Extra-Strong Security Blocker Plate And Concealed Continuous Hinge Installed To Very High Traffic Shopfront Door

 Very early today, we installed a custom built mild steel security blocker plate and concealed fix continuous hinge to a very high-traffic convenience store, to upgrade and improve the operation of the relatively newly installed aluminum shopfront door.

Our loyal returning customer, who has used us consistently for the last 5 years, a user of our Extreme Security Bilock Restricted Key Control System for multiple properties, owns this convenience store on a busy main arterial road in the North County of St Louis.

The area is experiencing a gradual rebirth, especially since the recent issues with nearby Ferguson Missouri, a site that was in the national and international news a few years ago due to the unfortunate shooting of an unarmed African-American teenager by a police officer.

The incident sparked riots and protests unseen in the St Louis region for a great many years.

We were required to custom design and install mild steel blocker plates with sex bolts. There was a 3/16" clearance difference between the operating door and the fixed leaf
door. We had to remove the existing security bars, cut them down in length to enable the concealed continuous hinge to fit correctly (not pictured).

 Installing the custom designed mild steel long blocker plates, required a 3" wide x 1/8" thick inside plate, combined with another 4" wide x 1/8" thick outside plate to be installed to the external of the operating door, so that the plate would conceal access to the latch mechanism and cover the fixed leaf edge (which was sitting 3/16" out from the operating leaf when closed)

Installing sex bolts (also known as concealed bolts) is the obvious solution to providing top security for externally mounted product because they prevent would be burglars from using conventional tools to remove the bolts.

Drilling through 2 separate mild steel plates, that were deliberately separate and not conjoined, providing a minimal gap between the plates increases the security application due to the laminating effect.

Laminating is a term used when there is a slight separation between panels. The effect of laminating, naturally increase the strength of the product (depending on the laminate material).

You can see the inside screw under the internal security bar in this image. We installed a number of these sex bolts to the application to increase the security across multiple points, providing significantly greater strength to the application.

The customer, had new doors installed only 2 months previously by a shop fitting company. Unfortunately the installer decided to use only 2 regular butt hinges on this extremely high-trafficked door. The door is operated between 10,000 and 20,000 times daily.

The extreme use and operation of these doors by customers, meant that the 2 4" butt hinges were not up to the job requirement for continued longevity and efficient operation. In 2 months, the door was already beginning to sag, to the point where the owner required to pay an employee overtime to maintain a continued presence on site, because the doors would not secure correctly.



We have not provided an external image of the concealed continuous hinge, but it is fitted with more sex bolts securing it permanently in place.

The concealed continuous hinge is manufactured by Select Hinges, a company that produces there products in America and are designed to last 50 years and that is their warranty period too.

With correct installation these doors will not sag, due to the number of fastener points, increasing the strength of the fitting.

We have installed a significant number of continuous hinges in recent years, mostly to shopfront doors due to the standard pivots wearing quite quickly and customers having many issues relating to sagging doors, inability to secure properly and causing angst for staff.

We were required to modify the security bars on this door to enable the continuous hinge to install correctly.

The entire project was required to be completed before the late Sunday opening time, because it is the only day of the week, where traffic is quietest before 9 am. We arrived at 6 am and began the project at 6.30am. Total completion in 5 hours. Certainly a mean feat in extreme heat conditions (but before the main heat of the day).

We will return at another time to upgrade the door locks at this property to the customers Bilock Extreme Security Restricted Key Control system. Then they will enjoy 100% bump proof and virtually pick proof lock cylinders with virtually impossible to duplicate color coded restricted keys, that will increase the security while protecting the owner from would be surreptitious attempts to copy keys.