US2945604A - Transferring apparatus - Google Patents

Description

July 19, 1960 R 1 ETAL' TRANSFERRING APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 10. 1958 FIG. 4

July 19, 1960 c. KROLL ETAL 2,945,604

' TRANSFERRING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 10, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS COI/VEZ/US AQOAA 021M 01.1001

' ATTORNEVS TRANSFERRING APPARATUS Cornelius Kroll, Houston, Tex., and Norman M. Kroll,

New York, N.Y., assignors to Speed Park, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 714,243

Claims. (Cl. 214-161) This invention relates to the art of transferring apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for parking automobiles.

As conducive to an understanding of the invention, it is noted that where in conventional multi-story garages, ramps are required to move the automobiles from floor to hour for the parking operation, the number of floors is limited due to the time involved for an attendant to drive the automobile up and down the ramps from floor to floor. Furthermore, the ramps require heavy supporting structure which adds to the cost of the garage.

Where a large number of attendants is required in a busy garage to park the automobiles left by customers and to secure the automobiles for the customers, the cost of operation of the garage is relatively high and such cost is enhanced when the attendants must maneuver the automobiles on the floors of the garage in order to park and remove the same, due to the time required for this operation.

In addition to the foregoing, in a busy garage, as the number of personnel for practical purposes, may not be sufiicient to handle peak period loads and also due to the limitations in the number of automobiles that can be accommodated by conventional elevators or ramps in a given period, pile up may occur of waiting automobiles to be parked and of customers waiting for their parked cars.

Such pile up may cause interference with trafiic in the adjacent street and annoyance to the customers.

Where automobiles are parked in vertically aligned stalls or on platforms by means of an elevator having a conveyor on which the vehicle is initially positioned and which elevator is moved vertically into substantial alignment with such stalls so that the conveyor may thereon be moved transversely into the stall to deposit the automobile therein and where the supporting structure for the stall necessitates heavy beams that require bulky supports that occupy considerable vertical space, the overall height of the installation will be increased with resultant increase in cost thereof.

Where the conveyor must be moved transversely a considerable distance in order that the automobile be properly positioned in the stall and the drive means to accomplish such movement is movable a relatively great distance to accomplish such movement of the conveyor, the overall system will require considerable space with added cost.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide an installation of the above type, having a plurality of vertically aligned stalls into which vehicles may respectively be positioned and removed, that is relatively simple in construction and dependable in operation, which by a relatively simple and compact drive means will pro: vide substantial transverse movement of an automobile parked on a conveyor into any of the stalls positioned transversely of the original position of the conveyor so that a relatively large number of vehicles may be accommodated in a minimum of space and will, with the use of a relatively simple control system, provide automatic and rapid parking of automobiles without need foran attendant in the vehicle or the need for manual choking of the vehicle or locking of its brakes and without the need for jacks or the like to raise the weight of the automobile off its Wheels or the need for ramps and heavy floors, ceilings and walls found in conventional garage structures and which will also provide automatic and rapid return of parked automobiles to the customers.

Another object is to provide an installation of the above type which permits vehicles to be parked into and removed from stalls on either side of a central position.

According. to one aspect of the invention, a plurality of vertically aligned stalls are provided in a building structure, each having a plurality of parallel troughs and crests which may be formed by spaced parallel beams extending inwardly from the supporting wall of the building and desirably supported at their inner ends by across beam which in turn may be supported by the structural vertical columns or beams of the frame of the building in -,which the stalls are installed. Associated with the stalls is a shaft in which a vertically movable elevator is positioned, the elevator mounting a conveyor movable toward and away from the stalls. The conveyor may comprise a plurality of spaced parallel elongated members, each having a primary member, all of which are joined together and movable in unison toward and away from the stalls and a secondary member, each having an associated drive means. The drive means are connected sothat upon movement of the primary members in unison, the secondary members will be individually and simultaneously moved outwardly therefrom and respectively positioned in the troughs between the beams of the stalls, the secondary members entering the troughs above the cross beam connected to the beams of the stall.

