Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor system for moving a specific load as a separate unit – System includes linear conveyor or portion thereof which...
Patent
1996-04-15
1998-10-27
Werner, Frank E.
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor system for moving a specific load as a separate unit
System includes linear conveyor or portion thereof which...
414269, 198809, 198959, 1983701, 198782, B65G04754
Patent
active
058266992
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a storage and conveyor system for goods, consisting of two horizontal main conveyor tracks, running parallel to each other and conveying in opposite directions, the ends of which lie roughly flush with each other, and a horizontal cross-conveyor track, arranged with its conveying direction at right angles to the conveying direction of the main conveyor tracks and located at one end of the main conveyor tracks, the cross-conveyor track consisting of at least two track sections, located one behind the other in the conveying direction of the cross-conveyor track, whose conveying planes can be separately raised and lowered vertically for continuous transport of the goods from one main conveyor track to the other.
Storage and conveyor systems of this kind are known from DE-A-1781097 and FR-A-7708247, for example.
In the known conveyor devices, however, continuous transfer of the goods from the main conveyor tracks to the cross-conveyor tracks and vice versa is not possible, because the angular position of the goods being transported would change. The known installations thus of necessity have to be operated step-by-step and thus at a comparatively slow transport speed.
On the other hand, there is often a need in warehousing operations and/or in-house transport systems to retrieve specific items of stored goods from a store and convey them to a specific workplace or transport station as quickly as possible.
To this end, so-called high-bay warehouses have been built, in which aisles for retrieval vehicles have to be left free between the individual storage racks, the result being that storage takes up a relatively large amount of space.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is based on the task of creating a goods storage and conveyor system which permits optimum utilisation of available space within the warehouse and allows a specific item of goods to be transported to a retrieval point in a short time.
In accordance with the invention, this task is solved by the fact that the cross-conveyor track can be moved in the conveying direction of the main conveyor tracks, with a cross-conveyor track being provided at both the front and rear end of the main conveyor tracks and running in opposite directions.
The goods storage and conveying system in accordance with the invention essentially consists of two horizontal main conveyor tracks, running parallel to one another and providing numerous storage positions for the goods, such as containers. Retrieval or storage of goods takes place at the front or rear end of the main conveyor tracks in each case. If, for example, a container to be retrieved is located immediately in front of the horizontal cross-conveyor tracks, it can be transferred to these and retrieved there. However, if the container required is located in the interior area of a main conveyor track, it must first be transported to the retrieval end of the respective main conveyor track, in order to be retrieved from the storage system. This is achieved by the containers or stored goods located in front of it being moved in the conveying direction and transferred individually to the corresponding cross-conveyor tracks. Having arrived on the cross-conveyor tracks, the containers are transported at right angles to the conveying direction of the main conveyor tracks, in a manner to be described in detail later, and transferred to the adjacent main conveyor track, running in the opposite direction. This procedure takes place at the ends of the two main conveyor tracks in the form of a cyclic exchange. Consequently, the goods switch places from one main conveyor track to the other as often as necessary until the required container is transferred to the cross-conveyor track, from where it can be retrieved by retrieval devices.
If stationary cross-conveyor tracks were used, switching from one main conveyor track to the other would only be possible by operating the storage and conveying system on a step-by-step basis. Continuous, and thus faster, operation can b
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