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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of our co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/801,792, filed Mar. 9, 2001. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to vertical conveyor devices. More specifically, the invention relates to a vertical conveyor device that can accommodate motor vehicles of varying heights.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Urban congestion demands efficient land use.  
           [0004]    Vertical storage devices for stacking and storing vehicles are known. Known systems include a series of platforms or containers that move in a circuit around an endless-loop type drive, or carousel. A location on the circuit serves as an access point. When a container reaches the access point, a vehicle can be either placed on or removed from the platform of the container. Then the container moves away and another platform may be accessed via the access point.  
           [0005]    Previous patents disclose vertical storage devices for motor vehicles.  
           [0006]    Lichti U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,149 discloses a vertical conveyor for storing and conveying automobiles. Here, an endless chain in the shape of a race track is mounted on a vertical frame and a plurality of platforms holding automobiles is connected to the chain and move about this race track frame. Lichti refined that conveyor system in U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,442.  
           [0007]    Vita U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,185 discloses a vertical vehicle parking structure containing a means for coordinating the operation of the tower lift.  
           [0008]    Zhang et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,539 discloses a so-called maximum auto parking device. This patent claims a stopping hole on a car pan to position a vehicle. This reference also teaches strengthening rods for the car pans, a position for a parking power control box, and the use of balance weights to assist in moving a parking carousel.  
           [0009]    The heights of passenger vehicles traditionally have been in a narrow range. Today, however, sport utility vehicles (SUV&#39;s) have come into fashion. Consequently, contemporary passenger vehicle heights vary greatly. For example, the year 2000 model Porsche 911 sports car has a height of only about 51.4 inches, while the year 2000 model Range Rover SUV has a height of about 71.6 inches.  
           [0010]    Presently, vertical conveyor systems either accept exclusively compact cars, thereby excluding SUV&#39;s, or accommodate most vehicle heights, thereby wasting precious space, because the heights of all vehicle containers are identical.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0011]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a vertical storage device to accommodate vehicles of varying sizes, by providing various sized storage containers with an adaptable means of vehicle access.  
           [0012]    It is a further object of the present invention to provide a walkway that can accommodate storage containers having platforms at varying heights, thereby providing safe access to the containers. The movable walkway allows free rotation of the platforms, and access by physically impaired patrons.  
           [0013]    Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved pan that self-bails accumulated rainwater and vehicle fluids.  
           [0014]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a lateral tire guidance system, thereby assuring proper location of vehicles upon the platforms.  
           [0015]    The present invention relates to a vertical vehicle storage device that efficiently accommodates motor vehicles of various heights. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    Other objects and further features of the advantageous vertical conveyor device of the present invention are illustrated by the accompanying drawings wherein:  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 illustrates a partially schematic perspective view of a system in accordance with the invention;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIGS. 2 a  and  2   b  are partially schematic end views illustrating the access problem created by placing different sized containers around a vertical storage carousel;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 3 a  is a partially schematic perspective view of a ramp-lifting assembly, with the ramp omitted;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 b  is a partially schematic end view of the ramp-lifting assembly of FIG. 3 a;    
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 a  is a partially schematic perspective view of a walkway-lifting assembly;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 4 b  is a partially schematic end view of a walkway-lifting assembly.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 5 is a partially schematic view of an individual container having its pan or platform curving upward in a fore/aft direction.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 6 a  is a partially schematic side view of an individual prior art container;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 6 b  is a partially schematic side view of a plurality of prior art containers in vertically aligned relationship as on a vertical carousel;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 7 a  is a partially schematic side view of an individual tall container according to the present invention;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 7 b  is a partially schematic side view of an individual short container according to the present invention;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 7 c  is a partially schematic side view of a plurality of alternating tall/short/tall containers in vertically aligned relationship as on a vertical carousel embodying the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0029]    [0029]FIG. 1 partially schematically illustrates the bottom portion of a vertical conveyor system  10  for vertically conveying containers or pans of various sizes.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 2 illustrates a problem created by the use of different sized containers. The distance e between the top of the carousel conveyor  30  and the floor  32  of the garage or access station remains the same despite the size of the container. Therefore, tall containers  28  are flush with the floor  32 , and an SUV has no problem accessing the pan of the tall container. However, when the carousel rotates and a short container  26  is presented for a shorter car, the pan of the short container  26  is suspended above the surface of the floor  32 . To access the pan  16  (see FIG. 1) of container  26 , the present invention offers a ramp  12 .  
