The door at Dura-Bar in Woodstock, Illinois was operated by key, and the customer wanted entry by number instead. We fitted a commercial keypad, a power supply and an electric strike in the frame, so the door releases from a code and the system handles up to 120 users.
A key is a physical object, and on a commercial site that is the whole problem with it. It gets handed on, it gets copied, and the record of who holds one is only ever as accurate as the last person who remembered to collect it. Changing the list means changing the lock.
A keypad system answers the same question from the other end: access becomes a number that can be added or withdrawn, and the door itself is released by an electric strike rather than by a key.
Why keys were the problem
The customer asked for a system that does not use keys. On a site with staff coming and going that is a reasonable position, because a key cannot be withdrawn once it is out, and a lock cannot tell you who used it.
A number system puts the decision back in one place. Somebody joining is a code to add, somebody leaving is a code to remove, and neither of those requires anyone to get hold of a key.
What we installed
The system is three parts that only work as a set: the keypad, the power supply feeding it, and the electric strike in the frame that actually releases the door.
- A commercial keypad at the door, for code entry.
- A power supply to run the keypad and the strike.
- An electric strike fitted into the door frame, so the door releases electrically instead of from a key.
- Capacity for up to 120 users on the system.
How the door releases
The electric strike takes the place of the fixed plate the latch used to close against. It holds the door shut in its resting state; a correct code moves the keeper clear, and the door can then be pushed or pulled open without a key. Once the door is opened past the keeper it returns, and the door is held again.
That is why the frame has to be cut for it. The strike is set into the frame at the latch position, and it only does its job if the latch meets it squarely. A strike standing proud of the frame, or a keeper the latch only half-engages, gives you a door that opens sometimes.
What the number system handles
The system accommodates 120 users. That is the figure worth checking against how a site actually works, because it decides whether one keypad covers the entrance or a second door needs its own.
Access as a number rather than an object is the practical difference on a commercial door. It is why this arrangement is usually easier to administer than a key register, and why the customer asked for it here.
Where the work was done
The job was at Dura-Bar, 1800 W Lake Shore Dr, Woodstock, IL 60098.
Woodstock is in McHenry County, inside the Illinois part of our service area. Our licence is issued by Illinois, so licence and code statements apply to the Illinois side of the state line rather than being extended across it.