GB2117352A

GB2117352A - Parking device for vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2117352A
Application number: GB08305928A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gotthard Zirlewagen; Wolfgang Wohr
Original assignee: Mpb Metall & Parksystem Bau
Current assignee: Mpb Metall & Parksystem Bau
Priority date: 1982-03-04
Filing date: 1983-03-03
Publication date: 1983-10-12
Also published as: IE830452L; EP0088304B1; GB8305928D0; IE53945B1; EP0088304A1; DE3207792A1; JPH0336985B2; JPS58204273A; DE3207792C2; MY8700090A; GB2117352B; ATE29910T1; AU557359B2; AU1175083A

Abstract

A device for parking vehicles comprises a pair of platforms (19, 20) arranged one above the other in a pit (10) depressed in relation to a plane of common entrance (11). Each platform is pivotally supported by transverse pins (18, 32) on slides (17) running on vertical rails (18) which extend upwardly from the bottom (14) of the pit (10) intermediate the length of the platforms (19, 20). The platforms are arranged to be commonly driven by hydraulic cylinders (21) for alternative alignment with the plane (11), the platforms being substantially horizontal in the lower end position and being upwardly inclined in the upper end position. The vertical rails (16) extend up to but no higher than the plane (11) and the slides (17) at least correspond in length to the length of the rails (16). The cylinders (21) have piston rods (23) the ends of which are connected to the bottom (14) of the pit (10) while the cylinders themselves are laterally connected to the lower platform (20). <IMAGE>

Description

1

SPECIFICATION Parking device for vehicles

This invention relates to a device for parking vehicles on two platforms arranged one above the other, comprising a base depressed relative to a plane of common entrance, and vertical rails on both sides and supported on said base for guiding slides having laterally extending pins to pivotably mount said platforms parallel to each other and to drive them commonly by hydraulic cylinders for alternative alignment of said platforms with said plane of common entrance, such that the platforms are substantially horizontal in their lower end position while being tilted upwardly or at the end adjacent the entrance side in their upper end position.

One advantage of parking devices of the kind referred to for example consists in that in garages accommodated in the basement of office buildings they can be made accessible to the general public, particularly to changing public users by providing the lowered upper platform, which is at the level of the plane of common entrance as a parking space for short time parkers, as this platform is substantially horizontal in its lower end position and so makes it possible to drive on it without difficulties and to walk on it without upper restrictions. The storage space on the lower platform, which is relatively restricted as far as walkability is concerned, however, may be 95 expected to be used by more skilled regular parkers without any remarkable molestation.

Even though the upper platform of the known parking device in its lower end position is at the entrance level such that it will appear in connection with the drive lane and neighbouring similar parking devices and of the remaining parking space as one continuous surface, the vertical rails extending upwardly from the depressed base or pit offer a troubling appearance. 105 This fact leads to an impairment of accessibility to the upper platforms and on the other hand is disadvantageous, if such parking device shall be used as a partial subterranean garage in a garden and in such case should not have any remaining 11.0 projecting members. A proposal to afford guidance of the slides in their raised end position by providing vertical rails of greater length within the garage pit would necessitate increased costs for the increased excavation and depression of the 115 garage pit, provided that such type of construction would be feasible at all bearing in mind considerations of the ground water level.

The present invention aims to improve a parking device of the kind referred to such as to avoid impairments by upwardly projecting vertical rails during driving on the upper platforms, and at the same time to provide for unrestricted rigidity and safety of the device during all operational stages.

According to the invention, there is provided a device for parking vehicles comprising at least two platforms arranged one above the other in a pit depressed relative to a plane of a common GB 2 117 352 A 1 entrance on one side of the pit, each platform being supported tiltably by transverse pins on slides running on vertical rails extending upwardly from the base at an intermediate position with respect to the length of the platforms, said platforms being commonly driven by means of hydraulic cylinders for alternative alignment with said plane of common entrance, such that the platforms are substantially horizontal in their lower end position while being tilted upwardly at the end adjacent the entrance side in their upper end position, wherein the vertical rails extend to about the height of the plane of common entrance, the slides by which the platforms are in connection with each other at least correspond in length to the length of the vertical rails such that essential lower portions of the slides are still guided at upper portions of said vertical rails when the platforms are in the upper end position, and the hydraulic cylinders on both sides have piston rods the ends of which are connected to the bottom of the pit while the cylinders themselves are laterally connected to the lower platform.

