U.S. patent application number 12/927787 was filed with the patent office on 2011-05-26 for parking system for motor vehicles.
This patent application is currently assigned to WAP Woehr Automatikparksysteme GmbH & Co KG. Invention is credited to Andreas Zangerle.
Application Number | 20110123302 12/927787 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40834355 |
Filed Date | 2011-05-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110123302 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Zangerle; Andreas |
May 26, 2011 |
Parking system for motor vehicles
Abstract
In order to enable particularly rapid conveyance of motor
vehicles in a parking system for motor vehicles even when it is of
complicated construction wherein the parking system comprises a
pallet changing mechanism in which two guide means for pallets are
arranged one above the other and said pallets are displaceable
horizontally into said guide means, and also comprises a lifting
device which can raise a pallet from the lower guide means into the
upper guide means and conversely lower a pallet from the upper
guide means into the lower guide means, it is proposed that the
pallet changing mechanism be movable by means of a motorised drive
between an entry or an exit position in which a pallet in the upper
guide means is respectively aligned with the entrance or exit of
the parking system on the one hand and between a pallet transfer
station in which both guide means that are arranged one above the
other of the pallet changing mechanism are aligned with guide means
of a rack conveyor or a parking rack on the other, and in that
there be provided a control unit which coordinates the movement of
the pallet changing mechanism between the entry or exit position
and the pallet transfer station and the activation of the lifting
device in such a manner that the raising/lowering movement of the
pallets in the pallet changing mechanism occurs during the movement
of the pallet changing mechanism between the entry or exit position
and the pallet transfer station.
Inventors: |
Zangerle; Andreas;
(Renningen, DE) |
Assignee: |
WAP Woehr Automatikparksysteme GmbH
& Co KG
Korntal-Muenchingen
DE
|
Family ID: |
40834355 |
Appl. No.: |
12/927787 |
Filed: |
November 22, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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PCT/EP2009/054290 |
Apr 9, 2009 |
|
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12927787 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
414/239 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04H 6/225 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
414/239 |
International
Class: |
E04H 6/22 20060101
E04H006/22 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 10, 2008 |
DE |
10 2008 029 075.0 |
Claims
1. Parking system for motor vehicles comprising a pallet changing
mechanism in which two guide means for pallets are arranged one
above the other and said pallets are displaceable horizontally into
said guide means, and also comprising a lifting device which can
raise a pallet from the lower guide means into the upper guide
means and conversely lower a pallet from the upper guide means into
the lower guide means, wherein the pallet changing mechanism is
movable by means of a motorised drive between an entry or an exit
position in which a pallet in the upper guide means is aligned with
the entrance or the exit of the parking system on the one hand and
between a pallet transfer station in which both guide means of the
pallet changing mechanism are aligned with the guide means that are
arranged one above the other of a rack conveyor or a parking rack
on the other, and in that there is provided a control unit which
coordinates the movement of the pallet changing mechanism between
the entry or exit position and the pallet transfer station and the
activation of the lifting device in such a manner that the
raising/lowering movement of the pallets in the pallet changing
mechanism occurs during the movement of the pallet changing
mechanism between the entry or exit position and the pallet
transfer station.
2. Parking system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the control
unit coordinates the movement of the pallet changing mechanism
between the entry or exit position and the pallet transfer station
and the activation of the lifting device in such a manner that the
pallets of the pallet changing mechanism are raised from the lower
guide means into the upper guide means during the movement of the
pallet changing mechanism from the pallet transfer station to the
entry position, and are lowered from the upper guide means into the
lower guide means during the movement of the pallet changing
mechanism from the exit position to the pallet transfer
station.
3. Parking system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the pallet
changing mechanism is movable upwardly and downwardly between the
entry or exit position and the pallet transfer station in the
vertical direction.
4. Parking system in accordance with claim 2, wherein the pallet
changing mechanism is movable upwardly and downwardly between the
entry or exit position and the pallet transfer station in the
vertical direction.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation of international
application number PCT/EP2009/054290 filed on Apr. 9, 2009 and
claims the benefit of German application no. 10 2008 029 075.0
filed on Jun. 10, 2008.
[0002] The present disclosure relates to the subject matter
disclosed in international application PCT/EP2009/054290 of Apr. 9,
2009 and German application No. 10 2008 029 075.0 of Jun. 10, 2008,
which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and
for all purposes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The invention relates to a parking system for motor vehicles
comprising a pallet changing mechanism in which two guide means for
pallets are arranged one above the other and said pallets are
displaceable horizontally into said guide means, and also
comprising a lifting device which can raise a pallet from the lower
guide means into the upper guide means and conversely lower a
pallet from the upper guide means into the lower guide means.
