Parking system

A parking tower, comprising:

• a structure having at least two levels and a vertical passageway;
• a vehicle gripping system, the vehicle gripping system comprising:
• a vertical lift frame vertically movable in the passageway;
• a horizontal slide frame slidably coupled to the vertical lift frame and horizontally movable relative to the vertical lift frame and across each level;
• and
• a sliding wheel gripper slidably coupled to and extending downwards from the horizontal slide frame, for releasably gripping a vehicle by gripping the wheels of the vehicle, the sliding wheel gripper being longitudinally slidable along the horizontal slide frame between a release position and a gripping position;
• wherein the sliding wheel gripper comprises:
• first and second arms extending downwards from the horizontal slide frame;
• first and second gripping devices disposed at an end of the first and second arms, respectively, for gripping the vehicle therebetween;
• and
• a first arm driving system for moving the first and second arms away from each other, and a second arm driving system for moving the first and second arms towards each other;
• wherein the first and second arms are longitudinally movable towards each other to the gripping position to enable gripping of the vehicle therebetween, and longitudinally movable away from each other to the release position to enable release of the vehicle;
• wherein the first and second arm driving systems are configured to cause movement of the first and second arms away from each other to release the vehicle to be at a slower speed than movement of the first and second arms towards each other to grip the vehicle;
• and
• wherein the sliding wheel gripper comprises a first top frame and a second top frame slidably movable in opposite directions relative to the horizontal slide frame, and wherein the first and second arms extend downwardly from the first and second top frames, respectively;
• and
• wherein at least one parking bay and at least one parking spot is defined in the structure, each of the parking bay and parking spot being provided with horizontal fixed members to enable horizontal movement of the horizontal slide frame across the respective parking bay and parking spot.

A parking system comprising a plurality of parking towers, wherein each parking tower comprises:

• a structure having at least two levels and a vertical passageway;
• a vehicle gripping system, the vehicle gripping system comprising:
• a vertical lift frame vertically movable in the passageway;
• a horizontal slide frame slidably coupled to the vertical lift frame and horizontally movable relative to the vertical lift frame and across each level;
• and
• a sliding wheel gripper slidably coupled to and extending downwards from the horizontal slide frame, for releasably gripping a vehicle by gripping wheels of the vehicle, the sliding wheel gripper being longitudinally slidable along the horizontal slide frame between a release position and a gripping position;
• wherein the sliding wheel gripper comprises:
• first and second arms extending downwards from the horizontal slide frame;
• first and second gripping devices disposed at an end of the first and second arms, respectively, for gripping the vehicle therebetween;
• and
• a first arm driving system for moving the first and second arms away from each other, and a second arm driving system for moving the first and second arms towards each other;
• wherein the first and second arms are longitudinally movable towards each other to the gripping position to enable gripping of the vehicle therebetween, and longitudinally movable away from each other to the release position to enable release of the vehicle;
• wherein the first and second arm driving systems are configured to cause movement of the first and second arms away from each other to release the vehicle to be at a slower speed than movement of the first and second arms towards each other to grip the vehicle;
• and
• wherein the sliding wheel gripper comprises a first top frame and a second top frame slidably movable in opposite directions relative to the horizontal slide frame, and wherein the first and second arms extend downwardly from the first and second top frames, respectively;
• and
• wherein at least one parking bay and at least one parking spot is defined in the structure, each of the parking bay and parking spot being provided with horizontal fixed members to enable horizontal movement of the horizontal slide frame across the respective parking bay and parking spot.