         [0031]    Similarly, an elevated container presents a problem for passengers laterally accessing the pan or a vehicle on a pan. Hence, the present invention provides an access walkway  14 . The walkway  14  allows passengers and drivers comfortably to step into their vehicles from a normal street-to-vehicle distance, or less. The walkway  14  also provides the advantage of access for the handicapped and, thus, is helpful accessing even a tall container.  
         [0032]    Installation of a ramp-lifting assembly  34 , shown in FIGS. 3 a  and  3   b , and a walkway-lifting assembly, shown in FIGS. 4 a  and  4   b , includes placement of a pit  20  (see FIG. 1) below the containers  24 . The dimensions of the pit are slightly larger than the dimensions of pan  16 .  
         [0033]    The ramp-lifting assembly  34  includes a ramp  12 , extending across the width of pit  24 . A ramp bracket  36  pivotally joins the ramp  12  to the top edge  38  of the ramp side wall, where the top edge meets the floor of the garage.  
         [0034]    A carriage  40  is located inside the pit and is movably attached, parallel to the ramp side wall  42 . A carriage ramp link  43  joins the carriage and the ramp. A first pivot  44  and second pivot  46  are used for attachment of the link. The first pivot  44  pivotally joins the carriage ramp link  43  to the ramp, and the second pivot  46  pivotally joins the carriage ramp link to the carriage.  
         [0035]    A moving means for raising and lowering the ramp is located on the carriage  40 . This means may be hydraulic or motorized. For illustrative purposes, here a motor  48  is used. The motor  48  is mounted in the approximate center of the carriage  40 , and a speed reducer  50  is attached to motor  48 . A drive shaft  52  is attached to the speed reducer  50 . The motor  48  translates motion through the speed reducer  50 , thereby rotating drive shaft  52 . Another moving means might allow direct attachment to the drive shaft.  
         [0036]    The drive shaft  52  extends approximately the length of the carriage  40 , and is mounted to the carriage  40  at both ends by first and second drive shaft brackets  54 ,  56 , respectively. These brackets  54 ,  56  aid in holding the drive shaft  52  onto the carriage  40 . The drive shaft  52  rotates freely within the first and second drive shaft brackets  54 ,  56 . First and second ramp cams  58 ,  60  are attached to opposite ends of the drive shaft  52 . Mounted to the walkway side wall are first and second roller plates  62 ,  64 . The roller plates  62 ,  64  include a roller  66  and a plate  68 . The plate  68  mounts the roller plate  62 ,  64  to the wall, and the roller  66  rolls over the ramp cams  58 ,  60 . A vertical conveyor system may have a single ramp where a vehicle enters and exits, or the system may have a ramp-lifting assembly at both ends, thereby allowing access or egress through either end of a container pan.  
         [0037]    The vertical conveyor system also has a walkway-lifting assembly  70 , shown in FIGS. 4 a  and  4   b . The walkway-lifting assembly  70  serves similar purposes as the ramp-lifting assembly  34  discussed above. However, the mechanics of the walkway-lifting assembly  70  differ from those of the ramp-lifting assembly  34 . The walkway-lifting assembly  70  includes a walkway  14  that may extend the entire length of the pit  20  (see FIG. 1). The walkway  14  is pivotally joined to the top edge  72  of the walkway side wall by a walkway bracket  74 . A walkway roller  76  contacts the underside of the walkway. A walkway rod  78  is attached to the walkway roller  76 , and the other end of the walkway rod is connected to a rod cam  80 . The rod cam  80  contacts a walkway cam  82 . Walkway cam  82  is attached to drive shaft  52  on ramp-lifting assembly  34 . The carriage  40  is capable of lifting both a walkway  14  and a ramp  12 , and the two structures are synchronously positioned.  
         [0038]    The walkway lifting assembly  70  may also be configured with a walkway cam  82  that is shaped to cause movement of the walkway  14  in directions upwardly, downwardly, or in either of those directions to facilitate rotation of the walkway  14  out of its substantially horizontal elevation position, to a position that will permit entrance and exit of different individual containers as the vertical carousel rotates such containers into and out of the container access location. And, the cam  82  also can be configured to position a walkway  14  substantially horizontally at different desired heights to facilitate driver/passenger ingress/egress from vehicles of different height vis-a-vis the adjacent floor of the access area.  
         [0039]    Similarly, the ramp-lifting assembly may be modified to position the ramp at various angles and heights vis-a-vis the horizontal to permit smooth transition of a vehicle from the fixed floor of the entrance/exit pit to the pan or platform of a container on the vertical carousel.  
