MECHANICAL-STORAGE MULTI-LEVEL CARPARK

Abstract: The mechanical-storage multi-level carpark (1) of the present invention comprises a gantry structure (2) formed by a set of uprights (3) and crossbeams (4), defining a space inside which a vertical carrousel structure is supported, which is provided with car housing means (34).

Description: The present invention relates to a mechanical-storage multi-level carpark. The continuous increase in the number of vehicles in high-population-density centres has worsened the problem of their garaging to such an extent, that it has already been thought for some time to carry out the storage of said vehicles by means of mechanical means inside multi-level carparks. Such multi-level carparks are structured as warehouses, and hence it is not possible for the vehicles to enter them, and leave them by only using their own locomotion means, contrarily to what commonly happens in brickwork multi-storey carparks, built at a still earlier time, wherein slopes to be used both during the exiting and entering steps allow each vehicle to travel through the various stories, so to be able to reach or leave the assigned parking area. The mechanical-storage multi-level carparks, on the contrary, comprise a set of adjacent rows of closed-structure, or open-structure, cells, superimposed upon one another, so to constitute a plurality of levels served by one single mechanical means (usually a tram crane) used for the operations of vehicle loading and unloading. Such mechanical-storage multi-level carparks, although achieve the purpose they were conceived for, i.e. to store, relatively to the occupied room, a much higher number of vehicles, than the brickwork multi-storey carparks, show drawbacks, which are hereunder listed: long waiting times for the recovery and the garaging of the vehicles. so high installation and operation costs, as to only justify the public use thereof, obviously barring their use to small communities, such as, e.g., condominiums. impossibility of recovering or garaging the vehicles in emergency situations, in particular in case of electrical energy supply blackout or breakdown of the mechanical means (the tram crane) which handle the vehicles inside the carpark. Mechanical-storage multi-level carparks are also known which substantially comprise a stationary structure rotatably supporting about a horizontal axis a carrousel structure carrying means for garaging the vehicles. Structures of this type are known from FR-A-1 352 721, EP-A-0 154 290, CH-A-310 680 and DE-U-1 893 718. In the carpark of FR-A-1 352 721 and EP-A-0 154 290, the carrousel structure has two sets of arms extending radially in a sunburst configuration, the two sets being spaced apart in the direction of said axis and the corresponding arms of the sets supporting at their external ends respective garaging means for the vehicles. In these latter structures, as well as in those of the other above cited prior documents, the number of the garaging means that can be arranged is substantially proportional to the diameter of the carrousel structure. This means that for arranging a higher number of garaging means a corresponding increase in the dimensions of the carpark is required. Furthermore, loading and unloading of the vehicles generally involves a rather long time, because the vehicles can be loaded or unloaded only one at a time, especially in the case of carparks of smaller dimensions. The purpose of the present invention consists in providing a mechanical-storage multi-level carpark of the type disclosed in FR-A-1 352 721 or EP-A-0 154 290, which is however capable of obviating the above drawbacks, i.e. which makes it possible to considerably reduce the waiting times for garaging the vehicles and which is of simple and modular construction requiring generally smaller dimensions than the known carparks for housing a same number of vehicles. This purpose is achieved by a carpark having the features claimed in claim 1. The invention is illustrated for exemplifying purposes in the Figures of the hereto attached drawings. Figure 1 is a sectional view of a multi-level carpark of the invention, according to line I-I of Figure 2; Figure 2 is a sectional view of the multi-level carpark according to line II-II of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a detail view of some kinematic components; Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the means used for garaging the vehicles; Figure 5 is a sketch showing one from the many possible advantageous layouts of a plurality of multi-level carparks grouped to form one single, large-capacity multi-level carpark. Referring to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, the multi-level carpark of the invention, generally indicated by the reference numeral 1, comprises a gantry stationary structure 2, made integral with the ground, and consisting of uprights 3, i.e., a pair of central uprights and two pairs of side uprights, connected by connection crossbeams 4, and defining, in its interior, the useful volume of the multi-level carpark. Each one of the two central uprights 3 supports, in its middle, a respective