Patent GB-1361352-A (GB)
Title: Underground automatic parking system for vehicles
IPC: E04H6/14
Filed: 1972-08-15
Abstract: 1361352 Mechanical garage ESTACIONAMETROS SA 15 Aug 1972 [8 Sept 1971] 38042/72 Heading B8E An underground car park comprises a tunnel 30 having upper and lower parking levels 31, 33 and an intermediate transit level 32 usable at upper and lower levels. Entrance passages 34 lead to slidable entrance doors 36 having guide channels and stops 60, 61, so that a vehicle can be correctly positioned on grids 37. A carriage 41 driven by motor 138 with a brake 139 runs on rails 39 at the tunnel side to transport vehicles supported on retractable brackets 55 to parking positions. The carriage has vertical columns 44 on which slides 45 for carriage frame 42, 43, run driven by a motor 48. Blocks 119, Fig. 8, are provided to position the carriage 41 correctly for each parking position when engaged by anchor members 118 spring mounted at 131 to cushion the stopping of the carriage and which can be released for engagement by a solenoid 117 or by a rod acting through a toggle 105 and actuated by cam followers 98 or 197, Fig. 7, when engaged by a cam 97 as the frame 42, 43, is raised or lowered on the columns 44. Both the carriage brackets 55 and the upper parking brackets 158 are retractable by the operation of interengaged cam means to allow the passage of the elevator with or without a vehicle from just above the grids 37 to just below the support grids parking frames 224 at the lower level. The frames 224 are mounted on springs so that the weight of the vehicle depresses the frames sufficiently to open a switch thus indicating its position. The parking or retrieval of a vehicle is controlled from a keyboard 62, Fig. 1, using appropriate control circuitry which as described employs conventional relays so that the vehicle positioned on the grids 37 and the carriage position under the doors 36 brackets 55 are extended and raised through the grids 37 to lift the vehicle therefrom. When the vehicle is clear of the grids the gates 36 can be slid clear at the same time raising guard rails at the side of the opening. The vehicle is now lowered to the lower transit position and the gates closed to allow another vehicle to be positioned thereon. The carriage is now driven on the rails 39 to the correct position for it to be deposited on the desired upper or lower parking position thereat. For the lower position the elevator is lowered until the vehicle is deposited on the frame 224 after which the brackets 55 can be retracted and raised to the upper transit position for return of the carriage to the entrance. For the upper position the elevator is raised above the brackets 158 while they are retracted after which the brackets are positioned to receive the vehicle deposited as the brackets 55 pass through the brackets 158. Again the carriage is then returned to the entrance. The mechanisms for the retraction and extension of the brackets 55, 158, for the sliding doors 36, for the actuation of the anchors 118, and for the movement of a carriage vertically and horizontally together with the necessary interlocks and the control system is described in detail.