Electrically operated door bolts. How can I do this?

I have a brickbuilt & alarmed workshop at the end of the garden. Main access is via an electrically opened, remote controlled, up/over garage door. This opens onto a narrow lane and is not visible from the house. A lamp, visible from the house, comes on if this door is open. A couple of years back I suffered 9 attempted burglaries, 8 of which were through said up/over door. This door now has internal bolts at each corner and so cannot be opened from the outside without physically ripping the door and frame from the structure. The only other access is via the garden. This is causing a problem as I (and dog) am wrecking the grass and need access constantly. Been trying to figure a way of having electrically operated bolts in the 4 corners of the up/over door that could be opened by the presently installed remote control. My thinking is that as the bolts are shot they could each operate a microswitch that would then operate the door opener when the circuit was completed. Any ideas please if this is viable or any ideas for a more simple method? Also, where could I get solenoid type bolts to suit. Hope this makes some sense. Many thanks.

Sunbeam.

Reply to
Sunbeam
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Solenoid operated bolts of the type you describe are certainly available - the motorised gates at work have them. Not sure where they came from, but shouldn't be too difficult to find a supplier of these motorised gates.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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decreasing order of if I think they have appropriate bolts, I have not looked, but seem to remember some at least in the RS and maplin catalog.

Reply to
Ian Stirling

A traditional solenoid might not be quite suitable, depending upon how much "play" there is with the up-and-over door (your call on this one, I'm afraid) since the "throw" of the solenoid bolt tends to be rather low - usually 15mm or less, and the pull strengths can be a little low for this application. You might find solenoids specifically for this application

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have a few but the prices are rather staggering).

What with this being a DIY group, have you considered the merits of a series of motors, each driving a threaded piece of studding, then welding a locking "bolt" to a nut that sits on the threaded studding to provide a cheaper solution? (ok, a bit heath-robinson, but an interesting idea if you want to dabble)

Reply to
Mike Dodd

Electric door locking is more usually done by purpose-made electromagnets. Unlike bolts, they can easily accommodate misalignements. RS Components list them, but I would be surprised if you could not find them cheaper.

Colin Bignell

Reply to
nightjar

Instead of draw bolts you need two Magnet Door Locks. We fit them all the time on these types of things. You can even have them on battery back-up in case of power cuts. They are much safer if fire occurs as well.

Have a look at these:

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Reply to
BigWallop

cheaper, and 12 volt, so you could rig up a battery backup system.

Tom

Reply to
Tom B

on a few projects. They're very cheap, and pretty good for both pushing and pulling.

Reply to
Grunff

Strong enough for this type of job though?

Reply to
Andy Hall

I think it will depend a lot on the alignment of the bolt with the hole. If it is reasonably well aligned, not requiring too much force, then yes, these motors will do fine.

They are pretty simple rack/pinion arrangements, so can deliver a reasonable amount of force - maybe ~20N - over 30mm travel.

Reply to
Grunff

How often do you get this on a door bolt, and for how long?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I know what you mean, but I do think it's doable. It may be necessary to use slightly oversized bolt holes to allow for misalignment.

I'm sure magnetic catches are a better option for this application, I was just mentioning that I've used these motors in similar applications with good results.

Reply to
Grunff

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> on a few projects. They're very cheap, and pretty good for both pushing

They're actually a direct mechanical replacement for the ones on my SD1 (and probably other BL cars too) at a fraction of the price. The connectors need to be changed, though.

The complete kit they offer is excellent value, but suffers from voltage drop due to undersized connectors and cable as supplied. Probably ok for many apps, but beefing these up allow the motors to develop their full torque.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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