Which Freight Door is Right for You?

When choosing the type of door for your freight elevator, we consider a lot more than how it’s going to look on inside your building. Different types of doors are designed to fit a variety of different needs when it comes to freight elevators. There are three key factors that drive the type of door that is right for your project.

• Floor-to-floor height. This refers to the amount of vertical space from door sill to door sill at each floor level. If you are concerned with short floor-to-floor height, a pass type door (vertical bi-parting pass type or a ⅓-⅔ bi-parting pass type) can offer a good solution. On a pass type door, the upper panel slides over the lower door panel of the floor above, minimizing the amount of space needed between floor openings.

• Pit depth. The pit is the space underneath the elevator car when it is at the lowest level of the building. The pit is a crucial part of your elevator system.  It houses important elevator equipment and safety mechanisms. There must be space to accommodate these and the bottom panel of your bi-parting door. For configurations with shallow pit depths, ⅓-⅔ bi-parting or ⅓-⅔ bi-parting pass type doors require the least amount of space below the car, because only ⅓ of the total door height slides down beneath the cab.

• Load requirements. If your freight is especially heavy, you may need a more specialized configuration. Bi-parting doors are designed so that the lower door functions as a sill that freight is rolled over when it is loaded onto the elevator. If your freight is extremely heavy, a slide up configuration may be a better solution. A slide up door allows the load to roll directly from the building sill to the elevator platform. This type of door can require more space than a bi-parting type door.

While these guidelines are a good place to start, no two construction projects are exactly alike.  Before making your final decision, it’s critical to consult an expert team (like ours) and have them analyze your unique plan. Our experts at EMS Group are always ready to help, and our engineers are just a phone call away. Make your freight elevator project the one aspect of your project that runs smoothly and easily—contact us today to begin your consultation.