AMERICA OVERCOMES HER CAR-PARKING DIFFICULTIES.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 190, 12 August 1931, Page 8

AMERICA OVERCOMES HER CAR-PARKING DIFFICULTIES.

To-day’s Signed Article

Three Different Methods Used for Vertical Parking Machine ,

By

Charles M. George.

Push a button, turn a key, or deposit a coin when you wish to park and, in less than a minute, a parking place for your car presents itself. Upon your return, your parked car automatically is delivered to you in a few seconds. Such convenient procedure ts now possible, for an automatic parking machine, which enables the parking of twenty-four automobiles on a ground-space little larger than that required by an ordinary double garage, recently has been developed in America.

r yillS MACHINE consists of cradles, one for each car, supported between two endless chains which pass over sprocket wheels at the top and the bottom of travel; the chains are driven by two electric motors and, by means of a push-button control (or its equivalent), any cradle can be brought quickty to the driveway level for receiving or discharging an automobile. Three general methods, all of which use substantially the same control but different master switches, are used for operating the parking machine. First there is the key system, the one best suited for garages where the spaces are rented for a fixed time —cay for a month. Outside the garage is a panel having several numbered locks, one for each parking space, and lock for opening and closing the door. Each tenant is provided with a key which, when inserted in the lock for his particular space, and turned at right angles, despatches that cradle to the driveway, and permits the tenant taking his key from that lock and inserting it in the door lock. Automatic Control. When the key inserted in the door lock is turned ninety degrees, or sideways, it establishes a circuit to automatically open the door as soon as the cage is level with the driveway. While the driver is engaged in driving his car “ on ” or “ off,” the key remains in the door lock, preventing anyone else from operating the machine while the driver is inside the enclosure. When the automobile has been driven “ on ” or “ off ” and the tenant is ready to leave, the key is turned to the vertical position in order to remove it from the lock. This, by establishing another circuit, closes the doors, leaving the machine ready for use by the next tenant. Push Button Control. Another method of operating the parking machine is by push button control—a method especially suitable for use in a public garage, where the push button can be located in the cashier’s office. When a customer wishes to park an automobile, a dispatcher directs him to a vacant place and opens the door to the parking space, or the customer drives close to the opening

of the machine showing “ vacant ” signal, such as a green light, where a light-ray-operated relay or a track switch causes the door to open (the system best suited to the particular installation should be selected); the driver then places the car on the cradle. When the driver has stepped out of the enclosure, he operates a lever to get his check, which is stamped with the location of the car and the time of parking, the lever establishes a circuit for closing the door and sets up a circuit for despatching an empty cage to the driveway level so that the machine is ready to receive the next automobile. The door cannot be closed until the driver operates the lever, a feature preventing the closing of the doors while the driver is inside the enclosure.

When the driver returns for his car, he presents the check to the cashier, who pushes the button corresponding to the check and receives payment for the storage. By the time the driver reaches the machine on which his car is parked, his parking space is at the driveway level and the doors arc open ready for him to drive out. In driving off the cradle, a circuit is established for the closing of the doors. The Coin System.

The third method, the coin system, is the same as the push button system except that a coin machine is used instead of push buttons. The driver deposits a coin which opens the door and provides a space for parking his car. As m the push button method, he takes 2L check, which enables him to call his cage to the driveway level when he wishes for his car. If he overstays his time (should there be a time limit), he automatically is locked out and, to get his car, is required to deposit additional money. The average time for parking a car, or delivering it, is only a minute. The present design of the machine operates at a chain speed of 100 feet per minute, so that the average time for* bringing a cage to the driveway level is thirty seconds; when a cage is called to the driveway level, the machine automatically selects the shortest route. Another thirty seconds is consumed in driving the automobile “on ” or “ off ” and in operating the doors. (Anglo-American N.S.—Copyright.) i ® b si h s a e ii m @ si s ® b ® e si m m s m is