bearing 5 engaged by a respective end 7 of a shaft 6, which is a part of a rotatable carrousel structure, which is hereunder disclosed. At the two ends 7 of the shaft 6, two sets of telescopic arms 8 extend radially in a sunburst configuration, said telescopic arms 8 being each constituted by a first fixed arm element 9, and by a second, retractable, radially outer arm element 10, sliding inside said first fixed element 9 by means of guide and support means 45. The telescopic arms 8 are braced, relatively to the shaft 6, by means of first rods 43 hinged at their ends, and are braced relatively to each other, by means of second rods 44. At the radially outer end of each retractable element 10, a support 12 is provided, to which a bushing, generally indicated by the reference numeral 11, is constrained. Each bushing 11 comprises an outer shell 13 inside which two half-bearings 14 are placed, which rotatably receive a hub 15 welded to a respective end of a support shaft 19. The free ends of the hubs 15 of each shaft 19 are provided with respective idle roller 16 supported by a pair of bearings 17 protected from the entry of foreign matter by a sealing gasket 18. Each idle roller 16 rolls and slides inside one of two guides 20, having a "U" shaped cross-section, the guides 20 being welded to the uprights 3 and to the crossbeams 4 of the gantry structure 2, so defining stationary guides for the radially outer ends of the radially outer elements 10 of the telescopic arms 8. The guides 20 form a closed route, having in Fig.1 the shape of a rounded-corner square. Each shaft 19 supports vehicle garaging means, or cells, generally indicated by the reference numeral 34, and, in particular, by the letters A through N. Such means comprise a pair of spaced apart tilting brackets 21 suspended at the ends of a same support shaft 19 and connected with each other by a base forming a pair of gangways 23 placed at a distance from each other corresponding to the track of the vehicles to be garaged. Each bracket 21 has a generally octagonal outline, and comprises a top element 24 connected with a base element 25 by means of symmetrical intermediate side elements 26 positioned according to a broken polygonal line. The side elements 26 include a medium substantially vertical portion and upper and lower portions so inclined that the top element 24 is shorter than the base element 25. The generally polygonal outline secures the maximum exploitation of the available room with no danger of impacts between the various cells 34 during the movement of the multi-level carpark, as it can be better understood from the hereunder operation disclosure. The gangways 23 provided between the two base elements 25 constitute the running track for the wheels 29 of a car 28. The running of such wheels is made easier by antislip ribs 27, which also act as strengthening elements for the gangways 23. In an alternative form of practical embodiment, not illustrated for the sake of simpleness, the cells 34 are in form of a completely closed structure, in order to better protect the vehicles from the inclemency of the weather, and are provided with a pair of roll-up shutters on the two opposite sides of the cells. The elements 5 through 19 constitute, in their whole, a carrousel structure, rotatably supported about a horizontal axis by the stationary structure 2 and driven by a drive unit 30, the carrousel structure carrying the vehicle garaging means 34. The drive unit 30 comprises a ratiomotor 31 acting on two chain drives, respectively a primary chain drive 32 and a secondary chain drive 33. The primary chain drive 32 comprises a pair of sprocket wheels 35 and 36 connected by a chain 47, and respectively keyed on the shaft of the ratiomotor shaft 31 and on the first end of a shaft 37 of a transmission 38. The secondary chain drive 33 comprises a pair of sprocket wheels 39 and 40 connected by a chain 41, respectively keyed on the second end of the shaft 37 and on one of the two spaced apart sets of telescopic arms 8 which radially extend in a sunburst configuration from the shaft 6. In case of a breakdown, or of lack of electrical energy, the unit 30 is provided with means (not shown in the Figures) enabling it to be manually operated by means of a crank. The multi-level carpark 1 is completed by a fence 42 provided at the base of the multi-level carpark, in order to prevent ill-intentioned persons from freely accessing the multi-level carpark, and, in particular, the cars parked inside the cells 34 which are at ground level. The other cars are, on the contrary, sufficiently protected by the structure of the multi-level carpark, because the related cells are placed at such a height from ground, and in such a position as to discourage attempts of theft and/or damaging. Referring in particular to Figure 5, it is possible to associate a plurality of multi-level carparks 1, so grouped as to obtain one single large-capacity multi-level carpark, provided with a plurality of points wherein the contemporaneous loading and/or unloading of the cars is possible. Referring, in particular, to Figure 1, the cells marked by the letters A and