Apple patent involves a rotating door system for businesses

Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,876,347) for “rotating door systems and methods” for businesses, including its own retail stores.

In the patent data, Apple says that a business owner (e.g., a retailer) may wish to invite customers into a building or store “in an aesthetically appealing and inviting way.: At the same time, the business owner may wish to prevent entry into the building during specific times of the day (e.g., when the building is closed for business). 

To do this, Apple says the business owner may employ one or more rotatable doors to allow individuals to enter the building at certain times and prevent entry during other times. What’s more, the tech giant’s patent involves managing the time and manner in which individuals enter a building store for crowd control. In some instances, automatic control of the time and manner in which individuals enter a building may be desirable. To accomplish these and other objectives, the business owner may use a rotating door system and/or method, or elements thereof, according to embodiments described herein. 

Here’s the summary of the invention: “Rotating door systems and methods for rotating a plurality of rotatable doors between a closed position and an open position are provided. Each of the rotatable doors may have a height measured in a vertical direction between opposing horizontal edges, a width measured in a horizontal direction between opposing vertical edges, and an axis of rotation centrally located between the opposing vertical edges. 

“The rotatable doors may be rotatably coupled to an upper support at the axis of rotation via an upper pivot shaft and rotatably coupled to a lower support at the axis of rotation via a lower pivot shaft. The rotatable doors may be at least partially transparent. The rotation of one or more of the rotatable doors may be controlled by a controller.”