FR2548882A1 - COMPLETELY AUTOMATIC STORE - Google Patents

Abstract

THE INVENTION RELATES TO A FULLY AUTOMATIC STORE. THE STORE INCLUDES A STORAGE VOLUME 1 CONSISTING OF ONE OR MORE CRATES 10 OF A TRANSPORTABLE SIZE WHICH ARE PROVIDED WITH BOXES 3 FOR STORING ARTICLES; THE STORAGE VOLUME FURTHER INCLUDES AT LEAST ONE CRANE BRIDGE 2 WHICH CAN REACH ANY DESIRED POSITION IN THE LOCKERS AND A DRIVING STATION 5 SERVING TO CONTROL THE OPERATION OF THE CRANE BRIDGE; THE STORE MAY FURTHER INCLUDE A VERTICALLY MOVABLE ELEVATOR 4 TO RECEIVE ARTICLES OR UNLOAD THEM AT THE UPPER END OF THE STORE AND TO TRANSFER THE ARTICLES TO OR FROM THE CRANES IN A LOWER POSITION; THE STORE CAN BE INSTALLED ON THE GROUND OR BURIED IN THE GROUND.

Description

The present invention relates to a fully automatic magazine for

  store and control items, and it relates more specifically to a full-size, small automatic store suitable for use in dwellings or offices. The case with a general-purpose dwelling house is often met with the fact that too many household items, such as furniture, children's items, clothing, books, bedding, etc., occupy the home. space of the house and do not allow to use parts effectively or to maintain the rooms clean and comfortable or to have an easy access to articles

  The same considerations may apply to offices or shops.

  To solve these problems, it can be proposed to use a multi-floor automatic warehouse that is usually employed in a factory, etc. However, this type of automatic warehouse is usually manufactured in a place where it must be installed and as a result it is of a high price In addition such a store is not suitable in structure for personal use and it requires a space

  greatly expanded for its installation.

  It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a prefabricated fully automatic warehouse which can be mass-produced in a factory and therefore can be produced at a reasonable cost while being easily installed at any desired location, for example example in

  below ground to gain space on the floor for the installation of the store.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a fully automatic magazine comprising a storage space composed of one or more boxes of a transportable size, each of which is provided with compartments for storing articles, at least one traveling crane disposed in said storage volume and arranged to move in order to transport items to be stored in the bins or to take items stored in the bins, and a driving position to control the overhead crane so as to transport the items to and from a

  desired position in the lockers.

  Other features and advantages of the invention will be highlighted in the following

  description, given by way of non-limiting example, in

  1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a form of a fully automatic magazine according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the fully automatic magazine, taken along the line; II-II of Fig 1, Figure 3 is a plan view, partly broken away, of the fully automatic magazine of Fig 1, Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the fully automatic magazine of Fig 1, the figure 5 is a perspective view of a fully automatic magazine operator station, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing schematically the positions of the bins, FIGS. 7 and 8 are perspective views of pallets for placement in the bins. Fig. 9 is an explanatory view showing an example of installation of the fully automatic magazine of Fig. 1; Fig. 10 is a perspective view of another form of a magazine completely at Fig. 11 is a partially cut away plan view of the fully automatic magazine of Fig. 10, Figs. 12 and 13 are similar plan views and partly cut away from other forms of the fully automatic magazine according to the invention. FIG. 14 is an enlarged partial sectional view of box coupling parts constituting a storage volume, FIG. 15 is a longitudinal sectional view of the fully automatic magazine of FIG. 10, FIG. 16 is a longitudinal sectional view of a box usable in the present invention, FIG. 17 is a side elevational view and partly broken away of yet another form of the fully automatic magazine according to the invention, FIG. perspective view of yet another form of the fully automatic magazine according to the invention, Fig. 19 is a side elevational view of yet another form of the completely auto magazine. according to the invention,

  Figure 20 is a longitudinal sectional view of yet another form of the autodomatic magazine according to the invention.

  In Figures 1 to 9, there is shown a mode

  embodiment of the present invention.

