It seems to me that there is a fundamental flaw in the design of most bathroom stall doors (especially at airports when you have baggage with you)...
They open in with very little clearance from the toilet fixture so you find yourself doing a crazy little dance to open the door and get out of the thing.
I'm proposing an overhead, sliding door to the things similar to a garage door.
Thoughts?-- zigness, Mar 05 2004 Get a bigger bathroom?-- DrCurry, Mar 05 2004 If the door track was'nt set high up, tall people would have to crouch on the loo.-- python, Mar 05 2004 [DC], that won't work... I've worked on airport terminal designs, and given the requirements for number of stalls and available space, it's just too cramped.-- zigness, Mar 05 2004 Bi-folding doors, à la aircraft baths?-- bristolz, Mar 05 2004 Not a bad thought... it occured to me... This, however, keeps the door completely away from the fixtures.-- zigness, Mar 05 2004 Overhead sliding doors that required the user to stoop and lift the door would be equally impractical within the space constraints, and nearly impossible for travellers with bad backs to utilize. I would suggest exploring the use of tambour doors sliding laterally from a suspended semicircular track.-- jurist, Mar 06 2004 In my old high school, there were no doors on the stalls. I could get my bags in and out of the stall easily, and I could wave at my friends as they passed by.-- 1st2know, Mar 06 2004 Worried about low over head? Use the garage roll up door but flip it vertically. step in stall (facing toliet)grab handle with your right hand. Turn to be prepared to sit and pull the door shut locking on your right. Now only if the stall had as much storage as a garage...-- krod, Mar 06 2004 Would this prevent having a (usually broken) coathook on the back of the door?-- kropotkin, Mar 06 2004 Bristolz, you have a bath in your aircraft?-- KiwiJohn, Mar 09 2004 In the Catholic high school across town, there were neither doors nor walls. There was a simple row of 6 toilets protruding from the wall. This allowed 6 boys to simultaneously use the toilet and hold hands and sing.-- bungston, Mar 09 2004 I think a good solution to this would be loo doors that slide straight out of the side partition and then pivot to close.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 10 2004 Bung you sure they where just holding hands?
seriously though a good idea-- engineer1, Mar 10 2004 Do you really use public bathrooms that much?-- Nitehawk, Mar 23 2004 Why can't they just make the doors to normal stalls swing outward? Considering the fact that they need space for handicap accessibility, there should be plenty of space in the aisle to open and close under most circumstances.-- ye_river_xiv, May 30 2008 too easy, how about the dunny on a platform 3' off the ground, giving a storage compartment for items; accessible by a small ladder fixture. Would also cure the potential problem of people peering underneath from the other stalls when they're bored.-- FlyingToaster, May 30 2008 halfbakery