SAS non asservi

17:57 Nov 10, 2017 

I never imagined that my question could have generated such a wealth of discussion and information! I am indeed very grateful for all your input and I think that, by reading very carefully each submission, I shall be in a position to provide a very satisfactory rendering in the text I am translating. Thank you all very much.

17:47 Nov 10, 2017 

Whilst all these possibilities are interesting, and some at least entirely plausible, I have to take issue with you on one statement you made: in very many technical fields 'asservi' does indeed translate mutually 'interlocked, and there is certainly no obligatory master / slave relationship; although this is clearly part of the etymology of the term, actuall usage has moved well beyond that these days, where even 2 things of equal status can be mutually inter-dependent.

17:26 Nov 10, 2017 

avec un "sas asservi" il est parfaitement possible d'avoir deux portes "d'importance égale" - chacune des portes est "asservie à l'autre" dans le sens qu'une porte ne se débloque que si l'autre porte est bloquée.

17:08 Nov 10, 2017 

as simply closing one door behind you will NOT automatically unlock the next door [as with the usual "interlocked" system of a transition zone with two gates/barriers/doors that basically does nothing more than just slow down potential intruders] - you have first to talk to someone behind the second door [=> un interphone] to convince them to let you in by activating "une gâche électrique" if they like the look of you [=> un contrôle vidéo].

By comparison to "sas asservi" the meaning of "non asservi" would be that the doors at each end of the "transition zone" can be operated independently i.e. the door to "inside" is not automatically released as soon as the door to the "outside" is locked.

16:00 Nov 10, 2017 

I don't think "interlocking" is right because it gives equal importance to both interlocked elements, which is not the case with "asservi". However, I do think that relates to the doors not being operated by an actuator. The question remains: what does that actuator do? I find the fire system connection the most likely, as a jewellers wouldn't want those doors to automatically open if there was a minor fire. The premises' fire escape door would be elsewhere.

12:07 Nov 10, 2017 

I think this is referring to the double sets of entrance doors that you find sometimes (going into banks, etc.) where the doors are 'interlocked' — that is to say, you can't open the second set of doors till the first set are closed; this gives an extra level of security, since not only does it slow people up coming in or out, but also, they can't rush through if both sets of doors open at the same time.
I would imagine, therefore, that the 'asservi' takes its menaing of 'interlocked' here; but I don't know quite what you'd call this kind of 'sas' in EN — 'airlock' seems to me inappropriate here. Anyway, they haven't got one, which is obviously something of a minus point.

12:05 Nov 10, 2017 

I haven't time to pursue this to a conclusion, but here's a reference that may help to establish the meaning:

"Asservissement
Mécanisme permettant de garder les portes ouvertes ou fermées par des ventouses intégrées ou non à un système de retenue ou de fermeture des vantaux (ferme-portes + ventouse séparée, ferme-portes + bandeau, pivot non asservi ou pivot asservi)."
http://fermbati.fr/glossaire

11:42 Nov 10, 2017 

I think they are referring to the kind of entry where you go through one set of heavy glazed doors, only to be faced with another set, usually to keep heat in the building and dirt out...