Facade Garage Door

To investigate the hypothesis of the newly designed garage door, it was necessary to engage the services of a specialist consultant door designer with extensive engineering experience. The consultant then undertook the following activities (without which there would not be the critical oversight and verification of the processes.)

1: Research and advise on suitable aluminium and their material properties. The section properties of the frame members and dimensions to be used in the frame, advise on the development of the new extrusions for the frame members.

2: Design the appropriate experiments/tests and methodology to observe and evaluate the test results for the critical corner stake design, the dovetail transom connector, and the interlocking mullion connectors.

3: Evaluate the test results and the associated materials properties engineering to establish the adequacy of the components in accordance with Australian standards.

4: Research and design drafting of fittings that do not require welding. Researched and designed drafting of clip and lock connectors that are machined from stock alloy or moulded from polyamide plastic. Researched and designed drafting of associated rubber seals. All this research required extensive consultation, draft design with revisions and modification based on observed results.

The Consultant was engaged at each critical step in the experimentation. In accordance with the design brief and in anticipation of a successful outcome to the core activity, the consultant was further engaged to develop a comprehensive Technical Installation Manual incorporating best practice in installation, safe work practice, risk analysis, together with supporting diagrams and related interactive Competency Test for Installers. Given the unique nature of the Facade Garage Door, its features and properties, this technical manual is required for the overall success of introducing the Facade Garage Door to the market.

To produce a 'Kit' door, i.e., a large door frame that is assembled without welding, required research and development in.

• Properties of suitable grades of aluminium.
• Methods of assembly without welding.
• Design and development of new proprietary alloy extrusions.
• Design engineering to ensure doors comply to relevant Australian Standards.
• Development of associated method of fitting the door finishing flush with the garage facade.
• Development of associated software to cost, produce, install, and maintain doors of this type.
• Introduction of process manufacturing using CNC machining. Because of the innovative nature and design of this product, it was essential to develop new methods of joinery, assembly, new extruded shapes and solve various issues in design and engineering.

This exciting new development is a first for the garage door industry, to our knowledge this had not been attempted before either in Australia or Internationally. We realised this could only be done by conducting investigations and a series of experiments, using our expertise and intellectual property in the design and manufacture of counterweighted garage doors over many years and using the extensive experience of a door design engineering specialist consultant. By having this product in a flat pack kit, it reduces the cost of production, bringing the most architecturally designed garage door to more people both in Australia and overseas. It also allows customers to assemble the doors themselves.

It  reduces costs with freight and timber crate which significantly will reduce the impact on the environment. It also has a perfect counterweight system that can carry almost four times the cladding weight of any other door on the market.

This is an exciting innovation for the company.

Smartech customises the design of the frame to suit different cladding options. This maximizes flexibility and possibilities for the design of the entire building. The decorative cladding industry has introduced many new, innovative finishes for buildings. People love the latest timbers or composite timbers, either as boards, battens, or slats. There is imitation stone cladding for a natural look. Other options include fibre cement, aluminium, metal, imitation brick and ceramic, to name a few. With the new Smartech Facade Garage Door suitable to take cladding weights up to an unprecedented 400kg there is definitely a cladding that will satisfy most customers unique needs. Years of evolution have culminated in the Smartech Facade Garage Door. It is designed for complete ease of assembly, with no welding involved.

In May 2023 Australian residential buildings will need to adhere to more stringent regulations. Smartech Doors are already adhering to these strict regulations. Currently AS4505 sets out the requirements for garage doors in cyclonic areas only, this is being amended to cover all areas from N1 to C4.

The Smartech Facade Garage Door fully complies with NCC and Australian Standards. It is designed to the relevant AS4055 Wind Classification for the locality. Smartech Facade Garage Doors are perfectly counterweight balanced by Smartech’s proprietary Balanced Weight System™, providing effortless and long-lasting operation. Every component is carefully designed, and materials deliberately chosen to ensure there is no compromise between performance and durability.

Smartech understand the importance of manufacturers being responsible to play their part in lowering of emissions (especially given that manufacturing is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions) and they take this responsibility very seriously. The following has been implemented at Smartech:

• Smartech have developed state of the art Thermal Break Technology for its Façade Tilt Windows
• They developed the facade garage door in a flat pack form. The biggest benefit here is it also reduces costs with freight and timber crates are no longer required as we now can use cardboard that is recyclable, which significantly will reduce the impact on the environment.
• Investing in quality machinery and parts, to ensure a longer shelf-life, which in turn will reduce waste which of course has a serious impact on the environment. To also extend the life of all machinery and equipment Smartech use only qualified technicians for maintenance and repairs of all machinery and equipment in the factory.
• Everything that can be recycled (in both the factory and in the office) is recycled. This is regularly monitored by the Smartech management team.
• Smartech review all their suppliers based on their green credentials also.

This exciting new development is a first for the garage door industry. By having this product in a flat pack kit, it reduces the cost of production, bringing the most architecturally designed garage door to more people both in Australia and overseas. We have made an impact on the design of external buildings that can be opened seamlessly. Bringing indoor living out. It also allows customers to assemble the doors themselves. It also has a perfect counterweight system that can carry almost four times the cladding weight of any other door on the market. There is no other manufacturer currently in Australia or overseas that has this product in a knock down kit form. This is an exciting innovation for the company, and Smartech are already getting orders from around Australia and from overseas.

The landscape is forever changing with this in mind, Smartech believe that the idea of making products in a knock down form to improve efficiencies and costs is the way of the future. Smartech have recently produced a façade garage door in a knock down kit. It ships as a flat pack, thereby greatly reducing handling and transport costs and saving on storage space also. A person who purchases a knock down form the product can easily assemble them in their own warehouse or on a building site. This exciting new development is a first for the garage door industry. By having this product in a flat pack kit, it reduces the cost of production, bringing the most architecturally designed garage door to more people both in Australia and overseas. It also allows customers to assemble the doors themselves. It also reduces costs with freight and timber crate which significantly will reduce the impact on the environment. It also has a perfect counterweight system that can carry almost four times the cladding weight of any other door on the market.

There is no other manufacturer currently in Australia or overseas that has this product in a knock down kit form. This is an exciting innovation for the company, and Smartech are already getting orders from around Australia and from overseas for this product.