page_title: Door closer
section_title: Manual
hierarchical_section_title: Door closer / Types / Manual
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: alter Gelenkarm-Türschließer der Firma B.K.S. aus Velbert, gesehen im Wormser Rom
context_page_description: A door closer is defined as any mechanical device that closes a door in a controlled manner, preventing it from slamming, in general after someone opens it, or after it was automatically opened. The force used to open the door is stored in some type of spring and when released this energy is then utilised to return the door to a closed position. Door closers can be linked to a building’s fire alarm system. Where doors need to be held open for the majority of the time they are held back with an electromagnetic device. When the fire alarm is triggered it cuts power to the electromagnetic hold-open device allowing the doors to close. These hold-open devices can be separate from the door closer or part of its design.
context_section_description: A manual door closer stores the energy used in the opening of the door in a spring, either a compression, torsion, tension, volute or leaf. and releases it to close the door. Some closers allow for adjustment of the strength of the spring, making it easier or more difficult to push the door open along with providing more closing force. To limit the speed at which the door closes, most modern door closers use oil-filled hydraulic dampers, although spring mechanisms and friction alone may also be used for damping. Some closers incorporate a back-check facility which prevents the door from being opened too fast; this is useful for exterior doors where there is a danger of wind catching and blowing it open, potentially damage to the door, nearby objects, or people near it. The speed at which the door closer closes the door may be adjustable by up to three adjustment valves. These valves often adjust the sweep speed and the latch speed of the door and some closers are optioned with a delayed action valve. The latch speed is the speed that the door travels in the last 10 to 15 degrees of it closing cycle and is often set faster than the "sweep" so that the door can properly latch closed. The sweep speed is the speed which the door travels along the majority of its travel, before reaching the final 10 to 15 degrees, and is often set slower than the latch speed. For openings where a much longer close time is desired,  a delayed action closer may be appropriate. The delayed action valve slows the sweep speed dramatically for roughly the first half of the sweep range. Door closers which provide this two or three-stage action and close doors at a determined rate are called 'controlled' door closers.
caption: Old type of manual door closer (made by BKS)
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