CA1234768A - Warehouse system with pan extractor mechanism - Google Patents
Warehouse system with pan extractor mechanismInfo
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- CA1234768A CA1234768A CA000532658A CA532658A CA1234768A CA 1234768 A CA1234768 A CA 1234768A CA 000532658 A CA000532658 A CA 000532658A CA 532658 A CA532658 A CA 532658A CA 1234768 A CA1234768 A CA 1234768A
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- rails
- extractor
- rail
- pair
- pan
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Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A tote pan extractor for an automated handling system includes a pair of relatively narrow parallel extensible and retractable pan support structures, including a pair of base rails and an extensible and retractable tote pan support rail as well as an extensible and retractable intermediate rail in juxtaposed relation to each of the base rails and its associated pan support rail. A first vertical load transferring bearing is disposed between each of the base rails and a second vertical load transferring bearing is disposed between each of the intermediate rails. A guide maintains each of the intermediate rails in alignment with its asso-ciated base rail. The narrow parallel pan support structures define an open space therebetween for receiving a tote pan suspended in the open space, and the carriage is operable to selectively extend and retract in unison the pan support rails hori-zontally relative to the intermediate rails and simultaneously extend and retract in unison the intermediate rails horizontally relative to the base rails.
A tote pan extractor for an automated handling system includes a pair of relatively narrow parallel extensible and retractable pan support structures, including a pair of base rails and an extensible and retractable tote pan support rail as well as an extensible and retractable intermediate rail in juxtaposed relation to each of the base rails and its associated pan support rail. A first vertical load transferring bearing is disposed between each of the base rails and a second vertical load transferring bearing is disposed between each of the intermediate rails. A guide maintains each of the intermediate rails in alignment with its asso-ciated base rail. The narrow parallel pan support structures define an open space therebetween for receiving a tote pan suspended in the open space, and the carriage is operable to selectively extend and retract in unison the pan support rails hori-zontally relative to the intermediate rails and simultaneously extend and retract in unison the intermediate rails horizontally relative to the base rails.
Description
This application is a Division of Application Ser. No. 453,803, filed May 8, ]984.
This invention relates to automated warehouse systems and more particularly to small parts or mini-load storage and retrieval apparatus using tote pans.
Heretofore others have devised small parts or mini-load warehousing systems wherein tote pans are slid into and out of rack compartments at opposite sides of an aisle by an extractor mechanism. Some such systems are disclosed in US. patent 3,809,259 issued May 7, 1974 to George R. Pipes; US. patent 3,883,008 issued May 13, 1975 to John A. Casta:ldi and US. patent 4,010,855 issued March 8, 1977 to Joseph F. Smith wherein an extractor mechanism on a crane carriage has a finger engagable with a lip or bracket at the lower front portion of the tote pan to slide it into or out of a rack storage compartment at either side of an aisle.
The pan capacity of sliding tote pan systems currently in use is approximately 500 pounds. The problem of wear due to sliding the tote pan has been recognized and alleviated to some extent by material selection and provision of replaceable wear strips such as nylon strips 42 in before mentioned So patent 3,809,259. The use of endless belts 75, 75' in before mentioned US. patent 3,383,008 is believed to reduce wear as compared to mechanisms which slide the tote pan on and off the elevatable carriage. In US. patent 3,708,077 issued to Kenneth A. Riches et at on January 2, 1973, rollers 152 are used to reduce friction and attendant wear of the pan and the carriage. The before mentioned US. patent 3,703,077 is also of interest in that it shows a tote pan extractor mechanism having a multiple rail mechanism for moving the tote pan into and out of storage in a warehouse wherein gear I
to racks and gears are used to effect coordinated relative movement between the rails.
US. patent 3,89~,324 issued July 1, 1975 to Vincent R. Foliate, Jr. shows a three section extractor mechanism wherein movement of the top section relative to the intermediate section is controlled by a cable and pulley arrangement and movement of the intermediate section relative to the base section is controlled by gears on the base section engaging a gear rack on the intermediate section. US. patent 3,881,42~ issued May 6, 1975 to Harry W. Thompson and Canadian patent 826,501 issued November 4, 1969 to Weston R. Looter each shows a pair of extensible and retractable load support mechanisms each of which includes a load support bar carrying rollers engaging a pair of intermediate support rails which in turn are supported by rollers on the lift platform. Relative reciprocating movement between the load support bar and the intermediate rails is effected by gear racks on the load support bar and the lift platform engaged by spur gears rotatable supported by the intermediate sllpport rails and drive gears on the lift platform engaging a gear rack on one of the intermediate support rails. The prior art harmonic drive for an extractor mechanism illustrated in Figs. 15-17, uses four pairs of parallel bars which are cooperatively engaged by a pair of cam rollers on a drive wheel to move loads from the hoist to a first or second position in a rack compartment of the type suitable for receiving two loads. Rotation of the drive wheel 180 in one direction from the load on hoist" position shown in Figs. 15 and 16 causes extension of the shiftable load support arms to a "first load in racks position showing in Fig. 17. A
further 180 rotation of the drive wheel in the same direction extends the shuttle support to place the load in the second load in racks" position shown in Fig. 17.
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In accordance Wyeth the invention, there is provided a tote pan extractor for an automated hand-lying system to be carried by a crane so as to traverse vertically and horizontally along an aisle S aligned on each side Wyeth storage racks including a plurality of vertical storage compartments there-along. The extractor includes a pair of relatively narrow parallel extensible and retractable pan support structures including a pair of parallel and horizontally disposed base rails fixed to -the carriage. The base rails are spaced from one another in -the longitudinal direction of the aisle and disposed transverse to the aisle. Also provided are an extensible and retractable tote pan support rail in a vertically juxtaposed relation to each of the base rails and an extensible and retractable intermediate fat]. in juxtaposed relation to each of the base rails and its associated pan support rail.
A firs-t vertical load transferring bearing means is disposed between each of the base rails and its associate intermediate rail permitting relative horizontal movement there between in a direction transverse to the aisle and a second vertical load transferring bearing means is disposed between each of the intermediate rails and its associated pan support rail permitting relative horizontal movement there between in a direction transverse to -the aisle, the first and second bearing means of each support structure being in genera]. vertical alignment.
Guide means maintain each of the intermediate rails in alignment with its associated base rail and each of the pan support rails in alignment with its also-elated intermediate rail. The narrow parallel pan I ~7~3 I/ 4 _ support structures defining an open space there-between for receiving a tote pan suspended in the open space, and power operated means on the carriage are operable -to selectively extend and retract in unison the pan support rails horizontally relative to the intermediate rails and -to simultaneously extend and retract in unison -the intermediate rails horizontally relative to the base rails.
The present invention is illustrated in the drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is a pictorial view of a crane supported for movement along an aisle of an auto-mated warehouse and including a carriage on which an extractor is mounted;
Fig. 2 is a pictorial view of the extractor shown in Fig. 1 but wherein the extractor arms are partially extended;
Fig. 3 is a front view of the extractor with the extractor arms in a non extended condition;
Fig. 4 is a partial view of the extractor showing the extractor arms in their extended positions and engaging -the undersides of lips on opposite sides of a storage pan;
Fig. 5 is a view taken along the line V-V
in Fig. 3;
Fig. 6 is a top view of the extractor with the support arms shown in an extended position and with parts broken away for illustration purposes;
Fig. 7 is a view taken along the line VII-VII in Fig. 3;
Fig. 8 is a top view of the carriage and extractor;
Fig. 9 is a view taken along the line IX-IX in Fig. 8;
~;~34~768 - pa -Fig. 10 is an end view of an aisle of a warehouse in which -the crane of Fig. 1 operates;
Fig. 11 is a view taken on the line XI-XI
in Fig. 10;
Fig. 12 is an exploded pictorial view of a combination of a tote pan and an extender therefore Fig. 13 is a view taken along the line XIII-XIII in Fig. 12;
Fig. 14 is a pictorial view of an alter-Nate construction for the pan extractor; and Figs. 15-17 illustrate a prior art extractor mechanism.
Referring to -the drawings, a small parts warehousing system of the present invention may utilize an automatic storage and retrieval vehicle such as the illustrated computer controlled crane 21 which carries suitable rollers 22 at the top thereof for engaging an overhead track 23 and a pair of double flanged wheels 24 vertically engaging a bottom track 26 in the aisle of a ~;~3~7~8 warehouse, as illustrated in Figs. 10 and if. As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 8, a carriage 31 is reciprocating mounted on a mast 32 of the crane 21 by a plurality of rollers 33. The carriage 31, which is raised and lowered on the mast 32 by a cable 30, carries an extractor 34 having a support structure 36 rigidly secured to and extending horizontally forward from the carriage 31. The support structure 36 includes a pair of horizontal parallel tracks 37, I rigidly secured, as lo by welding, to a longitudinal box frame 40 ox the support structure 36 and extending in transverse relation to the aisle terminating in mounting pads 44' welded to their ends. The mounting pads 44' are in turn welded to the upright flanges of a pair of angles 39, 41 15 at transversely opposite sides of the extractor.
Horizontal flanges 42, 43 of the angles 39, 41 are in supporting relation to a pair ox parallel base rails 51, 52 of a pair ox extensible and retractable extractor arms or arm structures 53, 54. The rails 51, 52 have 20 reinforcing bars I 45 secured to their inner sides by screws 46. The reinforcing bars 44, 45 have upwardly diverging surfaces 47, 48 to assist in guiding a tote pan into proper supported position on the arms 53, 54 should any misalignment occur. The rails 51, 52 and 25 their reinforcing bars 44, 45 are rigidly secured to the flanges 42, 43 by cap screws 49, 50.
Referring to Figs. 2 through 9, the arm structures 53, 54 are disposed in parallel relation to one another and at substantially the same elevation.
30 The arm structures 53, 54 are relatively narrow in the longitudinal direction of the aisle and reciprocate horizontally in transverse relation to the aisle between a non extended or nested position, as shown in Figs. l and 3, and an extended position into a rack storage 35 compartment at one side of the aisle as illustrated in Fig. 4. Referring specifically to the arm structure 54, the base rail 52 supports an intermediate rail 56 which in turn supports a pan support rail 57 disposed I it vertically above and spaced from base rail 52. The own support rail 57 has an upward facing convex surface 58 which is complementary to and adapted to engage the down-warmly facing concave underside surface 61 of a lip 62 extending along a side or snide wall 63 of a tote pan 64.