This application is a continuation-in-part of co pend- 7application Serial No. 636,995, filed January 29,

In the accompanying drawings, in which are shown one or more of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

'Fig. 1 is a plan view of the installation with parts broken away, 7 V

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2, V

4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 5 is a view with parts broken away taken along l1ne 5-5 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 6 is a detail view on a larger scale similar to Fig. 5 showing the drive leverand associated structure,

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of a portion of the drive mechanism,

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 7,

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 taken along line 9-9 of Fig. 7, 1

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the locking ring mem- -ber,

Fig. '11 is a perspective view of the worm gear,

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary perspective view of the crank bar of Fig. 7 in another position,

Fig. l3 is a transverse sectional view of the conveyor beam,

Fig. 14 is an end view of the elevator with parts broken away according to another embodiment of the invention, and

Fig. is a fragmentary transverse sectional view of the bottom-most stall of the embodiment of Fig. 14.

Referring now to the drawings, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the parking installation comprises a building structure having opposed vertical side walls 11 and supporting columns 12 located inwardly of said side walls and spaced by a distance slightly greater than the length of a conventional automobile 13, the space between each pair of columns 12 defining a stall. Extending laterally inward from each of the side walls 11 are vertically spaced horizontal shelves 14 transversely aligned as shown, with the inner end of each of said shelves 14 having a horizontal structural beam 15 supported by the columns 12.

Positioned on each of the shelves 13 and extending at right angles to the side walls 11 are a plurality of beams 16, each illustratively L-shaped in cross section as shown in Fig. 3, having the lower edge of its vertical leg 17 affixed to the shelf 14, the horizontal legs 18 of the beams 16 being spaced from each other as shown in Fig. 1.

The beams 16 which extend the width of the shelves define troughs and crests and each of the shelves is of suflicient width to support the wheels of the automobile 13 to be positioned thereon in the manner hereinafter to be described.

The vertical space 19 between the aligned columns of shelves 14 defines an elevator shaft which may have a plurality of pairs of transversely aligned vertical guide rails 22 as shown in Fig. 2, each pair to guide an elevator 23 for vertical movement.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the elevator 23 comprises a base structure 24 which may include two parallel spaced beams 25 joined at their respective ends by cross beams 26 to form a rigid rectangular unit. Secured to each of the cross beams 26 at the ends thereof is the base of an A frame 27, the top of which is guided by the vertical rails 22 which also guide the base structure 24, the guiding means being suitable rollers (not shown) connected to the upper ends 28 of the A frame and the cross beams 26 of the base member, which rollers ride along the vertical rails 22. Through suitable cables (not shown) connected to the upper end of the A frame, the elevator may beraised and lowered as desired.

Secured to each of the beams 25 inwardly of each of the ends thereof and rising therefrom is a supporting member 31 (Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5), and a U-shaped channel beam 32 which extends substantially the width of the elevator shaft 19 is secured to each pair of transversely aligned members 31 as by bolts 33.

Mounted on the upper end 34 of each of the beams 32 is a plurality of supports 35, illustratively three in number, in the embodiment shown, one of said supports being located in the center of each of the beams 32, and the other two of said supports being at the respective ends of each of said beams. Extending transversely through each of the supports is a stud shaft 36 to the inner end of which is secured a flanged roller 37 as is clearly shown in Fig. 4.

Mounted on the rollers 37 is a conveyor 38 which is movable at right angles to the beams 25. As shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 13, the conveyor 38 comprises a beam 39 that is U-shaped in cross section having a top wall 41 and parallel side walls 42, said top wall 41 having a plurality of spaced parallel slots 46 (Fig. 4) therethrough transversely of the length thereof.

Secured to each of the ends 47 of beam 39 as by welding, is a plate 48 that extends slightly above the top surface of the beam 39. Secured as by welding, as at 49 to the upper portion of each of the end plates 48 is the side Wall 51 of a U-shaped channel beam 52, the top and bottom walls 53, 54 of said beam 52 straddling the rollers 37 with the top wall 53 riding on said rollers 37 as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

Mounted on the beam 39 and extending at right angles thereto is a plurality of parallel spaced telescoping or elon- 3 gating units 57 which form part of the conveyor and which support the wheels of the automobile 13.

Each of the units 57 comprises a primary member 58 (Fig. 4), illustratively a U-shaped beam of length substantially equal to the length of the beam 52, and of width less than the space between adjacent legs 18 of beams 16 of the stalls so that the members 58 may fit therebetween in the manner hereinafter described. To mount the primary members 58, each of the slots 46 has extending therethrough a pair of spaced parallel web plates 1 which are secured as by welding as at 62 to the top surface 41 of beam 39 and extends above the latter as at 63. Each pair of web plates 61 straddles an associated primary member 58 which is secured at its midpoint to the protruding portions 63 of each pair of web plates as by welding at 64, the cross piece 65 at the lower end of each of the primary members extending below the top surface 41 of the beam 39 as is shown in Fig. 4.

