Innovative Designs, Materials & Technologies for Architectural Hardware for Doors and Windows Gaurav Oswal, Director, KELEGENT

Innovative Designs, Materials & Technologies for Architectural Hardware for Doors and Windows

As our fenestration industry is becoming organised with the growing awareness of system windows and doors in India, system companies and fabricators are increasingly on the look-out for innovative and out-of-thebox window and door systems which are well-engineered for performance and at the same time appeal to the end-users in terms of modern design aesthetics and ease of use.

Conventional sliding and Friction stays openable window/door systems that are available in the market are still in demand for projects and price-sensitive markets because either the volumes are high or for the lack of appetite for paying more. Here, the focus is more on the pricing. There is very little scope here for promoting innovative solutions because innovation comes at a price.

CURRENT TREND

Last few years have seen an exponential increase of demand

in the retail segment for architectural systems that are minimalistic and aesthetic in design.

Already several prominent projects are looking for such systems as a default offering in their projects. In the current competitive market, the most unique product design proposals are a key to stand out among the crowd and to be ahead of the race to attract and conquer the market.

In the case of aluminium systems, as the profiles reduced in size and are becoming more slimmer, the technical challenge lies in such hardware design which will be able to deliver the required functionality and suit required aesthetic concepts.

This trend name is “slimline concept”, where the outlook of the openings, mullion profiles appears as a thin line on large size of the glazed openings. This is a call for the complete revision of conventional hardware designs and concepts and finds a proper solution for the new architectural trends in the market.

CHALLENGES

As the minimal systems are still evolving, there is a lack of standardisation in its design approach. Each system is being designed to be different than the other.

Systems are being designed and then the search for suitable hardware begins. As usual, there are very limited ready-made solutions that could be fit for such non-standard concept.

For the hardware suppliers, it is a new challenging task: To fit required hardware inside smaller sized aluminium profiles, make it "invisible" for the end-user and provide with the aesthetic design of the locking control to match with aluminium profiles concept.

Innovative Design, Materials & Technology Implications for Architectural Hardware • Sliding roller assemblies (For sliding systems) For shutter mounted rollers, the challenge lies in designing of the roller units with small-sized wheels typically 16-17 mm diameter, to maintain a minimum exposure of the bottom shutter profile with increased load capacities and free smooth rail movement as they are expected to perform for large-sized heavy DGU shutters. First of all, smaller size wheels need smaller size bearings. Small size bearings with high load capacity are costly. Price effective solution leads to an increment of the wheels quantity in one assembling unit. Instead of 2 wheels for conventional 120-160 Kg shutter weight “heavy-duty” rollers, now we have to use 3 or even 4 wheels in one unit to achieve a capacity of above 200 Kgs. Secondly, the smoothness of the free sliding movement needs a bigger diameter of the wheels. Since the wheels are small, to achieve smooth movement it is necessary to use polished stainless-steel rails instead of aluminium, and stainless-steel wheels instead of plastic as an option. For frame-track embedded roller designs, selecting the right type of wheel is crucial for performance and also for economics. Therefore, for the frame-track embedded rollers, the best solution is to use stainless steel bearings. Considering the quantity of the bearings in one frame, it is not a money-saving solution. But the main concern is corrosion resistance and durability. By the way, this type of sliding rollers allows raising load capacity of one track incredibly. But the price and performance here is critical and depends on customer choice. Wheels, in both options, must have good corrosion resistance, as their exposure to weather conditions influences the quality and durability of the usage.

Locking solutions (For Sliding and Casement systems) Locking solutions are very customised as the aluminium system designs are very much driven by different shapes and aesthetic concepts. Opportunities prevail for designing locking solutions for shutter side locking, perimeter locking, locking on interlock for sliding and embedded sill locking. There are challenges to provide locking solutions in a very tight space provided in the small size aluminium profiles. In some cases, the solution is to adopt profiles design to existed hardware parts and sometimes there is a need to develop new products to fit with aluminium profiles requirements.

Handles (For Sliding and Casement systems) Design for innovative handles is also a very challenging area as it has to be “minimal” in size, sturdy and also at the same time to be compatible with the locking system used. Ability to offer them in multiple finishes like powder coated, anodized, PVDF coating - is an additional advantage. Therefore, there is a lot of scope in designing a unitized locking mechanism that will offer the flexibility to design and use a wide range of customised handles.

Concealed hardware “Slim line concept” also could be expanded to: Concealed hinges, friction stays, parallel

Minimal handle (Photo ref.: SOTRALU)

Friction stays (Photo ref.: KELEGENT)

Concealed Tilt-and-turn hardware (Photo ref.: SOTRALU)

Aligned parallel opening stays Aligned Parallel opening stays (Photo ref.: KELEGENT)

Concealed hinges (Photo ref.: SOTRALU)

hinges & concealed tilt-andturn hardware – They are in demand nowadays as well. The concept is realised by "hiding" normally visible, catching the eye, hardware parts inside the perimeter gap between frame and shutter making the glazed opening outlook clear and neat.

Linear operator control mechanism for skylight window

Automation applications Digital access locking handles, automated o p e n i n g - c l o s i n g mechanisms like linear operator control mechanism for skylight windows and chain operator control mechanism for top-hung windows, motorised roll-up sun shading screens – these hardware are not widely used for general purposes due to their high price. Mostly, they are used for “Green building” concept and other prestigious projects, private villas, hospitals, bank buildings, hotels. There is great scope in integrating them in computerised building control systems for safety and security, energy-saving, fire alarm smoke ventilation, skylight windows control, high raised windows control, regulation of the indoor temperature and light, etc.

FUTURE POTENTIAL

Architectural hardware has lots of potential of innovation in design and technology to be done in the above areas to improve our life quality to achieve a better future.

(Note: Product images used in this article are for explanation and illustration purposes & do not intend to infringe any type of copyrights.)

Chain operator control mechanism for high raised window

GAURAV OSWAL

Director, KELEGENT

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gaurav Oswal is Director at KELEGENT, a product company based in Pune, which specializes in manufacturing and exports of architectural hardware worldwide. KELEGENT has a very diversified range of high-quality engineered architectural hardware products for Aluminium and uPVC window and door systems. Gaurav Oswal heads the technical design and innovation team at KELEGENT which is responsible for developing its new range of products and works with many system companies and fabricators closely in designing and developing hardware solutions for new evolving systems.