C are in position of loading, or unloading, of the relevant vehicles. When said operations are completed, the clockwise, or counterclockwise, revolution, (according to which of the two revolution directions indicated by the double arrow F is the most suitable) of the carrousel structure progressively brings to the ground level the remaining cells the user is interested in. The rationalization of such operations can be carried out by means of a suitable electronic equipment. The particular shape of the route defined by the "U"-shaped guides 20, and of the polygonal outline of the cross-section of the cells 34 prevents said cells 34 from colliding, during the movement of the carrousel structure they belong to, even if their number is larger than the number which can be housed by a conventional carrousel structure having the same overall dimensions, but with a simply circular outline. From the above disclosure, further benefits are evident, besides those already mentioned, which the users of such a multi-level carpark can get. The operations of garaging and recovery of the cars can be further accelerated by changing the length of the side of the guides 20 which is close to ground, so to simultaneously have a larger number of cells 34 in vehicle loading or unloading position. In as much as such cells can be furthermore so constructed, as to allow the vehicle to enter and to leave them through the opposite open passages defined by the brackets 21, they further accelerate the related operations, because in such a way it is possible to avoid to carry out troublesome reverse-motion manoeuvres, and the multi-level carpark results easier accessible, in as much as entrances and exits can be provided on opposite sides. The multi-level carpark of the instant invention can be designed with no need for complying with any special safety regulations, forasmuch as it is not intended to house any people inside its structures, besides allowing also cars fueled with gas fuels to be garaged, whilst such cars are forbidden, owing to safety reasons, to enter the traditional multi-storey carparks having a closed structure. According to an alternative form of practical embodiment, the closed route of the "U"-guides 20 could be given the shape of a regular polygon, or a parallelogram shape with rounded corners, or the shape of a rectangle having its longer sides arranged in the vertical direction. This latter form of practical embodiment is particularly suitable for giving the multi-Level carpark a larger capacity, without increasing the dimensions thereof at ground.

Claims: Mechanical-storage multi-level carpark, comprising a stationary structure (2) rotatably supporting about a horizontal axis a structure of carrousel type (5-19) having two sets of arms (8) extending radially in a sunburst configuration, the two sets being spaced apart in the direction of said axis and the corresponding arms (8) of said sets supporting at their external ends respective garaging means (34) for the vehicles, characterised in that the arms (8) are telescopic arms and in that the radially outer arm elements (10) thereof are guided at their radially outer ends by stationary guides (20) supported by said stationary structure (2) and defining a closed route. Mechanical-storage multi-level carpark according to claim 1, characterised in that the telescopic arms (8) comprise at their radially outer ends bushings (11) rotatably receiving hub ends of shafts (19) supporting the vehicle garaging means (34). Mechanical-storage multi-level carpark according to claims 1 and 2, characterised in that the hub ends of the support shafts (19) support idle rollers (16) rotatably engaging the stationary guides (20). Mechanical-storage multi-level carpark according to claim 1, characterised in that the stationary guides (20) have a "U"-shaped cross-section. Mechanical-storage multi-level carpark according to claim 1, characterised in that the closed route has the shape of a parallelogram with rounded corners. Mechanical-storage multi-level carpark according to claim 1, characterised in that the closed route has the shape of a square with rounded corners. Mechanical-storage multi-level carpark according to claim 1, characterised in that the garaging means (34) have a generally poligonal cross section and each comprise a pair of spaced apart brackets (21) suspended on a support shaft (19), said brackets (21) each comprising a top element (24) and a base element (25) connected by symmetrical intermediate side elements (26). Mechanical-storage multi-level carpark according to claim 7, characterised in that the intermediate side elements (26) each have a lower portion, a medium substantially vertical portion and an upper portion, the lower portion and the upper portion being inclined so that the top element (24) of the brackets (21) is shorter than the base element (25). Mechanical-storage multi-level carpark according to claim 1, characterised in that said brackets (21) define open entrance and exit passages for the vehicles.

Inventors: PIACENZA, GIORGIO
Applicants: PIACENZA, GIORGIO
Application year: 1987
Main classification: E04H6
IPC codes: E04H6