AU785272B2 - Parking stations - Google Patents

Description

"PARKING STATIONS" Field of the Invention The present invention relates to vehicle parking stations. It also has application to heavy vehicle and bus depots. The present invention also relates to demarcation apparatus for such vehicle parking stations.

Prior Art Car parks in shopping centres, community and social centres such as sporting clubs, hotels and RSL clubs, and car parking stations often comprise rows of opposed parking bays.

Each parking bay is usually marked by white lines defining the respective allocated parking spaces.

During parking most drivers are unable to see the furthest boundary from the entry lane, hereinafter termed the end boundary, and thus the driver usually approximates the position of the end boundary. This may lead to the vehicles extending into the opposing parking space and/or during parking, either forwards or rearward, the vehicle being parked may bump or nudge the car in the opposing bay which may sustain damage. A parked car may also be damaged by another car as a result of failure of its handbrake.

In addition to the above significant damage is caused in such car parks by drivers departing their space through the unoccupied opposing space. This results in vehicles departing at a higher than normal speed and of course an oncoming driver may be heading for the vacated space through which the vehicle is departing.

Thus much damage is caused to parked cars while their owners patronise the shops at the associated shopping centre or club, hotels and the like. The possibility of damage to the car while parked in the car park can deter some would-be patrons or customers.

Also carparks which have unsupervised entry and access provide little security against theft of parked cars.

A further difficulty associated with most car parks is that they provide a large open space without obstructions.

In this environment speeding cars pose a danger to pedestrians. Unmanned runaway cars also pose a danger to pedestrians.

Summary of the Invention This invention aims to alleviate at least one of the abovementioned disadvantages and/or to provide vehicle car parks and demarcation devices therefore which will be efficient in use.

In one aspect this invention broadly resides in a vehicle car park having spaced parallel entry lanes and opposing vehicle bays having entrances thereto from the adjacent entry lane and a demarcation device located on or adjacent the end boundary of the opposed parking bays and wherein each demarcation device supports a highly visible panel portion of such size and disposition that a seated car driver can read written information provided thereon.

Preferably the panel portion has an upper edge disposed at about 1200mm above the floor and a lower edge at about 800mm above the floor whereby the centre of the panel portion is disposed at about eye level for drivers seated in a car.

Typically the panel portion could range in width of between 600mm and 800mm. Preferably however the panel portion is not so wide as to form a visual barrier terminating drivers views at the end boundary of a row of car parks and not so high as to form visual boundaries to pedestrians.

10 While the panel portion may be suspended from a roof support, it is preferred that it be supported by a post so as to provide a physical barrier at bumper bar height.

The demarcation devices may be provided with proximity sensors or the like for sensing the presence of a vehicle in the bay or bays demarked thereby and arranged in communication with a display at the entrance to the respective entry lane whereby a visual indication is provided at the end of each bay of car parks as to the availability of car parks serviced by the respective entry lanes.

Such proximate sensors may also be used in conjunction with a keypad mounted on the demarcation device for keying-in a user selected code upon entry to the park and requiring reentry before removal of the vehicle from the park. Such arrangement would provide an visible/audible alarm in the event of the vehicle being removed without first keying in the users code or closure of appropriate gates to prevent removal of the vehicle from the car park.

In another aspect this invention broadly resides in demarcation apparatus including: an indicator to indicate the position of an end boundary of a car parking space, and locating means for locating the indicator at a position that enables a driver entering the car parking space to locate the position of the end boundary when that boundary is obscured by their vehicle.

0 The indicator is suitably a panel portion in the form of a sign having instructions, notices or advertising thereon.

Alternatively the indicator may be a housing for holding a plant or an artistic work such as a sculpture. The indicator may be illuminated and or have a light to brighten the bay at 5 night or indicate the presence of the indicator.

Brief Description Of The Drawings A typical embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: O FIG. 1 is a representation of a car park according to this invention; FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the car park of Fig. 1; FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of demarcation apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1; FIG. 4 illustrates a further embodiment of demarcation 1 oeooeo e apparatus, and FIG. 5 illustrates a typical application of the demarcation apparatus of Fig. 4.

Details Description Of Preferred Embodiment As illustrated in Fig. 1, a car park according to this invention includes a plurality of rows of opposing parking bays 10 each extending away from a respective entry lane 11, there being spaced parallel rows of entry lanes 11 arranged at the opposite sides of the opposed parking bays and each leading from an access road or lane 12.

A respective demarcation apparatus 14 is disposed centrally along the end boundary of each opposed pair of parking bays 11 so as to provide a prominent eye height visual indication of the end boundary. With reference to Fig. 1 there is shown a demarcation apparatus 14 having a post 15 provided with a mounting plate 16 whereby it may be bolted securely to the car park surface.

