GB2279341A

GB2279341A - Selecting and transporting objects in a warehouse

Info

Publication number: GB2279341A
Application number: GB9412852A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hubert Wallimann; Hermann Grebenstein
Original assignee: OWL AG LOGISTIK SYSTEME
Current assignee: OWL AG LOGISTIK SYSTEME
Priority date: 1993-06-28
Filing date: 1994-06-27
Publication date: 1995-01-04
Also published as: GB9412852D0; NL9401063A; DE4420286A1; FR2707611A1

Description

2279341 Device for Commissioning and Transporting Objects in a Warehouse

The invention relates to a device for commissioning and transporting objects in a warehouse using a truck and a conveyor system.

With known devices of this general type the commissioning truck proceeds along the aisle horizontally and is equipped with a vertically displaceable lift platform for the operator. A first conveyor belt conveys the commissioned article from the lift platform obliquely downwards onto a second fixed conveyor belt running horizontally which conveys the articles on to the end of the aisle where commissioning is taking place. The first conveyor belt running obliquely is articulated on the lift platform and must be lifted together with it.

Other solutions make use, rather than of the first conveyor belt running obliquely, of a spiral chute or a paternoster in order to overcome the variable height difference in relation to the second conveyor belt.

A disadvantage with the known device is that the sum of the masses to be moved horizontally consists of the commissioning truck, its lift mast for the lifting movement, the lift platform, the conveyor belt running obliquely and the lift control system.

The object of the present invention is the provision of a device which exhibits lower masses to be moved horizontally and consequently enables a simpler and lighter method of construction.

According to the invention there is provided a device for commissioning and transporting objects in a warehouse by means of a commissioning truck proceeding along the aisles between rows of shelving, comprising:

a horizontal conveyor for arrangement along an aisle; means for displacing the conveyor vertically, and a commissioning truck capable of being displaced in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor.

As a result of the design of the device in accordance with the invention, the lift function is transferred to the static component, for instance to a device fixed to the shelving itself. This means that the conveyor, which can be a belt running horizontally, acts as a lift platform, so that the commissioning truck has to execute only the horizontal movement and consequently, as a result of the lower masses to be moved, all moving parts can be of lightweight construction.

The conveyor can be constructed to include means for guiding the truck for instance it can have a pair of rails on either side above the conveyor belt itself, on which the truck runs. Raising and lowering of the conveyor is preferably by means of a single drive and a number of vertical chains or cables distributed along the length of the conveyor, all connected to the drive.

The truck itself may have any conventional drive for its horizontal movement. The invention is represented in the accompanying drawings in simplified manner by way of example and is described below. Illustrated are: Fig. 1 a side view of the device Fig. 2 a view from the front Fig. 3 the lift system in a side view Fig. 4 an embodiment of the drive for the lift system. 30 In the shelving 1 of a warehouse there are arranged pallets 2 with containers 3 in several rows above and alongside one another. In the containers 3 or directly on the pallets 2 there are stored the objects or articles to be commissioned - that is to say, withdrawn, examined and transported onward in accordance with a delivery order.

1 1 - . P Between every pair of adjacent rows of shelves 1A and 1B there is arranged in an aisle 4 a belt conveyor 5 running horizontally. The conveyor is suspended from the shelving 1 so as to be capable of moving vertically. The conveyor 5 is guided on two vertical guide rails 6 arranged and integrated on the shelving 1 on each side of the conveyor and is capable of being raised or lowered by means of a lift system 7 as shown in Figures 3 and 4, to be described below.

The conveyor belt 5 exhibits a frame construction having lateral portions 9 with rails 10 on which a commissioning truck 11 is capable of being displaced in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt 5, i.e.

of the shelves 1.

The commissioning truck 11 exhibits a work plane 12 for the operator and a chute 13 leading from this plane down to the conveyor belt 5; the chute is capable of being moved together with the commissioning truck 11, and the goods pass between the wheels of the truck.

In Figs. 3 and 4 two versions of the lift system 7 are shown, in both cases using a lift chain drive 8.

The lift chain drive 8 exhibits lift chains 14 which run vertically down to the conveyor 5 and are turned round so as to be horizontal above the uppermost rows of shelves by turning rollers 15 attached to the shelving 1. The lifting chains 14, of which there are five each side in this embodiment, are linked to a common drive chain 16.

Fig. 3 shows a lift drive 18 which makes use of a hydraulic cylinder 20 linked to the drive chain 16 via a block and tackle 21. According to Fig. 4 the drive chain 16 is operationally linked via a drive wheel 17 to a lift drive 18a, which could be electric, for instance, and to a counterweight 19.

Claims

1. Device for commissioning and transporting objects in a warehouse by means of a commissioning truck proceeding along the aisles between rows of shelving, comprising:

a horizontal conveyor (5) for arrangement along an aisle; means for displacing the conveyor vertically, and a commissioning truck (11) capable of being displaced in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor.

2. Device according to Claim 1, in which the means for vertical displacement of the conveyor belt (5) is a lift system (7) to be arranged on the shelving (1).

3. Device according to Claim 2, in which the lift system (7) exhibits substantially vertical guide rails (6) to be attached to the shelving (1), and a lift chain-drive (8).

4. Device according to Claim 3, in which the lift chain drive (8) exhibits lift chains (14) which in use extend vertically to the top of the shelving and then turn round so as to extend horizontally above the shelving (1), and which are linked to a common drive chain (16).

5. Device according to Claim 4, in which the drive chain (16) is operationally linked via a drive wheel (17) to a lift drive (18) and a counterweight (19).

6. Device according to Claim 4, in which the drive chain (16) is operationally linked via a block and tackle (21) to a lift drive in the form of a hydraulic cylinder (20).

7. Device according to any preceding claim, in which the commissioning truck (11) is arranged in a longitudinally displaceable manner on a lateral portion of the frame of the conveyor belt (5) on rails (10).

8. Device according to Claim 7 and further including a chute (13) which is capable of being moved together with the commissioning truck (11) in order to transfer goods from a work level (12) down to the conveyor belt (5).

9. Device for transporting objects in a warehouse, substantially as described herein with reference to either of the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

10. A warehousing system having a number of aisles between rows of shelving, and a transporting device, as claimed in any preceding claim, arranged in each aisle.