Extending laterally inward from the side wall 66 of each of the primary members 58 is a plurality of stud shafts 67, illustratively three in number, one of said st-ud shafts being positioned at the midpoint of the primary member and the other two of said stud shafts being positioned adjacent each of the ends of the primary member. Mounted on each of the stud shafts is a roller 68 which supports a secondary member 71, illustratively a channel beam of length substantially equal to that of the primary member 58.

As shown in Fig. 4, the secondary member 71 in cross section has a vertical side wall 72 and opposed parallel top and bottom walls 73 and 74. The top wall 73 is of width substantially equal to the Width of the primary member 58 and is slightly spaced therefrom as at 75, said top and bottom walls having flanges 76 which, together with the side wall 72 define a track for the rollers 68.

The top Walls '73 of the secondary members 72 at each end of the conveyor are inclined upwardly as shown in Fig. 4 to prevent the automobile from rolling ofi the conveyor even if its brakes are not locked, and the top walls of the intervening secondary members are in a horizontal plane.

Means are provided to effect movement of the secondary members 71 with respect to the primary members 58 upon movement of the beam 39 on the rollers 37. To this end, as shown in Fig. 4, a rack 81 is secured to the bottom wall 74 of each of the secondary members 71, each of said racks being engaged by a gear 82 which extends through an associated slot 83 in the cross piece 65 of each of the primary members 58.

The gears 82 are secured to a shaft 84 that extends the length of the beam 39 through openings 85 in each of the pairs of web plates 61 as is shown in Figs. 4 and 13, each of said gears 82 being positioned between an associated pair of web plates and secured to the shaft as by set screw 86.

The ends of the shaft 84 extend through bearings 87 secured to the web plates 61 adjacent each of the ends 47 of the beam 39 and each of the shaft ends has secured thereto a gear 88 that meshes with an associated rack 89 mounted on the inwardly extending horizontal leg 91 of an angle beam 92 that is secured to the beam 32 and extends the length thereof.

Means are provided to effect movement of the conveyor 38 from the central position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 toward and away from the shelves 14.

To this end, each of the beams 25 inwardly of the supports 31 mounts a pair of supports 94 (Figs. 5 and 6) and a rail 95 (Fig. l) which is of length substantially the same as that of beam 32. is secured to each pair of transversely aligned supports 94, said rails being located beneath the beam 39 as is clearly shown in Fig. 6.

Each of the rails 95 has an inwardly extending flange 96 which mount a movable frame 97. As shown in Figs. 1 and 7, the frame 97 comprises a pair of spaced parallel cross beams 98, 99 formed from inverted U-shaped members and extending at right angles to the elongating units 57. The ends of the cross beams which are closed, are joined by parallel beams 100, 101 so that the frame will form an integral rectangular unit.

Extending from each end of the beams 98, 99 is a pair of spaced horizontal brackets 102 between each of which is rotatably mounted on a vertical axis a roller 103 which has flanges that straddle the flanges 96 on the rails 95. Thus, the frame 97 is supported beneath the beam 39 in manner such that it may freely move along the rails 95.

Afiixed as by welding, as shown in Fig. 8, to the cross beams 98, 99 respectively, are cross heads 105, 106, illustratively inverted U-shaped members. The members 105, 106 extend from the left member 100, terminating short of the right member 101 as is clearly shown in Fig. 9. The opposed inner walls 107 of members 105 and 106 taper inwardly as at 108 and each has an opening 109 therethrough, clearly shown in Fig. 9, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described.

