DOORS & COMMERCIAL ENTR ANCE S
Enhancing patio door performance
Andrew Charlesworth, head of technical for the Profine UK and Kommerling brand, highlights the latest
patio door developments from a hardware perspective and suggests there are now more features than ever for
style savvy consumers.
You may be mistaken for assuming that
PVC-U patio doors have developed
little over the years, as they generally
look the same from a distance. But take
a closer look at the latest performance-led patio
doors and you’ll see options for PAS security
upgrades, heavy duty roller sets, the introduction
of soft-close technology and lift and slide doors
capable of satisfying huge openings.
Our own PremiLine patio door now enjoys a
far wider choice of foils including smooth Slate
Grey, Painswick (Agate Grey) and flat ivory. But it’s
the hardware upgrades in our own door that has
particularly elevated performance levels and makes
for a real feature in any modern-day showroom.
This is thanks to the joint development efforts with
CiiLOCK Engineering and the availability of these
new options through Window Ware.
But like all product development programmes
for Kömmerling in the UK, we are fortunate to
have the considerable resources of our parent
company, Profine Group GmbH, who have
a global reputation for outstanding technical
excellence in all areas for PVC-U window and
door design and technology.
Given the increase in sizes of patio doors in
recent years and as homeowners look to open
up more of their respective homes to the world
outside, we’ve introduced a heavy duty roller
option. This can support ’6”kg per sash, a
substantial increase of 6”% on the standard
rollers and it’s applicable across two, three and
May www.ggpmag.com
“we are fortunate to have the considerable resources of our
parent company, Profine Group GmbH, who have a global
reputation for outstanding technical excellence”
four-pane variants.
Yet one of the most important product
introductions has been the revolutionary softclose,
anti-slam mechanism, which eliminates the
risk of damage to the patio door and frame and
importantly for younger families, greatly reduces
the risk of trapping fingers. To support this there
is also a new door bump stop as part of the
hardware upgrade package.
In the middle of ”’—, we introduced the
PremiLine Pro, which is a patented high security
upgrade which features a unique multi-point lock
at the sash interlock, a typical area of weakness
in typical patio doors. This revolutionary product
variant was the first PVC-U patio door to achieve
PAS in two, three and four pane options
without the need for plunge bolts. It also achieves
the rigorous technical requirements for the
Lifetime Homes standard.
At the time, the door featured an operating
knob at the interlock, but this has now been
replaced with a stylish and slimline pop-out
handle. With the enhanced features of the
PremiLine patio door, installers can offer a far
wider range of technical features as an alternative
to a bi-folding door, yet with the added benefit of
a far greater glazed area.
Given the pan-European design principles
from Kömmerling, when there is a need for a
door solution for super-sized openings then we
can offer the lift and slide PremiDoor š6, which
is capable of satisfying openings up to .6m high
and 6.—m wide with just two sashes and with both
double and triple glazing options. There are also
AluClip variants and the option of a proCoverTec
finish.
There’s a huge desire across the UK to add
more light into our homes and this is reflected in
recent research from roof light specialists, Velux.
A patio door is the perfect way in which to achieve
this and yet with soft-close technology, the option
of heavy duty rollers and a PAS variant, our
PremiLine patio door is the stand out performer
in the sector. It also fully reflects the outstanding
product engineering pedigree of the Kömmerling
brand.
/www.ggpmag.com