[0004] A parking system of this kind is known from DE 20 2007 002
069 U1. In this parking system, motor vehicles on pallets are
pushed into individual storage compartments of a rack by means of a
rack conveyor and two guide means located one above the other, into
which pallets can be displaced horizontally one above the other,
are arranged in each storage compartment and in the rack conveyor.
When transferring a pallet from the rack conveyor to a parking bay
or vice versa, the upper pallet upon which a motor vehicle is
located is always displaced into the aligned upper guide means on
each occasion, whilst an empty pallet is simultaneously pushed into
the likewise aligned lower guide means in the opposite direction so
that a pallet is always present at each parking bay and in the rack
conveyor, either a pallet occupied by a motor vehicle or an empty
pallet.
[0005] At the entrance and at the exit of this known parking
system, there is a respective pallet changing mechanism to which
the rack conveyor is directly connectable. At the entrance, a
pallet occupied by a motor vehicle is pushed onto the rack conveyor
and an empty pallet is inserted into the pallet changer by the rack
conveyor, namely, into its lower guide means. In the pallet
changer, a lifting device now shifts the empty lower platform from
the lower guide means into the upper guide means so that, after
this process of shifting it into the upper guide means, an empty
pallet is available onto which a motor vehicle can be driven.
[0006] The procedure at the exit is reversed, there, the pallet in
the pallet changing mechanism which is now empty after the motor
vehicle has departed is lowered from the upper guide means into the
lower guide means by the lifting device.
[0007] In the known parking system, a respective rack conveyor
which is stationed at the entrance and the exit directly adjoins
the pallet changing mechanism. This, however, is not always
possible for structural reasons, for example, if the entire parking
system is located underground and it is intended that the entrance
and the exit should be positioned aboveground.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The object of the invention is to further develop a parking
system of the above type in such a way that the transfer of the
motor vehicles between an entrance or an exit on the one hand and
the remainder of the parking system on the other can be effected
easily and in particular quickly even in the case of complicated
layouts.
[0009] In accordance with the invention, this object is achieved in
the case of a parking system of the type described hereinabove in
that the pallet changing mechanism is movable by means of a
motorised drive between an entry or an exit position in which a
pallet in the upper guide means is aligned on each occasion with
the entrance or the exit of the parking system on the one hand and
between a pallet transfer station in which both guide means of the
pallet changing mechanism are aligned with guide means located one
above the other of a rack conveyor or a parking rack on the other,
and in that there is provided a control unit which coordinates the
movement of the pallet changing mechanism between the entry or exit
position and the pallet transfer station and the activation of the
lifting device in such a manner that the raising/lowering movement
of the pallets in the pallet changing mechanism occurs during the
movement of the pallet changing mechanism between the entry or exit
position and the pallet transfer station.
[0010] Thus, in contrast to the static pallet changing mechanism,
the pallet changing mechanism is constructed so that it is movable
and consequently can travel or be moved from the entry position or
from the exit position into a pallet transfer station. In the entry
position or in the exit position, a pallet in an upper guide means
of the pallet changing mechanism is aligned with the entrance or
the exit so that a motor vehicle can be driven onto this upper
pallet or driven off it. The pallet changing mechanism then moves
into a second position, namely, a pallet transfer station, in which
the guide means of the pallet changing mechanism are aligned with
the guide means of a rack conveyor or with the guide means in the
parking bays of a rack so that pallets can be swapped between the
pallet changing mechanism and this rack conveyor or the parking
rack. The shifting of the pallet from the lower guide means into
the upper guide means or from the upper guide means into the lower
guide means now takes place in the pallet changing mechanism during
this movement of the pallet changing mechanism between the entry or
exit position on the one hand and the pallet transfer station on
the other so that no additional time is needed for this shifting
process. The simultaneous activation of the drives for the movement
of the pallet changing mechanism itself and for the activation of
the lifting device on the other hand ensures that, upon reaching
the entrance or upon reaching the pallet transfer station, the
pallet changing mechanism has placed the pallet into those guide
means in which they are respectively needed at the entrance, at the
exit or at the pallet transfer station for the transfer of the
pallets and for the loading and unloading of the pallets. An
additional amount of time for the process of changing the pallets
in the pallet changing mechanism is thereby avoided since this
change takes place during the movement of the pallet changing
mechanism. Hereby, it is expedient if the process of raising or
lowering the pallet in the pallet changing mechanism can be fully
completed during the transit of the pallet changing mechanism. In
principle however, it would also be possible to perform just part
of the process of lowering or raising the pallets in the pallet
changing mechanism during the movement of the pallet changing
mechanism between the entry or exit position and the pallet
transfer station and then to partly effect this process of swapping
the pallet between the guide means located one above the other
whilst the pallet changing mechanism is stationary. Above all
however, the essential thing is that the time required for
displacing the pallet changing mechanism between the pallet
transfer station and the entry or exit position be used for the
process of swapping the pallets between the two guide means.
