Garage Door Project: Check Design & Get Suggestions

[Nish6242]

Hello Guys,

I wish to make a very simple garage door which when opened and closed is like in the attached image.

In the attached image the black lines are the guides in which the 'rollers' (small red circles in the image) will roll to allow the door to move.
Note: The door (straight red line in image) itself will be made of thin iron sheets,thus will be relatively light and the door guides are planned to be ending perpendicular to each other.

My question here is,

Is this design suitable ?
Will it be easy to open and close this door without much effort required to lift it or pull it back down ?

Any better suggestions ?

P.S. This is a low budget project, thus no motorisation.

 

[Simon Bridge]

Is this design suitable ?

define "suitable".

Will it be easy to open and close this door without much effort required to lift it or pull it back down ?

Nope.
In the initial and final parts of the motion it will be quite hard, and for a lot of the motion you'll need to have your arms above your head.
You will want to add some sort of pulley and counter-balance system.

Any better suggestions ?

What's wrong with the commercial tilting doors?

 

[Nish6242]

define "suitable".

By suitable I meant feasible actually.

What's wrong with the commercial tilting doors?

These are not easily available in my country, and even if available these cost a lot.

And as far as the initials efforts required to lift the door , Will this be diminished if I angle the vertical guide(say about 125 degrees) instead of having it perpendicularly ?

And hey, thanks a lot for your reply Simon.

 

[Simon Bridge]

Define "feasible" then.
The structure can be built.
It can be made to operate as a door allowing a car in and out.
Are there other restrictions?

I mean: what is wrong with using the mechanism that commercial tilting doors use?
You may want to build it yourself - there are plenty of diagrams online.

 

[Nish6242]

Sorry for not having elaborated on these before mate.
There is no such restrictions.

Its just that I already have the items I mentioned at home and do not want to buy anything more,
That is, I got the guide rails , the 4 rollers (small wheels), 2 handle to hold to lift the door lying around.
Frame of the door etc is not a concern for now.

Its only the working (i.e actual lifting of the door that was my concern).
Thus,defining feasible , I meant 'can this be working with the items I mentioned above only' (and wanted to get the mechanism standing in about half day).

I now have a little idea over these. Thanks again.

 

[Simon Bridge]

OK - the design has to use only materials already listed.
Your main concern is how difficult it would be to move the door.

Under those restrictions, the easiest door to move, in the space, would be a horizontally sliding door.
You can use the same track approach only horizontally, maybe in two directions (can you cut the tracks?)
Or you can have bendy tracks and make a sectional sliding door.
Don't know what kid of wheels you have though.

Your design is likely to need a counter-weight if you can spare some heavy scrap metal and a rope.

defining feasible , I meant 'can this be working...

... you have not defined "working" either.
For future reference: you need to describe what the door has to do in order to be considered a success.
It will not always be obvious to an engineer you consult - you have the idea in your head of what you want to do, I don't.
i.e If you need to be able to open it by yourself without risking injury - that may be difficult to achieve, but if all you need is for it to be able to open and close - then fine.

 

[jack action]

No, your system won't work. When you will try to lift the door, the top tracks will tend to block your lifting motion. You need some kind of rotation via hinge arms. Here are the two proven methods of lifting a single panel door (which require half the wheels and tracks of your design):

Canopy garage door (video):

• Quick and easy to fit
• No horizontal tracks hanging from the ceiling
• Anti-drop device in case of a cable or spring breaking
• Can be fitted to a timber frame
• Can come pre-fitted to a steel frame
• Not ideal for automation

Retractable garage door (video):

• Multiple spring safety system
• Robust mechanism withstands heavy use
• Has horizontal tracks hung from garage ceiling
• Ideal for automation
• Can be fitted to a timber frame
• Can come pre-fitted to a steel frame

(source: http://www.discount-henderson-garage-doors.co.uk/steel.php)

You will also need springs or counterweights to be able to lift the doors.