High Tech Car Doors

[Fast Gunn]

Yes, there may be many technical problems to overcome, but the video shows a perfectly workable solution and it's the best approach I have seen to the ancient door technology we have carried over from the Model T era.

The solution that I had been working on was something similar to the doors on the Starship Enterprise that would whoosh open horizontally.

However, with more limited space to work with, the door panels would have to telescope into each other to fit on a car chassis.

Frankly, I am puzzled as to why no auto company had done any serious work on developing more modern doors.

Granted, the DeLoren had an interesting concept, but it looked more like primitive cool to me rather than a truly modern design.

[Guest050715-1]

Ascetics: Rain, ground clearance and getting filth from the underside of the car onto the inside of the door were my first thoughts. They addressed the ground clearance one, but the other two are legitimate issues.

Safety: I was thinking the structural integrity would be increased if the door raised and lowered through a reenforced channel as opposed to the way car doors now seat in a non-channeled, hollowed out chamber. The converse of the increased strength of a channel seat in a crash situation didn't really occur to me. Maybe access through the roof?

[Fast Gunn]

Wow, I am impressed, Olivia!

You don't talk like a typical girl.

You sound like more an engineer or a NASA scientist!

. . . Do you have the value of Pi memorized to about 50 places and know the atomic weight of Boron?

[TexTushHog]

I think it's a solution (and not a very good one) in search of a problem. There is very little wrong with the current doors that we have.

[Fast Gunn]

There's nothing wrong with the doors we have today?

Are you kidding me, compadre!

The doors we have today are antiques!

They belong in museums, not on cars.

Parking spots are tight enough without having to squeeze out through a door you can barely open!

You will see that these old-fashion doors are going to go the way of the horse and buggy in the very near future.

Then once we get the ancient relics of doors dealt with and rid off, the next problem to correct will be the damn tires! A vehicle bouncing up and down at the mercy of the road condition is barbaric in this day and age!

I think a car should float a few inches above the pavement to make for a really cushy ride and I'm working on that idea too.

Some high speed trains in Japan already levitate a few inches above the rail tracks using the force of magnetism and that is something to look into, but probably not the way to go for automobiles, but the day is coming!

[Guest050715-1]

Originally Posted by Fast Gunn

Wow, I am impressed, Olivia!

You don't talk like a typical girl.

You sound like more an engineer or a NASA scientist!

. . . Do you have the value of Pi memorized to about 50 places and know the atomic weight of Boron?[IMG]file:///C:/Users/JANEGR%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_image001.gif[/IMG]

I was in Materials’ Manager in sub-contract manufacturing and then for one of the big three oil field services companies for quite a long while.

Originally Posted by Fast Gunn

……………..

Parking spots are tight enough without having to squeeze out through a door you can barely open!

You will see that these old-fashion doors are going to go the way of the horse and buggy in the very near future.

Then once we get the ancient relics of doors dealt with and rid off, the next problem to correct will be the damn tires! A vehicle bouncing up and down at the mercy of the road condition is barbaric in this day and age!

I think a car should float a few inches above the pavement to make for a really cushy ride and I'm working on that idea too.

Some high speed trains in Japan already levitate a few inches above the rail tracks using the force of magnetism and that is something to look into, but probably not the way to go for automobiles, but the day is coming!

A few BMW’s ago they went to run-flat tires. I absolutely hate those tires. They run like a log wagon, they last half as long and cost twice as much. And if that wasn’t enough of a winning combination, when I needed two new tires, ALL of the run-flats in the country that fit my car were stuck in customs for some God knows what reason. I took all four tires off and put on regular, high-performance, low profile Michelin tires and bought a wheel and tire and a jack (Cars that come with run-flat tires don’t have a jack with them; how dumb is that.) that filled almost all of my trunk up and rolled with that. I LOVE cars!

[pyramider]

I love it when Olivia talks dirty.

[Fast Gunn]

You just want to get some, don't you?

. . . But can you afford her?

[Guest050715-1]

Originally Posted by Fast Gunn

You just want to get some, don't you?

. . . But can you afford her?

Oh, I don't know about that , I kinda have an internets crush on pyramider. I kinda like boys that are one step ahead of the posse too.

[Bull149]

The problem has been worked on for years, if you call the current doors a problem. When a cost effective solution comes along we will see it. Virtually anything is possible, but can it be made affordable? Cost and effectiveness go hand in hand.

[Fast Gunn]

Personally, I do consider car doors a definite problem begging for a solution.

The same door design on a house is not a problem because you have a fixed structure with a built-in area to allow the door to swing open without obstruction.

However, in a car, the area can be so tight that sometimes you actually cannot get into your car because someone parked so close or you have to squeeze in sideways.

The door in the video I posted is the best solution I have seen so far and I expect it to go into production soon and yes your point about cost is very valid, but that is what makes the problem a challenge.

[CuteOldGuy]

Lose some weight and park a little farther away. Worked for me.

[Fast Gunn]

My weight is not the problem, Mr. Smart ass.

Actually, my weight is perfect for my height if you must know. My trainer wanted me to add a couple of pounds, but I prefer the lean and hungry look.

Anyway, the actual problem we are dealing with is with the antiquated way car doors are designed.

You are only avoiding the problem not solving it, but I suspect that is only because a solution is way above your head anyway.

[Texas Contrarian]

Designers nowadays seem to be packing more and more parking spaces into the limited areas of underground garages serving large office buildings. So it would be very nice if every car had doors like the ones in the video! We'd certainly get a lot fewer door dings.

I can see how a high-end luxury car might sport such an option, but wonder how high the cost would be even if all the engineering challenges were surmounted. Doors in vehicles today might seem crude and old-fashioned, but they're simple and cheap. Would the buyer of a medium-priced car spring for much extra to get the high-tech doors?

If bedroom space is at a premium, here's an option:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt14SLtej7c

These things aren't cheap, since the mechanism that operates them needs to be well-engineered and robustly constructed in order to insure reliability. The same would obviously be true of a car door retraction mechanism, but in the latter case, safety would of course be of paramount concern. If the TV retraction device fucks up, it would merely be an inconvenience. A vehicle door fuckup could be a safety issue.

Already exuberant regulators might get really energized over this one!

[Fast Gunn]

I suppose an elegant door system like the one shown in the video might be considered a luxury item at first, but soon I expect they would become standard once the process was perfected and the kinks worked out. Similar to air bags and anti-lock brakes on cars today.

Personally, I think car doors today are the equivalent of the hand crank starter that the Model Ts first came with. Primitive and atrocious.

No doubt people at that time thought electric starters were luxuries for the rich people only.

Automobiles undergo an evolution and I expect a break through in doors soon and plan to buy stock in the company that is first to market!