  A fully automatic magazine corresponding to this embodiment comprises a storage volume 1 which is formed of a box 10, a crane 2, lockers 3

and an elevator 4.

  The box 10 has a hermetically sealed structure except for an opening 11 and it has a size allowing its transport for example by a truck The size of the box 10 corresponds for example to a height of about 2 meters, a width of about 2 meters and a length of about 6 meters The frame of the box 10 preferably has a sufficient resistance to absorb the pressure exerted by the ground when it is buried in the ground, as will be described in the following For this reason, the box is formed for example of a rectangular frame and panels of iron or polyvinyl chloride which are fixed thereto The box 10 may have a double wall structure, a thermal insulation means being interposed between

the walls.

  Inside the box 10, the crane 2, such as a stacker bridge, is arranged in a space 13 defined by the compartments 3 which are arranged on the opposite sides of the box 10 so as to extend Essentially along its length The compartments 3 are open on their sides adjacent to the space 13 so as to allow the introduction of articles in the lockers or the extraction of said articles out of the lockers The lockers 3 can be divided into numbers of sections 3a and they may be partitioned by walls, depending on existing needs. The traveling crane 2 is arranged to move along a track formed inside the space 13 In the embodiment shown, the bridge 2 moves in a longitudinal direction of the box 10 along rails 10 14, 14 placed in the center of a floor of the body and along a guide rail 15 placed in the center of a ceiling of the body 10 The crane 2 comprises a base 21 which is arranged to move upwardly and downwardly along a frame of the crane 2 The base 21 comprises a gripping means 22 through which an article B held on the base 21 is transferred into the rack 3 or a item B in bin 3 is transferred to base 21 of crane 2 These operations are automatically performed in response to a signal provided by an instruction part of a driving position 5, as will be described in detail in the following. At a longitudinal end of the box 10, there is provided in the center a space 12 allowing the elevator 4 to move upwards and downwards. In the embodiment shown, the space 12 communicates at its end. In this arrangement, the elevator 4 is associated with the traveling crane 2 so as to join it in predetermined vertical positions of the latter. The elevator 4 may be a freight elevator having a base 41 which is arranged to move up and down to receive an article to be stored from outside or to unload an article from the storage volume 1 at the upper end of the magazine The elevator 4 comprises in addition a transfer device 42, for example a fork, for transferring an article on the base 41 to the base 21 of the traveling crane 2, or to receive an article

  from the base 21 of the traveling crane 2.

  As described above, the traveling crane 2, the bins 3 and the elevator 4 are defined in a preliminary manner

  in the box 10 so as to form the storage volume 1.

  Consequently the storage volume, transportable for example by a truck, can be prefabricated at the factory and produced in series. When it is necessary to install the magazine according to the present invention below the ground and when there is a considerable distance between the floor surface and the upper part of the body 10, it is possible to use in combination another unit separated from the body

  so as to form an extension of the passage of the elevator 4 This separate unit may comprise the driving station 5.

  On the opposite sides of the space 12 are formed spaces 16 and 17 for the installation of pipes of an air conditioner, electrical devices, a backup ladder, wiring of the instruc20 tion part of the driving position 5, etc. As shown in Figures 1, 4 and 5, the driving position 5 is associated with the storage volume 1 to form a store The driving position 5 comprises the instruction part 51 used to control the traveling crane 2 and the elevator 4 and a door 52 for receiving or discharging the articles. When this driving position 5 is incorporated in the unit which is provided with the extension of the passage of the elevator 4 as described above, this unit can be assembled, at the place of installation of the store, with the box, for example in the opening 11 of the box 10 The wiring, the pipes and the links of the guide rails of the elevator 4 can be made after this assembly Alternatively, the driving position 5 can be incorporated in the box 10 when this post is not very bulky. The door 52 is used to unload an article on the base 41 of the elevator 4 or to receive an article therefrom, as described above. The door 52 may comprise a panel. The panel may be arranged so as to it can be opened only by an instruction provided by the instruction part 51 of the driving position 52 In this case, the items stored in the storage volume 1 can be protected against theft. The instruction part 51 comprises contactors, a keypad and a microprocessor, if necessary, for remotely controlling the traveling crane 2, the elevator 4, the gripping means 22 and the transfer means 42. now describe with reference to Figure 6 the operation of the instruction part 41 for the

  order of the discharge of articles.

