Patent ID: 6851921

Claim:
A method of providing an automated parking garage, comprising: providing a multi-floor building having a plurality of vehicle storage racks in a storage area for storing a loaded pallet or an unloaded pallet; providing an entry/exit station (EES) on an entrance-level floor of the building for receiving a vehicle, the EES having an exterior entrance through which the vehicle is driven and, an opposing interior entrance that provides access to the storage area and through which the loaded pallet is transported, the loaded pallet and unloaded pallet adapted to be positioned at floor level in the EES; storing the unloaded pallet in a pallet stacking station, the pallet stacking station located over a shuttle aisle that extends under the EES; moving a pallet shuttle along the shuttle aisle to a first position under the EES for handling the unloaded pallet in the EES, and to a second position under the pallet stacking station for stacking the unloaded pallet; and transporting with a transport system the loaded pallet in the storage area, wherein the transport system comprises a lower carrier assembly on the entrance-level floor that includes a turntable that rotates the loaded pallet in a horizontal plane once in the storage area.