A switch from stainless steel to a high-carbon spring steel has beefed up a critical part for Total Door Systems: the hanger rod.
The hanger rod needs to be strong enough to support the weight of the door – as much as 200 pounds – and flexible enough to endure the more than one million bends it will experience over a lifetime of openings.
It was a tall order, said Total Door Product Improvement, Design and Testing Engineer Gary Ray. But one that his team saw as an opportunity to leap frog improvements in the part’s performance.
During the rod’s rigorous testing period, Gary more than doubled the weight and stress applied to the part, opening, spinning and dropping the full weight of the door on the rod repeatedly. It never failed.
The new hanger rod has been in production since April. Gary and his team are already looking at how they can improve upon it in the near future.
“The hanger rod is one of the most critical moving components in the door; it has to work,” he said. “We’re always looking to improve all of our components – and we’re still testing revised designs of the hanger rod to continue improvements into the future,” he said.