  The traveling crane 2 executes a horizontal movement from a first row to a tenth row of bins 3 and a vertical movement from a first stage to a fourth stage of bins 3 The elevator 4 makes a vertical movement in the row O from the first floor to the fourth floor, and further up to a floor E. The elevator 4 performs the transfer of articles in an OE block, that is to say the intersection of the row O

  and the stage O with respect to the door 52, and in a block 404 with respect to the traveling crane 2 placed in a block 1 4.

  The crane 2 in turn ensures the transfer of the articles relative to a desired block of the lockers, located on one side or

the other.

  More specifically, for transporting articles to the bins 3, a transport control contactor forming part of the instruction part 51 is actuated to bring the traveling crane 2 onto the block 1 4 and to bring the elevator 4 up to to the OE block in order to unload the items on the base 41 of the elevator 4 When a key associated with a block in which the articles are to be transmitted is depressed, the elevator 4 is lowered to block 0 4 of way to transfer articles

  until crane 2 which is immobilized in block 1 4.

  The transfer of the articles to the base 22 of the traveling crane 2 is effected for example by the transfer device 42 Then the traveling crane 2 moves to the desired block and stops before the desired section 3a of the rack 3 The articles on the base 21 of the traveling crane 2 are grasped by the gripping means 22 and are

  transferred or pushed into section 3a of the bin.

  So the storage operation is complete.

  To output the stored items from the bin 3, an extraction control switch is first actuated and a key corresponding to a block (for example a block 9.3 of Fig. 1, from which the items are to be evacuated, is The result is that the movable bridge 2 is actuated to position the base 21 in front of the desired section 3a of the rack 3 Then the gripping device 22 removes the articles from the section 3a and places them on the base 21 The overhead crane 2 then moves horizontally to a block 1 3 The items on the base 21 of the crane 2 are transferred by the transfer device 42 to the base 41 of the elevator 4 which has been previously brought up to block O 3 After receiving the items, the elevator 4 goes up to the block OE, where the articles are released through the door 52 of the

driving position 5.

  The articles can be handled via a container 61 formed for example of plastic material and which is placed on an L-shaped pallet 6. This container 61 is suitable for containing

  ordinary clothing, bedding items such as blankets, etc., children's items or the like.

  For small items, for books and other items that are frequently needed, these can be

  stored in a pallet 6 having compartments 62.

  The pallets 6 each comprise a coupling element (not shown) on their respective end faces, said element being arranged to cooperate for example with a rod of the gripping device 22 which can be exited by a cylinder, etc. The gripping means 22 and the transfer means 42 may be constituted by a pinch member or an adhering member which

  is attached to an upper end of the cylinder rod.

  The pallet 6 may comprise rollers which come into contact with one or more guide rails provided in each section 3a of the rack 3 in order to facilitate the entry or exit of the pallet 6 with respect to the section 3a of the rack 3 Articles can obviously be stored in each of sections 3a without the use

  pallet 6 or container 61.

  The box 10 has on its upper surface several rings 18 in which can engage for example the hooks of a crane or a crane to transport the storage volume 1 prefabricated at the factory onto a truck or to unload this storage volume 1 at a place where said storage volume 1 must

be installed.

  For the installation of the storage volume according to the present invention, a hole is for example dug below a floor F of a dwelling house, etc., and is preferably coated with concrete to form a space The storage volume 1 is placed in the space 23 so as to have the driving station 5 in a suitable position in the house. The intervals existing around the storage volume 1, as shown in FIG. that is, the box 10, are preferably filled with concrete. The passage for the elevator 4 can be extended in a room, etc., via an opening F 1 of the floor F from the box 10, as shown in Fig 9 In this case, the box 10 can be completely buried below the ground and the driving position 5 can be placed above the floor F. Alternatively, the storage volume 1 can simply be placed on the floor in the background, etc. In this case, the The driving position 5 can be arranged inside a room, etc., through the wall of the dwelling house and a traveling crane associated with the elevator 4 can move

in the horizontal direction.

