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It happens millions of times every day, all over the world. You approach an unknown door. You make a quick mental check of the handle, possible signs and most importantly the relation of the door edge to the doorjamb. In a split-second decision you choose
pull
Wrong again! Adding a little frustration
and losing a little time, you then push open the door.
The trial and error method of determining the direction doors open is only one of the minor exasperations of life, but is so unnecessary. Since many foreigners dont understand Push/Pull, Poussée/Traction, etc. if and when such signs exist, I suggest signs with symbols that can be used on most doors of the world. See link below for proposed designs that would also exist for doors that open on the right.
(?) figure
http://www.geocitie...hnnie/pushpull.html [FarmerJohn, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
PUSH & PULL in Hong Kong
http://www.flickr.c...ckstock/4310449716/ Intuitive, International Symbols for PUSH and PULL? [DickStock, Jan 27 2010]
http://www.pushpullsigns.com/
Alastair Cook's site; artwork by John Szwenk [jutta, Jul 11 2011]
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Doors marked "pull"
Reduce the speed
Of those that push
Before they read..... |
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ah, a simple solution to an age old problem. Croissant! Now, can we do something about all those darn doors that outweigh me so that I can push or pull without a struggle? |
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(and, yes, UB, Gary Larson did this....but it wasn't successful at that particular school) |
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A pet shop in town has an owner pulling a reluctant dog on his lead for the 'pull' sign, and the owner pushing a reluctant dog for the push sign. |
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Alternatively, the pull side of doors should have handles on them, and the push side should just have a flat metal plate, or nothing at all. |
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Or you can look for the visual clues as to whether it is a push or pull door. Pull doors don't fit plush to the top of the surround, whereas push doors fit above the surround. |
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Sometimes heavy, push doors need a handle to get a grip on them or for emergency exit. |
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I often find that the quick glance, especially with aluminum doors, doesn't give me the necessary visual clue if a flange is part of the door or the doorjamb. |
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The worst are those times when you assume the door is a push and don't quite stop in time, (+).
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(shifty eyes) Not that I've ever done this. |
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or you could just put all doors on freely swinging hinges so that they can be pushed from either side. |
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For unlatched doors, the best thing is to put a handle only on the pull side, and a push plate only on the push side. (I realise that doesn't work too well if you need a handle on both sides to unlatch the door.) |
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I've also seen places solve this problem by *only* having push doors, with "no entry" signs on the other side (the doors coming in pairs, one for each direction). |
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Pull: solid rectangle
Push: open/recessed rectangle |
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the problem being, the door user can't see the other side............ |
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Ever push, and then pull, and then realize that pushing was actually right, but it's just a heavy door? Argh! Croissant baby. |
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On the whole reading thing, it doesn't always help even if you think you know the language. I understand a bit of German but the words for push (or pull, I forget which) are different in Munich and Basel (Bavaria and German speaking Switzerland). |
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Some doors should be marked "?", just for fun. |
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