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In 2012 we introduced our ADOR1 chicken door with the innovative Sprocket Drive. Other automatic doors operated the drive of their door by pulling a string on a pulley, or with a screw-drive, or by turning the hinge pin. We didn’t like any of those methods and so we came up with the direct drive sprocket. For many years we were the first and only automatic door using this idea but more recently the foreign competition has flattered us well by realizing we had a good thing going, and they copied and now have their similar drive mechanism. However their doors are in our opinion not stout and too small – or I could say, not just our opinion because customers vote with their orders. If they cannot get service or parts, they end up discarding the bad products and coming to us.
The advantage of the ADOR sprocket drive is that it not only moves the sliding door panel, it stays engaged in the panel to keep it shut at night. There are two things that keep the door from being pried open by something like a smart raccoon. One is the amount of steady upward force it takes to lift the door. Animals tend to try to wedge their way in. While raccoons are very strong and smart, they do not conceive of the need to force straight upward and continuously to lift the door. In 11 years with this product we have never received a report that indicates we are wrong about this claim.
The other thing that keeps an animal from opening the door is that the door comes down behind a bar that keeps claws from getting underneath. But what if there is something that keeps the door from completely shutting? It is very common that customers let stuff block the final shutting of the door. The ADOR tries three times to shut the door even if the threshold is stacked up with debris. The user should keep the threshold clear but even if something is in the way, the door will bear down on the obstruction and even though a raccoon may get his claws under the door, he cannot lift the door.