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I visited some dorm rooms in Croatia once, and they had a nice solution to this problem. Both doors opened inward, with the non-hinge side of the doors sitting
by rjtobin 8y ago
I visited some dorm rooms in Croatia once, and they had a nice solution to this problem. Both doors opened inward, with the non-hinge side of the doors sitting very close to one of the walls with no doors. Instead of a conventional lock, a narrow piece of wood ran the length of this no-door wall that could be rotated to block both doors simultaneously.
This is like the solution in the article, except deals with the "opens-inwards" case instead of the "open-outwards" case, and is less fumble-y than having to attach a rope to both doors.
- sushid 8y agoDo you have a picture or a diagram of this? I'm finding it hard to visualize.
- thrav 8y ago|\ /| imagine those being the doors slightly open into the room. Now here it is with the doors shut and the wood beam between them. ||__|| Can’t open either inward until the beam moves.
- ronilan 8y agoThe thing in the middle is a stick attached to the wall on a hinge. View from above - open: |\__.__/| View from above - closed: ||_____|| The whole thing at “face level” with the pushing beams sliding in guiding loops.
- thunderbong 8y agoI just can't believe I understood the whole concept so easily by the creative use of ASCII characters!! Thanks.
- m-p-3 8y agoBut if the beam somehow fell/rotated in place while no one was in there with the doors closed, you'd be locked out without a non-destructive way to unlock it.
- nradov 8y agoThe same issue applies if the person inside is unconscious or otherwise unable to help.
- pbhjpbhj 8y agoYou make the beam weak - strong enough to avoid accidental breakage, weak enough that a solid shoulder will break it. You also make the rotation cammed in such a way that gravity holds the beam failed open.
- talldan 8y agoI've seen a similar solution in the swimming pool changing cubicles at a Center Parcs in the UK. The cubicles have two inwards opening doors opposite one another. Once inside, you close both doors and fold down a bench which blocks the doors shut and gives you somewhere to sit. Very clever solution.
- whatsstolat 8y agoExcept if there is a fire and you realise it's stuck. A normal lock can be kicked in if not opened with master key, but that contraption sounds hard to break in to.
- craftyguy 8y agoI feel like a fire at a swimming pool might be more rare than a fire elsewhere, just by virtue of being surrounded by water (pool, showers, etc). Maybe I'm wrong.
- whatsstolat 8y agoTrue. You might get smoke from somewhere else in the building though.
- ivanfon 8y agoA fire? At a sea parks?
- kalleboo 8y agoI'm imagining that doors on "swimming pool changing cubicles" are flimsy enough to kick outwards.
- mattlondon 8y agoNo idea about this specific example, but if it is anything like normal bathroom locks, I'd expect that you'd be able to rotate the bench back upwards with some sort of key/screwdriver/lever from the outside. I'd worry about someone being ill while sat/leaning-on/collapsed on the bench though meaning you cant rotate it. I guess this is an issue for any door where a body could block it being opened? At the least in a changing room cubicle these are usually open at the top so someone could climb over in an emergency.
- chungy 8y agoWow, thank you. I have been struggling forming the mental picture in my head of how the leather rope could work... I didn't even think that the doors would be opening outwards from the bathroom. Upvoted :)
- jayd16 8y agoYou could leave your door open and still lock out the other in this case.
- lixtra 8y agoI think assuming malice the problem becomes much harder.
- jayd16 8y agoI wasn't thinking malice actually. You might just want to use the bathroom with your own door open and not think anything of it.
- lixtra 8y agoIn that situation the open outwards/rope solution is indeed more save. In your case you could design it such that you can’t close the door after use without unblocking the other one. Typically people would like to close the door to the bathroom after usage.
- IshKebab 8y agoAs used in pretty much every swimming pool I've ever been to.