The lip 62 forms part of the top aim of the pan 64 and extends substantial coextensively along the length of the side wall 63, which side is disposed transverse to the aisle when it is in a storage compartment in the 10 racks at one of the opposite sides of the aisle and also when the pan is transported by the crane 21.
The pan 64, as illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, 9, 12 and 13, is molded in a single piece whereby its bottom 71 is integral with its end walls 72, 73 and side 15 walls 63, 74. The lips 62, 76 flare outwardly from the upper end of the side walls 63, 74 and include raised ribs 77, 77l presenting downwardly facing cavities or pockets 78~ 78'. Two of the downwardly open pockets 78, 78' on each lip register with upwardly extending 20 projections 81, 81', respectively, on the pan support arms 53, 54. The ribs 77, 77' on the pan lips 62, 76 not only serve to provide cavities 78, 78' nesting with the projections 81, 81' to releasable retain the pan 64 on the extractor but also serve as reinforcing structure 25 for the lips 62, 76. While only three ribs are shown on each of the lips, additional reinforcement of the lips is achievable by adding additional ribs at selected points along the length of the lips 62, 76. The side walls 63, 74 of the pan 64 are strengthened by shoulders 30 75, I which also serve as support ledges when the pans are stacked one within the other.
The pan bottom 71 has a corrugated configure-lion with the alternate ridges and grooves extending parallel to the end walls 72, 73 and in transverse 35 relation to the side walls 63, I and the lips 62, 76.
The corrugated configurations provides a strong bottom having low deflection, as compared to a flat bottom of the same thickness of material.. As shown in Fig. 4, two ' : .
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of the downward facing recesses 82, 83 in the pan bottom register with and engage front and rear support brackets 84, 86 on the rack uprights 87, 88 to releasable lock the pan in its stored position in a storage compartment defined by the vertical spacing of the support brackets.
As also shown in Fig. 11, the brackets 84, 86 are horizontal bars welded at an intermediate portion thereof to the uprights. Cantilevered ends of the bars extend parallel to the aisle a relatively short distance 10 toward the adjacent upright. In those instances where longitudinal braces 89 extend between the aisle uprights 87, the braces serve to support the tote pan thus replacing the support brackets 84.
As shown in Fig. 12, an extender 90 may be 15 inserted in and secured to the pan to provide a plurality of storage cells in a single pan. The extender 90 increases the volumetric capacity of the pan thus maying it particularly suited to storing a plurality of segregated lightweight items.
The intermediate rail 56 of the extensible arm 52 includes an upright plate or beam 91 which is relatively narrow in the horizontal direction of the aisle, that is, in the fore and aft direction. The beam 91 has upper and lower portions in juxtaposed, lapped 25 relation to the pan support rail 57 and the base rail 52. In the nested or non extended condition of the extractor, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 8, the rails I
56, 57 are coextensive with the support 36. As shown in Fig. 7, the intermediate rail 56 includes a space bar 30 part 92 sandwiched between and secured to the beam 91 and a guide plate 93 by releasable fastening means in the form of bolts 96 and slat head screws 97 in threaded engagement with drilled and tapped openings in the bolts 96. In order to maintain an aligned relationship of the 35 rails 57, 56, 52, the plate 93 presents guide parts or tapered slide or bearing surfaces 98, 99 in horizontal thrust transmitting relation to confronting and complementary slide surfaces 98', 99', on the pan I; , :~3'~7~
support rail 57 and base rail 52; and the upper and lower portions of the beam 91 present flat vertical surfaces 100, 105 in horizontal thrust transmitting relation to flat vertical confronting slide surfaces 100', 105' on the pan support and base rails 57, 52.
Referring also to Figs. 3, 5 and 9, the pan support rail 57 includes wall means defining a horizontal groove 101 having upper and lower horizontal bearing surfaces 102, 103 vertically facing one another 10 and a vertical interior surface 104 facing in a forward horizontal direction. The base rail 52 includes wall means defining a horizontal groove 106 parallel to groove 101 of the pan support rail 57 which presents upper and lower horizontal bearing surfaces 107, 108 in 15 vertical facing relation to one another and a vertical interior surface 109 facing horizontally forward. Thus, both grooves 101 and 106 are open in the forward direction of movement of the crane 21. A plurality of upper rollers 111 are rotatable mounted on axles 112 20 and 120 which are secured to the upper portion or part of the beam 91 for rotation about the parallel horizontal axes 114 of the axles 112 extending in the horizontal direction of the aisle traversed by the crane 21. The upper rollers 111 are operatively disposed 25 within the groove 101 and are in rolling, vertical load bearing engagement with the bearing surfaces 102, 103 of the pan support rail 57 thus serving to support the latter as it is horizontally reciprocated relative to the intermediate rail 56. The intermediate rail 56 30 rotatable carries lower rollers 116 on horizontally spaced parallel axes 117, such rollers being in rolling vertical load bearing engagement with the upper and lower bearing surfaces 107, 108 of the groove 106 of the base rail 52 whereby the intermediate rail 56 is 35 vertically supported on the base rail 52. The lower rollers 116 are rotatable mounted on a lower part of the beam by axles 118 and 125 mounted on the beam 91.
Rollers 111' and 116' are similarly mounted on an ~3~7~
g intermediate rail 56' of extensible arm 53 and cooperate with grooves 101' and 106' in a pan support rail 57' and the base rail 51. The axles 112 and 118 for the rollers 111, 111', 116, 116' on the portion of the beams adjacent the reinforcing structures 182, 182' are threaded to receive nuts 113, 119. The other axles 120, 125 are riveted to the beams g], 91'.
The pan support arm 57 is caused to move lengthwise relative to the intermediate rail 56 by a 10 chain and pulley mechanism including a pair of pulleys 121, 122 rotatable mounted on opposite end portions of the intermediate rail 56 on horizontal, parallel axes 121', 122' extending transverse to the direction of move-mint of the intermediate rail 56 and a pair of flexible 15 motion transmitting elements in the form of chains 123, 124 having intermediate portions revved, respectively, about the pulleys 121, 122. The opposite ends of the chain 123 are secured to corresponding ends of the pan support rail 57 and the base rail 52 at one side of the 20 extractor by anchors 126, 127, respectively, and the opposite ends of the chain 124 are secured to correspond-in ends of the pan support rail 57 and the base rail 52 at the opposite side of the extractor by a pair of anchors 131, 132, respectively.
As illustrated in jigs. 3, 5 and 7, the pulley 121 is rotatable mounted on stub shaft 136 formed on a slide member 137 with the free end of the shaft 136 confronting the inner side of the beam 91. The slide member 137 includes a pair of aligned longitudinal slots 30 138, 139 in sliding engagement with a pair of spacer bushings 141, 142 through which a pair of bolts 96 extend. Thus, the spacer bushings 141, 142 serve to guide the lengthwise movement of the slide member 137 and to space the beam 91 and plate 93 of the inter-35 mediate rail 56 relative to one another. The pulley Andy the slide member 137 on which it is mounted may be adjusted in the lengthwise direction of the intermediate rail 56 by turning an adjustment member in the form of a ~3':~7~j~
screw 144. The adjustment screw 144 includes a threaded portion 146 on one end in threaded engagement with a drilled and tapped opening 147 in the spacer bar part 92 of the intermediate rail 56. An exteriorly splinted wheel 148 integrally formed on the screw 144 inter-mediate its length can be turned by the prying action of a screwdriver, or other prying tool, inserted through an elongated access opening 149 in the guide plate 93.
Biasing means in the form of belleville washes 151 are 10 interposed between the wheel 148 of the screw 144 and the end of the slide member 137 with an end 152 of the screw extending loosely into an aligned bore 153 in the slide member 137. As shown in Fig. 3, a slide member 156, similar to the slide member 137, and an adjusting 15 screw 157 are provided for pulley 122 at the other end of the intermediate rail 56. The slide member 156 is positioned so the free end of its stub shaft 158 is in confronting relation to the guide plate 93, thereby placing the pulley 122 adjacent the plate go. The 20 offset positioning of the pulleys 121, 122 and the chain anchors place the chains 123, 124 in side-by-side relation to one another without interference. As shown in Figs. 5, 7 and 9, the chains 123, 124 extend through upper and lower passageways 161, 162 between the bottom 25 of the pan support rail 57 and the central spacer part 92 and between the latter and the top of the base rail 52. In the non extended condition of the extractor, the pan support rail 57 can be centered on (made transversely coextensive with) the intermediate rail 56, 30 when the latter is centered on the base rail, by turning the adjusting screws 144, 157. The screws 144, 157 may also be turned to adjust the tension of the chains 123, 124.
A similar chain and pulley arrangement is 35 provided for the extractor arm 53 to effect shifting movement of pan support rail 57'.
Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9, , a chain and cable side shift mechanism 166 is provided ,, for lengthwise extension of the intermediate rail 56 relative to the base rail 52, which movement is transverse to the aisle in which the crane 21 is operating. The side shift mechanism 166 includes a S shuttle 167 reciprocating'Ly mounted on the tracks 37, 38 and rotatable carrying pulleys 168, 169 on its front end and pulleys 171, 172 on its rear or aft end. The side shift mechanism 166 also includes chains 173, 17~ revved about the pulleys 168, 169, respectively, and chains 10 176, 177 revved about the pulleys 171, 172, respectively. One end of chain 174 is connected to a threaded fastener 178 which in turn is adjustable connected to the channel 39 at one side of the extractor by nuts 179. The other end of the chain 174 is secured 15 by a fastener 181 to one end of a beam reinforcing structure 182 which is secured to the outer side of the beam 91 and extends along only an intermediate portion of the beam 91. One end of the chain 173 is adjustable connected to the channel 41 by a threaded fastener 183 20 and nuts 184 and the other end of the chain 173 is secured by a fastener 186 to the other end of the reinforcing structure 182. The chains 176, 177 are similarly fastened at the at end of the extractor. The reinforcing structure 182 is made up of two channels 25 18'7, 188 with lapped flanges secured by bolts 191 and nuts 192. The channel 188 is secured to the beam 91, the spacer bar 92 and the guide plate 93 by bolts 193 and nuts 19~. The channel 188 is also secured to the beam 91 by the threaded axles 112, 118 and nuts 113, 30 119. A reinforcing structure 182' includes channels lB7', 188' interconnected by bolts 191 and nuts 192 with channel 188' being rigidly secured to the beam 91'. The reinforcing structures 182, 182' serve to reinforce the intermediate rails 56, 56' and their opposite ends serve 35 as anchor points for the ends of chains 173, 174 and 176, 177. When the extractor is extended into a storage compartment for pan depositing or pan retrieval purposes as illustrated in jig. 4, the end of the reinforcing ~;~3'~'7~
structure 182 confronts but stops short of the rack upright 87.
