2009 June « Von Duprin Commercial Door Hardware

Von Duprin Introduces Antimicrobial Coating to its Exit Devices

Bacterial growth can cause serious problems in commercial buildings. Institutions such as schools, day cares, hospitals and care homes are particularly vulnerable when it comes to the normal growth of harmful bacteria. Von Duprin has responded to the problem of controlling bacterial growth in institutions and commercial buildings by developing an innovative antimicrobial coating for its exit devices and other products.

How antimicrobial coating works: Bacteria can be transmitted from human host to just about any surface that person touches. Some surfaces are more conducive to bacterial growth than others. Hard surfaces are typically good places for bacteria to begin multiplying. The less porous (harder) a surface, the faster bacteria can multiply. Bacteria that have been transferred to a hard surface, like a door, can then be transferred back to other humans, and the cycle continues.

This puts door hardware at a distinct disadvantage over many other surfaces for two major reasons: their surfaces are not very porous, and they tend to experience a lot of human contact. Because institutions have such a high rate of traffic and human-to-surface contact, their door hardware tends to be the most vulnerable. Combine this with the fact that those within the walls of the building live, work and study in very close contact, these institutions are ideal places for the spreading and growth of bacteria.

Bacteria must be able to take in nutrients from the environment in order to reproduce. Von Duprin’s antimicrobial coating is made from ionic silver. The ions in the silver coating surround the individual bacterial cells on their surfaces and prevent them from taking in the nutrients necessary to grown and multiply. Door hardware treated with antimicrobial coating experience significantly less bacterial growth than uncoated surfaces.

Business and commercial building owners who have a significant investment in keeping those who work in and visit the premises healthy should consider Von Duprin door hardware, like exit devices, with antimicrobial coating. Businesses and buildings that do not fall under the category of “institution” may still want to consider coated hardware, especially if buildings experience a high rate of traffic in and out every day. The more people who come and go from a particular building in a given day increase the chances of depositing and spreading bacteria within the building. Installing exit devices and door hardware with antimicrobial coating is a highly effective way to keep staff and patrons healthy.

Converting Mechanical Exit Devices to Electrical: Electric Latch Retraction

June 17, 2009 at 11:03 pm | Posted in Industry Topics, Product Reviews | Leave a comment
Tags: electric latch retraction, exit device, fire-rated exit devices, latch pull back, panic bar, remote dogging

Electric latch retraction, an optional feature on many models of exit devices (panic bars) may be known by a number of names. It is sometimes referred to in the industry as “remote dogging” or “latch pull back.” All of these terms refer to the ability of a particular exit device to lock or unlock according to power supply.

To understand how electric latch retraction works, it helps to first get an idea of how a regular (mechanical) exit device works. An exit device consists of a bar which extends across the width of the interior side of a door. It may be a crossbar (raised, arm-style) or it may be a flat, push bar. The bar is connected to a rod, which may be concealed (mounted inside the door) or exposed (mounted on the outside of the door’s interior side.)

The exit device renders the door locked. It cannot be opened from the exterior except with a key. From the inside, the door can be opened quickly and easily by simply pushing on the bar. As soon as the door closes, it re-locks automatically. Exit devices are sometimes referred to as “panic bars” because they are much easier and quicker to open in an emergency situation (i.e. fire) than a knob or lever. In fact, most building codes in the industrialized world mandate that doors on public buildings cannot be locked from the inside except with the use of a panic bar.

Ordinary panic bars typically come with a dogging feature. This allows for the device to be disengaged (unlatched) if desired. This would allow for people on the exterior of the building to enter without a key or having someone from inside open the door manually.

Fire-rated exit devices, on the other hand, cannot be produced with a dogging feature. Building and fire codes have specific regulations regarding the locking and unlocking of fire doors. These are typically not installed on a building’s exterior, but rather inside, often to separate the main office of a business from its warehouse, or to separate one unit from another in a multi-unit commercial building.

By law, fire doors must remain locked at all times. This helps to prevent the spread of fire from one part of a commercial building to another (i.e. between units in a multi-unit building/complex.) This is why fire-rated mechanisms are not sold with a dogging feature. This ensures that fire doors are not inadvertently left unlocked.

Electric latch retraction allows a door to operate with some extra features. Doors outfitted with electric latch retraction can be remotely unlocked. One example of this is a residential, multi-unit building where visitors must be “buzzed in” by someone who lives in the building. This feature allows the building owner/occupants to control who enters. Other features include remote dogging (except in the case of fire doors) and automatic door operator. When power is cut to the system, the door latches automatically until power is restored. Doors can still be opened manually even in a power outage.

The Von Duprin EL conversion kit allows a user to retrofit a number of Von Duprin’s manual exit devices and convert them to electric latch retraction. The kit can be applied to the 33, 35, 98 and 99 series of Von Duprin panic devices. The kit can even be applied to fire doors and will maintain its fire rating and UL listing.