In comparison with the prior art, the parking device according to the invention has a considerably simplified and practical construction, wherein upwardly extending vertical rails can be dispensed with, such that in the lowered end position only the uppermost platform will be seen, which is at the level of common entrance. This type of construction has considerable importance for a series arrangement comprising a number of parking devices located side by side and laterally adjoining along a common drive lane. The parking device according to the invention provides for great facility of inspection and gives to users the feeling that the parking devices can be used without difficulties. In a garage of this kind, the upper platform in its lower position is flush with the plane of entrance at all sides. There are no projecting constructional members at all. Further, the bottom of the pit or base is flush with the lower edge of the lower platform and with the lateral side wall of the lower platform, respectively.

This advantageous construction is rendered possible inter alia because the lower platform in its upper end position extends with a downward inclination from the common entrance plane, such that the slides on the vertical rails with the lateral pivot pins for mounting the lower platform are still within the pit and do not need to be extended beyond the plane of common entrance. Consequently, the slides at least with their lower portion remain still guided on the vertical rails and therefore remain sufficiently supported, because the above referred difference between the length of the vertical rails (= depth of the pit) and the length of stroke of the slide is used for stabilisation of the system.

According to an additional important feature of stabilisation the most important horizontal forces acting on the slides are limited and localized to those portions of the slides, which are completely guided and protected by the vertical rails.

2 GB 2 117 352 A 2 Preferably, the hydraulic cylinders adjacent the ends of their piston rods are pivotally connected to the side walls of the lower platform. With this construction, when the hydraulic cylinders are extended for transferring the device from its lower to its upper end position, the operational forces of the cylinders, which are supported on the bottom of the base - or pit, will act on the lower Platform.

which remains within the length of the vertical rails during the entire length of its vertical stroke. These favourable supporting conditions are also valid for the inclined position of the lower platform, which position is desirably limited or defined by stop members on the slides, such that these stop members and the torque generated by the force of hydraulic cylinders and acting on the platform by way of those stop members remain within the support range of the vertical rails without jeopardizing the stability of the parking device.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of one embodiment of a parking device according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation in greater scale than in Fig. 1 of the lower platform in its raised end position; and 30 Fig. 3 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 2. Referring to Fig. 1, the parking device according to the invention is arranged within a pit 10 which at one of its ends is connected to a plane of 35 common entrance 11 and further includes a rear wall 12. On the bottom 14 of the pit 10 on both sides a strut 15 and a vertical rail 16 are arranged, which can be seen in cross section in Fig. 3. A slide 17 is guided on the vertical rail 16 and has laterally extending pivot pins 18, 32 for pivotally mounting an upper platform 19 and a lower platform 20, respectively, for limited pivotal motion.

The platforms 19,20 commonly moved by means of the slides 17 are shown in Fig. 1 in full lines in their lower end position and with broken lines in their upper end position. Drive means for the parking device comprise hydraulic cylinders 21 which are arranged on both sides of the device.

The hydraulic cylinders 21 have piston rods 23 which are pivotally mounted on the bottom of the pit, while the lower end portions 22 of the cylinders are pivotally mounted on the lower platform 20. Both platforms 19, 20 are continuously held parallel to each other by means 120 of front links 24 and rear links 25, which contribute to the stability of the device and additionally make sure that the upper platform is driven by the drive means acting directly on the lower platform.

As can be seen from Figs. 2 and 3, a reinforcing plate 30 is secured to the side wall of the lower platform 20. The reinforcing plate 30 bears a sidewardly projecting pivot pin 32, which is accommodated in a corresponding bearing sleeve 34 secured to the side wall of the slide 17. As can be seen from the cross section in Fig. 3 the slide 17 is further provided with guide portions 38 including slide fillers 36 made from synthetic material and embracing the vertical rail 16. Additionally, the slides include two stop means 40,42 projecting towards the platform 20 and extending beyonct the side wall of said lower platform 20.

