Automatic parking apparatus

• US 6,104,314 A
• Filed: 02/10/1998
• Issued: 08/15/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Jung-Jye Jiang
• Original Assignee: Jung-Jye Jiang
• Inventors: Jiang, Jung-Jye
• Primary Examiner(s): POPE, DARYL C
• Application Number:
  US09/022,212
• Time in Patent Office: 917 Days
• Field of Search: 340/932.2, 340/942, 340/436, 340/437, 340/903, 340/938, 340/435, 340/673, 340/676, 340/686.1, 340/686.2, 340/825.15, 340/825.28, 414/227, 414/235, 414/240, 414/252, 414/253, 414/265, 414/275, 414/279, 705/13, 364/478.02, 364/478.06
• US Class Current: 340/932.2
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/004 using wave sensors radar designed for anti-collision purposes between land vehicles or between land vehicles and fixed obstacles G01S13/931

Abstract

An automatic parking apparatus includes an automatic parking mechanism and a parking space identifying device. An upper plate of the automatic parking mechanism lifts up the chassis of a car. A control device on a baseplate of the mechanism keeps the mechanism moving along a straight line based on the input parking data and the data obtained by transceivers, a linear module, and the parking space identifying device. At the same time, available parking spaces may be detected so that cars may be placed correctly. The parking data are recorded, which makes it convenient to fetch the cars later on.

Claims

1. An automatic parking apparatus comprising an automatic parking mechanism and a parking space identifying apparatus,

said automatic parking mechanism comprising a baseplate, a transmission device, a control device, and an upper layer device, said baseplate being a rectangular plate having provided thereon said transmission device, said control device, and an elevator;

said transmission device including a direct current motor, said motor having a sprocket provided on an axle thereof, four wheel axles being disposed behind said motor, four shafts being disposed near the sides of said wheel axles, said shafts being provided with sprockets and bearings thereon, with chains arranged between said sprockets, four wheels being mounted on said shafts, the first of said shafts being connected to said motor being provided with left and right portions for transmission, said right portion utilizing a pair of positive and negative unidirectional gears to drive said motor to rotate in a positive direction so that the wheels at the right side rotate in a positive direction and to drive said motor to rotate reversely so that the wheels at the right side rotate in a reverse direction, said left portion utilizing a pair of positive and negative unidirectional gears and a pair of spur gears to cause said motor to rotate in a positive or reverse direction so that the wheels at the left side always rotate in a positive direction;

said baseplate being provided with a road mark reflecting receiving device in the middle of a lower side thereof, empty parking space judging transceiving devices, and a linear module being installed at one side thereof, said linear module including a reset device accommodating therein a transmitter and a receiver, a transmitting device, a front end receiver, and a rear end receiver, said control device being disposed on said baseplate and accommodating therein a software language controlled program to control input/output devices of said control device;

said elevator being disposed at the middle of the face of said baseplate for urging an upper plate of said upper layer device, said upper plate having four corners each provided with a support shaft fitted with a support pawl, so the support pawl'"'"'s control wheels may turn in a positive direction to extend said support pawl or turn reversely to close said support pawl;

an empty space detecting reflecting plate, a parking address detecting reflecting plate, and a linear module reflecting plate being erected at a vertical face of the rear side of each parking space;

wherein data of a parking lot are pre-input into said control device and red positioning points are embedded in the ground of the parking lot as original points, and yellow marking points are embedded in the ground at each turn;

wherein said automatic parking mechanism is remote-controlled by hand to maneuver among the four wheels of a car so as to be positioned underneath the car, and after being positioned underneath said car, said support pawl is extended and said elevator actuates said upper layer device and lifts the car up, after the car is in a lifted position, said mechanism then moves to one of said positioning points, after said road mark reflecting receiving device of said automatic parking mechanism has detected alignment with said parking space, said motor rotates in a positive direction and the automatic parking mechanism carrying the car advances, at the same time the advancement of the car begins, said empty parking space judging transmitting and receiving devices, said parking address judging transmitting and receiving devices, and said linear module start operation, while advancing, said automatic parking mechanism is maintained to move along a straight line by utilizing said transmitting device inside said linear module which emits an infrared ray which is received and judged by said front end receiver and said rear end receiver, during said advancement of said automatic parking mechanism, obstacle detectors are actuated simultaneously so that when obstacles enter within a certain proximity range of said automatic parking mechanism, said automatic parking mechanism will temporarily stop movement until the obstacles are cleared from the proximity range of said mechanism, and during said advancement of said automatic parking mechanism, said empty parking space judging transceiving devices and said parking address judging transceiving devices are also simultaneously actuated so as to judge the availability of a parking space from the left or right side first, and said parking address judging transceiving devices utilize reflected signals from said reflecting plates so that said program obtains a parking address and register; and

when there is no car parked at the parking address, said empty parking space judging transceiving devices receive signals via the reflection of said reflecting plates so that the program determines that said parking space is available for parking, then said automatic parking mechanism is rotated about an angle before the carried car is placed into the available parking space, and after placement of the car into the space, parking data pertaining to that particular car and the space that the car was placed are registered so that said automatic parking mechanism may conveniently find and fetch the car when necessary; and

when there is already a car parked in the parking address, then the wheels of that parked car are positioned so as to block said reflecting plate so that said empty parking space judging transceiving device cannot receive reflected signals from said reflecting plates, thereby causing the program to judge that that particular parking space is not available for parking a car, and thereby controls said automatic parking mechanism to move forward, and when said reflecting plates are not blocked, said parking address judging transceiving device adds the address of the unblocked reflecting plates to an address record so that the parking address of an available parking space will be recorded; and

when there is any corner or bend in the ground, said road mark reflecting receiving device on said automatic parking mechanism detects said yellow marking points in the ground at the corner or bend and then turns; and

when the available parking space is not perpendicular to a lane, said empty parking space judging transceiving devices and said parking address judging transceiving devices are controlled by a step motor to rotate about an angle parallel to the available parking space so that transmission, reflection, and reception of signals for the transceiving devices are accurate; and

when said automatic parking mechanism has finished parking the car, it will return to said red positioning points to prepare for another parking operation.

2. The automatic parking apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sprockets and said chains are pulleys and belts.

3. The automatic parking apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said elevator for elevating said upper layer device is a collapsible elevator.

4. The automatic parking apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said reflecting plate of said linear module is mounted on the ceiling right above the lane of the parking lot or on the ground, and said linear module extends out of said automatic parking mechanism or out of the lower side of said automatic parking mechanism to receive signals reflected by said reflecting plate for correction purposes.