Positioned between and secured to the beams 25 and centrally located therealong is a housing 111 which has a vertical shaft 112 rising therefrom as is clearly shown in Fig. 8. Aflixed to shaft 112 as by keying at 113 is a worm gear 114 engaged by a worm 115 driven by a motor M also mounted between beams 25. The housing 111 desirably has sleeves 116 and 117 rigid therewith through which the shaft 112 extends, suitable bearings 118 being positioned in said sleeves rotatably to mount the shaft 112. Idly mounted on the shaft 112 between the sleeves 116 and 117 is a stop ring member V119 which has an arcuate notch 121 in its periphery, illustratively occupying 100 degrees of arc. The worm gear 114 has on its upper surface a dog 122 which may be formed integral therewith and which illustratively occupies 30 degrees of arc. The dog 122 is positioned in the arcuate notch 121 in the stop ring 119 as is clearly shown in Fig. 7. ,Affixed to the upper end of shaft 112 extending beyond the upper bearing 118 in sleeve 117 is a crank bar 123, the latter illustratively having a central opening 124 therein through which the shaft 112 extends, said crank bar 123 being secured to the shaft 112 as by keying. The crank bar 123 is'so positioned on the shaft 112 that it will extend at right angles to the center line of the dog 122 rigid with the worm gear 114 as is clearly shown in Fig. 7. With the crank bar 123 so positioned, it will also extend at right angles to a dog 125 aflixed as by welding to the sleeve 117 and diametrically opposed to the dog 122 on the gear 114. The dog 125 on the sleeve 117 also occupies 30 degrees of are as does a dog 126 aflixed to the ring member 119 midway between the ends of arcuate notch 121.

Each of the ends 128 and 129 of the crank bar 123 has an opening in which is affixed an upstanding pin 131, the upper end of which illustratively mounts a roller 132 which is positioned between the inner and outer walls 107, 133 of each of the cross heads 105, 106 as is clearly shown in Fig. 8.

Means are provided operatively to connect the frame 97 to the beam 39. To this end, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6 a cross bar 135 extends transversely across the beams 98, '99 midway between the ends thereof and is secured thereto, said cross bar having an upstanding pin 136 at the center thereof. Pivotally mounted on pin 136 is a lever 137, the length of the lever on one side of the pin illustratively being twice that on the other side thereof.

As shown in Fig. 6, the end 138 of the longer portion of the lever has a depending stud shaft 139 on which a roller 141 is mounted, said roller riding in a track defined by upstanding legs of a U-shaped channel section 142 centrally located on bars 143 extending transversely across beams '25 and secured thereto.

The end 144 of the shorter portion of lever 137 has as upstanding stud shaft 145 on which a roller 146 is the rollers 68. v With the gears 82 and 88 having the same diameter,

mounted, said roller riding in a track defined by the depending legs of a U-shaped channel section 147 secured to the beam 39 as shown in Figs. 6 and 13.

In the operation of the equipment with the elevator say at the ground floor level, represented, for example, by the lowermost shelves 14, as shown in Fig. 2, an automobile is driven at right angles to the beams 16 so that its front and rear wheels will rest on such beams. Thereupon, with the elevator positioned sothat the top surfaces of secondary members 71 are slightly below the level of the horizontal legs 18 of beams 16, the worm is driven by the associated drive motor M to rotate worm gear 114 in say a counterclockwise direction from the,position shown in Fig. 7. This will cause rotation of the shaft 112 and thecrank bar 123 thereon in a similar direction. As the shaft 112 isgrotated in a counterclockwise direction, the roller 132 on pin 131 at the end 128 of crank bar 123 will react against the side wall 107 of cross head 105 tending to move the frame 97 in a downward direction from the position shown in Fig. 7, or to the left refer-ring to Fig. 2, the rollers 103 riding along flanges 96 (Fig. 5). As the frame 97 so moves, inasmuch as theend 129 of the crank bar 123 will also move in a counterclockwise direction, the roller 132 on pin 131 carried thereby will be moved through opening 109 in wall 107 so that such pin is clear of said cross head, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 7, the curved portion 108 of the side wall 107 of cross head 106 providing clearance forthe roller for unobstructed movement thereof.

With continued rotation of the crank bar 123, the rate of travel of the frame 97 will increase rapidly and correspondingly decrease when the crank bar has made 180 degree rotation to effectively provide a sinusoidal rate of travel. Thus, there will be little movement imparted to the frame at the beginning and end of such 180 degree travel. As the crank bar 123 moves through an 180 degree arc, by reason of the downward movement of the frame 97 from the position shown in Fig. 7, the roller 132 on pin 131 at the end 129 of the crank bar 123 will pass through the space 150 defined between the end of the cross head105 and the right member 101 so that it is completely clear of the cross head 105.

As the end 138 of lever 137, which is guided by trac section 142, is restrained from transverse movement with respect to beams 25 and can only move in direction parallel thereto, due to the movement of frame 97, above described, the lever 137 which is pivoted on pin 136 will rotate in a counterclockwise direction from the neutral position shown in Fig. 1. As a result, the end 144 of lever 137 which is guided by track section 147 mounted on beam 39 will react against said track section.