         [0040]    The combination of adjustably positionable ramp and adjustably positionable walkways permits the system of the present invention to accommodate containers and vehicles at varying heights, thereby rendering the inventive system extraordinarily user-friendly, regardless of the container height/vehicle height combination encountered. While the herein-described ramp lifting assembly and walkway lifting assembly are designed as motor-driven cam operated systems, it will be appreciated that other mechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic mechanisms may be designed to carry out the functions of the assemblies disclosed herein.  
         [0041]    The pit also accommodates the mechanics of the walkway and ramp. Moreover, the pit makes possible additional enhancements to the vertical conveyor system.  
         [0042]    The containers  24  positioned around the carousel  22  of the vertical conveyor system  10  include pans or platforms  16 , which are suspended by supports or risers  18  (see FIG. 1). In the case of short containers, the supports are short. Likewise, tall containers have long supports. In a preferred embodiment, the ratio of short containers to tall containers will be equal, alternating short/tall around the carousel.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 5 shows a pan or platform  16  which assumes either an unloaded position  86 , or a deflected, loaded position  84 . The pan or platform  16  is arched or cambered upwardly when no load rests upon it, and flattened when loaded with a vehicle.  
         [0044]    The platform  16  is configured to maintain control of any fluids that may leak from vehicles that the platform supports. These fluids may be water, melting snow or ice, antifreeze, oil, gasoline, transmission fluid, brake fluid, or the like. Since some such fluids may be flammable or explosive, they should not be captured or contained in a confined volume. Rather such fluids should simply be controlled in the open atmosphere.  
         [0045]    Platform  16  includes around its periphery continuous rim  88  to contain fluids. This rim  88  also is designed to be compliant with the American Disabilities Act, enabling unimpeded use of the platform by handicapped persons in wheelchairs. In a preferred embodiment, the height and floor area of the rim are such that a flat, horizontal platform can hold approximately forty-six gallons of fluids. When that platform is tilted one inch from level, side to side, its liquid capacity decreases to thirty gallons. The shape of the unloaded, cambered platform results in a fluid holding capacity significantly less than the holding capacity when the same platform is loaded and flat.  
         [0046]    During operation, the platform must be able to support vehicles that weigh up to about 5,500 lbs. The average vehicle is estimated to weigh approximately 4,000-4,500 lbs. Load/deflection data indicate that the platform will deflect one inch downward in the center under the weight of an average vehicle.  
         [0047]    When being accessed, the platform  16  is positioned at the bottom, center of the carousel  22 , as schematically illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 a  and  2   b . The platform  16  is positioned above pit  20  which holds the patron walkway  14  and ramp  12  actuator mechanisms  70  and  34  described above herein. When a vehicle leaves the platform from this position, the platform reconfigures itself from the deflected, flat, horizontal position  84  to the unloaded, cambered upwardly position  86 . In this condition, the platform has much less volumetric holding capacity and essentially discharges the bulk of any fluid therein into the pit as the vehicle leaves the platform. Approximately 75% of retained fluid volume may be discharged in this manner.  
         [0048]    Furthermore, the platform drains itself at the preferred lowest position on the tower, without the need for active devices or drain plugs. When the next vehicle drives onto the platform, if there is no fluid released from it, there is a substantial surplus (75%) of fluid capacity which provides relatively drip-free movement of the platforms as they rotate around the tower. Draining the platform at the lowest position minimizes possible sloshing and splashing of falling fluids from moving platforms.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIGS. 6 a  and  6   b , respectively, are partially schematic side views of containers in prior art vertical carousel systems. FIG. 6 a  schematically illustrates a side view of a prior art individual container showing the individual container having a standard height, typically about 75 inches between bottom pan or platform  16  and upper spreader bar  90 . Also illustrated in FIG. 6 a  are supports or risers  18 , which when viewed from the side as in FIG. 6 a , rise obliquely outwardly from each end of pan  16  upwardly in the direction of spreader bar  90 . As shown in FIGS. 2 a  and  2   b , such supports or risers  18 , when viewed from the end of an individual container, rise substantially vertically from pan or platform  16  to a shoulder member  19  which has a substantially horizontal section with downwardly sloping shoulder portions at each end where the shoulder member  19  connects with the top portions of risers  18 . Spreader bar  92  then extends in the lengthwise direction of the container from the center of the shoulder member at one end to the center of the shoulder member at the other end.  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 6 b  schematically illustrates a plurality of the prior art containers in their vertically aligned relationship as in prior art vertical carousels. As shown in FIG. 6 b , each of the plurality of prior art containers  24  has dimensions identical to the dimensions of the other containers so that all containers  24  have the same height h and the pitch distance P between the pivot points where the centers of the shoulder members  19  to which the risers  18  and spreader bar  90  are attached, are pivotally mounted to the vertical carousel drive loop. It will be appreciated from all of FIGS. 1, 2 a ,  2   b ,  5 ,  6   a ,  7   a , and  7   b , that in various embodiments the risers  18  may be straight, as illustrated, for example, in FIGS. 1 and 5, or may have curved lower portions, or other portions, as illustrated, for example, in FIGS. 2 a  and  2   b.    
