Today’s my birthday!!  David Barbaree of St. Vrain Valley School District sent me this present…a special application for closers on communicating doors – two doors in one frame.  Communicating doors are usually found between adjoining hotel rooms and do not have door closers, but in this case the two doors are the exterior doors for a school kitchen.

According to David…

“It has been a challenge to find long-lasting hold open closers that work consistently on these large doors.  The regular arm hold open tends to break and the track hold closers work but still not as smoothly.  Typically, the communicating frame does not leave room for a parallel arm back to back installation.  This was my solution.  The ideal frame depth is 7″ between the doors, but this will work in as little as 5-1/2″.  One closer is mounted at 90 degrees and the other at 180 degrees, 3/4″lower.”

This solution utilizes two LCN 4040XP HEDA closers – one left hand, one right hand, and a 5″ x 5″ x 3/4″ thick aluminum block cut from scrap bar stock.

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Pretty cool, right?  Keep in mind that you cannot have communicating doors on openings serving as a means of egress for 50 occupants or more, because in that case the door must swing in the direction of egress.

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