This force will cause the beam 39, which through beams 52 rides on rollers 37 supported by the base structure 24, to move laterally from the neutral position shown or downward, referring to Fig. l, the rollers 141, 146 at the ends of the lever 137 riding along the associated track sections 142, 147 during such movement.

Due to the arrangement of the lever 137 on the frame 97, with the pin 136 illustratively located sothat the distance of the pin 136 from roller 146 is one-third the length of lever 137, the lateral movement'of beam 39 is one and one-half times the stroke of the frame 97 due to the rotation of crank 123.

As the beam 39 and associated beams 52 are moved on rollers 37, the gears 88 will ride along fixed rack 89 thereby causing rotation of said gears and the shaft 84 to which they are aflixed. Rotation of shaft 84 will in turn cause rotation of the gears 82 afiixed thereto, to drive the racks 81 which they engage to effect outward movement of the secondary members 71 which ride on it is apparent that the secondary members will-move twice as fast as the primary members carried by beam 39.

The frame 97 and the lever 137 are designed to move the beam 39 outwardly an amount such that the beams 52 are supported by the roller 37 at one end of beam 32 as well as the central roller 37, and the secondary members are supported by the rollers 68 at one end of the primary member as well as by the central roller 68. Thus, the weight of the automobile 13 will be supported by the rollers which are spaced sufiiciently to greatly reduce the cantilever load.

When the secondary members 71 are fully extended, which will occur when the crank bar 123 is rotated 180 degrees in a counterclockwise direction from. the full line position shown in Fig. 7, a limit switch may be provided to de-energize the motor M driving shaft 112. As the rate of movement of the frame 97 at such time is extremely slight, there would be little chance for the crank bar 123 to move further than 180 degrees and even if there was any slight additional travel of the crank bar 123 this would have no harmful effect as it only tends to retract the conveyor slightly from its fully extended position.

In the remote contingency that the limit switch (not shown) should cut off erroneously when the pin 131 at the end 128 of crank bar 123 was aligned with opening 109 in cross head 105, which would be in a position several degrees further in a counterclockwise direction from that illustratively shown in Fig. 12, due to the inertia tending to move the frame 97 upwardly at such time due to such over-travel, the frame 97 may move past the pin 131 so that both of the pins 131 would be clear of the associated cross heads, rather than the single pin 131 associated with cross head 106 which is required. In such a contingency the equipment would have to be manually reset. To prevent this over-travel, which is unlikely, the dogs 122, 125 and 126 and the stop ring member 119 are provided.

Thus, referring to Fig. 7, when the crank bar 123 initially starts its movement, the dog 122 carried by worm gear 114 will abut against the end 171 of the arcuate notch 121 thereupon causing the ring member 119 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 7.

As the dog 125 mounted on the bushing 117 affixed to the housing is initially diametrically opposed to the dog 122 carried by the worm gear 114, as previously described, and as both of such dogs occupy 30 degrees of arc. it is apparent that the leading edge 172 of dog 122 which engages the end 171 of the arcuate notch 121, which occupies 100 degrees of arc, will become aligned with the edge 173 of the dog 125 afiixed to the bushing when the Worm gear 114 has rotated 150 degrees. Inasmuch as the arcuate notch 121 occupies 100 degrees of arc and the dog 12%? carried by the ring member 119 occupies 30 degrees of arc, the edge 171 of the notch 121 is spaced from the edge 174 of dog 126 by an angle of 35 degrees. Consequently, the worm gear 114 will be able to rotate 35 degrees further before the dog 126 abuts against the fixed dog 125 to restrain further rotation of the worm gear 114.

This restraint of movement after 185 degrees rotation of the crank bar 123 will prevent movement of the pin 131 carried by end 1.28 thereof to a position in which it is in alignment with the opening 109 in cross head 105. Hence, there is no likelihood of sufiicient overtravel of the frame 97 as previously described to cause the pin 131 carried by end 128 of crank bar 123 to be moved out of the cross head 105 which would interfere with subsequent operation of the equipment and require manual resetting thereon.

At this time, through appropriate controls, the elevator may he raised slightly to cause the outstanding secondary members 71 to rise vertically to lift the automobile from the beams 16.