[0011] It is expedient, if the control unit coordinates the
movement of the pallet changing mechanism between the entry or exit
position and the pallet transfer station and the activation of the
lifting device in such a manner that the pallets of the pallet
changing mechanism are raised from the lower guide means into the
upper guide means during the movement of the pallet changing
mechanism from the pallet transfer station to the entry position
and lowered into the lower guide means during the movement of the
pallet changing mechanism from the exit position to the pallet
transfer station. In an arrangement of this type, it is always
empty pallets which are swapped between the upper and the lower
guide means in the pallet changing mechanism.
[0012] In principle, the pallet changing mechanism could be
displaceable horizontally between the entry or exit position on the
one hand and the pallet transfer position on the other or it could
also be movable in some other way, but it is particularly
advantageous thereby if the pallet changing mechanism is movable
upwardly or downwardly in the vertical direction, thus, in other
words, if the pallet changing mechanism is placed on a lift.
[0013] The following description of preferred embodiments of the
invention taken in conjunction with the drawing serves to provide a
more detailed explanation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1: is a schematic side view of a parking system
comprising static parking bays, a rack conveyor which can approach
these parking bays and a lift comprising a pallet changing
mechanism which can be connected alternately to a point of entry or
an exit and to the rack conveyor;
[0015] FIG. 2: is a schematic side view of the pallet changing
mechanism incorporating two guide means located one above the other
and a parking pallet in the upper guide means;
[0016] FIG. 3: is a view similar to FIG. 2 when lowering the pallet
from the upper guide means onto the lower guide means;
[0017] FIG. 4: is a schematic illustration of the exit from the
parking system with the pallet changing mechanism in an upper end
position;
[0018] FIG. 5: is a view similar to FIG. 4 depicting a position of
the pallet changing mechanism that is lowered with respect to the
exit;
[0019] FIG. 6: is a view similar to FIG. 4 depicting the position
of the pallet changing mechanism when it has been lowered to a
pallet transfer station;
[0020] FIG. 7: is a view similar to FIG. 6 depicting a lowered
pallet changing mechanism which is associated with an entrance;
[0021] FIG. 8: is a view similar to FIG. 7 depicting a position of
the pallet changing mechanism which is raised with respect to the
pallet transfer station and
[0022] FIG. 9: is a view similar to FIG. 8 depicting the pallet
changing mechanism in the upper position where it is aligned with
the entrance.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0023] The invention is discussed hereinafter using the example of
a parking system 1 which is arranged below an approach road level 2
in the interior 3 of a structure 4. An entrance 5 is located at the
approach road level 2 and there is an exit 6 at another location,
and, within this region, there is provided at the level of the
approach road 2 an opening 7 which leads into the interior 3 and is
preferably covered by its own structure 8, whereby this structure 8
may be an entry station or an exit station and it has a lateral
gate opening 9 through which a motor vehicle 28 can drive into the
structure 8 or out of the structure 8.
[0024] A plurality of static parking bays 10 are arranged in
shelf-like manner one above the other in the interior 3, a central
space 11 in which a rack conveyor 12 is displaceable being left
between these parking bays.
[0025] Each parking bay 10 has two horizontal guide means 13, 14
which are located one above the other, and pallets 15 upon which
motor vehicles can be accommodated can be pushed into said guide
means.
[0026] The same applies to the rack conveyor 12 which can be moved
in the central space in both the vertical and horizontal directions
in such a way that the two guide means 13, 14 thereof which are
located one above the other are aligned with corresponding guide
means 13, 14 of a parking bay so that it is possible to exchange a
pallet 15 in the upper guide means and also in the lower guide
means.
