shade awning when opened.

~~~
tombrossman
Great idea if you live in a sunny, temperate climate.

Not so good the first time you try to open the door somewhere snowy.

~~~
logn
Can you explain the specific problem? Would snow have to be near the top of
the door in your scenario?

~~~
tombrossman
Sure, the motor powering the door will not be able to overcome the resistance
of even a few inches of snow outside. Think of the bottom edge of the door as
the tip of a lever's long side. It is the opposite of what you want when using
a lever. The long side is for applying power and the short side gives you the
extra torque you need.

Put more simply, the door won't be able to push snowdrifts out of the way if
it has to swing outward to open. Your 4x4 with snow tires will remain stuck
inside the garage, unable to exit.

EDIT - After re-reading the question I now realise the comment above was about
modifying this particular design to open outward at the top, and I was
(incorrectly) assuming it was about a traditional outward-opening door like
you might see in southern California. Sorry for the confusion. That may still
be problematic, but not for the reasons I gave here.

~~~
cujo
You still have a potential issue if you leave the door open during a heavy
snowfall. Forgetting to shut the door for a few hours could cause some damage
if done at the wrong time.

------
pageld
It actually reminds me of those cable folding doors
([http://www.bifold.com/note.php](http://www.bifold.com/note.php)) which have
been around for a while. They aren't usually used on garage doors though, more
for airplane hangers and pole sheds.

I guess I'm not seeing the benefits for the extra complexity.

~~~
lsaferite
Those doors would need a ton of space between the vehicle and the door though.

~~~
falcolas
They fold outwards, and would require less room anywhere inside the garage,
Han the op version.

~~~
lsaferite
Well, the video I saw at the link provided showed the doors opening inward. If
they normally open outwards then it obviously wouldn't have any additional
clearance requirement on the inside of the garage.

EDIT: I stand corrected. I went back and looked at the image (not video) I saw
before. It was deceiving due to the layout but it was folding to the exterior.
[http://www.bifold.com/assets/slider-37.jpg](http://www.bifold.com/assets/slider-37.jpg)

------
Animats
There are lots of expensive, exotic garage doors. There's even a web site for
garage design:

[http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197602](http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197602)

Vertical bifold doors are common for airplane hangars.

~~~
fubarred
Neat. Seems some folks have their hangar setup as an upscale loft as well.
(Apart from "ranch" homes that share a common landing strip.)

------
cygnus_x1
a little pricey!
[http://www.accessgaragedoors.com/pdf/dominagaragedoors/domin...](http://www.accessgaragedoors.com/pdf/dominagaragedoors/domina-
price-list-jan-2013.pdf) (in Euros)

~~~
msoad
I don't see the price!

~~~
smeyer
Look at page 8 onwards.

------
xpda
It looks like there would be a lot of stress holding the doors up. I can only
see the arm on the side, and at that angle it looks like it would not be very
strong. I wonder about the longevity. But they do look cool!

~~~
lsaferite
Watching the video you can clearly see the upper panel has support arms on
both sides.

Also, it's basically cantilevered when retracted and should be pretty solid.

------
bluedino
Doesn't work well for trucks or vans in shallow garages, where the rear of the
vehicle ends up very close to the door.

~~~
lsaferite
From looking at the video it seems like a full-size van would only need about
18 inches of clearance between the door and the van. Maybe 24 at the outside.

------
thanksgiving
Unrelated but just wanted to thank the article writers for including a regular
link to YouTube in addition to the embed. I have flash set to not
automatically run on all websites but I do have it set to work in YouTube and
Vimeo (among others). A link is very nice and appreciated.

------
ChuckMcM
That is pretty sweet. My favorite 'weird' garage door idea though is the one
that goes down into the ground. Basically a vertical slab with a very long
scissor drive to lift up the door. The down side being maintenance of course,
need to clean out all the crap that accumulates 12' below the ground.

------
blakecaldwell
Mechanical engineering is black magic.

~~~
joezydeco
For the software types here yeah, it is.

But THIS is black magic:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umfvm8I9_oU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umfvm8I9_oU)

~~~
post_break
Hinge on one side. Piano hinges on the parts that fold. Math to calculate the
correct angles. Didn't seem like voodoo to me.

This is the one that really looks like magic.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10y28PD73vk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10y28PD73vk)

~~~
eldr
How the table is made. The details are beautiful.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVbo7ycpkeI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVbo7ycpkeI)