; The shuttle 167 includes a flat plate 201 to which downwardly extending roller supporting brackets 202, 203, 204, 206 are rigidly secured as by welding.
Each of the transversely spaced brackets 202, 203 at the front end of the plate 201 includes an upper guide component in the form of a roller 208 in downward rolling thrust transmitting engagement with the top, 10 upward facing horizontal surface 209 of the track 38 and a bottom guide component in the form of a roller 211 in upward confronting relation to a downward facing horizontal surface 212 on the underside of the track 38.
The rollers 208, 211 are identical and have threaded 15 stub shafts 213, which are disposed on parallel horizontal axes and are secured to the brackets 202, 203 by nuts 21~. The transversely spaced brackets 204, 206 at the ear end of the plate 201 are reverse images of one another and each rotatable support an upper guide 20 component or roller 216 in vertical thrust transmitting relation and rolling engagement with an upward facing horizontal surface 217 on the top of the track 37 and a bottom guide component or roller 218 in upward thrust transmitting relation to a downward facing horizontal 25 surface 219 on the underside of the track 37. the brackets 204, 206 also rotatable support fore and aft guide components in the form of horizontal thrust transmitting rollers 221, 222 in horizontal confronting relation to parallel vertical surfaces 223, 224 on the 30 fore and aft sides of the track 37. The upper and lower guide components or rollers 216, 218 guide the shuttle horizontally on the track 37 preventing relative vertical displacement between the plate 201 and the track 37 and the upper and lower guide components or 35 rollers 208, 211 guide the shuttle transversely to the fore and aft direction of movement of the crane to prevent relative displacement between the plate 201 and the track 37 in the fore and aft direction of the aisle.
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Thus, the rollers 216, 218, 221, 222 guide the shuttle 167 horizontally and transversely on the bearing surfaces 217, 219, 223, 224 of the rear track 37 and the shuttle 167 is guided only horizontally on the front wrack 38 since fore and aft guide rollers are not provided at the front track 38.
Side shift movement of the shuttle 167 on its tracks 37, 38 it effected by power operated means including a harmonic extractor drive which includes a 10 driver lever 131 whose central hub 132 is nonrotatably secured to a vertical shaft 133 rotatable mounted on the support structure 40 of the carriage 31 on a vertical axis 134 by flange bearings 136, 137 bolted to the top and bottom plates 13~, 139 of the support structure 40 15 by bolts 141 and nuts 142. The driver lever 131 carries a pair of horizontal thrust transmitting elements in the form of rollers 143, 144 rotatable mounted on vertical axes on the upper outer opposite ends of the lever 131 at equal distances (radii) from the axis 134. In the 20 retracted condition of the extractor as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the rollers 143, 144 are disposed in the forward ends of the fore and aft extending and downwardly open groove defined by the parallel and transversely spaced cam bars 1~69 147, 148, 149 rigidly secured to the 25 underside of the plate 201 by screws 151. The cam bars 146, 147, 14~, 149 are tapered slightly at their front ends to provide a flared opening at the front end of each groove to facilitate entrance and exit of the rollers 143, 144 from the grooves formed by the cam bars 30 146-149. A large diameter sprocket 152 and a small diameter sprocket 153 are nonrotatably secured to the vertical shaft 133. The large diameter sprocket 152 is connected in driven relation to a reversible electric motor 154 by an output or drive sprocket 156 driven by 35 the motor 154 mounted on the carriage 31 and an endless drive chain 157 operatively revved about sprockets 156 and 152.
I 6~3 OPERATION
hen the shaft 133 is rotated clockwise 180 about its vertical axis 134, as viewed in Fig. 8, the roller 143 will bear against cam bar 147 causing the shuttle to move transversely on the tracts 37, 38 to the position shown in Fig. 6 wherein the arms 53, 54 are fully extended at one side of the aisle. At this point the motor is automatically stopped by a control 161 mounted on the carriage 31 which includes a sprocket 162 10 operatively connected to the shaft 133 by a timing chain 163 which is revved about the sprockets 162 and 153, as is illustrated in Fig. 8. When the shaft 133 is rotated 180 in the opposite direction from its transport position shown in Fig. 8, the shuttle 167 will be 15 shifted in the opposite transverse direction to fully extend the pan support arms 53, I into a storage compartment at the opposite side of the aisle.
For every inch the shuttle 167 moves on the tracks 37, 38, the intermediate rains 56, 56' will 20 simultaneously move two inches, and the pan support rails 56, 56' will move four inches in the same direction as the shuttle moves.
When extracting a pan I from a storage compartment in a rack structure, the crane and carriage 25 are positioned so that upon extension of the arms 53, 54 they will be beneath the lips of the selected pan. Upon raising the carriage 31 a short distance, the rails 56, 56' of the arms 54, 53 will engage the underside of the lips 62, 76 and the pan will be raised from the support 30 bars 84 a sufficient distance so that the pan bottom will clear the support bars 84 during retraction of the arms and pan from the storage compartment. Registration of the rib cavities 78, 78' with the projections 81, 81' prevents relative movement between the pan 64 and the 35 pan support rails 56, 56' during a storage or extraction operation or during transport of the pan by the crane.
An alternate extractor 301 is illustrated in Fig. 14 wherein a reversible electric drive motor 302 ~23~
and a pair of extensible and contractible pan support arms 303, 304 are mounted on a support structure extending forwardly from a carriage 307. The support structure includes a pair of horizontal forks 30B, 309 rigidly secured, as by welding, at their rear ends to the carriage 307. An L-shaped bracket 311 has a vertical leg welded to the arm 308 and the motor 302 is releasable secured to the horizontal leg of the bracket 311 by cap screws 312. Referring to the arm 30~, a pan 10 support rail 316 is supported on an intermediate rail 317 by vertical load bearing engagement between a set of upper horizontally spaced rollers 318 on the inter-mediate support and the upper and lower surfaces of a forwardly open groove 319 ion the pan support rail 316.
15 The intermediate rail 317 is supported on a base rail 321 of arm 304 by vertical load bearing engagement between lower horizontally spaced rollers 322 on the intermediate rail 317 and the top and bottom surfaces of a Eoewardly open groove 323 in base rail 321. The arm 20 303 is a reverse image of arm 304 with an intermediate rail 32~ carrying rollers 326 engaging groove 327 in pan support rail 328 and lower rollers, not shown, engaging a groove 329 in a base rail 331. A combined base rail reinforcing member and pan guide in the form of bar 332 25 is secured to the front of base rail 331 and presents tapered edges 333, 334 at its opposite ends. A similar bar, not shown, is secured to the rear side of base rail 321. Relative transverse shifting of the pan support rail 328 of the arm 303 relative to the intermediate 30 rail 324 is effected by a plurality of transversely spaced spur gears 336 meshing with a rack gear 337 on the bottom of the pan support rail 328 and a rack gear 338 on the top of base rail 331. The gears 336 are rotatable supported on shafts 339 mounted at their 35 opposite ends in a beam part 340 and a guide part 343 of the intermediate rail 324. Similarly a plurality of transversely spaced spur gears, not shown, are carried by shafts, not shown, whose ends are supported on a beam r7 I
part 344 and a guide part 345 of the intermediate rail 317 of the arm 304 and mesh with gear racks 341, 342 on the rails 316 and 321 of the extensible arm 30~. The power operated means for side shifting the extractor arms 303, 30~ includes the reversible electric motor 302 having a through shaft 346 to which a pair of double flanged drive sprockets 347, 34B are secured by keys for rotation therewith and a pair of endless double cog belts 351, 35~ driven by the sprockets 347, 348. Belt 10 352 is rekeyed about an idler pulley 353 and its upper run is maintained substantially horizontal by support rollers 354, 356, 357. An idler tensioning roller 358 engages the lower run of the belt 352. Support rollers 354, 357 are rotatable mounted on the ends of the forks 15 308, 309, respectively, and support roller 356 is rotatable supported on the base rail 321 by a bracket 361. The idler roller 353 is also rotatable supported on the base rail 321 by a bracket, which is not shown, but which is a reverse image of a bracket 362 supporting 20 the stub shaft 363 on which an idler pulley, not shown, for belt 351 is mounted. The tensioning pulley 358 is adjustable mounted on a bracket 364 depending from the front end of the fork 308. The outside cogs of the upper run of the belt 352 mesh with the teeth of a rack 25 gear 366 on a central reinforcing section or part 367 of the intermediate gall 317 of the extensible arm 304.
Similarly a rack gear, not shown, on a reinforcing part 368 of the intermediate rail 324 of the extensible arm 303 meshes with the teeth or cogs on the upper run of 30 the drive belt 351. The drive belt 351 is supported in its upper run by a support roller 371 rotatable mounted on a bracket 372 welded to the underside of the base rail 331 A low friction replaceable wear pad 373 is releasable secured to the top side of the fork 308 below 35 the upper run of the belt 351 and a similar wear pad, now shown, is fastened to the top side of the fork 303 in upward confronting relation to the underside of the upper run of the belt 351. The wear pads, which may be I
made of a low friction high density plastic, serve to maintain engagement of the upper run of the belt 351 with the gear rack, not shown, on the intermediate rail 324.
