We're celebrating 50 years of the Safedrive®, a product which established GfA as a global industry leader. GfA CEO Stephan Kleine reflects on his grandfather's legacy, engineer Hans Meyer, who invented the Safedrive®, which was showcased at the R+T exhibition in 1974.
Pictured: Left Engineer and Safedrive inventor, Hans Meyer
We look back on the journey of the Safedrive® and how it was instrumental in Shaping the Future of Industrial Door Automation.
1972: A Safety Revolution Begins
Prior to the Safedrive®, industrial doors were often operated by chain or gear-driven systems, which still have their use today. In Europe, these door designs used a separate anti-fallback device (safety brake) to prevent the door from closing uncontrollably in the event of chain or drive failure. Meyer designed an anti-fallback device with a patented damping device to activate on door acceleration, such as following a chain break or detachment. With Meyer’s design, the energy was absorbed by the damping device and the door would come to a controlled, safe stop.
Industry Breakthrough
While chain-driven systems are still used today, they come with their complications and limitations; speed, barrel construction and door set-up. The obvious evolution to alleviate the issues associated with chain-driven systems and alike was to combine the anti-fallback device into the drive to create one compact solution which fitted directly onto the barrel shaft of the door.
Meyer successfully solved this problem with the design of the first Safedrive®, which not only incorporated a twin worm configuration anti-fallback device within the drive unit’s gearbox (allowing for a far simpler door construction resulting in easier and quicker installations), but it was also not activated by speed, which opened up numerous new applications to the door industry.
1974: Introducing the Safedrive® to the Market
The Safedrive® (or “der Sichere” as it is called in Europe, which translates as “the Safe One”) was previewed at R+T 1974 at Messe Stuttgart. Later that year Meyer’s patent was granted and the Safedrive® was officially launched to the door industry in 1975. This milestone solidified its place in the industry and adoption started to grow.
Pictured: The Safedrive® showcased at the R+T exhibition in 1974
Two More Decades of Evolution and Expansion
With early success, the Safedrive® became the preferred choice for industrial door manufacturers, offering a more straightforward, cost-effective solution. As the industry backed the Safedrive®, it became evident that it allowed for a wider range of applications and enabled door companies to expand their own product range by utilising its technology. Its non-speed dependent anti-fallback device made the Safedrive® ideal for use with high-speed doors, which revolutionised the industry.
1996: Advancing Safety and Performance
GfA redesigned the Safedrive® in 1996, replacing the original twin worm configuration with the design we know today, with improved drive efficiency and enhanced damping when activated. This design allowed for the expansion of the Safedrive® range, reaching both new markets and applications, demonstrating GfA’s continuous drive for innovation.
2009: Introduction of the Safedrive® Fi
Another key milestone in the history of the Safedrive® was the launch of the Safedrive® Fi in 2009, which featured a built-on frequency inverter, offering the advantage of adjustable output speed with both soft-start and soft-stop. This revolutionised the use of frequency inverter drives across the industry, opening up numerous applications that would later become the benchmark for high-speed door technology.
2011: The Latest Addition to the Safedrive® Family
The launch of the SG186F gearbox came in 2011, providing up to 5000Nm of torque and thereby expanding the range and size of doors to which the Safedrive® can be applied.
The continued development of the Safedrive® has positioned GfA as the go-to manufacturer for plug-and-play industrial door drives, a functionality found in all GfA drive units.
2025 and Beyond: The Legacy Lives On
Today, there is a Safedrive® solution for almost every application; offering options for speed, door size, environment and frequency of use. The Safedrive® has the widest range of output speeds and torques of any direct drive on the market.
Half a century since its creation, the Safedrive® remains a benchmark for safety and innovation in the industrial door industry. As we look to the future, one thing is certain: the spirit that led to the creation of the Safedrive® will continue to drive GfA forward globally, shaping the next generation of industrial door automation.
