Building with lift system for the parking of motor vehicles

Abstract

 We are dealing here with a building (5) having a lift system (31) for the parking of motor vehicles, whereby the building (5) consists substantially of a plurality of floors, each of which has parking spaces (6-9) for motor vehicles, and of at least one roadway for the delivery of said motor vehicles, and comprises in reciprocal cooperation and coordination:

- at least one plurality of floors extending sideways with a plurality of parking spaces (6-7-8-9),

- at least one lift group (31) able to shift sideways along at least part of said plurality of floors and said plurality of parking spaces (6-7 and 8-9),

- at least one surface (27) for the temporary support of motor vehicles and able to run vertically in respect of said lift group (31),

- at least one group of tracks (24-21) for the running of said lift group (31), the tracks being positioned parallel to the front of said plurality of floors,

- whereby said lift group (31) and said temporary supporting surface (27) can be shifted as desired.

Description

[0001] This invention concerns a building with a lift system for the parking of motor vehicles; to be more exact, the invention refers to a building made of any desired material and equipped with a lift system suitable for enabling motor vehicles to be parked in an order which has been established or can be pre-established. The growing number of motor vehicles -in use brings with it considerable difficulties in parking -said vehicles, especially in town centres.

[0002] As is known, the traditional parking spaces laid out along the roads are no longer enough to hold the ever greater num- .ber of motor vehicles and it is therefore necessary to use - public and private garages. In particular, so as to be able -to accommodate and guard a large number of motor vehicles, .recourse is being made nowadays to the use of appropriate buildings employed for parking purposes; said buildings can--be realized as car parks equally well above or below ground level.

[0003] In either case said buildings are normally multistorey, each floor having considerable areas wherein motor vehicles can be parked side by side and sometimes in more than one row. Some appropriate roadways are arranged to give access to the various floors of such buildings and may accommodate one-way or two-way traffic; said motor vehicles can move along these .roadways so as to enter and/or leave the garages.

[0004] .However, it is often not possible to utilize the space on the various floors in a rational manner inasmuch as the manoeu- .vres for parking the motor vehicles themselves are made very .hard owing to the presence of the other motor vehicles al- .ready parked.

[0005] .Another difficulty lies in the restricted size of the park--ing areas themselves, and this leads to unsatisfactory use of such areas, said use being made even harder by the need to arrange for roadways of a considerable size. Next, in cer--tain cases it is not possible to take away the motor vehicles parked in a given zone of the garage unless the other vehi--cles parked alongside or in front of them and hindering thetr passage have been taken away or shifted beforehand. A system .of garages has also been proposed which is based on a plural- ._ity of cells connected to one or more chains closed ringwise. Said cells are able to hold one or more cars and, when they are full, are shifted by one or more steps according to the programme adopted. But this system too is restricted by the greatest number of cars which said closed chain can hold. The present invention, therefore, proposes as its objective to overcome the foregoing shortcomings and to make available a building suitable for parking purposes, in which all the . existing areas can be used in a rational manner and where the motor vehicles can be parked in any usable space in the parking areas in the building and be taken away at any time . irrespective of whether there are other vehicles parked nearby or not.

[0006] The invention also makes it possible to utilize parking areas which adjoin each other frontally but are each accessible by an independent way. Next, the invention enables one or more delivery zones served by one or more lifts to be visualized. Furthermore the invention can comprise a building rising above ground level or positioned below ground level or placed in any desired position as regards ground level. The invention also permits the delivery zone, for at least one parking series, to be at ground level.

[0007] Moreover, the invention permits the building according to the invention to be an element by itself or else an element which is a part of a building complex stretching in any desired direction.

[0008] A further aspect of this invention is that it permits the delivery system to be automated or be semi-automatic or else .worked by hand or a mixed system.

[0009] According to the invention a building is formed in such a way as to permit the use of one or more lift groups, each of .which can hold at least one motor vehicle. Said lift group - .is suitable for raising (or lowering) said temporary support .of the motor vehicle until it has brought said motor vehicle to the desired floor of the building in the lateral parking. position foreseen.

[0010] According to the invention the building to be used as a garage consists substantially of a plurality of parking floors, each of which comprises a plurality of spaces for the parking .of motor vehicles.

[0011] According to the invention said building is equipped with at Jeast one roadway able to carry said motor vehicles into and out of said building.

[0012] According to the invention the building includes at least one series of floors placed in the desired position as regards ground level and the lift group is able to communicate with at least one of said roadways. At the front of said series of floors the lift group can be shifted about freely. Said lift group consists advantageously of a rigid structure able to hold at least one temporary supporting surface and can be shifted sideways to the plurality of floors, while the temporary supporting surface can be shifted vertically in respect .of said lift group.