: During operation, clockwise rotation of the motor shaft 346 causes the upper run of the belt 352 to move to the right toward one side of the extractor thereby causing the intermediate rail 317 to also move in that direction. The gears, not shown, on the intermediate rail 317 cause the pan support rail 316 to move twice the 10 distance in the same direction relative to the base rail 321 as the intermediate rail 317 is moved relative to the base rail 321. When the extractor 301 has been extended in such one direction to the position illustrated, automatic controls, not shown, Jill stop the motor and after a preprogrammed lifting or lowering of the carriage 307 for a pan extraction or a pan depositing function, the motor will be reversed and the extractor contracted to non extended condition wherein the extractor and any pan thereon will not interfere with the racks and pans stored in the racks when the extractor is transported down the aisle by the crane, not shown, on which the carriage 307 is mounted.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
The prior art extractor mechanism illustrated in Figs. 15 17 includes a base frame 401 having a pair of base rails 402, 403 interconnected by a base plate 404.
Rollers 406, 407 support the rails 408, 409 of a first intermediate shuttle section 411 for horizontal reciprocating movement Rollers 416, 417 on rails 418, 419 of a second intermediate shuttle section 421 engage horizontal grooves in rails 408, 409 to permit relative horizontal reciprocation between shuttle sections 411 and 421. Rails 426, 427 of a third intermediate shuttle 428 are eeciprocatingl~ carried on rollers 429, 431 mounted on the rails 418, 419 and a load platform 436 is supported through rollers 437, 438 on rails 441, 442 of the platform 436 cooperating with laterally inner grooves in the I-section rails 426, 427 of shuttle section 428.
- I -The rails 408 and 409 are interconnected by a horizontal plate 444 to which a pair of pulleys aye, 447 and four sets of parallel bars 448, 449, 451, 452, 453, 454, 456, 457 are secured. When the bars are engaged by one of the two cam rollers 461, 462 on an operating disc 463, the shuttle section 411 will be shifted laterally relative to the hoist on which the extractor mechanism is carried. The disc 463 is secured to a shaft 466 to which a pair of sprockets 467, 468 are secured. The sprocket 467 is driven by an electric motor 471 through a gear-type speed reducer 472 having an output shaft carrying a drive sprocket 473 connected to sprocket 467 by an endless drive chain 474. The sprocket 468 drives a timing mechanism 476 through a timing chain 477.
- 15 Referring particularly to Fig. 16, when the disc 463 is rotated clockwise 180~, the bars 451, 452 will be moved to the position occupied by rails 453, 454 and gemming roller 462 will enter between rails 448 and 449 which will have moved to the position of rails 451, 452 illustrated in Fig. 16. In this condition of side shifting, the load on the platform 436 will be shifted to the first load in racks position as illustrated in Fig.
17. If a second 180 of clockwise rotation is imparted to the disc 463/ the gemming roller 462 will move the bars 448, 449 to the position occupied by bars 453, 454 - in Fig. 16. In this condition of side shifted adjustment, the load will be in the second load in racks position illustrates in Fig. 17. It should be understood that counterclockwise rotation of the operating disc 463 causes the shuttle to extend in the opposite lateral direction whereby loads may be stored in or retrieved from rack compartments on both sides of the aisle of the storage facility.
This invention relates to automated warehouse systems and more particularly to small parts or mini-load storage and retrieval apparatus using tote pans.
Heretofore others have devised small parts or mini-load warehousing systems wherein tote pans are slid into and out of rack compartments at opposite sides of an aisle by an extractor mechanism. Some such systems are disclosed in US. patent 3,809,259 issued May 7, 1974 to George R. Pipes; US. patent 3,883,008 issued May 13, 1975 to John A. Casta:ldi and US. patent 4,010,855 issued March 8, 1977 to Joseph F. Smith wherein an extractor mechanism on a crane carriage has a finger engagable with a lip or bracket at the lower front portion of the tote pan to slide it into or out of a rack storage compartment at either side of an aisle.
The pan capacity of sliding tote pan systems currently in use is approximately 500 pounds. The problem of wear due to sliding the tote pan has been recognized and alleviated to some extent by material selection and provision of replaceable wear strips such as nylon strips 42 in before mentioned So patent 3,809,259. The use of endless belts 75, 75' in before mentioned US. patent 3,383,008 is believed to reduce wear as compared to mechanisms which slide the tote pan on and off the elevatable carriage. In US. patent 3,708,077 issued to Kenneth A. Riches et at on January 2, 1973, rollers 152 are used to reduce friction and attendant wear of the pan and the carriage. The before mentioned US. patent 3,703,077 is also of interest in that it shows a tote pan extractor mechanism having a multiple rail mechanism for moving the tote pan into and out of storage in a warehouse wherein gear I
to racks and gears are used to effect coordinated relative movement between the rails.
US. patent 3,89~,324 issued July 1, 1975 to Vincent R. Foliate, Jr. shows a three section extractor mechanism wherein movement of the top section relative to the intermediate section is controlled by a cable and pulley arrangement and movement of the intermediate section relative to the base section is controlled by gears on the base section engaging a gear rack on the intermediate section. US. patent 3,881,42~ issued May 6, 1975 to Harry W. Thompson and Canadian patent 826,501 issued November 4, 1969 to Weston R. Looter each shows a pair of extensible and retractable load support mechanisms each of which includes a load support bar carrying rollers engaging a pair of intermediate support rails which in turn are supported by rollers on the lift platform. Relative reciprocating movement between the load support bar and the intermediate rails is effected by gear racks on the load support bar and the lift platform engaged by spur gears rotatable supported by the intermediate sllpport rails and drive gears on the lift platform engaging a gear rack on one of the intermediate support rails. The prior art harmonic drive for an extractor mechanism illustrated in Figs. 15-17, uses four pairs of parallel bars which are cooperatively engaged by a pair of cam rollers on a drive wheel to move loads from the hoist to a first or second position in a rack compartment of the type suitable for receiving two loads. Rotation of the drive wheel 180 in one direction from the load on hoist" position shown in Figs. 15 and 16 causes extension of the shiftable load support arms to a "first load in racks position showing in Fig. 17. A
further 180 rotation of the drive wheel in the same direction extends the shuttle support to place the load in the second load in racks" position shown in Fig. 17.
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In accordance Wyeth the invention, there is provided a tote pan extractor for an automated hand-lying system to be carried by a crane so as to traverse vertically and horizontally along an aisle S aligned on each side Wyeth storage racks including a plurality of vertical storage compartments there-along. The extractor includes a pair of relatively narrow parallel extensible and retractable pan support structures including a pair of parallel and horizontally disposed base rails fixed to -the carriage. The base rails are spaced from one another in -the longitudinal direction of the aisle and disposed transverse to the aisle. Also provided are an extensible and retractable tote pan support rail in a vertically juxtaposed relation to each of the base rails and an extensible and retractable intermediate fat]. in juxtaposed relation to each of the base rails and its associated pan support rail.
A firs-t vertical load transferring bearing means is disposed between each of the base rails and its associate intermediate rail permitting relative horizontal movement there between in a direction transverse to the aisle and a second vertical load transferring bearing means is disposed between each of the intermediate rails and its associated pan support rail permitting relative horizontal movement there between in a direction transverse to -the aisle, the first and second bearing means of each support structure being in genera]. vertical alignment.
Guide means maintain each of the intermediate rails in alignment with its associated base rail and each of the pan support rails in alignment with its also-elated intermediate rail. The narrow parallel pan I ~7~3 I/ 4 _ support structures defining an open space there-between for receiving a tote pan suspended in the open space, and power operated means on the carriage are operable -to selectively extend and retract in unison the pan support rails horizontally relative to the intermediate rails and -to simultaneously extend and retract in unison -the intermediate rails horizontally relative to the base rails.
The present invention is illustrated in the drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is a pictorial view of a crane supported for movement along an aisle of an auto-mated warehouse and including a carriage on which an extractor is mounted;
Fig. 2 is a pictorial view of the extractor shown in Fig. 1 but wherein the extractor arms are partially extended;
Fig. 3 is a front view of the extractor with the extractor arms in a non extended condition;
Fig. 4 is a partial view of the extractor showing the extractor arms in their extended positions and engaging -the undersides of lips on opposite sides of a storage pan;
Fig. 5 is a view taken along the line V-V
in Fig. 3;
Fig. 6 is a top view of the extractor with the support arms shown in an extended position and with parts broken away for illustration purposes;
Fig. 7 is a view taken along the line VII-VII in Fig. 3;
Fig. 8 is a top view of the carriage and extractor;
Fig. 9 is a view taken along the line IX-IX in Fig. 8;
~;~34~768 - pa -Fig. 10 is an end view of an aisle of a warehouse in which -the crane of Fig. 1 operates;
Fig. 11 is a view taken on the line XI-XI
in Fig. 10;
Fig. 12 is an exploded pictorial view of a combination of a tote pan and an extender therefore Fig. 13 is a view taken along the line XIII-XIII in Fig. 12;
Fig. 14 is a pictorial view of an alter-Nate construction for the pan extractor; and Figs. 15-17 illustrate a prior art extractor mechanism.
Referring to -the drawings, a small parts warehousing system of the present invention may utilize an automatic storage and retrieval vehicle such as the illustrated computer controlled crane 21 which carries suitable rollers 22 at the top thereof for engaging an overhead track 23 and a pair of double flanged wheels 24 vertically engaging a bottom track 26 in the aisle of a ~;~3~7~8 warehouse, as illustrated in Figs. 10 and if. As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 8, a carriage 31 is reciprocating mounted on a mast 32 of the crane 21 by a plurality of rollers 33. The carriage 31, which is raised and lowered on the mast 32 by a cable 30, carries an extractor 34 having a support structure 36 rigidly secured to and extending horizontally forward from the carriage 31. The support structure 36 includes a pair of horizontal parallel tracks 37, I rigidly secured, as lo by welding, to a longitudinal box frame 40 ox the support structure 36 and extending in transverse relation to the aisle terminating in mounting pads 44' welded to their ends. The mounting pads 44' are in turn welded to the upright flanges of a pair of angles 39, 41 15 at transversely opposite sides of the extractor.