  FIGS. 10 and 11 show another embodiment of the present invention, in which a fully automatic magazine is composed of a storage volume 1 formed of a plurality of boxes 1 Oa, lob and 10c, of a unit 7 intended to contain an elevator 4 and a unit intended to contain a driving position 5 The boxes 1 Oa, lob and 10c are each made with a transportable size and they each comprise openings placed at opposite ends in the horizontal direction while flanges 19 are formed around the peripheries of the respective apertures These boxes 1 Oa, lob and 10c are associated in the horizontal direction through the respective flanges 19 to form the storage volume 1. Rails 14, 14 provided on floors of the respective cases 1a, lob and 10c are aligned with each other and extend along the length of the storage volume. The end of the box 10c is provided with a wall member for closing the storage volume 1 while an opposite end of the box 1a is associated with the unit 7 for the installation of the elevator 4 in the magazine The driving position 5 is positioned on the unit 7 The store thus arranged has essentially the same shape as the first embodiment, except on the storage volume consists of several boxes 10a, lob and 10c and that the elevator 4 is arranged in

  the separate unit of the storage volume 1.

  FIG. 12 shows a modification of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. In this modification, a storage volume 1 is formed of boxes 1 Oa and lob and two units 7 each containing an elevator 4 are coupled with the volume of storage 1 at its opposite ends. FIG. 13 shows another modification of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. In this modification, two traveling cranes 2.2 and two sets of guide rails 14a, 14b are arranged inside a storage volume 1 which is formed of boxes 1 Oa ', l Ob', 1 Oc 'and Od' and three bins 3,3, 3 are provided in association

  with the traveling cranes 2, 2 In this case, the central rack 3 can be accessible by one or the other of the cranes 2 Two units 7, 7 are coupled with the storage volume 1 so as to be associated with the respective traveling cranes 2.2.

  To couple the boxes to form a storage space 1 as described above, the coupling flanges may for example have a structure such as that shown in Fig. 14 In this example, the boxes 10 are closely coupled to each other. with each other via a female flange 19a and a male flange

19 b fixed by a bolt 19 c.

  As shown in FIG. 14, walls of the boxes 10 may each be formed of an outer member 101, an inner member 102 and an intermediate member 103. An aggregate may also be used in the wall. 3 provided inside the boxes 10, 10 are associated with the aid of a bolt 31, as shown in Fig 14 Guide rails (not shown) for a crane 2 can be connected together

in a similar way.

  Figure 15 is a longitudinal sectional view of the magazine of Figures 10 and 11 is designated by 10 e a wall panel fixed on the end of the box l Oc to close the storage volume 1 instead of using the panel 1 Oe, we can use instead of the box l Oc

  another type of box having an end wall.

  Figure 16 shows a detailed structure of a box 10 used for example in the embodiment of Figures 11 and 12 The box 10 has openings 11, 11 at opposite ends in the horizontal direction and flanges 19, 19 surrounding the peripheries of the respective apertures 11, 11 A tray 3 can be cut by plates 3a, 3b in a manner suitable for the use of the tray 3 If necessary, a large volume can be reserved as indicated in the lower part of FIGS. left of the box

in Figure 16.

  In FIG. 17, another embodiment of the present invention is represented. Several cases 1 Oa, 1 Ob, 1 Oc and 1 Od are placed one on the other so as to form a storage volume 1. The boxes may be locked to one another by means of suitable means such as projections and depressions formed respectively on the lower parts of the boxes L and each having an opening 11 which is provided with the inside of the box. The unit 7 extends to the storage unit 1 so that the elevator has any of the crates 1a to 1 Od 2 provided in each of the crates. In FIG. 17, a station (upper parts of the boxes) is in communication with which a height of the volume 4 can be accessed, and a crane with a cold-running embodiment at the base of the magazine. , by being installed on the ground or As a variant, the driver's station 5 can be installed at the top of the magazine, as shown in FIG. 18, so that the magazine can be placed below the ground. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 18, boxes of different heights are stacked one on the other to form a storage space so that for example small items can be stored in a low box such that crate l Od and that large items 25 can be stored in a high box such as the

checkout l Oa.