[0013] .The lift group will, advantageously but not necessarily, run on tracks positioned in the upper part of the building. Ac- .cording to the invention, however, the lift group could also run on tracks positioned below, or above and below, and/or laterally.

[0014] According to the invention once again, in one and the same .building lift groups can cooperate with tracks positioned above or below, and said lift groups can cooperate with one .or more delivery zones at one or more levels.

[0015] .The invention, therefore, is realized with a building having .a lift system for the parking of motor vehicles, whereby said building consists substantially of a plurality of floors, each of which includes spaces for parking the motor vehicles, and at least one roadway for delivery of said motor vehicles, and is characterized by comprising in reciprocal cooperation and coordination:

- at least one plurality of floors spreading sideways with a plurality of spaces;

- at least one lift group able to move sideways along said plurality of floors and said plurality of spaces;

.- at least one surface to give temporary support for the mot- .or vehicles and able to be shifted vertically in respect of .said lift group;

- at least one group of tracks on which said lift group can run, positioned parallel to the front of said plurality of floors,

- whereby said lift group and said temporary supporting surface can be shifted as desired.

[0016] The characteristics of the invention will become clearer with the following description, which is given as a non-restrictive example and refers to the attached tables, wherein:

Fig.I gives a partially cut-away front view of a building to be used for parking according to the invention;

Fig.2 gives a perspective of an envisaged lift group able to move inside the parking building shown with a thin line;

Figs.3 and 4 show perspectives of two possible different forms for the realization of the parking building.

[0017] With reference to Fig.I, a building 5 is shown having a box- like form, suitable for parking and consisting of a plural-. ity of floors 115

[0018] As can be seen at the lefthand side of Fig. I, wherein a cross .section of the building is shown, each floor in our example. comprises a plurality of rows of spaces 6, 7, 8 & 9 to enable motor vehicles to be parked, facing onto the open space along which the lift group 31 runs.

[0019] The building 5 also comprises one or more open spdces 10 between two neighbouring series of parking spaces (6-7 & 8-9); said open spaces 10 stretch up to the full height of the building and along a length at least the same as that of said parking spaces (6, 7, 8 & 9). The lift group 3I is able to shift within said open spaces 10. In the example shown the open space 10 is positioned between the plurality of parking spaces 6 & 7 and in this instance ends substantially at ground level, whilst at its top it opens freely at the upper part 11 of the building 5.

[0020] The other open space 10 between the plurality of parking spaces 8 and 9 ends substantially below ground level at the level of the basement 12 of the building, whereas at its upper end it too opens freely at the top part 11 of the building .itself.

[0021] The basement 12 is in communication with ground level by means of a connecting ramp 13, which acts as a roadway for . motor vehicles to enter and leave the building.

[0022] Within each of the aforesaid open spaces there runs at least one lift group 3I consisting of a rigid structure 14 (see Fig.2) and of a temporary supporting surface 27. The rigid structure consists substantially of a plurality of vertical uprights 15, 16, 17 & 18, the length of which is in relation to the height of the open space 10. These uprights are connected together at their lower ends by a structure 19, which is equipped with wheels 20 able to run on rails 2I lying below it, said rails being anchored in the lower part of the open space 10. However, said rails could lie also,or only, along the vertical walls of the open space 10.

[0023] In correspondence with the upper part II of the building 5 said uprights 15, 16, 17 & 18 are connected together and to a platform 22, which also acts in our example as a support for the whole rigid structure I4.

[0024] In our example the platform 22 is wider than said open space I0 and is equipped with wheels 23 that can be activated in any desired manner and can run on rails 24 anchored in the upper part II of the building 5. The wheels 23 and wheels'20 can be activated as wished, or else the first named thereof or the second can be activated.

[0025] .The rigid structure I4 is realized in such a way as to com-. prise guide rails 25 and 26 that enable a temporary supporting surface 27, which in this instance is fitted inside the rigid structure I4, to run in a vertical direction. The rigid structure I4 can be strengthened and stiffened with braces 28 or with other means.

[0026] .The guides for the temporary supporting surface 27 in the rigid structure I4 can be set up with any desired lay-out. In the example shown the temporary supporting surface 27 is- raised and lowered within the rigid structure I4 by means of cables or chains 29, which are activated by electrical and mechanical drive means of known types (electric motors, winches, various gear wheels, etc.) arranged inside the platform 22.

[0027] The rigid structure I4 can shift with a horizontal travers-. ing movement inside the open space I0 and along the whole length thereof.

[0028] The sideways movement of the rigid structure I4 and the movement of the temporary supporting surface 27 in cooperation - with the rigid structure I4 are controlled to suit the parking space or lot in which a motor vehicle is parked on has to be parked. With reference to Fig.I, if it is wished to .park the motor vehicle 30, for instance, in the series of parking spaces 9, said motor vehicle will.: have to be brought beforehand near to the loading and unloading position of the lift group 31 (by coming down into the basement I2 on the -ramp I3); the lift group 3I will have to be brought into cor- .respondence with the loading and unloading position and the. motor vehicle 30 will then be loaded onto the temporary supporting surface 27, which is raised thereafter to the desired floor.

