|
Self-Park : : Pigeonhole System |
|
|
|
|
Pigeonhole System (CLICK TO SEE MOVIE)
Although now a mostly obsolete design, there are three Pigeonhole mechanical garage systems operating in New York City.They have been in service for almost 50 years. Pigeonhole systems basically use an elevator on tracks to raise & transport the car at the same time. Otis elevator was one of the first suppliers of this type of system.With the systems now operating in New York you first drive a car unto the elevator. An attendant then moves the elevator along a central track system and raise it to one of the parking levels. The attendant then drives the car from the elevator into the parking space. One of the later systems installed in New York was fully automated. It used the tether wheel grip system. The Wheel Grip System (CLICK TO SEE MOVIE) lifts the car by grabbing its wheels from below then moves the car from the elevator to the parking space. Because this part of the system sometimes damaged the underside of the cars it was removed from the system in New York and now the garage uses an attendant to move the cars from the elevator to the parking space. A lot of Pigeonhole systems were installed in the United States. There were two in Philadelphia, several in Boston, Detroit, Miami and Ohio. About 10 years ago a German company brought a newer, Finger Lift (CLICK TO SEE MOVIE) version of this system to St. Louis where it was installed but it exhibited the same problems as the old system in Manhattan. After about three years the system was removed and the building was torn down. The parking structures for the Pigeonhole System are generally made of all concrete. It is of a unique design and cannot easily be reconfigured. Today this is considered too expensive as there is no salvage value to the building. A lot of space is lost in this type of system because of the concrete pigeonhole's and the space required for the elevator. Also because the elevator and transporter are the same unit the system must completely finish one movement before it can begin another. Access time is very slow.
|
