Electric strikes are devices used to keep doors closed and to allow an electrical opening. They are usually found installed in doors in portals in residential urbanizations, in the doors of office buildings and in the doors of small shops, among other places, making it an essential tool for access control systems for intercoms and video door entry systems. Although at first sight they might go unnoticed, they are easily recognizable for the buzzing sound many of them make when they receive an electric current to activate their mechanism.
These devices, small and simple in appearance, consist of a prismatic piece (door opener), which has a movable part (latch), to which a metallic plate is usually attached (top cover), which may sometimes have a cutout (deadbolt cutout) to allow the use of a lock. This last piece, although it does not form part of the trike itself, is essential for its installation, as it is the one that is attached to the door, while the strike is the piece that receives electrical current.
Operation of electric strikes
These devices can work in two ways:
- Fail Secure or Normally Open (NO): This kind of system is used when it is sought to protect goods. In the resting state, the door opener does not receive power, and it is kept closed. When they receive an electrical current, they can be opened. For instance, this system can be found in the portals of the stores because, if a power cut occurs, the door is kept closed, protecting what is inside the store. The doors that mount this kind of strikes have an inner handle to open the door.
- Fail Safe or Normally Closed (NC): This kind of system is used when the aim is to protect people. In the resting state, the door opener is always receiving power, keeping itself closed. When there is a power cut, the door opens. For example, this system can be found in offices because, if a power cut occurs, people can evacuate properly.This kind of system is also called inverted.
Regardless of the way they may function, strikes have a series of technological features that makes them able to adapt easily to different installations. Dorcas devices are at the forefront of these technologies. To offer the best products and service, Visiotech has signed a distribution agreement with the company.
Dorcas, Spanish company with over 45 years’ experience in the lock industry sector, is specialized in the manufacturing of electric opening systems. It is the leading manufacturer of this kind of devices in the Spanish market, being present in over 70 countries. Their main difference with other companies of the sector is their broad and innovative range of products, always with top quality and with ongoing development of recent technologies.
Electric strikes features
The technologies present in door strikes include the following:
- Memory: door strikes change their state only when they receive or stop receiving power. Once this situation passes, they go back to their normal state. Devices that implement memory can change their state when the change is produced and keep this way until the door opening occurs.
- Free pass: This technology keeps the latch unblocked, so the door will always remain open. It is achieved thanks to a mechanical tab located next to the latch, which goes up or down to activate the feature.
- Latch regulation: on many occasions, due to the passing of time or to an inadequate mounting, the door is not squared, so the latch does not fit in properly. The regulation of the latch in the door openers can establish how protruding will it be, so you can manage the fitting of the latch and avoid a possible intervention in the door.
- (Micro) door sensor: In the access control systems, due to the same characteristics of the installation, it is necessary to control the state of the door. The (micro) door sensor that the door strikes incorporate are the ones that carry out this feature.
- Radial latch: This kind of latch spins on an axis which is offset towards the base of the door strike, which can reduce its spinning perimeter. In this way, the device is more easily installed, as well as making it necessary to have a reduced recess in the door frame.
- Door latch with door handle guide (no cuts in the front panel): this kind of latch is quite similar to the previous one (as it also presents radial functioning), although with the difference that in this case, the spin is offset in consonance with the spin of the latch. In this way, the spin is introduced inside the strike, avoiding the need of doing a recess in the door frame and a cut in the front panel.
In conclusion, the range of door openers available at Visiotech is the best choice to complement video intercom or access control installations, as they present a wide range of models with the aforementioned technologies, offering great versatility to adapt to any situation. Furthermore, thanks to the close relationship established with Dorcas, we offer devices with exceptional operation and quality.
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