[0029] If the parking space envisaged is already full, the lift -group 3I is shifted horizontally until an empty parking space is found, into which the motor vehicle 30 is then placed. If all the garages on this floor should happen to be full, it - will be necessary for the supporting surface 27 to go up or down until an empty parape is found in the way described above. .Thus, since the lift group 3I can hold one or more vehicles at a time, every motor vehicle can be parked in the desired position quickly and easily.

[0030] Such a lift group can also reach all the possible parking positions, and the precious space made available in the garages on each floor of said building can therefore be employed in a rational manner. Moreover, each motor vehicle can be put into and/or taken out of the relative parages at any time without any need for the neighbouring vehicles to be shifted or for complicated manoeuvres to park said motor vehicle. Furthermore, each parking space is free and protected as it. is accessible only to those employed for the purpose of work. Fig.3 shows a possible way of realizing the building to be used for parking. In fact, in this case the building is shaped like a parallelepiped, and the aforesaid open spaces I0 stretch in a straight line within the building and perhaps also in front of it.

[0031] Thus, to be able to reach the various garage spaces in the building 5, it is necessary to realize a series of vertical. open spaces I0 which are parallel to each other and to the - extent of the building. In this case the lift groups running within the inner open spaces I0 cooperate advantageously with two series of parking garages facing each other and separated by .the open space I0. Between the parking garages and .the temporary supporting surface 27 an overturning flap can. be visualized which, for example, could be placed on the temporary supporting surface 27 and could serve to connect said temporary supporting surface 27 to said parking garage, thereby preventing any jolting on the tract between them. Fig.4 shows another possible lay-out for the building to be used as a park. Here the building has a cylindrical shape and the series of parkinp parages stretch out with a toroid- .al shape, holding between themselves some open s_Daces I0 .which also extend with a toroidal shape. Here too one or more lift groups 3I are envisaged as running within said open spa--ces I0.

[0032] These two lay-outs of the building (Figs.3 and 4) only show the plurality of lay-outs which could be obtained by adapt-' ing the basic idea of the solution. The building can also extend above the road level or wholly or partly below the same. We have described here some preferential solutions, but variants can be made. Thus the proportions and sizes can be varied and it is possible to add, integrate or take away parts, etc. These and other variants are all possible for a technician in this field.

Claims

.1. Building with lift system for the parking of motor vehi-. cles, consisting substantially of a plurality of floors each .of which comprises parking spaces for motor vehicles, and of at least one roadway for the delivery of said motor vehicles, being characterized by comprising in reciprocal cooperation and coordination:

- at least one plurality of floors (II5) extending sideways .with a plurality of parking spaces (6-7-8-9),

- at least one lift group (3I) able to shift sideways along at least part of said plurality of floors (II5) and of said. plurality of parking spaces (6-7 and 8-9),

- at least one group of tracks (24-2I) for the movement of said lift group (3I), said tracks running parallel to the front of said plurality of floors (II5),

- whereby said lift group (3I) and said temporary supporting surface (27) can be shifted as wished.

2. Building with lift system, as in Claim I, characterized by the fact that the lift group (3I) can shift sideways and .comprises a rigid structure (I4) with which the temporary supporting surface (27) cooperates, which latter can bear at least one motor vehicle at a time and is able to shift as wished along said rigid structure (I4).

3. Building with lift system, as in Claims I and 2, charact-- eriaed by the fact that the lift group (3I) cooperates with at least the upper running tracks (29).

-4. Building with lift system, as in Claim I and in one or -the other of the Claims thereafter, characterized by the fact that it comprises at least two pluralities of floors (II5) and that said pluralities of floors (II5) face each other.

5. Building with lift system, as in Claim I and in one or another of the Claims thereafter, characterized by the fact. .that the lift group (3I) cooperates with at least part of the plurality of parking spaces (6-7-8-9) of one plurality of floors (II5) and advantageously with at least part of two pluralities of parking spaces (6-7-8-9) which face each other.

6. Building with lift system, as in Claim I and in one or another of the Claims thereafter, characterized by having a linear form.

7. Building with lift system, as in Claim I and in one or another of the Claims thereafter up to and including Claim 5, characterized by having a form which is at least partly cur- .ved.

-8. Building with lift system, as in Claim I and in one or .another of the Claims thereafter, characterized by the fact. that the lift group (3I) and the temporary supporting sur- . face (27) can shift freely to reach any parking space posit- .ioned within their working area.

Drawing