Horizontal flanges 42, 43 of the angles 39, 41 are in supporting relation to a pair ox parallel base rails 51, 52 of a pair ox extensible and retractable extractor arms or arm structures 53, 54. The rails 51, 52 have 20 reinforcing bars I 45 secured to their inner sides by screws 46. The reinforcing bars 44, 45 have upwardly diverging surfaces 47, 48 to assist in guiding a tote pan into proper supported position on the arms 53, 54 should any misalignment occur. The rails 51, 52 and 25 their reinforcing bars 44, 45 are rigidly secured to the flanges 42, 43 by cap screws 49, 50.
Referring to Figs. 2 through 9, the arm structures 53, 54 are disposed in parallel relation to one another and at substantially the same elevation.
30 The arm structures 53, 54 are relatively narrow in the longitudinal direction of the aisle and reciprocate horizontally in transverse relation to the aisle between a non extended or nested position, as shown in Figs. l and 3, and an extended position into a rack storage 35 compartment at one side of the aisle as illustrated in Fig. 4. Referring specifically to the arm structure 54, the base rail 52 supports an intermediate rail 56 which in turn supports a pan support rail 57 disposed I it vertically above and spaced from base rail 52. The own support rail 57 has an upward facing convex surface 58 which is complementary to and adapted to engage the down-warmly facing concave underside surface 61 of a lip 62 extending along a side or snide wall 63 of a tote pan 64.
The lip 62 forms part of the top aim of the pan 64 and extends substantial coextensively along the length of the side wall 63, which side is disposed transverse to the aisle when it is in a storage compartment in the 10 racks at one of the opposite sides of the aisle and also when the pan is transported by the crane 21.
The pan 64, as illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, 9, 12 and 13, is molded in a single piece whereby its bottom 71 is integral with its end walls 72, 73 and side 15 walls 63, 74. The lips 62, 76 flare outwardly from the upper end of the side walls 63, 74 and include raised ribs 77, 77l presenting downwardly facing cavities or pockets 78~ 78'. Two of the downwardly open pockets 78, 78' on each lip register with upwardly extending 20 projections 81, 81', respectively, on the pan support arms 53, 54. The ribs 77, 77' on the pan lips 62, 76 not only serve to provide cavities 78, 78' nesting with the projections 81, 81' to releasable retain the pan 64 on the extractor but also serve as reinforcing structure 25 for the lips 62, 76. While only three ribs are shown on each of the lips, additional reinforcement of the lips is achievable by adding additional ribs at selected points along the length of the lips 62, 76. The side walls 63, 74 of the pan 64 are strengthened by shoulders 30 75, I which also serve as support ledges when the pans are stacked one within the other.
The pan bottom 71 has a corrugated configure-lion with the alternate ridges and grooves extending parallel to the end walls 72, 73 and in transverse 35 relation to the side walls 63, I and the lips 62, 76.
The corrugated configurations provides a strong bottom having low deflection, as compared to a flat bottom of the same thickness of material.. As shown in Fig. 4, two ' : .
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of the downward facing recesses 82, 83 in the pan bottom register with and engage front and rear support brackets 84, 86 on the rack uprights 87, 88 to releasable lock the pan in its stored position in a storage compartment defined by the vertical spacing of the support brackets.
As also shown in Fig. 11, the brackets 84, 86 are horizontal bars welded at an intermediate portion thereof to the uprights. Cantilevered ends of the bars extend parallel to the aisle a relatively short distance 10 toward the adjacent upright. In those instances where longitudinal braces 89 extend between the aisle uprights 87, the braces serve to support the tote pan thus replacing the support brackets 84.
As shown in Fig. 12, an extender 90 may be 15 inserted in and secured to the pan to provide a plurality of storage cells in a single pan. The extender 90 increases the volumetric capacity of the pan thus maying it particularly suited to storing a plurality of segregated lightweight items.
The intermediate rail 56 of the extensible arm 52 includes an upright plate or beam 91 which is relatively narrow in the horizontal direction of the aisle, that is, in the fore and aft direction. The beam 91 has upper and lower portions in juxtaposed, lapped 25 relation to the pan support rail 57 and the base rail 52. In the nested or non extended condition of the extractor, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 8, the rails I
56, 57 are coextensive with the support 36. As shown in Fig. 7, the intermediate rail 56 includes a space bar 30 part 92 sandwiched between and secured to the beam 91 and a guide plate 93 by releasable fastening means in the form of bolts 96 and slat head screws 97 in threaded engagement with drilled and tapped openings in the bolts 96. In order to maintain an aligned relationship of the 35 rails 57, 56, 52, the plate 93 presents guide parts or tapered slide or bearing surfaces 98, 99 in horizontal thrust transmitting relation to confronting and complementary slide surfaces 98', 99', on the pan I; , :~3'~7~
support rail 57 and base rail 52; and the upper and lower portions of the beam 91 present flat vertical surfaces 100, 105 in horizontal thrust transmitting relation to flat vertical confronting slide surfaces 100', 105' on the pan support and base rails 57, 52.
Referring also to Figs. 3, 5 and 9, the pan support rail 57 includes wall means defining a horizontal groove 101 having upper and lower horizontal bearing surfaces 102, 103 vertically facing one another 10 and a vertical interior surface 104 facing in a forward horizontal direction. The base rail 52 includes wall means defining a horizontal groove 106 parallel to groove 101 of the pan support rail 57 which presents upper and lower horizontal bearing surfaces 107, 108 in 15 vertical facing relation to one another and a vertical interior surface 109 facing horizontally forward. Thus, both grooves 101 and 106 are open in the forward direction of movement of the crane 21. A plurality of upper rollers 111 are rotatable mounted on axles 112 20 and 120 which are secured to the upper portion or part of the beam 91 for rotation about the parallel horizontal axes 114 of the axles 112 extending in the horizontal direction of the aisle traversed by the crane 21. The upper rollers 111 are operatively disposed 25 within the groove 101 and are in rolling, vertical load bearing engagement with the bearing surfaces 102, 103 of the pan support rail 57 thus serving to support the latter as it is horizontally reciprocated relative to the intermediate rail 56. The intermediate rail 56 30 rotatable carries lower rollers 116 on horizontally spaced parallel axes 117, such rollers being in rolling vertical load bearing engagement with the upper and lower bearing surfaces 107, 108 of the groove 106 of the base rail 52 whereby the intermediate rail 56 is 35 vertically supported on the base rail 52. The lower rollers 116 are rotatable mounted on a lower part of the beam by axles 118 and 125 mounted on the beam 91.
Rollers 111' and 116' are similarly mounted on an ~3~7~
g intermediate rail 56' of extensible arm 53 and cooperate with grooves 101' and 106' in a pan support rail 57' and the base rail 51. The axles 112 and 118 for the rollers 111, 111', 116, 116' on the portion of the beams adjacent the reinforcing structures 182, 182' are threaded to receive nuts 113, 119. The other axles 120, 125 are riveted to the beams g], 91'.
The pan support arm 57 is caused to move lengthwise relative to the intermediate rail 56 by a 10 chain and pulley mechanism including a pair of pulleys 121, 122 rotatable mounted on opposite end portions of the intermediate rail 56 on horizontal, parallel axes 121', 122' extending transverse to the direction of move-mint of the intermediate rail 56 and a pair of flexible 15 motion transmitting elements in the form of chains 123, 124 having intermediate portions revved, respectively, about the pulleys 121, 122. The opposite ends of the chain 123 are secured to corresponding ends of the pan support rail 57 and the base rail 52 at one side of the 20 extractor by anchors 126, 127, respectively, and the opposite ends of the chain 124 are secured to correspond-in ends of the pan support rail 57 and the base rail 52 at the opposite side of the extractor by a pair of anchors 131, 132, respectively.
As illustrated in jigs. 3, 5 and 7, the pulley 121 is rotatable mounted on stub shaft 136 formed on a slide member 137 with the free end of the shaft 136 confronting the inner side of the beam 91. The slide member 137 includes a pair of aligned longitudinal slots 30 138, 139 in sliding engagement with a pair of spacer bushings 141, 142 through which a pair of bolts 96 extend. Thus, the spacer bushings 141, 142 serve to guide the lengthwise movement of the slide member 137 and to space the beam 91 and plate 93 of the inter-35 mediate rail 56 relative to one another. The pulley Andy the slide member 137 on which it is mounted may be adjusted in the lengthwise direction of the intermediate rail 56 by turning an adjustment member in the form of a ~3':~7~j~
screw 144. The adjustment screw 144 includes a threaded portion 146 on one end in threaded engagement with a drilled and tapped opening 147 in the spacer bar part 92 of the intermediate rail 56. An exteriorly splinted wheel 148 integrally formed on the screw 144 inter-mediate its length can be turned by the prying action of a screwdriver, or other prying tool, inserted through an elongated access opening 149 in the guide plate 93.
Biasing means in the form of belleville washes 151 are 10 interposed between the wheel 148 of the screw 144 and the end of the slide member 137 with an end 152 of the screw extending loosely into an aligned bore 153 in the slide member 137. As shown in Fig. 3, a slide member 156, similar to the slide member 137, and an adjusting 15 screw 157 are provided for pulley 122 at the other end of the intermediate rail 56. The slide member 156 is positioned so the free end of its stub shaft 158 is in confronting relation to the guide plate 93, thereby placing the pulley 122 adjacent the plate go. The 20 offset positioning of the pulleys 121, 122 and the chain anchors place the chains 123, 124 in side-by-side relation to one another without interference. As shown in Figs. 5, 7 and 9, the chains 123, 124 extend through upper and lower passageways 161, 162 between the bottom 25 of the pan support rail 57 and the central spacer part 92 and between the latter and the top of the base rail 52. In the non extended condition of the extractor, the pan support rail 57 can be centered on (made transversely coextensive with) the intermediate rail 56, 30 when the latter is centered on the base rail, by turning the adjusting screws 144, 157. The screws 144, 157 may also be turned to adjust the tension of the chains 123, 124.
A similar chain and pulley arrangement is 35 provided for the extractor arm 53 to effect shifting movement of pan support rail 57'.
Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9, , a chain and cable side shift mechanism 166 is provided ,, for lengthwise extension of the intermediate rail 56 relative to the base rail 52, which movement is transverse to the aisle in which the crane 21 is operating. The side shift mechanism 166 includes a S shuttle 167 reciprocating'Ly mounted on the tracks 37, 38 and rotatable carrying pulleys 168, 169 on its front end and pulleys 171, 172 on its rear or aft end. The side shift mechanism 166 also includes chains 173, 17~ revved about the pulleys 168, 169, respectively, and chains 10 176, 177 revved about the pulleys 171, 172, respectively. One end of chain 174 is connected to a threaded fastener 178 which in turn is adjustable connected to the channel 39 at one side of the extractor by nuts 179. The other end of the chain 174 is secured 15 by a fastener 181 to one end of a beam reinforcing structure 182 which is secured to the outer side of the beam 91 and extends along only an intermediate portion of the beam 91. One end of the chain 173 is adjustable connected to the channel 41 by a threaded fastener 183 20 and nuts 184 and the other end of the chain 173 is secured by a fastener 186 to the other end of the reinforcing structure 182. The chains 176, 177 are similarly fastened at the at end of the extractor. The reinforcing structure 182 is made up of two channels 25 18'7, 188 with lapped flanges secured by bolts 191 and nuts 192. The channel 188 is secured to the beam 91, the spacer bar 92 and the guide plate 93 by bolts 193 and nuts 19~. The channel 188 is also secured to the beam 91 by the threaded axles 112, 118 and nuts 113, 30 119. A reinforcing structure 182' includes channels lB7', 188' interconnected by bolts 191 and nuts 192 with channel 188' being rigidly secured to the beam 91'. The reinforcing structures 182, 182' serve to reinforce the intermediate rails 56, 56' and their opposite ends serve 35 as anchor points for the ends of chains 173, 174 and 176, 177. When the extractor is extended into a storage compartment for pan depositing or pan retrieval purposes as illustrated in jig. 4, the end of the reinforcing ~;~3'~'7~
structure 182 confronts but stops short of the rack upright 87.
; The shuttle 167 includes a flat plate 201 to which downwardly extending roller supporting brackets 202, 203, 204, 206 are rigidly secured as by welding.
Each of the transversely spaced brackets 202, 203 at the front end of the plate 201 includes an upper guide component in the form of a roller 208 in downward rolling thrust transmitting engagement with the top, 10 upward facing horizontal surface 209 of the track 38 and a bottom guide component in the form of a roller 211 in upward confronting relation to a downward facing horizontal surface 212 on the underside of the track 38.
The rollers 208, 211 are identical and have threaded 15 stub shafts 213, which are disposed on parallel horizontal axes and are secured to the brackets 202, 203 by nuts 21~. The transversely spaced brackets 204, 206 at the ear end of the plate 201 are reverse images of one another and each rotatable support an upper guide 20 component or roller 216 in vertical thrust transmitting relation and rolling engagement with an upward facing horizontal surface 217 on the top of the track 37 and a bottom guide component or roller 218 in upward thrust transmitting relation to a downward facing horizontal 25 surface 219 on the underside of the track 37. the brackets 204, 206 also rotatable support fore and aft guide components in the form of horizontal thrust transmitting rollers 221, 222 in horizontal confronting relation to parallel vertical surfaces 223, 224 on the 30 fore and aft sides of the track 37. The upper and lower guide components or rollers 216, 218 guide the shuttle horizontally on the track 37 preventing relative vertical displacement between the plate 201 and the track 37 and the upper and lower guide components or 35 rollers 208, 211 guide the shuttle transversely to the fore and aft direction of movement of the crane to prevent relative displacement between the plate 201 and the track 37 in the fore and aft direction of the aisle.
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Thus, the rollers 216, 218, 221, 222 guide the shuttle 167 horizontally and transversely on the bearing surfaces 217, 219, 223, 224 of the rear track 37 and the shuttle 167 is guided only horizontally on the front wrack 38 since fore and aft guide rollers are not provided at the front track 38.
Side shift movement of the shuttle 167 on its tracks 37, 38 it effected by power operated means including a harmonic extractor drive which includes a 10 driver lever 131 whose central hub 132 is nonrotatably secured to a vertical shaft 133 rotatable mounted on the support structure 40 of the carriage 31 on a vertical axis 134 by flange bearings 136, 137 bolted to the top and bottom plates 13~, 139 of the support structure 40 15 by bolts 141 and nuts 142. The driver lever 131 carries a pair of horizontal thrust transmitting elements in the form of rollers 143, 144 rotatable mounted on vertical axes on the upper outer opposite ends of the lever 131 at equal distances (radii) from the axis 134. In the 20 retracted condition of the extractor as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the rollers 143, 144 are disposed in the forward ends of the fore and aft extending and downwardly open groove defined by the parallel and transversely spaced cam bars 1~69 147, 148, 149 rigidly secured to the 25 underside of the plate 201 by screws 151. The cam bars 146, 147, 14~, 149 are tapered slightly at their front ends to provide a flared opening at the front end of each groove to facilitate entrance and exit of the rollers 143, 144 from the grooves formed by the cam bars 30 146-149. A large diameter sprocket 152 and a small diameter sprocket 153 are nonrotatably secured to the vertical shaft 133. The large diameter sprocket 152 is connected in driven relation to a reversible electric motor 154 by an output or drive sprocket 156 driven by 35 the motor 154 mounted on the carriage 31 and an endless drive chain 157 operatively revved about sprockets 156 and 152.
I 6~3 OPERATION
hen the shaft 133 is rotated clockwise 180 about its vertical axis 134, as viewed in Fig. 8, the roller 143 will bear against cam bar 147 causing the shuttle to move transversely on the tracts 37, 38 to the position shown in Fig. 6 wherein the arms 53, 54 are fully extended at one side of the aisle. At this point the motor is automatically stopped by a control 161 mounted on the carriage 31 which includes a sprocket 162 10 operatively connected to the shaft 133 by a timing chain 163 which is revved about the sprockets 162 and 153, as is illustrated in Fig. 8. When the shaft 133 is rotated 180 in the opposite direction from its transport position shown in Fig. 8, the shuttle 167 will be 15 shifted in the opposite transverse direction to fully extend the pan support arms 53, I into a storage compartment at the opposite side of the aisle.
For every inch the shuttle 167 moves on the tracks 37, 38, the intermediate rains 56, 56' will 20 simultaneously move two inches, and the pan support rails 56, 56' will move four inches in the same direction as the shuttle moves.
When extracting a pan I from a storage compartment in a rack structure, the crane and carriage 25 are positioned so that upon extension of the arms 53, 54 they will be beneath the lips of the selected pan. Upon raising the carriage 31 a short distance, the rails 56, 56' of the arms 54, 53 will engage the underside of the lips 62, 76 and the pan will be raised from the support 30 bars 84 a sufficient distance so that the pan bottom will clear the support bars 84 during retraction of the arms and pan from the storage compartment. Registration of the rib cavities 78, 78' with the projections 81, 81' prevents relative movement between the pan 64 and the 35 pan support rails 56, 56' during a storage or extraction operation or during transport of the pan by the crane.
An alternate extractor 301 is illustrated in Fig. 14 wherein a reversible electric drive motor 302 ~23~
and a pair of extensible and contractible pan support arms 303, 304 are mounted on a support structure extending forwardly from a carriage 307. The support structure includes a pair of horizontal forks 30B, 309 rigidly secured, as by welding, at their rear ends to the carriage 307. An L-shaped bracket 311 has a vertical leg welded to the arm 308 and the motor 302 is releasable secured to the horizontal leg of the bracket 311 by cap screws 312. Referring to the arm 30~, a pan 10 support rail 316 is supported on an intermediate rail 317 by vertical load bearing engagement between a set of upper horizontally spaced rollers 318 on the inter-mediate support and the upper and lower surfaces of a forwardly open groove 319 ion the pan support rail 316.
15 The intermediate rail 317 is supported on a base rail 321 of arm 304 by vertical load bearing engagement between lower horizontally spaced rollers 322 on the intermediate rail 317 and the top and bottom surfaces of a Eoewardly open groove 323 in base rail 321. The arm 20 303 is a reverse image of arm 304 with an intermediate rail 32~ carrying rollers 326 engaging groove 327 in pan support rail 328 and lower rollers, not shown, engaging a groove 329 in a base rail 331. A combined base rail reinforcing member and pan guide in the form of bar 332 25 is secured to the front of base rail 331 and presents tapered edges 333, 334 at its opposite ends. A similar bar, not shown, is secured to the rear side of base rail 321. Relative transverse shifting of the pan support rail 328 of the arm 303 relative to the intermediate 30 rail 324 is effected by a plurality of transversely spaced spur gears 336 meshing with a rack gear 337 on the bottom of the pan support rail 328 and a rack gear 338 on the top of base rail 331. The gears 336 are rotatable supported on shafts 339 mounted at their 35 opposite ends in a beam part 340 and a guide part 343 of the intermediate rail 324. Similarly a plurality of transversely spaced spur gears, not shown, are carried by shafts, not shown, whose ends are supported on a beam r7 I
part 344 and a guide part 345 of the intermediate rail 317 of the arm 304 and mesh with gear racks 341, 342 on the rails 316 and 321 of the extensible arm 30~. The power operated means for side shifting the extractor arms 303, 30~ includes the reversible electric motor 302 having a through shaft 346 to which a pair of double flanged drive sprockets 347, 34B are secured by keys for rotation therewith and a pair of endless double cog belts 351, 35~ driven by the sprockets 347, 348. Belt 10 352 is rekeyed about an idler pulley 353 and its upper run is maintained substantially horizontal by support rollers 354, 356, 357. An idler tensioning roller 358 engages the lower run of the belt 352. Support rollers 354, 357 are rotatable mounted on the ends of the forks 15 308, 309, respectively, and support roller 356 is rotatable supported on the base rail 321 by a bracket 361. The idler roller 353 is also rotatable supported on the base rail 321 by a bracket, which is not shown, but which is a reverse image of a bracket 362 supporting 20 the stub shaft 363 on which an idler pulley, not shown, for belt 351 is mounted. The tensioning pulley 358 is adjustable mounted on a bracket 364 depending from the front end of the fork 308. The outside cogs of the upper run of the belt 352 mesh with the teeth of a rack 25 gear 366 on a central reinforcing section or part 367 of the intermediate gall 317 of the extensible arm 304.
