MDS1 Automatic Modular Lift Door for Residential Applications

Overview of Wittur’s recently introduced Modular Door System 1, an automatic door for new lift installations in residential buildings

submitted by The Wittur Group

The Wittur Group recently introduced its new Modular Door System 1 (MDS1), an automatic door for new lift installations in residential buildings. MDS1 complies with ISO 4190 Class I requirements for residential and general purpose lifts. Its compact design makes it appropriate for home lifts and elevating platforms and easy to install, even in tight spaces. Its dimensions include a package depth of 105-185 mm, an operator height equal to CH+345 mm and a mechanism height of CH+170 mm.

Since the MDS1 is a product for the global lift market, most Wittur production companies contributed to its development using the Wittur Group Product Creation Process (PCP), which helps set priorities and control development timing across all Wittur companies around the world. The global range of MDSI contributed to Wittur’s development of such a project. Some key challenges of the project were to develop a single worldwide harmonized modular design available from different Wittur production facilities; quick and simple installation; reduced environmental impact, both for the production activities and from an energy consumption point of view; high reliability, simplified maintenance and higher a safety level. By successfully delivering these features, MDS1 can help redefine the residential lift market.

Harmonized Modular Design

MDS1 introduces a new standard sill depth in multiple steps of 40 mm. Future Wittur products belonging to the MDS range will feature the same 40/80/120-mm sill; this will enable seamless combination of different doors of the MDS range in the same shaft. The harmonized modular design allows for a reduction in the number of components used in the door’s design by using the same components for landing and car doors across all MDS1 door types. This also results in a significant reduction of spare-parts inventory. The MDS1 design has three international patents, including one protecting the new coupler, made of low-friction plastic, with guided movement.

Simple and Fast Installation

One of the key market requests for a modern lift door for residential use is easy and fast installation. To achieve this, Wittur studied a new cardboard package; the same package can be used to accommodate one complete disassembled car door or one complete disassembled landing door. Inside the cardboard, all components are packaged according to their assembly sequence, while fixing accessories for each component and are available in separate accessory packs. All components are firmly fixed by mold-injected polystyrene supports for shock protection during transportation.

During the installation, all door components remain inside the cardboard and are taken away one by one with their fixing accessories pack; thus, damages due to door components lying around the installation area are avoided. A step-by-step installation manual guides technicians during setup. Moreover, the door has been designed to provide intuitive clues for the installation. The sill group is preassembled, and quick referencing solutions are built into the frames to allow easy installation once the sill group has been correctly placed. No tools are required for side-bracket installation, as they are connected to the side of the frames by interlocking slots. The door mechanism is put into place using support brackets built into the side frames.

Operators and mechanisms are tested and pre-adjusted one by one in the factory, so they are ready to perform once assembled. In regards to panel installation, MDS1 is designed to reduce necessary adjustments to a minimum. Mechanisms are aligned to the landing door frame with quick referencing systems, and fast and slow panels share an identical design, so any panel can be assembled in any position. In addition, a modular toe guard for landing and car doors is used with a snap-in fixing. With the toe guard, only one technician is needed for MDS1 door installations, which can be achieved in 1 hr.

Reduced Environmental Impact

Wittur incorporated its latest energy-saving technologies in an effort to reduce the power consumption of the MDS1. All MDS1 doors use Wittur’s ECO+ energy-efficient drives. The new ECO+ brushless door drive is not only designed for low power consumption during operation (average: 11 W) and normal standby (2.5 W), but it can also be put in a “0 W” standby mode when coupled with the latest generation of lift controllers. In this mode the door drive is completely switched off, while keeping the car door closed. If a push button is pressed, the lift controller wakes up the door drive, and the door resumes normal operation without requiring a reduced-speed learning cycle, as the panel position is saved in the drive board memory before switching to standby and resumed at wake-up.

Besides reduced energy consumption, MDS1 uses only RoHS compliant electronic components according to the 2002/95/EC Directive to simplify disposal at the end of its lifecycle. Its compact cardboard package, with a reduced volume of up to 40% compared to other products on the market, offers a significant reduction of its carbon footprint due to lower transportation volume per shipped door: 40% more components in the same volume compared to other door types. This means up to 210 MDS1 doors (800 X 2,000) can be shipped in a single 40-ft. container. Cardboard is by far the most suitable medium for recycling, and after installation, it can be flattened and disposed of properly.

High Reliability

MDS1 is engineered to be compliant with future EN 81.1/2 norms with regards to stability. During the pre-testing phase, MDS1 successfully passed a product lifetime assessment of more than three million cycles with only standard maintenance operations.

Complexity reduction is also instrumental in getting a higher reliability level. For example, the coupler kinematics has been drastically simplified: the rotational movement that activates the coupler has been replaced with a much simpler and almost linear motion. Furthermore, as part of the pre-testing phase, pendulum shock tests were performed and successfully passed on MDS1 door panels. To ascertain the reliability of a sill group, a specific sill load test was also performed and successfully passed.

The mechanism and operator structure are both submitted to a finishing by cataphoresis, which offers enhanced resistance to corrosion. This feature has been certified according to ASTM B117 standard (salt spray test passed: 500 hours).

Simplified Maintenance

Simplified maintenance is another key requirement for MDS1. Product features such as the streamlined design with a reduced number of components; the small set of spare parts, which are used for both landing and car door; the enhanced rust resistance due to cataphoresis treatment on mechanism and operator; and the proven reliability of the ECO+ drive, which is now used throughout its range of doors, helped Wittur simplify the maintenance requirements. 

When finalizing the operator design, the addition of a hinged swing drive cover enabled accessibility of ECO+ electronic board not only frontally from the landing area by removing the cover, but also directly from the car roof, which is convenient when performing routine maintenance. MDS1 maintenance documentation lists all standard maintenance interventions during an MDS1 door lifecycle, with set times and required toolset for each operation.

Improved Safety and Comfort

All MDS1 landing doors are supplied with fire-rated certification according to EN 81-58 E120 for extended safety. Moreover, special needs of some countries are also taken into account with executions according to BS 476 E120 certification and Russian GOST 30247 certification. Specific roller material, an engineered mechanism structure and the new patented coupler design allow an average noise level well below the current requirements, demonstrated by several noise test measurements in an anechoic chamber.

Residential Lift Market

MDS1 is available in central and side opening two-panel door types ranging from 700-1,200-mm clear openings, including intermediate measures in steps of 50 mm. MDS1 is available in door heights of 2,000, 2,100 and 2,200 mm. MDS1 can be supplied in a variety of finishes to integrate with most building interior designs. In addition to prime finish RAL powder paint, MDS1 is available in different RAL powder colors, stainless-steel and patterned stainless steel cladding with all common pattern types. Furthermore, MDS1 is available with skin plate execution, a popular finish in many European markets. MDS1 is offered with standard frame dimensions of 60, 90 and 120 mm for the best adaptability to different installation possibilities.

MDS1 is already available in all European markets and is supplied with short lead times. In most cases, MDS1 is delivered in two working weeks from the date of the order.

The combination of reliability, easy and fast installation, extended safety and available door types, dimensions and range of finishes, results in a door engineered for the new millennium.

For more information, contact Wittur at Via Melloni, 12 43052, Colorno (PR), Italy; phone: (39) 0521-3111; fax: (39) 0521-311204; or website: www.wittur.com.