In january 1952 a new invention was opened to public in Washington D.C. the first fully automated parking garage. Named Park-O-Mat, it used push button operated by a single man. As cars go up, lights trace path on film.
Big-city parking lots take up a lot of expensive space and require a lot of attendants. This winter, the people of Washington, D.C. got a look at a new gimmick which needed neither, a fully automatic robot parking garage that can deal and shuffle cars like a deck of cards. Named Park-O-Mat, it was invented by William Sinclair of San Diego and put up by William Dezendorf of Washington. The customer merely drives up to the entrance and steps ouy, locking the car if he wishes. The sole attendant pushes a button, a dolly rolls out under the car, grasps it with two arms, pulls it quickly into an elevator and parks it in a vacant space upstairs. The whole job can be done in less than a minute. The ground space needed is only 25 by 67 feet.
Into elevator rolls empty car, held by two arms which rise from dolly and grasp the bumpers.
Cutaway view shows how cars, still held by arms on dolly (red), ride on elevator to proper floor where they are rolled off forward or backward. There are two elevators; each of the 18 floors holds four cars, for a total capacity of 72.
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photos and documentation: LIFE Magazine (US) | Zetu Harrys collection.
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