Thereupon, the motor driving shaft 112 is energized in reverse direction so that the shaft 112 will rotate in a clockwise direction as will the crank bar 123. As the result of such movement, inasmuch as the pin 131 carried by the end 128 of the crank bar 123 is still between the walls 107 and 133 of the cross head 105, it will react against the wall 133 tending to move the frame in an upward direction from the position shown in Fig. 12. This movement of the frame is also sinusoidal in effect being relatively slow at the beginning and end of the 180 degree rotation of the crank bar 123. As the frame 97 moves upwardly, the pin 131 carried by the end 129 of the crank bar 123 will move through the opening 150 between the end of the cross head and the right cross member 101 and through opening 109 in wall 107 of cross head 106 to again be positioned between the side walls 107 and 133 of cross head 106 as shown in Fig. 7.

As the result of the movement of frame 97 back to the neutral position shown in Fig. 1, through the action of lever 137, the conveyor 38 will also be retracted.

The automobile having thus been positioned on the conveyor 38 mounted on the elevator 23 can be raised to a desired floor and deposited into a stall on either side of the elevator shaft 19.

To illustrate the complete operation of the equipment, it will be assumed that the automobile is to be deposited into a stall on the right side of the shaft 19. To this end, with the frame 97 in the neutral position, shown in Fig. 7, and with the elevator at a level such that the tops of secondary members 71 are slightly above the top level of the beams 16 of the right stall, the motor M is energized to drive the shaft 112 in a clockwise direction. Consequently, the roller 132 on pin 131 at the end 129 of crank bar 123 will react against the side wall 107 of cross head 106 to move the frame 97 up wardly from the position shown in Figs. 1 and 7 or to the right, referring to Fig. 2.

As a result, through the drive imparted to beam 39 by lever 137, the beam 37 will move to the right and the secondary members 71 carrying the automobile 13 will be extended between and above the beams 16 of the stall.

The elevator is then lowered slightly to cause the members 71 also to be lowered and thus deposit the automobile on beams 16. The operation of the conveyor moving in this direction and back to neutral position corresponds to the operation previously described and hence will not be repeated.

When the worm gear 114 moves in a clockwise direction, it will also move 150 degrees before the edge 172' of dog 122 thereon is aligned with the edge 173' of dog 125 affixed to the sleeve 117. Thereupon, the ring member 119 will move 35 degrees additionally before the dog 126 thereon abuts against dog 125 to restrain further movement of the Worm gear 114 to prevent the pin 131 at end 129 of crank bar 123 moving clear of cross head 106 as previously described with respect to cross head 105.

In the embodiment previously described, the maximum lateral movement of the conveyor 38 is limited in that the beams 52 must be supported by at least two of the rollers 37; i.e., the central roller 37 and the roller 37 at an end of beam 32. In addition, the secondary members 71 must also be supported by at least two of the rollers 68.

In order to provide for further extension of the conveyor 38, say in order to provide additional space at the drive-in level to provide a wider walk for the passenger or attendant driving the car into the bottom-most stall at the drive in level for subsequent removal to a higher stall, the embodiment shown in Figs. 14 and 15 is provided.

This embodiment is substantially identical to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 13 and corresponding elements have the same reference numerals primed.

Referring to Fig. 15, the stalls are identical to those shown in Fig. 2 except that the bottom-most stall at the drive-in level has a walk 170 inwardly thereof which is of height such that the beam 39' may move thereover.

The beam 39 (Fig. 14) is of greater Width than the beam 39 and carries two shafts 84 each having a gear 82 which meshes with rack 81, said shafts 84 each having a gear 88, 88" secured thereto, which ride on rack 89' and engage idler gear 171 which is spaced from said rack. The primary member 58 rotatably mounts four rollers 68', one at each end of the primary member and two spaced respectively on each side of the center of said prim-ary member 58.

In addition, the beam 32 also mounts four rollers 37 aligned respectively with the rollers 68.

To provide for additional lateral movement of the conveyor 38, in the embodiment of Figs. 14 and 15, the

beams 98, 99 of the frame 37 may be spaced wider apart than as shown in Fig. l with a longer crank bar 123, or the lever 137 may be of greater length. In addition, lateral movement of the conveyor 38 can be greater in one direction than the other by changing the position along its length at which the crank bar 123 is connected to shaft 112.

Due to the greater stroke imparted .to the beam 39 it will move over the walk 170 shown in Fig. 15. As a result the gear 81" will move past the end of rack 89'. However, as gear 81' is still engaging the rack 89, drive will still be imparted thereby to the secondary members through idler gear .171 for complete extension thereof.

