How It's Made - Hurricane proof shutters

Hurricane-proof shutters Prevent violent winds and flying debris From shattering windows. Not only can breaking glass cause injury And let winds enter and wreak destruction inside, But the difference between indoor and outdoor air pressure Can cause the roof and walls to collapse. Roll-down shutters move vertically... Whereas accordion shutters Consist of two sections that move sideways. To make the accordion style, They cut stacks of blades to the height of the customer's window. Blades are interlocking aluminum strips Manufactured for the shutter factory by a supplier.

Workers assemble enough to build two shutter sections That cover the width of the window. These two sections are called vertical stacks. They punch holes in the last blade of each stack For a locking mechanism. These two blades are called center mates Because they overlap at the center of the window And lock together. They slide each center mate into its respective vertical stack. The next step is attaching nylon bushings and wheels, Which ride in horizontal tracks Installed at the top and bottom of the window opening. Each center mate has vertical locking pins. Activated by a thumbscrew, These pins slide through a hole in the track To lock the shutter open or closed. The horizontal slats of a roll-down shutter Are made of the same material As the accordion shutter's vertical blades.

After cutting the slats to the width of the customer's window, Workers assemble enough to cover the window's height. These slats have a different type of interlock Than the accordion shutter blades, But they connect the same way. The tongue edge of one blade Slides into the groove edge of the next. Nylon locks prevent the slats from disconnecting. After hammering the locks into place, They crimp the edge of each slat. The connected slats will later be coiled Around a motorized tube inside the shutter's aluminum housing. A technician installs a ball-bearing assembly In one side of that housing... Then a safety plate To prevent the slat roll from shifting sideways.

On the other side, they install a plate with protruding screws To which they mount the motor. Next, they install a safety plate to prevent the slats From catching on the motor's power cord. On each end of the motor, they fit spacers......Then, over the motor, a roller tube. They insert a connecting shaft, which attaches the tube To the ball-bearing assembly on the other side. All these steps assemble a motorized axle Around which the roll of slats
will wrap. Once a quality-control check ensures It operates flawlessly... They close off the back of the housing with an aluminum cover.

Working from the front of the housing, They rivet plastic rings along the length of the tube. These help muffle the noise the slats make As they roll and unroll. Workers rivet slat hangers to the roller tube. They slide the first slat onto these hangers. Then they slide the slat roll onto that first slat. The slat edges run in vertical side rails, Which installers mount in the window opening. Now for a last round of quality-control testing. Workers lift and lower the shutter in manual mode, As well as by remote control. When everything works perfectly, The shutters are subjected to one final test To ensure they can handle everything That a hurricane can muster.