GB2426971A

GB2426971A - Power-assisted parking

Info

Publication number: GB2426971A
Application number: GB0511626A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roy Graham Hughes
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-06-08
Filing date: 2005-06-08
Publication date: 2006-12-13
Also published as: GB0511626D0

Abstract

A power-assisted system for moving an unmanned vehicle into and out of a parking garage has a carriage 3 which engages the front or rear wheels of the vehicle. The carriage has rollers 4 which run on tracks 2. A drive motor 7 is connected to the carriage through a drive mechanism 6, e.g. a continuous chain or lead screw. The system allows a car to be parked where there is insufficient free space for the car doors to open enough to allow easy access to it.

Description

POWER ASSISTED PARKING

This invention addresses the problems of alighting from a vehicle, experienced particularly, but not exclusively, by disabled persons due to limited space within a garage, by providing a power assisted system which will take a motor vehicle into and out of, a garage, without the need for a driver to be present in the vehicle.

A common problem experienced by disabled people is encountered when trying to park a motor vehicle in a domestic garage. Driving or manoeuvring the vehicle has never been a problem, given that most vehicles can be modified to enable persons with most forms of disability to drive them.

Problems arise from the fact that; depending on the degree of disability; disabled persons often require a significant amount of free space alongside the vehicle. This free space is needed to allow the vehicle door to open fully which is particularly important when manoeuvrability is restricted and also it is necessary where a wheelchair may have to be brought alongside the vehicle.

In a typical domestic garage the space is not available and it therefore becomes impossible for many disabled persons to put their vehicles into a garage.

The solution to this problem is to provide a power assisted parking system which is capable of taking a driverless vehicle into and out of a domestic garage.

There are many hundreds of power assisted parking systems described in the art; most however, are confined to addressing the problem of housing a large number of vehicles in a limited space and GB 2 238 305, GB 1 426 081 and GB 1173 494 are typical examples of space saver solutions.

Other solutions have been proposed which add to a vehicles manoeuvrability such as GB 1 096 675 which adds a device to a vehicle to increase it's sideways manoeuvrability.

There are also various solutions of rails, pulleys and rollers such as can be found in GB 1149 304, GB 2 134 458 and GB 1 020 104, all of which are designed to increase the ability of an operator to manoeuvre a driverless vehicle into a confined space.

None of these solutions however are designed to solve the problem of parking a driverless vehicle into a domestic garage and recovering the said vehicle when required for use.

It is an object of the present invention to allow a disabled person to alight from a vehicle on the driveway and then cause the vehicle to be automatically parked in the garage. The present invention is also designed to enable the said disabled person to recover the vehicle from the garage.

According to the invention there is provided a power assisted parking system consisting of a carriage capable of engaging with the front or rear wheels of a motor vehicle, said carriage being equipped with wheels/rollers which engage a horizontal track consisting of two parallel running surfaces mounted upon or into the floor of the garage and running from the front to the rear of the garage. Said carriage to be connected by suitable drive means to a stationery electric motor mounted centrally on the floor at the distal end of the garage.

Or any other form of drive means which may also incorporate a moveable motor. Said motor being connected to a suitable control means which means is capable of integrating the motor control function with inputs from suitable end of track detectors, suitable power supply and a control system with or without remote control.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example with reference to the drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a plan view of a typical domestic garage showing the layout of the invention including the floor mounted guide rails, the roller mechanism at the ends of the carriage, the drive motor unit, the drive mechanism, the idler unit and the control unit at the side.

Figure 2 is an end view of the carriage showing the roller mechanism including the housing and the wheels.

Figure 3 is a cross section of the roller mechanism housing also showing the dual shafts which form the carriage and also the rollers or wheels with their individual supporting shafts.

Referring now to figure 1, this particular example of an embodiment of the invention is shown installed inside a garage structure 1, and comprises two floor mounted rails 2, which run parallel to the walls of the garage. These rails may be any form channel or ridge designed to be compatible with whatever form of roller mechanism is used.

A carriage is formed from two identical shafts 3 which are connected at their ends by a roller mechanism 4, and in their centre by a connector mechanism 5. There may be additional strengtheners and/or additional members added to the carriage and in other embodiments the carriage may be constructed in other ways which do not require the use of two shafts.

The said connector mechanism 5, acts as a stabiliser and spacer for the dual rails and also connects the drive mechanism 6, to the carriage.

The drive mechanism 6, may consist of a continuous chain running between the drive motor 7 and the idler unit 8, or it may comprise a lead screw or threaded rod or any other suitable means of transferring the motive power from the drive motor to the carriage.

The idler unit 8; in the case of a drive mechanism consisting of a continuous chain; will contain an idler sprocket for the chain. However if another form of drive mechanism is used then the idler unit may be a bearing or the like.

Completing the major components of the system is the control unit 9, mounted on the wall of the garage. This control unit will include any logic systems needed for control of the movement of the carriage including inputs from limit switches. It may incorporate manual controls or a remote control interface to allow the use of a hand held remote control. These control systems all use technology which is well known in the art and is therefore not described in detail.

The roller mechanism is shown in figure 2 by way of example only and any wheel/rail/bearing/shaft combination may be used.

A cross section of this particular example is shown in figure 3 whereby two rollers 10 are engaged in rail 2 formed from a U channel section. Other embodiments employ a single rail and mating wheel or wheels and any form of running mechanism is suitable which can provide some guidance to the carriage in order to prevent the carriage travelling in other than a straight line.

In use, a vehicle is driven on to the carriage and this may be directly or by means of a suitable ramp. This may be a fixed ramp on the floor of the garage or a ramp of any design incorporated into the construction of the carriage.

Once the front wheels are on the carriage the driver may exit the vehicle directly on to the driveway very easily because the doors of the vehicle will still be clear of the sides of the garage. This is a benefit particularly but not exclusively to certain disabled people who may need space at the side of the vehicle.

When the vehicle is ready and engaged with the carriage the control may be used to activate the motor 7, which in turn moves the drive mechanism 6, which pulls the carriage and therefore the vehicle into the garage. There may be a position sensor to detect when the vehicle has reached the fully garaged position and switch off the motor automatically.

Other embodiments are available where there is no floor mounted drive means, motor or idler unit and the motor is directly mounted on the carriage.

Said motor may be high or low voltage AC or DC powered.

In addition to those described above, there are many different possible embodiments for this invention and each embodiment disclosed in this specification including the drawings is given by way of example only and may be replaced by alternative embodiments serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise each embodiment disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar embodiments which can incorporate the invention.

Claims

1. A power assisted parking system which has a carriage with means for engaging with the front or rear wheels of a motor vehicle which in use will move the said motor vehicle into and out of a parking garage.

2. A power assisted parking system as claimed in claim I where the said carriage is equipped with wheels or rollers.

3. A power assisted parking system as claimed in claim 3 where the said wheels or rollers engage a horizontal track in the floor of the said parking garage.

4. A power assisted parking system as claimed in claim 3 where the said horizontal track consists of two parallel running surfaces mounted on or formed into the floor of the parking garage.

5. A power assisted parking system as claimed in claim 3 where the two parallel running surfaces are rails mounted on the floor of the parking garage.

6. A power assisted parking system as claimed in any previous claim where the said carriage is connected by suitable drive means to an electric motor.

7. A power assisted parking system as claimed in any previous claim where the said carriage is connected by suitable drive means to a stationary electric motor mounted on the floor of the said parking garage.

8. A control system for a power assisted parking system which receives inputs from limit switches and a remote control which includes a logic system, motor control means and a power supply.