[0027] In the drawing, the static parking bays are each denoted by
just the schematically illustrated upper and lower guide means 13
and 14, and the rack conveyor 12 merely by its upper guide means 13
and its lower guide means 14. These guide means 13, 14 of the rack
conveyor 12 are actually arranged on a lift which thus enables the
guide means 13, 14 of the rack conveyor 12 to be lifted and
lowered, and moreover, the lift can also be made to travel in the
horizontal direction in the central space 11 so that it can also
reach parking bays 10 that are located in front of the plane of the
drawing of FIG. 1 and behind the plane of the drawing of FIG.
1.
[0028] The parking bays 10 occupy substantially the entire area on
both sides of the central space 11, although an area having no
static parking bays 10 therein is kept free in the region below an
entrance 5 and below an exit 6. Instead, a pallet changing
mechanism 16 is arranged in this region, said pallet changing
mechanism being part of a lift by means of which the pallet
changing mechanism 16 is lowerable from an upper position in which
it is substantially in alignment with the approach road level 2,
down to a pallet transfer station 29 in which it is substantially
in alignment with the guide means 13, 14 of the rack conveyor 12
if, for its part, this rack conveyor 12 is in an upper
position.
[0029] The raising/lowering movement of the pallet changing
mechanism 16 is effected by means of a motorised drive 17 which is
connected by a control line 18 to a control unit 19 that serves to
activate it. The drive 17 is only indicated schematically in FIG. 1
as being part of the pallet changing mechanism 16, but in practice
the drive could naturally also be arranged externally on the
buildings 4 or 8 and not on the lift itself which carries the
pallet changing mechanism 16.
[0030] Two guide means 20, 21 for a parking pallet 15 are arranged
one above the other in the pallet changing mechanism 16, namely,
these guide means are formed by a pair of parallel lower rails 22
and a pair of upper rails 23 that are arranged thereabove. The
lower rails 22 are fixed in place on the pallet changing mechanism
16, whereas the upper rails 23 are held on a carrier 24 which is
mounted such that it is pivotal outwardly about a lower pivotal
point so that the upper rails 23 can be swung out laterally, as is
illustrated in FIG. 3. Furthermore, a lifting device 25 is arranged
in the pallet changing mechanism 16, said device acting on the
lower surface of a pallet 15 which is mounted in displaceable
manner in one of the rails 22 or 23. This lifting device 25 can
raise and lower the pallet 15 and it may, for example, be a
hydraulic lifting device comprising a plurality of pressure
cylinders which act on a pallet 15 at different points in order to
raise and lower the pallet uniformly and parallel to itself. It is
thereby possible to raise the pallets upwardly from the lower rail
22 when the carriers 24 supporting the upper rails 23 have been
swung out laterally since the area above the lower rails 22 is made
clear in this way. The pallet 15 can be raised to an extent such
that the carriers 24 supporting the upper rails 23 can be swung
back underneath the pallet so that when the pallet is subsequently
lowered it will be accommodated in the upper rails 23 where it is
then mounted in displaceable manner. It is possible to change the
location of the pallet 15 between the upper rails 23 and the lower
rails 22 in this way. A pallet in the upper rails 23 with the
carriers 24 swung inwardly is illustrated in FIG. 2. In FIG. 3
however, the carriers 24 are swung out, and the pallet 15 is being
lowered into the lower rails 22 by the lifting device 25. This
procedure is of course reversible.
[0031] This exchange of the pallets 15 between the rails 22, 23
that are located one above the other can be effected with the help
of a motorised drive means 26 which activates the carriers 24 on
the one hand and the lifting device 25 on the other, this drive
means 26 only being illustrated schematically in FIG. 1. It is also
connected by a control line 27 to the control unit 19 so that this
control unit controls both the raising/lowering movement of the
pallet changing mechanism 16 as a whole and also the process of
changing the pallets 15 between the two rails 22 and 23.
[0032] In operation of the parking system 1, motor vehicles 28 are
placed on the parking pallets 15 and these parking pallets are then
transferred by the pallet changing mechanism 16 and the rack
conveyor 12 to the individual parking bays 10 or are brought back
from the parking bays in the reverse direction. In every case, the
alignment between the pallet changing mechanism 16 and the rack
conveyor 12 or between the rack conveyor 12 and a parking bay 10 is
effected in such a way that the respective upper guide means are
aligned with the upper guide means and the respective lower guide
means with the lower guide means. In the course of the alignment
process, the pallets are always shifted in the upper and in the
lower guide means at the same time, but in opposite directions so
that one pallet 15 always remains in each parking bay 10, in the
rack conveyor 12 and in the pallet changing mechanism 16. Hereby,
pallets occupied by a motor vehicle are always in the upper guide
means.
