Railways – Traction
Patent
1980-05-22
1983-02-08
Reese, Randolph
Railways
Traction
104 35, 104 88, 198782, 414286, B61B 1302
Patent
active
043722199
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to material handling systems for the automated movement, storage and retrieval of goods. More particularly, the invention relates to a material handling system wherein palletized storage and controlled transportation of goods in a variety of environments and configurations is provided. More specifically, the invention relates to a material handling system involving pallets positioned in a plurality of storage rows served by transfer aisles wherein the pallets are selectively moved in the storage rows and through the transfer aisles by a compartmentalized drive system which positively controls the pallets during movements within the system.
BACKGROUND ART
Historically, storage or warehousing of goods or containers of goods has been effected on multilevel arrangements of shelves having limited depth and a great number of intermittent aisles for purposes of effecting reasonable accessibility for placement and retrieval of stored goods. For purposes of handling articles or goods of substantial weight, aisles of excessive width normally have been required for the purpose of permitting passage of heavy equipment of the type required for the transportation and placement of the goods. The end result of such systems is that a relatively small percent of a given size building or enclosure is usable as actual storage capacity.
More recently, efforts have been made to effect improvements in the storage density in a building or enclosure. In this respect, there has been a proliferation of what are termed stacker crane type units wherein loading and unloading devices are movable in aisles via a track or other means of controlled motion to afford transportation and loading and unloading from a plurality of storage spaces. These units are commonly capable of three dimensional positioning and are frequently automated for remote controlled operation. Although effecting some economies in space utilization, these units nevertheless generally require minimal depth rack configurations which are one or in the most advanced installations two positions deep adjacent the crane traverse aisles for purposes of accessibility for storage and retrieval of goods. This marginal space utilization combined with the necessary sophistication of a crane unit produces little overall cost advantage in comparison with conventional storage facilities which have been employed for many years.
Another approach which has gained some consideration involves the use of a plurality of movable pallets which are positioned in close horizontal proximity such that higher density storage is possible. In installations of this nature the pallets are normally movable in one or more directions to one or more service positions whereby an elevator or other device may be employed for retrieval of a particular pallet. Although affording vastly superior economies in terms of storage space per unit of building or enclosure space, these units have not in general enjoyed wide commercial acceptance. A primary problem encountered in conjunction with such systems is the expense produced by the necessity for a great proliferation of the apparatus required to effect movement of the individual pallets in two or more directions. In order to effect optimum space utilization, movement in perpendicular directions to shift the pallets to different positions is normally an absolute requirement. In addition, drive mechanisms are normally proposed for each of the individual pallets with these mechanisms duplicated in many instances to effect independent drive in two perpendicular directions. As a result of the duplication and proliferation of parts necessary to accomplish the requisite movements and driving force therefor, most such systems are characterized by substantial expense.
In addition to the above features, the prior art systems devised to provide pallet movement in two perpendicular directions on planar tracks normally employ wheels oriented in perpendicular directions. In order to provide unimpeded motion in the two
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patent: 3408950 (1968-11-01), Puhringer
patent: 3443449 (1969-05-01), Kotarski
patent: 3565233 (1971-02-01), Hinman
patent: 3769850 (1973-11-01), Culligan
Gibbs-Ryder Materials Handling Systems, Inc.
Reese Randolph
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