Vehicle Elevator System with Rotating Platform for Accessible Parking
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in urban areas is to provide affordable high-density housing with adequate motor vehicle parking spaces that are conveniently accessible to residents, while adhering to fire safety regulations and maximizing land use, especially in multi-story buildings where land parcels are irregularly shaped and parking decks are not at the same elevation as dwelling units, posing difficulties for elderly and disabled individuals and large item movement.
Innovation Solution
A passenger and vehicle elevator system with multiple elevator cars positioned equidistantly around a central shaft, featuring a rotating and translating platform to carry vehicles and passengers to specific parking spots within multi-story buildings, utilizing sensors for parking location identification and ensuring easy access between dwelling units and garages, with sound isolation to minimize noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If multi-story garages are constructed to maximize land use, then parking capacity is improved, but accessibility for elderly and disabled persons deteriorates due to stairways and elevation differences
Solution Approach 1:
An elevator system serves as an intermediary mechanism between the ground level and upper parking decks, enabling accessible vertical transportation for vehicles and passengers without requiring stairways or elevation changes at parking locations
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces vertical dimension utilization by placing parking decks at different elevations and using elevators to connect them, transforming the traditional horizontal parking arrangement into a multi-level vertical structure that maximizes land use while maintaining accessibility
2Productivity
If parking decks are placed at different elevations to maximize space utilization, then land use efficiency is improved, but ease of movement between garage and dwelling units deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The elevator acts as a mediating transport system that bridges the elevation gap between parking decks and dwelling units, allowing seamless vertical movement without requiring occupants to navigate stairs or complex pathways
Solution Approach 2:
The elevator system serves multiple functions: transporting vehicles to parking decks, carrying passengers between levels, and providing accessible routes for moving large items and furnishings, thereby supporting both productivity and ease of operation
3Ease of manufacture
If stairways are used to connect walkways with parking decks, then construction cost is reduced, but usability for elderly and disabled persons deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The elevator serves as an accessible intermediary that replaces stairways for vertical circulation, particularly benefiting elderly and disabled persons who cannot easily use stairs, while still allowing for cost-effective construction through standardized elevator components
Data Source
AI summary
The passenger and vehicle elevator system includes a plurality of elevator cars arrayed substantially equidistantly and equiangularly from a central shaft of the building (B). Each elevator car (12, 14, 16) includes a housing and at least one door (54). The housing has a floor, a ceiling, and at least one sidewall. A linearly translating platform (50) is mounted on the floor of each of the housings. The linearly translating platform (50) is adapted for automatically carrying the vehicle (V) and the at least one passenger through the at least one door (54). Further, the vehicle (V) may be rotated within the housing by driven rotation of the platform (50) or the floor, allowing for selective angular positioning of the vehicle (V) with respect to the housing. The elevator car (12) ascends and descends within a corresponding elevator shaft in a manner similar to that of a conventional elevator.