[0033] In order for this system of pallet-changing to function
continuously, the pallets 15 in the pallet changing mechanism 16
must be swapped between the two guide means 20, 21 on each
occasion.
[0034] This is described by way of example for a pallet changing
mechanism 16 shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 which is assigned to an exit
6.
[0035] In FIG. 4, the pallet changing mechanism 16 is illustrated
in its raised position, the pallet 15 is located in the upper guide
means 21 and is thus aligned with the approach road level 2 so that
a motor vehicle 28 located on the pallet 15 can leave the exit.
[0036] If a motor vehicle that has been placed in a parking bay is
to be transported to the exit, the control unit 19 is activated
accordingly by the user, and this now moves the pallet changing
mechanism 16 downwardly from the upper position illustrated in FIG.
4 into the lowered position in which the pallet changing mechanism
16 is located in a pallet transfer station 29 (FIG. 6). During the
lowering movement of the pallet changing mechanism 16, the drive
means 26 for the lifting device 25 and the carrier 24 is activated
at the same time by the control unit 19 so that the pallet is
lowered from the upper guide means 21 into the lower guide means
20. This is illustrated in FIG. 5 in the intermediate region
between the upper position and the lower position of the pallet
changing mechanism. As soon as the pallet changing mechanism 16 is
located in the lower position, i.e. in the pallet transfer station
29, the pallet 15 has reached the lower guide means 20 so that,
after the process of aligning the pallet changing mechanism 16 with
the rack conveyor 12, a pallet 15 occupied by a motor vehicle 28
can be moved from the upper guide means 14 of the rack conveyor 12
onto the upper guide means 21 of the pallet changing mechanism 16,
as is illustrated in FIG. 6. At the same time, the free pallet is
shifted from the lower guide means 20 of the pallet changing
mechanism 16 into the lower guide means 13 of the rack conveyor 12,
whereafter the pallet changing mechanism 16 is moved back into the
raised position of FIG. 4 in which the motor vehicle that had been
parked on the pallet can be driven out through the exit.
[0037] Additional time for the process of swapping the pallets
between the two guide means 20, 21 of the pallet changing mechanism
16 is not needed since the swap takes place during the lowering
movement of the pallet changing mechanism 16 into the lower
position.
[0038] The situation at an entrance 5 is illustrated in FIGS. 7 to
9. When the pallet changing mechanism 16 is in the lowered position
there, i.e. when it is located in the pallet transfer station 29, a
motor vehicle disposed on a pallet 15 in the upper guide means 21
can be shifted with the pallet 15 into the upper guide means 14 of
the rack conveyor 12, and at the same time a free pallet is shifted
from the lower guide means 13 of the rack conveyor 12 into the
lower guide means 20 of the pallet changing mechanism 16.
[0039] Subsequently, the pallet changing mechanism 16 is raised by
the control unit 19, and, at the same time, the change of the free
pallet from the lower guide means 20 into the upper guide means 21
takes place. When the pallet changing mechanism 16 reaches the
upper position, the free pallet has also been transferred into the
upper guide means 21 of the pallet changing mechanism 16 and is now
aligned with the approach road level 2 so that a motor vehicle 28
can drive onto the pallet (FIG. 9).
[0040] After lowering the pallet changing mechanism 16 into the
pallet transfer station 29, the pallet occupied by the motor
vehicle can be shifted from the upper guide means 21 of the pallet
changing mechanism 16 into the upper guide means 14 of the rack
conveyor 12 in the manner evident from FIG. 7, so that the rack
conveyor 12 then transports the pallet occupied by the motor
vehicle to a parking bay and places it in the bay in known
manner.
[0041] Here too, the process of shifting the free pallet from the
lower guide means 20 into the upper guide means 21 of the pallet
changing mechanism 16 also occurs during the raising/lowering
movement of the pallet changing mechanism 16 and consequently does
not need any additional time.
[0042] In order to allow the process of swapping the pallets
between the two guide means 20 and 21 of the pallet changing
mechanism 16 to take place during the raising/lowering movement of
the pallet changing mechanism 16, care must naturally be taken to
ensure that there is sufficient space for the carriers 24 that are
swung out during this swapping process, this being indicated by the
walls 30 that have been set back laterally with respect to the
pallet changing mechanism 16 in the illustrations of FIGS. 2 and 3.
In practice, it may well be necessary to adopt appropriate
precautionary measures of a structural nature for ensuring that the
carriers 24 do not collide with other components when being swung
out and during the simultaneous raising/lowering movement of the
pallet changing mechanism 16.
* * * * *