The petWALK safety concept

In developing the petWALK animal door we were aware of our responsibility for your beloved ones and therefore have installed a number of different and independent safety systems.

Motion monitoring

  • By means of two very sensitive motion sensors (in the doorway above the door leaf and at the bottom of the door leaf) the petWALK pet door recognizes humans and animals and closes only once within a defined period includes (see the chapter "10.2.2 SETTING THE DOOR OPENING TIME, page 51) no movement is detected.
  • If your pet remains motionless in the door area, it may happen that the door leaf begins to close anyway because the sensors could not detect movement. This is the same effect that you might know of elevators and automatic doors in Department Stores, if you stand in the door or entering short while closing the door space. But this is not a problem, because the next safety measure, namely the engine current monitoring comes into force.
  • You can check by moving your hand with an open door leaf in the swing area of the door leaf this yourself. It should always either flashing orange icon output control input or control and not close the door panel. However, once you hold your hand for the set period so quiet that no symbol appears, the door will try to close.

Electronic jamming protection (motor current monitoring)

  • Even a slight resistance when closing or opening the door brings the door immediately to a halt and let them go a little in the opposite direction. After some time the petWALK pet door will try agin to close the door after a warning tone with a bit more pressure, but still careful. After several unsuccessful attempts, the door goes into alarm, to indicate a problem. It could be an object blocking the door.
  • You can check for yourself by leaving your hand steady in the swing area, so that the door leaf runs against it. You have to not be afraid, because in the event of any electronic malfunction, there is also another, as described below, mechanical safety. After four attempts, the door should report the error "E02" on the display.
  • Should the door leaf not stop immediately and run a bit into the opposite direction but instead exert a very slight, continuous pressure and report the error "E03" after a few seconds, the mechanical safety device is set too soft. You can correct this yourself using the manual.

Mechanical pinch protection (slip clutch)

  • The drive motor is connected via a mechanical coupling to the door leaf, which automatically interrupts the power transmission at a set resistance.
  • This resistance is set to a value which ensures that the door can't cause serious injuries, such as a fractures, even during failure of all electronic security features.
  • Due to wear and tear the clutch can become softer over time. If the resistance level finally falls below the threshold of the electronic jamming protection, the clutch will bypass the electronic limiter. In this cas you need to tighten the clutch again.
  • You can test this mechanism yourself easily by ascending the open door leaf by hand and move. This should be possible without great effort. The strength that you need to move the leaf is also the maximum force that can theoretically act on a trapped object.

Mechanical anti-trap

  • In order to move the door leaf as gently as possible, but still be able to lock the door, we have specifically chosen the expensive and elaborate way and built in two separate drives.
  • The door drive just gets as much power as absolutely needed for the movement and the locking motor can only be activated when an electrical contact is closed and the gap on the far side from the axis is below 8mm.
  • This is ensured by a small wedge at the top of the door leaf, and a bolt on the locking mechanism. Only when the gap is in the safe area, the bolt can pull the door panel, otherwise it blocks the closing of the door leaf.