Although one of the pair of central rollers 37, 68' will move past the end of beam 52' and primary member 58' respectively, the beams 52' and the primary member 58' will still be supported by the other of the pair of central rollers 37, 68' as well as the rollers 37 and 68 at the end of beam 52' and the primary member 58.

By reason of the bi-sinusoidal movement imparted to the frame 97 by the drive mechanism above described, the drive mechanism may be relatively compact, thereby cutting down the size of the installation and in addition, as the conveyor, when retracted onto the elevator, will have very little speed, it is not likely to overshoot and extend sufficiently beyond the edge of the elevator so as to interfere with vertical movement thereof. Any slight overshoot is adequately taken care of by the clearance provided between the inner ends of the stalls and the adjacent edges of the elevator. If desired, a relatively simple brake mechanism could be used to immediately restrain rotation of the shaft 112 upon de-energization of the motor M, for since the rate of movement of the frame is relatively slow at such time, little braking effect is required. The bi-sinusoidal arrangement inherently provides both a braking action and a static brake.

It is also to be noted that as the rate of movement of the secondary members 71 with respect to the primary members 58 may be varied depending upon the relative diameters of the gears 82 and 88, the secondary member 71 may be fully extended between the beams 16 of the stall while the beams 58 have only partially extended therebetween. As a result, less heavy structure may extend outwardly from the elevator so that the size and weight of the beams 58 may be held to a minimum.

As the secondary members 71 are individually extended and retracted, they require no connection therebetween and hence the shelves forming the floors of the stalls may be connected at their inner ends in the manner described, eliminating the need for heavy supporting structure which would be required if the extending members of the conveyor were joined, as such connection between the members 71 would require the shelves to be formed only of spaced beams without transverse support at their inner ends for movement of the conveyor bers 71 therebetween.

Although the equipment has been illustratively shown and described with respect to its application in parking of automobiles, it is of course to be understood that it could be used to transfer crates, boxes, merchandise and the like and the use of the equipment for this purpose is within the scope of the invention.

It is further to be understood that althougha plurality of vertically aligned stalls are shown, the equipment could be used on a single level installation. In such case the elevator could be mounted as to move at right angles to the stalls into transverse alignment therewith.

In addition, an elevator capable of movement at right angles to the stalls could also be used in conjunction with a plurality of vertically aligned stalls so that a single elevator would be sufiicient.

As the control mechanism for automatically operating the equipment in timed sequence forms no part of this invention and would be obvious to one skilled in the art, it has not been described.

As many changes could be made in the above equipment, and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as, new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. 'An installation for transferring automobiles, comprising a vertical supporting structure, a horizontal platform comprising a plurality of parallel alternating troughs and crests extending outwardly from said support, means extending transversely across said platformsupporting the latter near its outer end, a second horizontal platform, means to effect vertical movement of said second platform with respect to said first platform, a conveyor mounted on said second platform, said conveyor com prising a plurality of spaced parallel horizontal members, each of said members including an elongated primary member and an elongated secondary member, both adapted to be longitudinally aligned with one of said troughs, the outer ends of said horizontal members being in juxtaposition with the outer end of an associated trough when longitudinally aligned therewith, means interconnecting said primary members adjacent their central portion to form a rigid assembly, means slidably mounting said assembly on said second platform, means slidably mounting said secondary members on the associated primary member for movement longitudinally with respect thereto to extend outward thereof, means to retain the inns? end of each of said secondary members in engagement with the end of the associated primary member when said secondary member has been extended, means to effect movement of said rigid assembly and drive means associated with each of said secondary. members and controlled by the movement of said assembly to effect simultaneous individual horizontal movement thereof when said rigid assembly is moved, whereby each of the secondary members and a portion of the associated primary member will be moved 'into an associated trough.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, in which said first platform comprises a plurality of spaced parallel beams that define said troughs and crests, and a transverse member is secured to the undersurface of said beams near their outer ends.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1, in which the means interconnecting said primary members comprises a beam, drive means are provided controlled by the movement of said beam to actuate the plurality of drive means associated respectively with said secondary members, said drive means comprising a drive shaft extending transversely with respect to said horizontal members, means to rotate said drive shaft upon movement of said connected horizontal members, a plurality of gears mounted on said shaft and associated respectively with said secondary members, a rack secured to each of said secondary members and engaged by the associated gear, whereby upon movement of said beam and rotation of said drive shaft, the gears thereon will rotate to drive the associated secondary member.

