High-grade access gate to the garden in the same design as the house – nearly uncontrollable during opening

The result of a suction effect and of high wind load was that the hinged gate banged open with nearly no control

An architectural eye-catcher: The company Metallbau Bucher in Seelbach masterly realized the customer’s wish to have an access gate to the garden that looks like a continuation of the facade of his house. Therefore, at a first glance, it is nearly not distinguishable as such. Due to the weight of the plastic panels used for the facade cladding, the gate construction had to be very robust. The gate of 2250 x 2400 mm weighs about 200 kg.

However, this did not completely solve the customer’s requirements, because the gate also had to function safely and reliably. And two factors made it quite difficult to find a good solution:

• Due to its position, the gate is often exposed to a high wind load when opening it, aggravated by a suction effect.
• Because the gate is completely cladded, it offers such a large surface to the wind, so that it wouldn’t be possible to control the opening of the gate, which would crash without control into the fence. On the one hand this represents an enormous risk for people. On the other, this would result in damages to the gate construction and in high repair costs.

Adjustable oil dampers control the opening of the access gate

The solution were special oil dampers from DICTATOR for gates with ascending hinges. However, most gates don’t completely block the wind and weigh much less. To determine the appropriate oil damper, DICTATOR had to calculate the effective forces based on the customer’s information about weight, dimensions, wind load etc. – which is of course part of the DICTATOR advisory service. Two oil dampers with a stroke of 300 mm were used, mounted at the top and the bottom of the gate. They are regulable and therefore can be precisely adjusted on site. A protective tube prevents dirt from settling on the piston rod, thus ensuring a long operational life. The rose bearings which fix the oil dampers to the gate, allow to compensate the height differences when the gate is moving.

Thanks to their expert knowledge and their experience in custom construction Metallbau Bucher also perfectly mounted the oil dampers. Now the gate can be opened without any risk and the customer is completely satisfied.