Apparatus for delivering large containers of goods,...

Material or article handling – Plural – static structures for supporting discrete loads and... – Load-underlying members

Reexamination Certificate

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Details

C414S286000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06612798

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for delivering large containers of goods, especially warehoused goods such as pallets, to an out-processing station or transfer station, and includes an inclined delivery segment that leads into the out-processing station and that has at least one conveyor means for moving the large containers.
When warehousing goods or similar articles it is generally customary to consolidate those goods that are small in volume in larger containers, these containers then being stored separately, for instance on racks or shelves. Large containers in the context of this invention are especially pallets, wire cages, boxes, and similar containers that are suitable for receiving a plurality of small articles.
When a certain number of articles that have been combined in large containers need to be removed from storage, it is necessary to remove the large container from storage, for instance from the rack, to open the large container, and to remove the desired number of articles that are to be taken out of storage. This process is also known as out processing, whereby the articles combined in the large containers are called warehoused goods.
Usually the large containers are delivered to an out-processing station for this purpose, at which station the actual out-processing is then performed manually or automatically.
Known during transport of large containers on pre-specified conveyor segments is providing transfer stations at which the containers are removed from a conveyor segment and forwarded for further transport for instance, on a different conveyor segment to another transport means, or are even forwarded by conventional transport means such as by truck.
Known in prior art is removing the large container from storage using appropriate aids, for instance an article handling apparatus, placing it on a delivery segment that leads into the out-processing station or transfer station, and then transporting it via transport means to the out-processing station or transfer station.
The gravity exerted by the large container itself can be used to move the large container along the delivery segment. Provided for this is a delivery segment that is inclined to the horizontal and that has a roller conveyor as transport means. The large container, such as a pallet, is first placed on the roller conveyor at the beginning of the delivery segment and, due to its own gravity, moves along the individual rollers of the roller conveyor in the direction of the out-processing station or transfer station to which the delivery segment leads. Once there, out-processing of the desired quantity of articles can begin, or the large container is transferred, as described above. In the case of out-processing, if the large container is completely emptied, it is removed from the out-processing station and another large container can be delivered along the delivery segment. The same applies when a transfer takes place.
Furthermore known is dimensioning the delivery segments such that above the out-processing station one or more large containers, such as pallets, can be set aside and which, once the large container located in the out-processing station or transfer station has been processed and removed or transferred out of the out-processing station, can be transported into the out-processing or transfer station, which is now unoccupied. The advantage of such a solution is that this system can realize the so-called first-in/first-out technique, in which a large container that is the first placed on the delivery segment is also the first to be out-processed or transferred. This is particularly important for articles with limited shelf-life, since, due to their limited shelf-life, care must be taken that the articles that are placed in storage first are the first to be removed from storage in order that a maximum tolerable period of time is not exceeded.
It has been determined that in particular in connection with palletized goods, there are particular problems associated with the delivery segments that have roller conveyors integrated therein and that work using gravity. The various commonly-used pallets (such as the Europallet or the GMA pallets conventionally used in the United States) are usually made of wood. When a pallet is in the transfer or out-processing station of the known apparatus that has roller conveyors, and if another pallet has been placed on the roller conveyor in a wait position, the weight produced by the palletized goods places a load on the wood forming the underside of the pallet that is in contact with the rollers of the roller conveyor. This causes the rollers of the roller conveyor to press into the relatively soft wood of the pallet. If the out-processing of the pallet that is in the out-processing station lasts for an extended period, or if the out-processing is interrupted by a break in work for an extended period (for instance, a weekend), or if the pallet remains in the transfer station for an extended period until it is transferred, the rollers of the roller conveyor can press relatively deep into the wood on the underside of the pallet. Then, if the pallet located in the transfer or out-processing station is emptied and/or removed, and if the next pallet set on the roller conveyor in the direction of the transfer or out-processing station is to follow, it is possible that the rollers of the roller conveyor have been pressed so far into the wood on the underside of the pallet that the pallet can no longer automatically move over the rollers of the roller conveyor. On the contrary, it can be retained in its position by the rollers that are pressed into the wood.
Instead of the pallet moving in the direction of the transfer or out-processing station due to its own gravity, as provided, additional measures must now be undertaken. In the worst case scenario, when even additional force exerted on the pallet does not release the pressed-in rollers of the roller conveyor from the underside of the pallet, the pallet must be at least partially out-processed then and there, i.e., on the delivery segment, so that it is possible to move the pallet in the direction of the transfer or out-processing station by removing weight from it.
Not only do such occurrences interrupt transfer or out-processing operations, they also tie up resources that have to be used to release the pallet that is stuck on the roller conveyor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,270 provides one alternative to the roller conveyors described in the foregoing. This patent suggests using a cart that runs on an inclined track in order to move palletized goods along a delivery segment. The cart is formed by a frame and extends largely across the entire width of the delivery segment, which is approximately equal to the width of the pallet to be delivered. The cart has two axles with wheels, of which two run on a right-hand track and two run on a left-hand track. The problems associated with roller tracks that occur as described in the foregoing can be avoided with this known apparatus. However, since the cart extends across the entire width of the delivery segment and also across the entire width of the pallet, it is not possible with this solution to retrieve, using a transport device such as, for instance, a forklift on an article handling device, a pallet that is currently situated in the delivery segment and that was removed from the wagon and placed there. This is because such a forklift on an article handling device would be blocked by the cross-struts of the cart frame.
However, it is frequently necessary to remove, for instance, large containers that have been partially out-processed from an out-processing station and to return them to storage. It is desirable to perform this process in a manner that is as automated as possible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus the object of the invention is to further develop a known apparatus such that large containers located in the delivery segment can be simply and advantageously returned with an article handling device.
To achieve this obje

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