The upper end 18 of the post 15 supports display apparatus 20 in a position that is clearly visible to a driver while sitting behind the driver's wheel of a car. The display apparatus 20 has a base 21 wall, opposed transparent side walls 22 extending upwardly from the base wall 21 and opposed end walls 24 one of which is removable to allow access to be gained to the inside of the display apparatus 20. Respective pairs of upper and lower tracks provide support for slid in/out display panels 25 which, in use, lie adjacent the transparent side walls 22.

The upper end wall of the display apparatus 20 is recessed to provide a plant container in which plants may be grown in order to beautify the car parking area.

In the present embodiment the height of the demarcation apparatus 14 is 1200mm with the height of the post 15 being 845mm and the depth of the plant holder being 355mm. The width of the plant holder is 710mm and it has sufficient thickness to extend from opposite sides of the post 10 In use a driver enters the parking bay demarcated by white painted lines. As the car approaches the end of the bay the bonnet/boot obscures the end boundary however driver may use the demarcation assembly as a guide to indicate the end boundary, enabling the driver to park the car close to the end of the bay without protruding into the opposing bay.

For car parks in retail shopping centres, for example, it is preferred that the removable sign panels contain advertising for selected retailers. In this respect the applicant considers that as the panels will provide the first point of advertising drivers and passengers of incoming vehicles see when parked, the advertising space may be sold to finance or subsidise the car park.

Accordingly in yet another aspect this invention resides in a method of promoting retail outlets in shopping complexes by providing car parks according to the present invention and hiring, selling, renting, leasing or the like the advertising space provided by the display apparatus.

The demarcation apparatus 30 illustrated in Figs. 4 and has lower inclined portion 31 which supports a buffer plate 32 at bumper height and a wrap around upper portion 33 which supports the display 35. The relationship of the demarcation apparatus 30 to a vehicle 40 is illustrated in Fig It will of course be realised that while the forgoing has been given by way of illustrative example of the invention all such and other modifications in variations there to as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed for within the broad scope and ambit of the DATED THIS Thirtieth DAY OF October 2000 PARK ADS PTY LTD

Claims (17)

1. Demarcation apparatus for use in a vehicle parking bay, the apparatus including: a member for mounting on a support surface defining a parking bay towards the end of the parking bay; an indicator mounted on said member spaced above the support surface so the indicator is positioned at a height which will enable a person driving a vehicle entering the parking bay to see the location of the indicator while being seated comfortably in the driver's seat of the vehicle; and wherein said demarcation apparatus is associated with a means for resisting theft of the vehicle.

2. Demarcation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the member is a robust substantially vertically extending support post.

3. Demarcation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the member is a statue, sculpture or the like, having an outer surface and the indicator comprises a sheet of material applied to the outer surface. 20

4. Demarcation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the indicator is in the form of a display element having graphic or written material thereon.

5. Demarcation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the graphic or written material includes advertising.

6. Demarcation apparatus according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the display element has an upper edge and a lower edge and the lower edge is greater than 700 mm above :.oo the level of the support surface.

7. Demarcation apparatus according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the majority of the display element would be visible to a driver of a typical sedan motor vehicle when 9 seated in the motor vehicle.

8. Demarcation apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the lower edge of the display element is 700-900mm above the level of the support surface and the upper edge is 1100 to 1300 mm above the support surface, and the height of the display element is 200 to 600 mm.

9. Demaraction apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the indicator is illuminated.

A car park having a plurality of vehicle parking bays accessed by at least one access lane extending from an entrance of the car park to each of the parking bays, at least one vehicle bay having an entrance at one end thereof and a demarcation apparatus at an opposed end thereof, the demarcation apparatus being in accordance with claim 1.

11. A car park according to claim 10, wherein each demarcation apparatus is in accordance with any one of claims 2 to 9. :o.o

12. A car park according to claim 10 or claim 11, including: sensing means associated with each demarcation apparatus for sensing whether a :o •vehicle is parked in the parking bay and transmitting an appropriate signal; a processing means operatively connected to each sensor for receiving and processing information received from the sensor, and display means for displaying information regarding the availability of parking bays. *o

13. A car park according to claim 12, wherein the displaying means provides an indication of the location of an available parking bay.

*14. A car park according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the theft resisting means includes an interface into which a code is keyed by a driver on parking their vehicle in the bay, and into which an identical code must be subsequently keyed before the vehicle is removed from the parking bay, and response means for producing a response when the incorrect code is entered into the interface prior to the vehicle being removed.

A car park according to claim 14, wherein the theft resisting means includes an audio alarm or a physical barrier which is activated if the correct code is entered into the interface prior to removal of the vehicle.

16. Demarcation apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings.

17. A car park substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings. DATED THIS SECOND DAY OF AUGUST 2006 PARK ADS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD BY PIZZEYS PATENT AND TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS