The sliding door closer DICTAMAT 50 opens “Escape door” as if by an invisible hand

The TwistedRooms Hamburg (Germany) offer a somewhat different leisure time experience: Small groups are locked in a room and have to open the door to freedom by solving puzzles and completing tasks. To ensure a successful experience, the technique applied has to be absolutely reliable. Therefore, here the DICTAMAT 50 is a door opener which, according to the game, opens the double-leaf “escape doors” in a spookily silent and slow manner.

You are locked with some friends or acquaintances in a dimly lit room with odd items.  The only door leading to the outside is locked. You have 60 minutes to find a way to get out. “… But it is not going to be easy, because the entertainment world of TwistedRooms is full of surprises, mysteries and thrilling puzzles.”

The only chance to open the door is by successively solving puzzles and tasks. The groups face an exciting, nerve-wrecking time. And then, suddenly, the last stage of the Live Escape Game: the door to freedom opens slowly and silently, as if by an invisible hand.

DICTATOR technique opens the door to freedom

From the outside the door has an unimpressive look. It is a double-leaf wooden sliding door that’s normally locked by bar magnets. Only after the players have solved the Escape Room puzzles does the control system of TwistedRooms release the door and the DICTAMAT 50 opens both leaves simultaneously. Due to its modular structure, the DICTATOR sliding door closer can be used in many different ways and, in this case, it serves as an automatic door opener.

Functional principle of the mechanical door opener

By means of a revolving toothed belt, a small spring rope simultaneously opens both door leafs of the sliding door.

An important precondition for the application in the TwistedRooms was an constantly slow, adjustable opening speed to eliminate any risk of injury. The lamellar radial damper LD 50Z takes care of this. The positive connection via the toothed belt provides a power transmission without any slip, and ensures the continuous damping of the door during the whole opening. The second door leaf always moves simultaneously, even if only one door leaf is pushed or later pulled for closing.

The complete mechanism is mounted above the door and hidden behind a blind.

The operating company of the TwistedRooms considers the DICTAMAT 50 the ideal solution: “This opening system works perfectly and, thanks to its discreet noise emission, it fits in the game ambience optimally .”

The “Escape Door”, designed, built and installed with a lot of sensitivity for the special application by the company Holzservice Langer, Korschenbroich (Germany)

The structure of the DICTAMAT 50 BK-Z as door opener

1. Spring rope pulley 50 N
2. Lamellar radial damper LD 50 Z
3. Door actuator for the first door leaf (fitted to the upper part of the revolving toothed belt)
4. Door actuator for the second door leaf (fitted to the lower part of the revolving toothed belt)
5. Idler pulley for the toothed belt

The opening (or usually the closing) speed can be continuously adjusted on the lamellar radial damper and, thus, be adapted exactly to the requirements on site.

The DICTAMAT 50 BK (Baukastensystem = modular system) is extremely flexible because its single components can be fixed where there is sufficient space. For power transmission, a rope or a special wire rope can also be used instead of the toothed belt.

Same as in the case of TwistedRooms, the technical customer service consultants of DICTATOR look forward to your inquiry and would be happy to propose the best solution for your needs– of course free of charge.

And, for all those who would like to see the door “live”, you can find it at TwistedRooms, Hamburg, in room 4 “Armageddon”.