  According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of small boxes may be associated in the horizontal direction to form a magazine having a desired length, as shown in FIG.

from the store can be facilitated.

  In Fig. 20, there is shown yet another embodiment of the present invention, wherein a box 10 f is reserved for use as a shelter or shelter. An air conditioner or air purifier may be provided. in this volume It is obvious that a bed 8, a refrigerator, food products, water,

  etc. can be arranged or stored according to the existing necessities.

  Although the storage volumes of the embodiments described above consist of one or more boxes, they may be formed of one or more

cylindrical elements.

  As described above, in accordance with the present invention, the magazine can be easily installed using a prefabricated storage volume or prefabricated boxes or other units, so that the cost of the magazine can be considerably reduced. storage volume is formed of prefabricated boxes, it is easy to obtain a variety of profiles or dimensions Further store according to the present invention can be installed below the ground level and the corresponding space on the ground can be used effectively in

another goal.

Claims (11)

  1 completely automatic magazine, characterized in that it comprises: a storage volume (1) composed of one or more boxes (10) of a transportable size which are each provided with storage bins (3) for storing articles; at least one traveling crane (2) disposed in said storage space and arranged to be moved for transporting items to be stored in the bins (3) or for removing items stored in the bin; and a driving station (5) for controlling said traveling crane for transporting articles to and from a   desired position in the lockers.   2 completely automatic magazine according to claim 15, characterized in that it further comprises at least one elevator (4) which is arranged to move up and down under the control of the driving position (5). in order to receive from the outside, or to discharge outwards, the articles at the upper end of the magazine, and to transfer the articles between the   crane and elevator in a lower position.   3 completely automatic magazine according to claim 2, characterized in that said storage volume   (1), said driving station (5) and said elevator (4) are all placed in a crate (10) of a transportable size.   4 completely automatic magazine according to claim 2, characterized in that said storage volume (1) and said driving station (5) are formed respectively of units separated from each other.   A fully automatic magazine according to claim 2, characterized in that said storage volume (1), said driving station (5) and said elevator (4) are   forms respectively of units separated from each other.   6 completely automatic store according to claim 35, characterized in that said storage volume (1) is composed of a plurality of boxes (1 Oa, lob, l oc, l od) of a transportable size which are associated in the horizontal direction and in that the said storage volume (1) comprises a passage for the crane (2) which extends   essentially on the length of the storage volume (1).   A fully automatic magazine according to claim 2, characterized in that said storage volume 5 is composed of a plurality of crates (10a, lob, 10c, l Od) of a transportable size which are associated in the vertical direction , each of said boxes containing a crane (2), and said elevator (4) being arranged for   move on the height of the store.   A fully automatic magazine according to claim 6, characterized in that each of said boxes (10a, 10c, 10c, 10d) has apertures (11) formed at opposite ends in the horizontal direction and formed flanges (19). around the peripheries of the respective openings (11) and in that said boxes are connected to one another via the respective flanges. (19).   A fully automatic magazine according to claim 2, characterized in that said crane (2) comprises a base (21) on which the articles are held and a gripping element (22) for transferring the   articles between the base and the lockers (3).   A fully automatic magazine according to claim 2, characterized in that said elevator (4) comprises a base (41) for holding the articles thereon and a transport means (42) for transferring the articles between   the traveling crane (2) and the base (41) of the elevator (4).   11 Fully automatic magazine according to one   claims 4 or 5, characterized in that the volume   storage (1) is buried below the ground and that the   driving position (5) is placed above the ground.   12 completely automatic magazine according to claim 2, characterized in that the storage volume   has a space used as shelter.