After some more brainstorming, I thought of another potential design, one that incorporates Rob's use of door lock actuators. Actually, incorporates two of them.
I scanned in a rough sketch. Hopefully it is not too confusing.
The door swings open and closed and is hinged vertically. So, it opens like a normal household door. Magnets are used to secure the door closed AND to secure it open. So, if you imagine the door swung open (outward of the coop) at 180 degrees from closed. It would meet a magnet mounted most likely on the outside of the coop.
The theory of this design is that the actuators provide a punch to knock the door off the hinges and swing it with enough force to hit the magnet on the other side, which keeps the door either open or closed. The actuators are set opposite of one another. The opener actuator would be set "out" or "unlocked" while the door is open. And the closer actuator would be set "in" or "locked" (recessed) while the door is open. A timer would control both actuators at the same time. So, if the door was open, the closer actuator would go from locked to unlocked and knock the door over to the other magnet which would keep the door fixed shut until the timer provided another pulse of energy and switched the actuators to the reverse and originally described positions.
Looking at the diagram, you see on top a front view of the coop and door. More importantly, the illustration below that shows a top view of the door being shut. On the side of the door opening is the opener actuator, which is simultaneously being turned to lock as the closer actuator on the other side is knocking the door off the coop (held by a magnet) as it turns to unlock.
The magnet system is basically one attached to each side of the door and two others attached to the coop in a way to connect to the door magnet and keep hold of the door after it swings either way.
Of course this is all theoretical brainstorm. I have no experience with these door lock actuators. According to Rob, they are about $5-10 bucks a piece. So, this system could potentially work for around $20.
Potential problems would be if one of the hens were in the way during the closing of the door. They would not be hurt but they would block the door from hitting the closing magnet and the door would stay open, leaving the coop vulnerable. If for any reason the door did not hit the closing magnet, the system would be flawed.
Anyway, just thought I would share the brainstorm. Maybe it will cause someone to thing of something else.
I scanned in a rough sketch. Hopefully it is not too confusing.
The door swings open and closed and is hinged vertically. So, it opens like a normal household door. Magnets are used to secure the door closed AND to secure it open. So, if you imagine the door swung open (outward of the coop) at 180 degrees from closed. It would meet a magnet mounted most likely on the outside of the coop.
The theory of this design is that the actuators provide a punch to knock the door off the hinges and swing it with enough force to hit the magnet on the other side, which keeps the door either open or closed. The actuators are set opposite of one another. The opener actuator would be set "out" or "unlocked" while the door is open. And the closer actuator would be set "in" or "locked" (recessed) while the door is open. A timer would control both actuators at the same time. So, if the door was open, the closer actuator would go from locked to unlocked and knock the door over to the other magnet which would keep the door fixed shut until the timer provided another pulse of energy and switched the actuators to the reverse and originally described positions.
Looking at the diagram, you see on top a front view of the coop and door. More importantly, the illustration below that shows a top view of the door being shut. On the side of the door opening is the opener actuator, which is simultaneously being turned to lock as the closer actuator on the other side is knocking the door off the coop (held by a magnet) as it turns to unlock.
The magnet system is basically one attached to each side of the door and two others attached to the coop in a way to connect to the door magnet and keep hold of the door after it swings either way.
Of course this is all theoretical brainstorm. I have no experience with these door lock actuators. According to Rob, they are about $5-10 bucks a piece. So, this system could potentially work for around $20.
Potential problems would be if one of the hens were in the way during the closing of the door. They would not be hurt but they would block the door from hitting the closing magnet and the door would stay open, leaving the coop vulnerable. If for any reason the door did not hit the closing magnet, the system would be flawed.
Anyway, just thought I would share the brainstorm. Maybe it will cause someone to thing of something else.