Similarly a rack gear, not shown, on a reinforcing part 368 of the intermediate rail 324 of the extensible arm 303 meshes with the teeth or cogs on the upper run of 30 the drive belt 351. The drive belt 351 is supported in its upper run by a support roller 371 rotatable mounted on a bracket 372 welded to the underside of the base rail 331 A low friction replaceable wear pad 373 is releasable secured to the top side of the fork 308 below 35 the upper run of the belt 351 and a similar wear pad, now shown, is fastened to the top side of the fork 303 in upward confronting relation to the underside of the upper run of the belt 351. The wear pads, which may be I
made of a low friction high density plastic, serve to maintain engagement of the upper run of the belt 351 with the gear rack, not shown, on the intermediate rail 324.
: During operation, clockwise rotation of the motor shaft 346 causes the upper run of the belt 352 to move to the right toward one side of the extractor thereby causing the intermediate rail 317 to also move in that direction. The gears, not shown, on the intermediate rail 317 cause the pan support rail 316 to move twice the 10 distance in the same direction relative to the base rail 321 as the intermediate rail 317 is moved relative to the base rail 321. When the extractor 301 has been extended in such one direction to the position illustrated, automatic controls, not shown, Jill stop the motor and after a preprogrammed lifting or lowering of the carriage 307 for a pan extraction or a pan depositing function, the motor will be reversed and the extractor contracted to non extended condition wherein the extractor and any pan thereon will not interfere with the racks and pans stored in the racks when the extractor is transported down the aisle by the crane, not shown, on which the carriage 307 is mounted.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
The prior art extractor mechanism illustrated in Figs. 15 17 includes a base frame 401 having a pair of base rails 402, 403 interconnected by a base plate 404.
Rollers 406, 407 support the rails 408, 409 of a first intermediate shuttle section 411 for horizontal reciprocating movement Rollers 416, 417 on rails 418, 419 of a second intermediate shuttle section 421 engage horizontal grooves in rails 408, 409 to permit relative horizontal reciprocation between shuttle sections 411 and 421. Rails 426, 427 of a third intermediate shuttle 428 are eeciprocatingl~ carried on rollers 429, 431 mounted on the rails 418, 419 and a load platform 436 is supported through rollers 437, 438 on rails 441, 442 of the platform 436 cooperating with laterally inner grooves in the I-section rails 426, 427 of shuttle section 428.
- I -The rails 408 and 409 are interconnected by a horizontal plate 444 to which a pair of pulleys aye, 447 and four sets of parallel bars 448, 449, 451, 452, 453, 454, 456, 457 are secured. When the bars are engaged by one of the two cam rollers 461, 462 on an operating disc 463, the shuttle section 411 will be shifted laterally relative to the hoist on which the extractor mechanism is carried. The disc 463 is secured to a shaft 466 to which a pair of sprockets 467, 468 are secured. The sprocket 467 is driven by an electric motor 471 through a gear-type speed reducer 472 having an output shaft carrying a drive sprocket 473 connected to sprocket 467 by an endless drive chain 474. The sprocket 468 drives a timing mechanism 476 through a timing chain 477.
- 15 Referring particularly to Fig. 16, when the disc 463 is rotated clockwise 180~, the bars 451, 452 will be moved to the position occupied by rails 453, 454 and gemming roller 462 will enter between rails 448 and 449 which will have moved to the position of rails 451, 452 illustrated in Fig. 16. In this condition of side shifting, the load on the platform 436 will be shifted to the first load in racks position as illustrated in Fig.
17. If a second 180 of clockwise rotation is imparted to the disc 463/ the gemming roller 462 will move the bars 448, 449 to the position occupied by bars 453, 454 - in Fig. 16. In this condition of side shifted adjustment, the load will be in the second load in racks position illustrates in Fig. 17. It should be understood that counterclockwise rotation of the operating disc 463 causes the shuttle to extend in the opposite lateral direction whereby loads may be stored in or retrieved from rack compartments on both sides of the aisle of the storage facility.
Claims (15)
1. A tote pan extractor for an automated handling system to be carried by a crane so as to traverse vertically and horizontally along an aisle aligned on each side with storage racks including a plurality of vertical storage compartments there-along; said extractor comprising:
a pair of relatively narrow parallel extensible and retractable pan support structures including a pair of parallel and horizontally dis-posed base rails fixed to said carriage, said base rails being spaced from one another in the longi-tudinal direction of said aisle and disposed trans-verse to said aisle, an extensible and retractable tote pan support rail in a vertically juxtaposed relation to each of said base rails, an extensible and retractable intermediate rail in juxtaposed relation to each of said base rails and its associated pan support rail, first vertical load transferring bearing means between each of said base rails and its asso-ciatd intermediate rail permitting relative hori-zontal movement therebetween in a direction trans-verse to said aisle, second vertical load transferring bearing means between each of said intermediate rails and its associated pan support rail permitting relative horizontal movement therebetween in a direction transverse to said aisle, said first and second bearing means of each support structure being in general vertical alignment, guide means maintaining each of said intermediate rails in alignment with its associated base rail and each of said pan support rails in alignment with its associated intermediate rail, said narrow parallel pan support struc-tures defining an open space therebetween for receiving a tote pan suspended in said open space, and power operated means on said carriage operable to selectively extend and retract in unison said pan support rails horizontally relative to said intermediate rails and simultaneously extend and retract in unison said intermediate rails hori-zontally relative to said base rails.
a pair of relatively narrow parallel extensible and retractable pan support structures including a pair of parallel and horizontally dis-posed base rails fixed to said carriage, said base rails being spaced from one another in the longi-tudinal direction of said aisle and disposed trans-verse to said aisle, an extensible and retractable tote pan support rail in a vertically juxtaposed relation to each of said base rails, an extensible and retractable intermediate rail in juxtaposed relation to each of said base rails and its associated pan support rail, first vertical load transferring bearing means between each of said base rails and its asso-ciatd intermediate rail permitting relative hori-zontal movement therebetween in a direction trans-verse to said aisle, second vertical load transferring bearing means between each of said intermediate rails and its associated pan support rail permitting relative horizontal movement therebetween in a direction transverse to said aisle, said first and second bearing means of each support structure being in general vertical alignment, guide means maintaining each of said intermediate rails in alignment with its associated base rail and each of said pan support rails in alignment with its associated intermediate rail, said narrow parallel pan support struc-tures defining an open space therebetween for receiving a tote pan suspended in said open space, and power operated means on said carriage operable to selectively extend and retract in unison said pan support rails horizontally relative to said intermediate rails and simultaneously extend and retract in unison said intermediate rails hori-zontally relative to said base rails.
2. The extractor of claim 1 wherein said first bearing means includes wall means on said base rail defining a horizontal groove therealong having vertically spaced upper and lower horizontal bearing surfaces facing one another and a plurality of rollers rotatably mounted on said intermediate rail disposed on horizontally spaced parallel axes, said rollers being in rolling vertical load bearing engagement with said bearing surfaces and operable with the latter to vertically support said inter-mediate rail on said base rail during operation of the extractor and wherein said second bearing means includes wall means on said pan support rail defin-ing a horizontal groove therealong having vertically spaced upper and lower horizontal bearing surfaces facing one another and a plurality of rollers rotat-ably mounted on said intermediate support rails disposed on horizontally spaced parallel axes, said rollers being in rolling vertical load bearing engagement with said bearing surfaces and operable with the latter to vertically support said pan support rail on said intermediate rail during oper-ation of the extractor, said grooves of said first and second bearing means opening in the same outward horizontal direction and said rollers of said second bearing means being vertically above and in general vertical alignment with said rollers of said first bearing means.
3. The extractor of claim 2 wherein said intermediate rail includes a horizontally narrow beam having an upper portion disposed in adjacent lapped relation to an outer side of said pan support rail and a lower portion disposed in adjacent lapped relation to an outer side of said base rail and wherein said rollers of said first bearing means are mounted on said upper portion of said beam and said rollers of said second bearing means are mounted on said lower portion of said beam.
4. The extractor of claim 3 wherein said upper and lower portions of said beam present slide surfaces in horizontal thrust transmitting relation to confronting slide surfaces on said pan support rail and base rail, respectively, and wherein said intermediate rail includes guide parts rigidly secured to said beam and presenting slide surfaces in horizontal thrust transmitting relation to con-fronting slide surfaces on horizontally inner sides of said pan support and base rails, respectively, said guide surfaces serving to maintain said rails in aligned relation to one another during operation of said extractor.
5. The extractor of claim 4 wherein each said pan support rails is spaced vertically above the associated base rail and wherein the associated intermediate rail includes connector means disposed in the vertical space between the associated pan support and base rails which serves to rigidly secure the guide parts and beam of the associated intermediate rail in horizontally spaced relation to one another.
6. The extractor of claim 5 wherein the top of said connector means is spaced from the underside of the associated pan support rail to define an upper passageway and the bottom of said connector means is spaced above the top of the associated base rail to define a lower passageway, and wherein said power operated means includes first and second pairs of pulleys rotatably mounted on opposite end portions, respectively, of said intermediate rails on horizontal axes extending transverse to the direction of movement of said intermediate rails during extension and retraction thereof, a first pair of flexible motion transmitting elements having first corresponding ends cured, respectively, to corresponding ends of said pan support rails at one side of said extractor and extending, respectively, through said upper passageways, thence about said pulleys at the opposite side of said extractor thence through said lower passageways, ending with second corresponding ends secured, respectively, to the corresponding ends of said base rails at said one side of said extractor, and a second pair of flexible motion transmitting elements having first corresponding ends secured, respectively, to corres-ponding ends of said pan support rails at said opposite side of said extractor and extending, res-pectively, through said upper passageways thence, respectively, about said pulleys at said one side of said extractor thence through said lower passageway, ending with second corresponding ends secured, res-pectively, to the corresponding ends of said base rail at said opposite side of said extractor.
