We all have either been the person who slams the door or on whom the door is being slammed on at some point in our lives. At least we know someone who knows someone with whom this has happened. It’s an ugly thought and it still sends shivers down my spine. And I’ve not even experienced it firsthand! Yet the horror of the moment seems so real.

I think car manufacturers need to change the door slamming mechanism. I don’t know exactly what will work best but there are a couple of things one could do:

1. A slow close mechanism. You can slam the door but mid-way it pauses for like 3 seconds and the closes.

2. A sensor mechanism lining on the outside that is sensitive that can probably be used to prevent slamming.

I guess there could be better ways of doing this, I just can’t think of them now.
-- nomadic_wonderer, Feb 08 2004

Some kind of regenerative braking mechanism for car doors? I like it.
-- st3f, Feb 08 2004


Some sort of viscous damping should do the trick. But, it's gonna be frustrating not to be able to close door when you want to close it.

There may be some security concerns these days about a mandatory 3 second delay being imposed on door closing. A lot can happen in 3 seconds.
-- half, Feb 08 2004


Like when you accidently open the door in front of an oncoming vehicle. Not being immediately closeable, it gets clipped off instead.

Nah, I'll take the slam, thanks.
-- waugsqueke, Feb 08 2004


[waugsqueke] Laughs.. thats true I had that happen to me. Maybe there should be an option to activate and deactive the feature.
-- nomadic_wonderer, Feb 08 2004


There are pneumatic seals for doors, I have seen them on biohazard installations. The seal is basically a rubber tube that runs around the frame. First the door closes, leaving a gap. Then the tube is inflated to make a perfect seal.

Except for a few points, like hinges or latches you cannot squish your pinky with the door. [waugsqueke] could still close the door real fast. The delay (if there were any required) would be in the inflation of the tube. In automotive applications these doors could also eliminate some of the ominous squeaking sounds between door and frame.
-- kbecker, Feb 08 2004


I had my whole hand shut in a door once. Fortunately, it was a Corvette with t-tops and my hand was caught between the closed window and the foam liner of the t-top panel.

While I don't think this idea would have helped me at the time (I'm not the one who shut the door), I'm all for it.
-- phoenix, Feb 08 2004


[unsuspecting female]: "Aaaaugh! There's a man chasing me with a machete! Someone help!
Jeannie! Get in the car! Hurry up, start it! What the... my door! Hey! Close! Its not working!"
[man]: "heh"
*stab*
[man]: "tee-hee"
*door closes*

(-) for safety reasons other than getting your car clipped... by the way, what's a good *stabbing noise*?
-- ghillie, Feb 08 2004


My bedroom door won't slam because of the clothes blocking it...
-- Deadlock'd, Feb 09 2004


All seven of my Stretch Limo Mercedes already come with this !!

(No Seriously this is an old invention)
-- PainOCommonSense, Feb 09 2004


little finger shaped indentations along the side of the cardoor...
-- po, Feb 09 2004


Now that's halfbaked.
-- FarmerJohn, Feb 09 2004


The armoured BMW 7 series has assisted opening and closing as the doors are so heavy and that has anti- trapping sensors around it.
-- oneoffdave, Feb 11 2004


I like!
-- DesertFox, May 17 2004


bun for nom to cheer him up!
-- po, Oct 20 2004



random, halfbakery