Swing
Automatic swing doors, on the door you already have
Our MCW-100 operator turns a new or existing swing door into an automatic one, with an opening angle adjustable from 60° to 110° and leaves up to 150 kg. The usual route to an accessible entrance without rebuilding it.
Why swing
When a swing operator is the right answer
Most requests for automatic swing doors start with a door that already exists and a building that has to be easier to get into.
A sliding door needs wall space to park a leaf and a structure above it to hang from. A swing operator needs neither — it fits to the frame of a door that is already hung, which makes it the practical answer for offices, clinics, schools, back-of-house entrances and any refurbishment where the opening cannot change.
Automatic swing doors are also the cheapest way to make an entrance accessible. A door that is heavy for a wheelchair user, someone with a trolley or a parent with a pushchair becomes usable without touching the frame, the glass or the floor.
Activation
How people open automatic swing doors
Automatic swing doors are specified as much by how they are triggered as by the door itself. We fit and configure:
Motion and touchless sensors for hands-free entry where hygiene or convenience matters.
Push plates, hard-wired or wireless, including low-mounted plates for wheelchair access.
Floor mats where a sensor would be triggered by passing traffic.
Radio controls for staff-only or controlled operation.
Card readers and access control, so the door behaves differently in and out of hours.
Full and low-energy operation are both available. Low energy suits accessible entrances where the door must open gently and predictably rather than quickly.
The operator
MCW-100 specification
Every set of automatic swing doors we supply runs on the MCW-100, imported and assembled at our Laser Park facility in Johannesburg.
Opening angle adjustable from 60° to 110°.
Leaf weight up to 150 kg.
Converts a new or existing door to automatic operation.
Full and low-energy operation.
Because we assemble locally, operators, sensors, controls and spares sit on a shelf in Johannesburg rather than six weeks away on a container. Full detail — door sizes, speeds, hold-open time, power and warranty — is on the MCW-100 operator page.
Safety
A swinging leaf needs watching
Automatic swing doors sweep through space that people occupy, which makes sensor coverage more important here than on a sliding door. Safety sensors watch the swing path and the hinge side, and hold the door if anyone is in the way.
We set that coverage on site at commissioning against how the entrance is actually used, not to a factory default, and we test it at every service visit as routine work rather than after a complaint. Opening and closing speeds, hold-open time and the back-check near the end of travel are all adjusted at the same time.
Afterwards
Keeping them running
Wear on automatic swing doors tracks cycles rather than the calendar, and the hinges and closer take the load a sliding track never sees.
In high-traffic areas we recommend a service visit every three months; quieter entrances run longer. A well-maintained door should give around 20 years of service. We service automatic swing doors from other manufacturers alongside our own, so an unfamiliar operator is not a reason to replace a working entrance. Requirements for powered pedestrian doors in South Africa are published through SABS.
Where they end up
Buildings that suit a swing operator
Healthcare is where we fit the most automatic swing doors by some margin. Ward corridors, consulting rooms and departmental entrances usually have a perfectly good fire-rated door already hung, and the requirement is to make it hands-free rather than to replace it.
The same logic applies in offices and schools: reception doors, accessible WCs, boardrooms and staff entrances where a door exists, the opening cannot move, and somebody needs to get through it carrying something.
They also suit entrances with an airlock or lobby, where two swing doors in sequence hold conditioned air better than a single sliding opening would.
Common questions
Automatic swing doors, answered
Can you automate my existing door?
Usually. The MCW-100 fits to a new or existing swing door with leaves up to 150 kg. We check the leaf, the frame and the headroom on site first, because not every door and frame will carry an operator.
What is low-energy operation?
A slower, gentler opening cycle intended for accessible entrances, where the door should never surprise somebody approaching it. Full-energy operation is faster and suits higher traffic.
Swing or sliding for my entrance?
If you have the wall space and high traffic, sliding usually wins. If the door already exists, the opening cannot change, or there is nowhere for a leaf to park, a swing operator is the answer.
Will it still open in a power failure?
That depends on the locking and the building’s escape strategy, which we confirm on survey. Most swing doors can still be pushed manually, and battery backup can be fitted where the entrance has to keep operating.
Send us the door
A photograph of the door and its frame, the leaf width and rough weight, and whether there is power at the head is enough for us to say whether it will take an operator — and what the automatic swing doors would cost.