7. The extractor of claim 6 wherein each of said intermediate rails includes position adjustment means for one of said pulleys mounted thereon including a slide member rotatably mounting said one pulley and slidingly disposed between said guide parts and beam for horizontal movement transverse to said aisle and an extensible and retractable adjust-ment member mounted on said intermediate member and having a portion in horizontal thrust transmitting engagement with said slide member whereby said pulley is shiftable in a horizontal transverse direction upon extension of said adjustment member thereby tensioning the associated flexible element.
8. The extractor of claim 3 wherein a reinforcing structure is rigidly secured to each of said beams at their outer sides, said reinforcing structure being shorter than said beam so as not to extend into said storage racks when said extractor is extended.
9 The extractor of claim 1 wherein each of said intermediate rails includes a downwardly facing gear rack and wherein said power operated means includes gear means simultaneously driving said gear racks to move said intermediate rails in a selected direction.
10. The extractor of claim 1 wherein each of said intermediate rails includes a downwardly facing rack gear and said power operated means includes a through shaft reversible electric motor mounted on one side of said carriage with a pair of drive sprockets on the portions of said shaft at opposite ends of said motor, said motor shaft being hori-zontal and transverse to the direction of extension and retraction of said rails, a pair of idler pulleys rotatably mounted on the other side of said carriage on an axis parallel to the axis of said motor shaft, a pair of double cog endless drive belts reeved about said sprockets and idler pulleys whereby each belt presents an upper run and a lower run, said drive belts presenting inward facing cogs operatively engageable with said sprockets and out-ward facing cogs operatively engageable in the upper run of said belts with said rack gear and support means mounted on said carriage engaging the under-side of the upper runs of said belts to maintain said outward facing cogs in operative engagement with said gear rack.
11. The extractor of claim 1 and further comprising:
a carriage mounted on said crane in elevatable relation thereto having a support struc-ture extending horizontally in the direction of horizontal movement of said crane in said aisle, a pair of parallel horizontal tracks rigidly secured to said support structure and extending transverse to said aisle, a pair of horizontally extending frame members rigidly secured, respectively, to corres-ponding ends of said tracks, means rigidly securing corresponding ends, respectively, of said base rails to said frame members, and said power operated means including:
a shuttle reciprocatingly mounted on said tracks, a motion transmitting means operable to reciprocate said shuttle on said tracks, first and second pairs of shuttle pulleys with horizontal axes extending in the direction of said aisle rotatably mounted, respectively, at opposite transverse sides of said shuttle, a first pair of flexible motion trans-mitting members having first corresponding ends secured to one transverse side of said carriage and extending about the pair of shuttle pulleys remote from said one transverse side of said carriage thence to second corresponding ends secured, res-pectively, to said intermediate rails, and a second pair of flexible motion trans-mitting members having first corresponding ends secured to the other transverse side of said carriage and extending about the other pair of shuttle pulleys thence to second corresponding ends secured, respectively, to said intermediate rails.
a carriage mounted on said crane in elevatable relation thereto having a support struc-ture extending horizontally in the direction of horizontal movement of said crane in said aisle, a pair of parallel horizontal tracks rigidly secured to said support structure and extending transverse to said aisle, a pair of horizontally extending frame members rigidly secured, respectively, to corres-ponding ends of said tracks, means rigidly securing corresponding ends, respectively, of said base rails to said frame members, and said power operated means including:
a shuttle reciprocatingly mounted on said tracks, a motion transmitting means operable to reciprocate said shuttle on said tracks, first and second pairs of shuttle pulleys with horizontal axes extending in the direction of said aisle rotatably mounted, respectively, at opposite transverse sides of said shuttle, a first pair of flexible motion trans-mitting members having first corresponding ends secured to one transverse side of said carriage and extending about the pair of shuttle pulleys remote from said one transverse side of said carriage thence to second corresponding ends secured, res-pectively, to said intermediate rails, and a second pair of flexible motion trans-mitting members having first corresponding ends secured to the other transverse side of said carriage and extending about the other pair of shuttle pulleys thence to second corresponding ends secured, respectively, to said intermediate rails.
12. The extractor of claim 11 wherein said intermediate rails each include a horizontally narrow beam extending the length of said rail and a reinforcing structure secured to an outer side of said beam and extending only along an intermediate portion thereof so as not to extend into said storage racks when said extractor is extended, said second corresponding ends of said first and second pairs of flexible members being secured, respect-ively, to opposite transverse ends of said reinforc-ing structures.
13. The extractor of claim 11 wherein one of said tracks presents a first pair of oppositely facing upper and lower bearing surfaces and a second pair of bearing surfaces facing opposite to one another in the direction of said aisle and the other track presents an upward facing bearing surface and a downward facing bearing surface and wherein said shuttle includes thrust transmitting guide com-ponents in cooperative engagement with said bearing surfaces whereby said shuttle during its recipro-cation on said tracks is guided horizontally and transversely on said one track and only horizontally on said other track.
14. A tote pan extractor on a carriage for an automated handling system to be carried by a crane so as to traverse vertically and horizontally along an aisle aligned on each side with storage racks including a plurality of vertical storage compart-ments therealong; said extractor comprising:
a pair of relatively narrow parallel extensible and retractable pan support structures including a pair of parallel and horizontally extending base rails fixed to said carriage, said base rails being spaced from one another in the longitudinal direction of said aisle and disposed transverse to said aisle, an extensible and retractable tote pan support rail spaced above and parallel to each of said base rails, and an extensible and retractable intermediate rail in juxtaposed relation to each of said base rails and its associated pan support rail, and power operated means on said carriage operable to selectively extend and retract in unison said pan support rails horizontally relative to said intermediate rails and simultaneously extend and retract in unison said intermediate rails hori-zontally relative to said base rails, said power operated means including a pair of transverse horizontal tracks extending parallel to and below said pan support structures, a shuttle reciprocably mounted on said tracks for horizontal transverse movement thereon, first and second pairs of shuttle pulleys with horizontal axes extending in the longitudinal direction of said aisle rotatably mounted, respect-ively, at opposite transverse sides of said shuttle, a first pair of flexible motion trans-mitting members having first corresonding ends secured to one tranverse side of said carriage and extending about the pair of shuttle pulleys remote from said one transverse side of said carriage thence to second corresponding ends secured, respectively to said intermediate rails, and a second pair of flexible motion trans-mitting members having first corresponding ends secured to the other transverse side of said carriage and extending about the other pair of shuttle pulleys thence to second corresponding ends secured, respectively, to said intermediate rails.
a pair of relatively narrow parallel extensible and retractable pan support structures including a pair of parallel and horizontally extending base rails fixed to said carriage, said base rails being spaced from one another in the longitudinal direction of said aisle and disposed transverse to said aisle, an extensible and retractable tote pan support rail spaced above and parallel to each of said base rails, and an extensible and retractable intermediate rail in juxtaposed relation to each of said base rails and its associated pan support rail, and power operated means on said carriage operable to selectively extend and retract in unison said pan support rails horizontally relative to said intermediate rails and simultaneously extend and retract in unison said intermediate rails hori-zontally relative to said base rails, said power operated means including a pair of transverse horizontal tracks extending parallel to and below said pan support structures, a shuttle reciprocably mounted on said tracks for horizontal transverse movement thereon, first and second pairs of shuttle pulleys with horizontal axes extending in the longitudinal direction of said aisle rotatably mounted, respect-ively, at opposite transverse sides of said shuttle, a first pair of flexible motion trans-mitting members having first corresonding ends secured to one tranverse side of said carriage and extending about the pair of shuttle pulleys remote from said one transverse side of said carriage thence to second corresponding ends secured, respectively to said intermediate rails, and a second pair of flexible motion trans-mitting members having first corresponding ends secured to the other transverse side of said carriage and extending about the other pair of shuttle pulleys thence to second corresponding ends secured, respectively, to said intermediate rails.
15. The extractor of claim 14 wherein one of said tracks presents a first pair of oppositely facing upper and lower bearing surfaces and a second pair of bearing surfaces facing opposite to one another in the longitudinal direction of said aisle and the other track presents an upward facing bear-ing surface and a downward facing bearing surface and wherein said shuttle includes thrust trans-mitting guide components in cooperative engagement with said bearing surfaces whereby said shuttle during its reciprocation on said tracks is guided horizontally and transversely on said one track and only horizontally on said other track.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000532658A CA1234768A (en) | 1983-05-31 | 1987-03-20 | Warehouse system with pan extractor mechanism |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US49954383A | 1983-05-31 | 1983-05-31 | |
| US499,543 | 1983-05-31 | ||
| CA000453803A CA1224425A (en) | 1983-05-31 | 1984-05-08 | Warehouse system with pan extractor mechanism |
| CA000532658A CA1234768A (en) | 1983-05-31 | 1987-03-20 | Warehouse system with pan extractor mechanism |
Related Parent Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000453803A Division CA1224425A (en) | 1983-05-31 | 1984-05-08 | Warehouse system with pan extractor mechanism |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1234768A true CA1234768A (en) | 1988-04-05 |
Family
ID=25670384
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000532658A Expired CA1234768A (en) | 1983-05-31 | 1987-03-20 | Warehouse system with pan extractor mechanism |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1234768A (en) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN108033249A (en) * | 2018-01-15 | 2018-05-15 | 昆山精讯电子技术有限公司 | A kind of carrying mechanism |
| CN110921167A (en) * | 2019-11-22 | 2020-03-27 | 重庆市伟岸测器制造股份有限公司 | Flowmeter assembly and warehousing assembly line |
-
1987
- 1987-03-20 CA CA000532658A patent/CA1234768A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN108033249A (en) * | 2018-01-15 | 2018-05-15 | 昆山精讯电子技术有限公司 | A kind of carrying mechanism |
| WO2019137123A1 (en) * | 2018-01-15 | 2019-07-18 | 苏州精濑光电有限公司 | Carrying mechanism |
| CN108033249B (en) * | 2018-01-15 | 2024-02-13 | 苏州精濑光电有限公司 | Conveying mechanism |
| CN110921167A (en) * | 2019-11-22 | 2020-03-27 | 重庆市伟岸测器制造股份有限公司 | Flowmeter assembly and warehousing assembly line |
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