-15 The lower end of the hydraulic cylinder 21 is pivotally connected to a fork member 44 for pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal transverse axis 46. The fork member 44 itself is pivotally connected about a horizontal pin 48 laterally projecting from the reinforcing plate 30. Since the axis of the pin 48 is perpendicular to the axis of the transverse pin 46, a universal joint is formed between the platform and cylinder. The free end of the piston rod 23 (not shown) preferably is pivotally connected to a connecting eye on the bottom of the pit 10.

As can further be seen from Fig. 2, the pivotal connection between the cylinder 21 and the lower platform 20 is provided at about the vertical position of the pivot pin 32, i.e. at the level of the pivotal connection between the platform and slide 17, which is also true for the stop means 40, 42, such that the forces introduced into the platforms by means of the hydraulic cylinders for tilting the platforms and for arresting them in the tilted position will be transferred by means of the stop means of the slides 17 to the vertical rails 16 and then will be introduced and taken up by the bottom of the pit.

- As the upper end of the vertical rail 16 is shown in Fig. 2, the available amount of overlap can be seen, by which the slides 17 are still guided by the vertical rails 16 in the upper end positions of the platforms.

Stop means 40 are used for limiting the inclined position of the platforms in the upper end position. Stop means 42 form a security stop Hmiting the horizontal end position of the platforms in those cases, when no hydraulic 11.0 retaining force should be available. During normal operation, however, the horizontal orientation of the platforms in their lower end position is defined by a horizontal bottom of the pit 10. For additional guarantee of the platforms in their inclined position, the reinforcing plate 30 of the platform 20 has a stop means 50, which in the upper end position of the platforms engages the lower surface of the strut 15 according to Fig. 2 and in this position will afford additional rigidity at the time, when a vehicle is driven on this platform, such that the sum of forces generated during driving on said platform need not be supported entirely alone by the hydraulic cylinders 2 1.

It will be appreciated that, although not shown in the drawings, a reinforcing plate 30, together with the related components, is provided on both sides of the lower platform 20.

Claims

1. A device for parking vehicles comprising at 3 GB 2 117 352 A 3 least two platforms arranged one above the other 30 3. A device according to claim 1 or claim 2, in a pit depressed relative to a plane of a common entrance on one side of the pit, each platform being supported tiltably by transverse pins on slides running on vertical rails extending upwardly from the base at an intermediate position with respect to the length of the platforms, said platforms being commonly driven by means of hydraulic cylinders for alternative alignment with sad plane of common entrance, such that the platforms are substantially horizontal in their lower end position while being tilted upwardly at the end adjacent the entrance side in their upper end position, wherein the vertical rails extend to about the height of the plane of common entrance, the slides by which the platforms are in connection with each other at least correspond in length to the length of the vertical rails such that essential lower portions of the slides are still guided at upper portions of said vertical rails when the platforms are in the upper end position, and the hydraulic cylinders on both sides have piston rods the ends of which are connected to the bottom of the pit while the cylinders themselves are laterally connected to the lower platform.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the hydraulic cylinders adjacent the ends of their piston rods are pivotally connected to the side walls of the lower platform.

wherein inwardly projecting stop means are secured to the slides, said stop means being mounted within the pivotal path of the side walls of the lower platform for defining the upper inclined end position and the lower horizontal position, respectively, of the platforms.

4. A device according to claim 3, wherein for improving the rigidity of the vertical rails, struts are provided which extend between the bottom of the pit and the upper end of the respective vertical rail, and with their lower surface being positioned within the pivotal path of an additional stop means secured to the lower platform and serving as additional protection and locking means for the inclined orientation of the lower platform in its upper end position.

5. A device according to claim 4, wherein the stop means projecting from the slides are operable to limit pivotal movements of the platform towards steeper inclination angles than the angle of the inclined position, while the reinforcing struts are positioned in the path of movement of the additional stop means at the sides of the lower platform in order to avoid pivotal movements of the raised lower platform towards steepe inclination angles.

6. A device for parking vehicles substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by the Courier Press, Leamington Spa, 1983. Published by the Patent Office. 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC2A lAY, from which copies may be obtained.