Elevator Door System

Elevator doors have two major types, manual and automatic. Manual doors are normally opened and closed manually by hand, and automatic doors are the standard type of doors found in modern days elevators, usually powered by a door operator.

Non-automatic/manual doors

These doors are normally opened or closed manually using hands, although some of them close automatically. Most older and small European elevators from the 1950's to 1970's are using manual hinged door (similar to normal room doors), while the inside has a manual sliding scissor gate or often there is no door at all. For manual doors, sometimes the door can be spring loaded so the gate can't be left open, or the gate can automatically close when you press the button, and partly/completely close when the elevator gets to a floor. The inside door can also be a tubular gate, which is a gate that in many cases folds around the side of the cab when it is open (often called a barred gate by elevator enthusiasts, though this is likely not the actual term), and which can be automatic or manual.

These type of door is still used today, normally for smaller wheelchair lifts or Home Elevators. Some older freight elevators may have a horizontal or vertical manual doors. In some Asian countries, one may find an old freight elevators with manual accordion or scissor gate. Some old elevators may have a semi-manual doors a configuration of manual door outside and an automatic door inside.

Automatic doors

Automatic doors are the standard type of doors found in modern days elevators which was introduced in 1887. Almost all the automatic doors are usually powered by a door operator installed on the elevator car. Those except manual door with automatic door opening/closing device and all the incline elevators with every independent door operator belongs with every single shaft doors and car doors.