Sliding glass door

A Sliding glass door or Patio door, a type of sliding door in architecture and construction, is a large glass window opening in a structure that provide door access from a room to the outdoors, fresh air, and copious natural light. A sliding glass door is usually considered a single unit consisting of two panel sections, one being fixed and one a being mobile to slide open. Another design, a wall sized glass pocket door has one or more panels movable and sliding into wall pockets, completely disappearing for a 'wide open' indoor-outdoor room experience.

The sliding glass door was introduced as a significant element of pre-war International style architecture in Europe and North America. Their precedent is the sliding Shōji and Fusuma panel door in traditional Japanese architecture. The post-war building boom in modernist and Mid-century modern styles, and on to suburban ranch-style tract houses, multi-unit housing, and hotel-motel chains has made them a standard element in residential and hospitality building construction in many regions and countries.

Terminology

"Handedness" of a sliding door is expressed as seen by an observer outside the building. A left-handed door opens on the left side, and a right-handed door opens on the right. These relationships are sometimes described with the letters O and X, where O is the fixed panel and X is the sliding panel. The O/X notation allows the description of doors with more than two panels.

Sliding-door terminology^[1]

Denotaton	Panels	Panel motion	Description
OX or right-handed	2	$- \leftarrow$	Right panel slides left
XO or left-handed	2	$\rightarrow -$	Left panel slides right
OX-O	3	$- \leftarrow -$	Center panel slides left
O-XO	3	$- \rightarrow -$	Center panel slides right
XOOX	4	$\rightarrow - - \leftarrow$	Outer panels slide toward the center
OXXO	4	$- \leftarrow \rightarrow -$	Center panels slide toward outer ones

Design options

Traditional

The traditional sliding doors design has two panel sections, one fixed-stationary and one mobile to slide open. The actual sliding door is a movable rectangular framed sheet of window glass that is mounted parallel to a similar and often fixed similarly framed neighboring glass partition. The movable panel slides in a fixed track usually, and in its own plane parallel to the neighboring stationary panel.

A specialty form, for Washitsu or "Japanese-style rooms," creates sliding Shōji and Fusuma panel doors, with traditional materials for interior uses and contemporary adaptations for exterior exposure and uses. They are used in themed and contemporary restaurants, residences, Japanese garden tea houses, and other situations. Specialty manufacturers are located in Japan and 'Western' countries.

Disappearing

Another sliding doors design, glass pocket doors has all the glass panels sliding completely into open-wall pockets, totally disappearing for a wall-less 'wide open' indoor-outdoor room experience. This can include corner window walls, for even more blurring of the inside-outside open space distinction. Two story versions are often electronically opened, using remote controls. For wide expanses the opening point is centered, and three to six parallel tracks are used to carry the six to twelve sliding doors into the wall pockets on each side. Their recent popularity, shelter magazine coverage, and technical and structural innovations, has brought many options to market.

Trackless & disappearing

A third sliding doors design has all the glass panels suspended from above, leaving a trackless and uninterrupted floor plane. They also disappear into side pockets. On final closure they slightly drop down to create a weatherproof seal. A German manufacturer developed the original technology, and their use is predominantly in temperate climates.

Uses

Sliding glass doors are popular in southern Europe and throughout the United States, being used in: hotel rooms, condominiums, apartments, and residences; for access to upper balconies; for large views out - enhanced natural light in; and to increase incoming fresh air. In addition Sliding glass doors are commonly used in some regions as doors between the interior rooms of a home and a courtyard, deck, balcony, patio, and a garden, backyard, barbecue or swimming pool area. They are often called Patio doors in this context. They are also used in interior design, often in offices and automobile sales areas, to give soundproof but visually accessible private office space. In residential interiors they are used, often with translucent 'frosted' glass replicating a traditional Shōji door, to allow daylight to penetrate further into the dwelling and expand the sense of interior spatial size.

Upvc Patio doors

Fabrication

Sliding glass door frames are often made from wood, aluminum, stainless steel, or steel, which also have the most strength. The most common material is PVC-plastic. Replacement parts are most commonly needed for the moving-sliding parts of the door, such as the steel rollers that glide within the track and the locking mechanisms.

Glazing

Glass in the doors can be either externally fitted or internally fitted, with internally fitted being the high security design, depending on the specification the manufacturer implements in the design. To comply with energy conservation codes and for noise reduction, sliding glass doors are usually double glazed, and often treated for UV reflection. They usually have no mullions, unless attempting to appear part of a revival architectural style, and then often using 'snap on' faux grids.

Security

Security design in the doors is aimed at preventing the doors both fixed and sliding from being lifted of their rails, fitting anti-lift blocks can be fixed to the top of the frame to prevent the lift of the door off its rails, so in theory preventing unauthorised entry to the room when sliding door is in the closed position. A portable security bar can also be fitted from the inside the room to prevent sliding action when door is closed. The adjustable security bar can also be used for added security when traveling.

Media

In the popular media of movie and television cultures people are shown as walking into these doors for comedic effect.

See also

• Doors
• Windows
• French door
• Daylighting
• Passive daylighting
• Sustainable architecture
• Sustainable design

References

1. ^ "Ascent Sliding Door Panel Labeling System". http://www.eaglewindow.com/getdoc/674a64d2-6061-4daa-a5fd-a49b8292789f/Sliding-Patio-Door-Elevations.aspx. Retrieved 17 August 2011. 

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