Abstract: An automated parking garage simultaneously parks and retrieves multiple vehicles. Each vehicle entering the facility is videotaped to make a record of its physical condition prior to entry into the garage to protect the garage owner from baseless damage claims. Vehicles are simultaneously measured and entry into the garage is denied to oversized vehicles. Upon being granted entry, a customer parks the customer's vehicle on a pallet near the garage entrance and leaves the facility. In single floor designs, the pallet is carried by a self-propelled carrier to a parking space by a series of longitudinal and transverse movements on rails. A multiple story embodiment employs a lifting device that includes a pallet support member that shuttles back and forth between two contiguous floors.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a modular installation for controlled transport of parts or products. This installation includes at least one autonomous pallet (10) carrying a traction mechanism, preferably in the form of an electric motor-brake (14), this pallet being provided with wheels (15, 16, 30, 31) for circulation on a rail network, conveying the motor feed current and the control signals for the traction mechanism of the pallet. The pallet comprises two girders (11 and 12) and a plate (13) provided with two centering pins (21). The installation is advantageous in that it is flexible and allows an adaptation to all utilizations, especially because the pallets may be managed individually by a central data processing unit.