Industrial door hinges are a category of hardware accessories widely used in industrial equipment. It may not be so close to the lives of ordinary people, but those who deal with it frequently, are very familiar with these products, especially the manufacturers of these hinges.
So if we want to check the quality of industrial door hinges, we need people familiar with them to do the job. As a manufacturer of hinges, I will explain how to check the quality of industrial door hinges in the following 8 areas.
Of course, the average person, or even our customers, may not be able to evaluate an industrial door hinge from the following aspects fully. But I will list all the relevant evaluation factors so that we can assess selectively from the following ones according to the actual situation. You can use it as a reference table for quality inspection and check the hinges against these evaluation factors.
In general, the inspection of hinges is assessed in two significant directions, external and internal, such as appearance and material. The following is a detailed description.
Appearance and packaging
Appearance is the first factor to check. When we evaluate anything, we start with its appearance or its packaging. A good quality product can often be seen by its appearance and packaging. So we can first check whether the hinge’s appearance and packaging are qualified.
Imagine an industrial door hinge that has a very poor appearance and packaging. How can you convince your customers that the quality of your product is good? This will make the customer feel that they are not being respected.
When we check the appearance focus on observing whether the surface is clean, whether there are scratches or burrs, and whether there is uneven color.
Whether the structure is reasonable or not?
This check should be determined at the design stage, as it is the job of the structural engineer. For the customer, it is necessary to assess whether this design structure meets their actual needs according to the equipment. There are industrial door hinge structures that may only be suitable for hinged doors with relatively small load-bearing capacity, and there are structures that may be designed specifically for heavy doors.
Of course, there are also hinge structures designed by irresponsible designers in the market. Ordinary people may not pay much attention to these details, but this unreasonable structure does present a safety hazard.
When we check the structure, we need to focus on checking whether the material thickness of the part under stress is thick enough. Whether there is obvious asymmetry, unreasonable or cut corners.
Surface treatment
Surface treatment is an important process for industrial door hinges. Almost all hinges require surface treatment. A hinge product without surface treatment is like a rough house without decoration.
Depending on the material of the hinge, different surface treatments are used. Zinc alloy material generally adopts electroplating, electrophoresis, spraying, and other methods. Stainless steel material generally adopts polishing, vibration grinding, and other methods.
When we check the surface treatment process of the product, we have to see whether the coating on the surface is even, whether there is coating buildup, whether there are areas not covered by the coating, and whether there is uneven color. This inspection can be done together with the appearance inspection.
Materials
The inspection of the material may not be able to tell from the actual product for customers. We cannot see with our naked eyes how good the material is, and the surface of the product has already been treated. Generally, the hinge manufacturer is required to provide a product material report or product quality report.
Of course, we can roughly distinguish whether it is stainless steel or zinc alloy material, or iron material.
Hinge pins
Hinge pins are a key item to check. The hinge pins directly affect the load-bearing properties of the hinge. When a hinge is installed on an industrial door, the weight of the door is applied primarily to the hinge pins. So this is a very important factor to check.
Of course, when we check the hinge pins, the first thing to look at is whether the thickness of the pins is reasonable and whether there is an obvious incongruity or mismatch between them and the hinge block. That is to say, the hinge block may be very thick and heavy, but the hinge pins appear to be very thin. Such a situation is obviously unreasonable, which is a substandard product.
Also, check what the material of the pin is. IHINGES produces various types of hinges, the vast majority of which are made of stainless steel. For example, heavy-duty hinges, concealed hinges, etc. Determine whether the material of the pin is acceptable according to the actual use of the customer. It does not necessarily mean that the hinge pins in any case must be stainless steel or better.
Function
The function is the most essential factor, especially for custom-made hinges. Customers often require special features for hinges, in addition to the hinge’s basic function. When we choose a hinge or check a hinge, we can ask the hinge manufacturer or store about the functions of the hinge. See if these features are suitable for your product.
Load-bearing
Load-bearing is certainly an important item to check. If you are a customer, you can ask the merchant what the load-bearing size of the hinge is and choose whether it is suitable in combination with your own product. If it is our hinge manufacturer who evaluates the load-bearing capacity of the hinges themselves, then professional test equipment is required.
For example, the hinge is mounted on a test door and door frame, different weights are applied to it, and the testing equipment is used to track its load-bearing performance under different load-bearing conditions. The result of this test can then be used as a performance indicator of the hinge for the customer’s reference.
Installation method
Hinges are generally installed with pre-drilled holes and screws. There are also welded mounting methods. The customer can quickly determine the volume of installation required for their product.
However, we would like to focus on whether the mounting method is reasonable for the hinge itself. If it is not reasonable, it will cause great inconvenience to customers in actual use. And the product will naturally not sell.
For example, we tend to design the installation method of hidden hinges as a removable installation. Which solves the embarrassment of customers installing screws in a small space.
