Jobs
Automatic Door
An automatic door, also known as an auto door, is a door that opens automatically, usually on sensing the approach of a person.
In the 1st century AD, mathematician Heron of Alexandria in Roman Egypt invented the first known automatic door. He described two different automatic door applications. The first application used heat from a fire lit by the city's temple priest. After a few hours atmospheric pressure built up in a brass vessel causing it to pump water into adjacent containers. These containers acted as weights that – through a series of ropes and pulleys – would open the temple's doors at about the time people were to arrive for prayer. Heron used a similar application to open the gates to the city.[1]
In 1931, engineers Horace H. Raymond and Sheldon S. Roby of the tool and hardware manufacturer Stanley Works designed the first model of an optical device triggering the opening of an automatic door. The invention was patented and installed in Wilcox's Pier Restaurant in West Haven, Connecticut for the benefit of waiters carrying plates of food and drink. The entire system plus installation was sold for $100.[2][3]
In 1954, Dee Horton and Lew Hewitt invented the first sliding automatic door. The automatic door used a mat actuator. In 1960, they co-founded Horton Automatics Inc and placed the first commercial automatic sliding door on the market.[4]
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299.[2] The demonym for residents of the town is 'Burtonian'. Burton is 11 miles (18 km) southwest of Derby, 27 miles (43 km) northwest of Leicester, 28 miles (45 km) west-southwest of Nottingham and 20 miles (32 km) south of the southern entrance to the Peak District National Park.
Burton is known for brewing.[3] The town originally grew up around Burton Abbey. Burton Bridge was also the site of two battles, in 1322 when Edward II defeated the rebel Earl of Lancaster and 1643 when royalists captured the town during the First English Civil War. William Lord Paget and his descendants were responsible for extending the manor house within the abbey grounds and facilitating the extension of the River Trent Navigation to Burton. Burton grew into a busy market town by the early modern period.
The town is served by Burton-on-Trent railway station. The town was also the start and terminus of the now defunct South Staffordshire Line which linked it to Lichfield, Walsall, Dudley and Stourbridge.
