Swing-Out Enclosure Wing Doors

Most enclosure side panels do one thing. They zip closed and they roll up. This client wanted his to work like doors.

What The Client Asked For

Open, the wing panel swings out and latches at the rod holder, so it functions as an actual door. Closed, it swings in and holds on a magnet system so the enclosure stays shut while the boat is running.

There is no catalog part for that. Everything in the mechanism had to be developed for this

The Hinge Problem

The hinge had to do two things that pull against each other. It had to carry a door through its full swing under load, in both directions, and it had to let the whole panel come off with one socket screw when the owner does not want it there.

A hinge strong enough for the first is usually permanent. A hinge easy enough for the second is usually not strong enough. The shop built one that does both.

The Swing Plane

A door cannot swing through something that is in the way, and on a center console there is plenty in the way. The forward edge of the panel sat where it could not clear.

The fix was a connecting panel in 60 mil Regalite Firma that carries the forward edge out and creates a clear plane for the door to swing through. It reads as part of the enclosure and it is the reason the whole thing works.

The Frames

The armrests sit in the middle of the flat plane of the doors. With the armrests down, a straight frame will not pass. So the shop put a complex bend into the top and bottom of each door frame to let the doors work with the armrests in the down position.

The frames are aluminum extrusions, machined, bent, welded and powder coated in house. That bend is why. A frame with that geometry is not something you order.

The Materials

  • EZ2CY Impact Modified Acrylic — Rigid clear panels. Created and exclusively fabricated by Canvas Designers. Blocks 98% of UV against roughly 71% for standard vinyl.
  • Regalite Firma, 60 mil (O'Sullivan Films) — The connecting panel that creates the door swing plane.
  • Stamoid Top, Black (Serge Ferrari) — Solid panels and frame covers.
  • Aluminum extrusion frames — Machined, bent, welded and powder coated in house.
  • Custom hinge system & magnet latch system — Developed for this build.
  • YKK zippers — Panel closures.

The Team

Fabrication: Mike Erickson, John Love, Marina Portiyakova and Pat Garrison.

Canvas Designers Inc., Riviera Beach, Florida.