Parma Antonio & Figli, Milan

[Huw Eastwood]

No worries I thought there was crossed lines somewhere. That 411669 door patent is a real oddball. Anyway looking forward to the new pics- I'm guessing the National Bank Arizona is now the Vault Cafe Phoenix door you mentioned earlier- looks a nice one with the contrasting brass trim.

[wylk]

Looking over the door-in-door patent 411669, it's apparent the smaller door is not an emergency door. It's simply a door that allows access to the boltwork, one of the goals being a door (or two) with no spindle holes or boltwork holes. It's fully automatic, being operated by time locks and a boltwork motor (but only for the small door).

Normal operation is as follows.

To open the door, you first have to wait for the time lock on the small door to trigger the bolt motor which then allows you to open the small door. In fact, the inventor suggests using a stock Mosler door (patent 153348) for the small door. Once the small door is open you reach in, grab the operating handle, and retract the big-door boltwork. Unseat the main door using the pressure bars then pull open the main door. You probably want to close the small door so it doesn't hit a wall as the main door opens.

To close and lock the door, first close the main door and seat it using the pressure bars. Reach in and operate the boltwork handle to lock the main door. Set the time lock(s) on the small door and wind up the bolt motor. Close the small door and let it lock itself.

So, again, it's not an emergency door, but technically it is a "door in door".

[VaultDoors]

I'm guessing the National Bank Arizona is now the Vault Cafe Phoenix door you mentioned earlier- looks a nice one with the contrasting brass trim.

The Vault Cafe is within the NBAZ complex but it has been closed for a while. Looking lost, someone directed me to the reception desk that was in another building. As I approached the desk I noticed the Door-in-Door about 100' away. I explained my 'vaultophile condition' and they gave me a visitors pass. The door was initially open but I was able to unlatch it and almost close it all the way but the locking bolts were extended (locked open). I cranked the pressure system and viewed the bottom and top bars rotating in opposite directions. I spun a few finials on and off and the center arbor cap. The center arbor requires a hand wheel to crank it so I wasn't able to open the E-door. There were some ceiling lights but I couldn't find the switch so I had to use the flash a lot. There was also a lot of glare from the locked protective glass panel but I did my best with my smart phone camera. The album needs to be cleaned up a bit but here it is: https://www.flickr.com/photos/canton...7651534247959/
Also, there is a large circular HHM door at the end of the album that I took pics of a while ago. It is at the NBAZ too so there may be more vault doors than just these two... Enjoy!

[VaultDoors]

Wow, too bad I'm 644 miles away! Some observations, things to look for:

The door seems way older than the building (and mounted outside?). I wonder where it came from originally? Who built it?

I don't see any combination dials. Are both doors automatic?

The crane hinge on the emergency door looks like it's unusually articulated with three sets of hinges instead of the usual two sets. This makes some sense because the emergency door's crane is anchored to the big crane and the two have to move in relation to each other.

The main door crane hinge blocks have some sort of brass caps on the right and left (some missing).

While there are pressure bars for the main door, there aren't any for the emergency door.

There is a door stop block on the lower-right, perhaps latching.

Google Images came up with the image below. Something like this fooled me before; it's just a big poster print stuck onto the glass.

Attachment 13471

The Door-in Door is on the inside of the National Bank of Az (NBAZ) although that initial picture made it seem like it was outside; it's about 100' past the main lobby. It seemed to be part of the original construction of the building and was built by HHM, they alXo built the large circular door in their other lobby - shown at the end of the NBAZ album. The E-door appears to lock like a cannonball safe, although the hand wheel was missing or maybe the center arbor is cranked with a big square-head wrench? I believe the main door had an automatic time lock that has since been removed. The E-door has a handle at the top that I believe serves as the pressure system...much like that vault door you posted recently with a hand operated pressure system. The steel door stop had a rubber stopper attached to it and the door latch hooked to the top of it. Here is the NBAZ album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/canton...7651534247959/

If you are ever in the Phoenix area, it's worth a trip to the NBAZ to see both vault doors.

[Huw Eastwood]

Well done those pictures look superb to me. No problems with flash or glare at all. Only had a quick look but will go back and look closely when I've got more time. All those gear close-ups will keep me happy..

thanks wylk for for the in depth description. So the design of the door is as I explained in my previous posts then. It's pretty much as I'd imagined and I'd be surprised if they sold enough to count on both hands.

[VaultDoors]

I grouped the pics so they should be a little easier to follow now.

[VaultDoors]

National Commercial Bank & Trust in NY:
Attachment 13070

This picture is from an article by Frederick S. Holmes titled 'Vault Protection' in The Architectural Forum, 1923 - formerly Pencil Points.

[VaultDoors]

...formerly Pencil Points.

Correction - Progressive Architecture magazine was formerly Pencil Points magazine.

[VaultDoors]

Something like this fooled me before; it's just a big poster print stuck onto the glass.

Attachment 13471

They removed The Vault Cafe sign and vault print on the glass. Looks like it closed about 6 months ago since the last review I could find was from 9/30/2014.

[David Hovey]

The Door-in Door is on the inside of the National Bank of Az (NBAZ) although that initial picture made it seem like it was outside; it's about 100' past the main lobby. It seemed to be part of the original construction of the building and was built by HHM, they alXo built the large circular door in their other lobby - shown at the end of the NBAZ album. The E-door appears to lock like a cannonball safe, although the hand wheel was missing or maybe the center arbor is cranked with a big square-head wrench? I believe the main door had an automatic time lock that has since been removed. The E-door has a handle at the top that I believe serves as the pressure system...much like that vault door you posted recently with a hand operated pressure system. The steel door stop had a rubber stopper attached to it and the door latch hooked to the top of it. Here is the NBAZ album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/canton...7651534247959/

If you are ever in the Phoenix area, it's worth a trip to the NBAZ to see both vault doors.

A very rare door indeed, A lug door within a pressure system main door. Although I've heard from another that these are HHM, I would be inclined to disagree.

Here is your missing Automatic.


DH