Clopay Pinch Proof - The Downside to Unique Hardware - DDM Garage Doors Blog

We’re sorry, but the pinch-proof hinges are no longer available.

As you see below, they were available for a while in 2018, but they are no longer available.

Yesterday I was at the Clopay Chicagoland distribution center, picking up a shipment of Clopay EZ-SET Springs. The warehouse manager informed me of several boxes of Clopay pinch proof hinges and parts that had arrived at the center. It was like Christmas!

Many of our customers have been disappointed because of the blog post below. We had been telling them the parts would not be available until January of 2018. Well, all the parts are in except for the end hinge pins and the #4 end hinge. And here’s another plus: the new hinges are made of the heavier 14 gauge steel instead of the lighter 18 gauge. These should last several times longer.

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From May 26, 2017

Just recently, Clopay stopped manufacturing the hinges for their specially designed Pinch Proof doors. One of the most common models to use Pinch Proof hinges is the model 150S (commonly found in the western U.S.). The original development of pinch proof doors in the 1980s was to protect against damaging fingers and other foreign objects that could potentially get caught between the door sections.

Some manufacturers had already developed other “Pinch Proof-type” options. The Clopay designers sought to create a design that both professional and DIY installers and repairmen could understand. The manufacture attempted to develop an option that was both safe and reasonably intuitive. However, the construction of these hinges was with cheap steel that breaks at a high rate. This is not necessarily the reason why Clopay manufacturers discontinued the part, but it is certainly a disadvantage of the design. Here is a sampling of the Pinch Proof hardware:

Your Options

If you have a Pinch-Proof door and one of your hinges has broken, you have only a few options left:

1. You may be able to find a company that still has these hinges in stock. At DDM, we still have a number of #0 and #4 Pinch Proof hinges in stock, but we no longer have any #1, #2, or #3 hinges. The pins and covers for these hinges are also still available on our website. Because of the nature of the Pinch Proof system, you cannot simply apply one of the standard hinges that we offer. Instead of placing the pivot point directly at the point of separation between the panels, the pivot point of the Pinch Proof hinges is below the point of separation between panels. Refer to the patent drawings below.
2. You may be able to have a local metal fabrication or machine shop repair the hinge. It may work for a short time, but it will only function as a temporary repair.
3. Regardless of your initial course of action, you ultimately will have to face the third option: to purchase a new door. We recommend choosing a door designed for and using standard hardware.

Sources below*

Specially manufactured systems like the Clopay Pinch Proof doors may provide a number of benefits for customers. However, this does not make them inherently “better” than doors with standard hardware. The parts for these specially designed systems are often not interchangeable with standard hardware. The manufacturers of such parts offer very few options for customers once the parts are no longer available. Although DDM Garage Doors sells specially manufactured parts such as the Clopay Pinch Proof, Wayne Dalton, and Amarr hardware, we generally recommend using systems that have standard hardware.

*United States Patent and Trademark Office – U.S. Patent 6,006,817

Patent Public Search

http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=5&docid=06006817&IDKey=EEC703709CED&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect2%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPALL%2526S1%3D6006817.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F6006817%2526RS%3DPN%2F6006817

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