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 7 a  is a partially schematic side view of a tall container  28  in accordance with the present invention. The tall container  28  has fundamentally the same side view shape as the prior art container  24  illustrated in FIG. 6 a , but the height t of tall container  28  illustrated in FIG. 7 a  is substantially longer than the standard height h of prior art container  24  illustrated in FIG. 6 a . In the present invention, height t is typically on the order of about 81 inches, as compared with prior art height h of about 75 inches.  
         [0052]    [0052]FIG. 7 b  is a partially schematic side view of a short container  26  in accordance with the present invention. In short container  26  height s is substantially less than the normal height h of prior art containers  24  as illustrated in FIG. 6 a . In the present invention, height s is on the order of about 69 inches, as compared with normal height h of about 75 inches in prior art containers  24 . This lesser height s between pan or platform  16  and spreader bar  94  as illustrated in FIG. 7 b  is achieved by making the connection between each end of spreader bar  94  and the horizontal shoulder member  19  joining risers  18  at each end of the container locate spreader bar  94  in a lower position vis-a-vis both the shoulder members  19  and pan or platform  16 . As illustrated in FIG. 7 b , each end of spreader bar  94  is shown with a bend therein so that the bent end portion of the spreader bar  94  connects the horizontal central portion thereof to the shoulder member  19  at each end of container  26 . Alternatively, the spreader bar  94  itself could be straight, and other forms of mechanical joints could be used to connect the ends of a straight spreader bar  94  to the shoulder member at each end of the container  26 .  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 7 c  then illustrates a plurality of alternating tall/short/tall containers arranged as they appear in a vertical carousel in the present invention. It will be appreciated from the partially schematic side view of FIG. 7 c  that the tall height t of upper container  28  causes the lower pan or platform  16  of that tall container to be nested in the space provided by the lower spreader bar  94  on immediately adjacent shorter container  26 . However, the pitch distance P between the points of pivotal connection of the shoulder members  19  of each container to the vertical carousel drive loop remains constant, as shown in both the system of the present invention schematically illustrated in FIG. 7 c  and the prior art system schematically illustrated in FIG. 6 b.    
         [0054]    The end views of individual pans or platforms appearing in FIGS. 2 a  and  2   b  additionally illustrate a notch  17  in the lower surface of each pan or platform  16 , which notch  17  fits over the spreader bar of the immediately lower adjacent container when the containers are vertically aligned as illustrated in FIG. 6 b  or  7   c . It will be appreciated that the nesting of each spreader bar in the notch  17  in the exterior of the immediately higher adjacent pan or platform  16  provides side-to-side stability for each platform when raised on the vertical carousel in the positions illustrated in FIG. 7 c , for example.  
         [0055]    To operate the vertical conveyor system a user first selects a container to access. The carousel rotates, presenting the selected container at an accessible position. Generally, this position is at the bottom of the carousel. Next, the walkway and ramp are moved into position. The height of the container may dictate the positioning of the walkway and ramp. A conveyor system of the present invention normally includes both short and tall containers. Therefore, the ramp and walkways will move into one of at least two accessible positions, either a short container accessible position, or a tall container accessible position. With the ramps and walkways in position, patrons may access a vehicle on the pan of the container. To allow access to other containers, the carousel once again rotates. However, before doing so, the walkway and ramps are moved into neutral positions. For the walkway, the typical neutral position is within the pit. The ramp, however, usually moves upward into a substantially vertical orientation. Thus, a walkway and ramp each typically have three possible positions: a neutral position, a short container accessible position, and a tall container accessible position.  
         [0056]    While the advantageous vertical conveyor of the present invention has been illustrated in specific preferred embodiments herein, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications of the advantageous device of the present invention may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as stated in the following claims.

Summary:
A vertical conveyor device for accommodating motor vehicles of varying heights. Short and tall containers for motor vehicles alternate around a vertical carousel. When a container is placed in an accessible position, movable walkways and ramps change positions allowing patrons and vehicles easy access to the containers. The positions of the walkway and ramp vary depending on the heights of the containers and vehicles.