58. Applications

Doors have numerous general and specialized uses in buildings, storage devices, vehicles, etc. In building interiors, doors are generally used to separate interior spaces, rooms, closets, etc. for privacy, convenience, and safety reasons. Doors are also used to secure passages into a building from the exterior for reasons of safety and climate control.Other than these common usages, doors also have the following applicationsA trapdoor is a door that is oriented horizontally in a floor or ceiling, often accessed via a ladder.

Blast-proof doors are constructed to allow access to a structure but also to provide protection from the force of explosions. A garden door is any door that opens to a garden or backyard. It is often used specifically for double French doors in place of a sliding glass door. In such a configuration, it has the advantage of a very large opening for moving large objects in and out. A pet door (also known as a doggy door or cat flap) is an opening in a door to allow pets to enter and exit without the main door being opened. It may be simply covered by a rubber flap or it may be an actual door hinged on the top that the pet can push through.

. Pet doors may be mounted in a sliding glass door as a new (permanent or temporary) panel. Pet doors may be unidirectional, only allowing pets to exit. Pet doors may be electronic, only allowing pets with a special electronic tag to enter. A switch is operated manually, perhaps after security checks. This can be a push button switch or a swipe card. The act of pushing or pulling the door triggers the open and close cycle. These are also known as power-assisted doors. In addition to activation sensors automatic doors are generally fitted with safety sensors. These are usually an infrared curtain or beam, but can be a pressure mat fitted on the swing side of the door.

The purpose of the safety sensor is to prevent the door from colliding with an object in its path by stopping or slowing its motion.Inward opening doors are doors that can only be opened (or forced open) from outside a building. Such doors pose a substantial fire risk to occupants of occupied buildings when they are locked. As such doors can only be forced open from the outside, building occupants would be prevented from escaping. In commercial and retail situations manufacturers have included in the design a mechanism that allows an inward opening door to be pushed open outwards in the event of an emergency (which is often a regulatory requirement).