RF Shielded doors

RF shielded doors are precision engineered marvels of modern technology. Unlike the RF shielding that protects the walls, floor and ceiling from unwanted intrusion of radiation, a RF shielded door has to open and close many times, maintaining a perfect seal every time it does so. These unique demands require a high-quality sealing mechanism that ensures the integrity of the chamber while still allowing for easy access. Comtest’s RF shielded doors are best-in-class and achieve their seals by using a double knife edge, matching quadruple beryllium copper finger contact strip.

Consult the information below or contact us directly to discuss your requirements.

Unique shielding characteristics

The shielding characteristics of Comtest RF shielded doors are achieved using a double knife edge, matching quadruple beryllium copper finger contact strip. The RF shielded doors are equipped with a unique parallel closing mechanism and patented locking and latching system. Most Comtest shielded doors are available in manual, semi- and full automatic operation. The standard range of swing and sliding doors consists of many different models and can be designed with a 50mm low threshold. In EMC applications both ferrites and absorbers can be affixed to the door leaf.

Benefits of an unique design

For the swing doors a double pivoting hinge, parallel closing system is used in order to ensure long life time of the double row finger stocks mounted in the doorframe. For service and maintenance the door mechanics can be reached by removing the front cover of the door. Since this is not an essential part of the shielding it facilitates all maintenance work without affecting the shielding performance of the facility.

Manual, semi- and full automatic operation

One of the options of our RF shielded doors is semi- or full automatic door operation. Comtest semi- and full automatic RF shielded doors are 100% electrically operated. The benefit of electrical doors is that they are more reliable than pneumatic systems. In case of mains power breakdown, automatic doors can be operated from the internal rechargeable battery system or using a manual door handle.

Benefits of the RF shielded doors

Comtest shielded doors have a unique friction free parallel closing system. This multiple point latching system ensures long life time of the double row finger stocks mounted in the doorframe. While operating the door no finger stocks are stressed.

Comtest shielded doors are the most sophisticated RF shielded doors available in the market today and offer a number of significant benefits:

• Parallel closing (friction free)
• Minimum threshold of 50mm.
• User-friendly operation.
• Low force manual opening system.
• Little maintenance required
• Electrically operated
• High performance shielding effectiveness up to 40 GHz.
• Easy maintenance access from the outside of the shielded enclosure.

Comtest’s RF shielded door models

We distinguish 4 unique models, each designed for a particular requirement and situation in mind.

• Swing doors (1766) are used as entrance doors for lab engineers and small equipment. Typical sizes are 900mm by 2100mm, 1200mm by 2100mm and 1500mm by 2100mm (clear opening).
• Double leaf swing doors (1763) are used in situations where for instance the test table needs to be rolled in- and outside of the component testing facility. Typical clear opening of these doors are 2000mm by 2100mm and 2400mm by 2400mm.
• Sliding doors (1752) are suitable for control room and shield room applications. It would be possible to mount ferrite tiles on the door leaf if necessary. The main benefit of the sliding door is lacking the radius swing open. This is convenient when there is limited space available. Typical clear opening dimensions of these doors start at 1200mm by 2100mm or 1500mm by 2100mm. Safety: All full automatic doors are equipped with a safety system to prevent obstructed motion. A special key switch enables to lock the door in the open position without closing automatically.
• For large EUT entrance the Comtest sliding gates (1755-series) can be used as a full automated entrance. Sliding gates are designed for mounting hybrid absorbers and / or ferrite tiles onto the door leaf. While operating, the large RF shielded sliding gates will have a typical “X-Y’ movement. The X-movement travel distance is influenced by the length of the absorbers attached to the door leaf. The Y-movement travel distance is influenced by the width of the door leaf. Safety: All full automatic doors are equipped with a safety system to prevent obstructed motion. The operation of this door is done from a separate cabinet. Push buttons are used to operate the RF shielded sliding gate. As long as the buttons are pushed the door will move in the given direction. Once the button is released the door will stop its movement immediately.

In addition to our standardized models all doors are available in customized dimensions to satisfy our customers’ individual requirements.

Additional options: threshold-less (flush) entrance

To achieve a flush entrance Comtest RF shielded sliding doors have the option to be installed with a retractable platform. For RF Shielded sliding gates an up/down platform is used to achieve a flush entrance and is operated from the door control cabinet.