4. The combination set forth in claim 3, in which the means to rotate said drive shaft comprises a gear mounted thereon and a rack secured to said second platform and engaged by said gear.

5. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which two transversely aligned vertical columns of first platforms are provided, arranged with said first platforms transversely aligned and with the troughs and crests of the respective pairs of transversely aligned platforms longitudinally aligned, the space between said columns defining an elevator shaft, said second platform is an elevator positioned in said shaft and movable vertically into substantially transverse alignment with pairs of transversely aligned platforms, said conveyor being movable from a central position on said second platform toward and away from either of the platforms of said pair.

6. The combination set forth in claim 1, in which a pair of spaced transversely aligned first platforms are provided having the troughs and crests of the respective platforms longitudinally aligned, said second platform is positioned in the space between said stalls, the means interconnecting said primary members comprises a beam extending centrally across said horizontal members a pair of beams are affixed at their mid points, respectively, to the ends of said conveyor beam and extending at right angles thereto and means secured to said second platform slidably mounting said pair of beams for movement on said second platform in direction parallel to the length of the troughs from a central position on said second platform toward and away from either of the platforms of said pair.

7. The combination set forth in claim 6, in which the means on said second platform slidably mounting said pair of beams and the means slidably mounting the secondary members with respect to an associated primary member, each comprises a set of at least three rollers associated with each of said beams and with each secondary member, one of the rollers of each set, when the connected members are in central position, supporting the associated beam and the secondary member at its central portion, and the other two ro'llers of each set supporting the ends of the associated beam and the secondary member, the drive means comprises a drive shaft extending along said conveyor beam, a drive gear affixed to said shaft, a rack secured to said second platform and engaged by said gear, said rack extending parallel to said pair of beams, a plurality of gears mounted on said shaft and associated respectively with said secondary members, a rack secured to each of said secondary members and engaged by the associated gear of said plurality, whereby upon movement of said connected primary members and rotation of said drive shaft, the plurality of gears thereon will rotate to drive the associated secondary member.

8. The combination set forth in claim 6, in which the means on said second platform slidably mounting said pair of beams and the means slidably mounting the secondarymembers with respect to an associated primary member, each comprises a set of at least four rollers associated with each of said beams and with each secondary member, two of the rollers of each set, when the connected members are in central position, supporting the associated beam and the secondary member on each side of its central portion, and the other two rollers of each set supporting the ends of the associated beam and the secondary member, the drive means comprises a pair of parallel drive shafts extending along said conveyor beam, a drive gear affixed to each of said shafts, an idler gear between said drive gears and engaging the latter, a rack secured to said second platform and engaged by said drive gears, said idler gear being spaced from said rack, said rack extending parallel to said pair of beams, a plurality of gears mounted on each of said shafts and associated respectively with said secondary members, a rack secured to each of said secondary members and engaged by the associated gear of said plurality, whereby upon movement of said connected primary members and rotation of said drive shafts, the plurality of gears thereon will rotate to drive the associated secondary member.

9. The combination set forth in claim 1, in which the means interconnecting said primary members comprises a beam, extends transversely across said primary members, means slidably mounting the beam on said platform for movement in the same direction as said secondary members, a pair of spaced parallel tracks mounted on said platform and extending at right angles to said beam and positioned beneath the latter, a frame slidably mounted on said tracks, said frame having a pair of spaced parallel members extending at right angles to said tracks, a vertical drive shaft centrally located on said platform between said tracks, a crank bar mounted on said shaft at right angles thereto, a pair of drive pins associated respectively with said pair of parallel members and adapted to react thereagainst upon rotation of said crank bar to effect movement of said frame, means controlled by the movement of said frame to effect movement of said beam on its slidable mount, and means actuated by movement of said beam to actuate said drive meansv 10. The combination set forth in claim 9, in which the means to effect movement of said beam comprises a lever pivoted between its ends on a vertical axis secured to said frame, a pair of track sections, one being secured to said platform and the other to said beam, and means on the ends of said lever riding along the respective track sections and reacting thereagainst.

References (Zited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,742,205 Fuqua Jan. 7, 1930 1,969,419 Martin Aug. 7, 1934 2,168,527 Iversen Aug. 8, 1939 2,775,128 Young Dec. 25, 1956 2,838,186 Alimanestiano June 10, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 165,872 Australia July 23, 1953

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