How strange! Why do the doors of hospital elevators open to one side?

Why do elevator doors in hospitals open in one direction, rather than in two directions at the same time? This question has troubled me for a long time... Medical dramas and actual hospitals all show this. But doesn't this take longer?

A news photo of a hospital elevator failure drill clearly shows that the door folds open to one side.

Yesterday, Guokr.com published an article about cutting-edge technology in the elevator industry: The philosophical question in the elevator has finally been answered! In the comments, some friends also asked about this "long-standing confusion."

The doors of elevators (professionally called "lifts") are divided into single-opening (also called side-opening, opening to one side) and double-opening (also called opposite-opening, the doors open to both sides at the same time) according to the opening direction; according to the folding of the doors when opening, there is the difference between center-opening (two doors opening separately) or double-folding (one door opening and folding at the same time).

Ordinary residential and commercial buildings often use the center-split + double-opening model for passenger elevators, while freight elevators and hospital elevators generally use the double-folding + single-opening model.

Why? If I were to sum it up in one sentence:

Because the elevator in the hospital should be built as big as possible!

Why do doors of large elevators have to open to one side and fold? There are three main reasons:

First, there is the issue of the floor space occupied by the elevator shaft. For ordinary passenger elevators, a door opening width of 900 or 1100 is sufficient. However, the elevators used to transport beds and freight elevators used to transport goods in hospitals have much higher load-bearing capacity, and it is common for the door opening width to reach 1500 or 1800. For double-door elevators, in addition to the width of the elevator itself, the elevator shaft must reserve half the width of the car on each side to facilitate door opening. If the door opening is 900, it is necessary to reserve 450 on each side, for a total of 900. If the hospital uses an 1800 elevator, it is necessary to reserve 1800+900+900 space, which invisibly wastes 1800 space. For a single door + double fold, it is enough to reserve half the width of the car on one side.

If the elevator shaft area has been planned, the side door can "open" a larger door opening distance than the center door, making it easier for beds to enter and exit.

On the left is the center-parting door commonly used in passenger elevators, and on the right is the side-opening door (side-opening door) commonly used in freight elevators. You can take a look at the reserved space in the shaft.

This means that the larger the elevator, the more "wasted" space reserved for the door in the elevator shaft, so the larger the elevator, the more inclined to double-fold the door, squeezing the "storage space" of the door panel. If the distance between the doors is larger, you can also use a center-split double-fold. If there is a special requirement, it is not impossible to make a tri-fold door... (I have never seen such a large elevator. Once the door is opened, several mahjong tables can be placed. It should be spectacular.)

The elevator on the left in the picture has a double-opening + bi-folding door. The door opens to both sides and folds on both sides. This is an elevator with a "large double-opening door distance". You can imagine what a double-opening + tri-folding door looks like.

Second, it is still a space issue, but it is related to the position of the elevator's counterweight. The mechanical traction balance device of the medical bed elevator is a side counterweight, that is, the counterweight is on the side of the elevator car, and the car has a counterweight on one side of the shaft space. In this way, opening the door can save shaft space and increase the door width to facilitate vehicle entry and exit. Similarly, the side-opening doors commonly used in freight elevators are the same. For commonly used commercial elevators, the traction balance device is a rear counterweight, and the space on both sides of the shaft is small, so the design of a central door is more reasonable.

Let’s look at this picture again. Not only are the door opening methods different on the left and right sides, but the position of the counterweight is also different.

The third issue, which is also mentioned by many friends in the medical field, is the requirements for epidemic prevention. Double-door elevators are prone to loose closure in the middle, while one-way doors only need to set an E-shaped structure on the fixed side to ensure sealing. For hospitals, disease control is more important than floor space. This is not just for elevators. Most of the doors in hospitals are set according to the standards of zombie siege or doomsday...

Next time you go to the hospital (or take the freight elevator), you might as well pay attention to the structure of the elevator door. You should know that the moral responsibility of saving lives is not only shouldered by the angels in white. Behind every brick and tile in the hospital is the hard work of curing diseases and saving lives.

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