The Origin of the Spiraling-Track, High-Performance Door

 

By Michael Watkins

Did you know that Rytec was the first domestic door manufacturer to offer the spiraling style of high-performance doors in North America?

In 1999, Rytec acquired the rights to sell this patented rigid panel, roll-up door design from a manufacturer in Germany. In North America, it became known as the Spiral® high-performance door product line. It ignited a revolution in commercial door design and customers within the parking industry.

Its unique Spiral® track design enables it to open at up to 100 inches per second. This creates an unmistakable “WOW!” factor and helps to improve the security of parking structures. Because there is no metal-to-metal contact, these doors are also ultra-quiet and require much less maintenance than conventional panel-style doors.

Since its introduction, Rytec has continued to innovate around the Spiral® track design, introducing low headroom and hurricane-rated versions. Most recently, the company launched SmartSurround, an industry-first pattern recognition and advanced traffic-sensing technology that’s now available and standard on most of its Spiral® doors.

In the 20+ years since its introduction into the North American parking market, this innovative spiral track design has been frequently imitated but never duplicated. It’s a door design that helped to shape the industry.

Michael Watkins is vice president of marketing for Rytec Doors.