Parking bays having a sloped floor, and parking apparatuses and parking systems including same
AssigneeVolley Automation, Inc.
InventorsLance Michael Beeny, Stott D. Barwick, Merin Jay Swasey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A parking bay comprises a front wall comprising a front opening formed in the front wall and sized to accommodate a width of a vehicle; a rear wall opposite the front wall, the rear wall comprising a rear opening formed in the rear wall and sized to accommodate the width of the vehicle; a pair of side walls extending between the front wall and the rear wall; and a sloped floor provided between the front wall and the rear wall and defining a tray-receiving opening sized to contain a tray, wherein the sloped floor comprises an upper surface defining a slope between the front wall and the rear wall.
Claims20
A parking bay comprising:
- a front wall comprising a front opening formed in the front wall and sized to accommodate a width of a vehicle;
- a rear wall opposite the front wall, the rear wall comprising a rear opening formed in the rear wall and sized to accommodate the width of the vehicle;
- a pair of side walls extending between the front wall and the rear wall;
- and
- a sloped floor provided between the front wall and the rear wall and defining a tray-receiving opening sized to contain a tray, wherein the sloped floor comprises an upper surface defining a slope between the front wall and the rear wall.
A parking system comprising:
- a tray comprising a first upper surface sized to accommodate a vehicle;
- a tray transportation mechanism comprising a lifting mechanism operable between a lowered position and a raised position, wherein, in the lowered position, the lifting mechanism does not engage the tray, and, in the raised position, the lifting mechanism extends to raise the tray;
- and
- a parking bay comprising:
- a front wall comprising a front opening formed in the front wall and sized to accommodate a width of a vehicle;
- a rear wall opposite the front wall, the rear wall comprising a rear opening formed in the rear wall and sized to accommodate the width of the vehicle;
- a pair of side walls extending between the front wall and the rear wall;
- and
- a sloped floor provided between the front wall and the rear wall and defining a tray-receiving opening sized to contain the tray, wherein the sloped floor comprises a second upper surface defining a slope between the front wall and the rear wall.
A method for orienting a tray within a parking bay on a slope, the method comprising:
- positioning, by a tray transportation mechanism, a tray within a tray-receiving opening defined by a sloped floor of the parking bay and sized to contain the tray, wherein the sloped floor is provided between a front wall and a rear wall of the parking bay and wherein the tray enters the tray-receiving opening through a rear opening formed from the rear wall of the parking bay and sized to accommodate a width of a vehicle;
- positioning a vehicle on an upper surface of the tray, wherein the vehicle enters the parking bay through a front opening formed from the front wall of the parking bay and sized to accommodate the width of the vehicle;
- and
- transporting, by the tray transportation mechanism, the tray from the tray-receiving opening and through the rear opening of the parking bay.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.