Following EZK for flush and glazed doors, FSB has now added a further component to its system for electronic access organisation: the new solution for frame doors means that this functionally innovative, design-driven architectural hardware system now completely fulfils our ambition to wholly fit out buildings from a single source. EZK for frame doors consistently embodies our strategy of fitting out architecture on a handle system basis and transplants the depth of range enjoyed by our classic furniture to the EZK system. EZK taps the wealth of experience we have gained in the sphere of handle culture over the years and opens up additional options for the fitting out of buildings in architecture.

Conventional mechanical closing systems are becoming increasingly outdated. Given the security requirements that obtain in the event of keys being mislaid or changes being made to authorisation statuses, electronically organised access control systems are now an established fact in the marketplace. EZK was developed specifically with the organisational needs of “project” buildings in mind. The aim at the same time was to achieve the highest degree of coordination with FSB’s classic heavy-duty furniture. The upshot is a completely self-standing, multi-patented hardware solution for flush, narrow- frame and wholly-glazed doors inside buildings.

“Simple is better than complicated.”

That’s the dictum of Dieter Rams, former designer-in-chief at Braun AG. Or in other words: technology should serve people in the first instance - and not the other way round. We at FSB felt that there was a case for looking into the merits of electronic access control systems not only on aesthetic grounds but also and in particular taking account of user-driven and hence ergonomic factors.

Common to all electronic access control systems on the market is the need to establish a link between the - electronic - identification process and the - mechanical - operation of the door. The market is familiar with a variety of philosophies in this respect: following positive identification, the lock must be released by an identifying medium either directly via the lock cylinder - or else via a special-purpose thumbturn connected to the lock cylinder. Only then can the door be opened by operating the handle in the traditional manner. There are, in addition, purely hardware-related solutions of a somewhat “box-type” nature that necessitate considerable input at the planning and assembly stages as well as demanding a great deal of latitude of the user notably as regards their "design" and "aesthetics".

We set ourselves the goal of easing and accelerating this routine; in other words, of heeding the inherently human need for simplification: we directly connected the process of electronic identification with a mechatronic module squeezed in beneath the handle rose or outer plate.
Forming the heart of this masterpiece of precision mechanics is an electronically-controlled coupling element that ensures immediate operation of the lock via the door handle upon positive identification being forthcoming.

Wholly geared to the needs of the “project” building sector

As well as boasting compelling looks, the EZK system also scores heavily in terms of versatility of application. It can be adopted in conjunction with over 30 different door lever handle designs made in either aluminium, stainless steel, brass or bronze. EZK can be supplied both as rose hardware for flush doors and as narrow-frame door furniture. With EZK hardware requiring no external cabling, moreover, FSB is the only market player to also provide a suitable solution for glazed doors.

EZK facilitates straightforward integration of an electronic europrofile cylinder. This allows the lock to be operated by inserting and rotating the key. It is likewise possible in this way to integrate all FSB hardware fitted to external doors - FSB security furniture or, indeed, FSB armoured roses in combination with unfussy FSB door pulls, for instance - into an overall electronic access control system for the securing of external points of access. The electronic europrofile cylinder guarantees the level of security laid down in DIN 18 257 and for VDS Protection Class B respectively as long as the hardware pairing has been tested and certified in accordance with DIN EN 1906 - which can safely be assumed in the case of all FSB security hardware.

Though there are restrictions on who may enter given rooms and buildings, it is essential that people are not hindered from leaving them in an emergency. This is ensured by a built-in panic function with the aid of which all doors can be opened from the inside at all times. An additional option concerns return-to-the-door lever handle models enjoying FS status under DIN EN 179 (set to become available for frame doors as of mid-2011), thus also enabling EZK to be used on emergency exit doors assuming the applicable locks are fitted. EZK has the wherewithal for any area of application by dint of versatile components such as card scanners that form part of the system, furthermore. Due to its being certified to DIN 18 273, EZK can also be unbureaucratically retrofitted to existing fire doors in the course of renovation work without in any sense jeopardising its approval status. Rounding the package off is a range of locks by our subsidiary SSF whose engineering meshes perfectly with the system. EZK’s compelling functionality, refined looks, judicious coordination with the entire range of FSB products and, last but not least, ease of assembly add up to a powerful case for saying farewell to the conventional key.