JPS6322973A - Distribution and car parking system and method for function receiving vehicle conveyor and receiving and taking out other object - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Summary of the Invention] A novel delivery method and pull-off system for underground conveyors, particularly those conveying a series of vehicle storage pedestals and traveling in a longitudinal direction. be. This includes a conveyor loop structure below the open driveway area that conveys the pedestal upwards to the open floor area for vehicle delivery or retrieval, and also includes vehicle pedestal selection and pedestal delivery commands. are equipped with automatic gates and walkway insertions that allow owners to safely park and exit their vehicles without the need for attendant assistance.

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention is applicable to, for example, US Patent Specification No. 3.197 by the present inventor.
, No. 045, No. 3,447,666 and No. 4.493.
．． The present invention relates to a delivery dock for a motor vehicle conveyor garage or the like, of the type disclosed in No. 414. However, it relates more generally to storage and presentation or retrieval systems, and more particularly to systems employing conveyors.

[Conventional technology]

As described in the above-mentioned U.S. patent specification, for example, receiving and unloading or inspecting or unloading automobiles underground or conveyed by other continuous conveyors)
The safety and convenience of the delivery or presentation area for the system are areas of fundamental concern in the practical application of such systems. In the case of a system consisting of an elevator garage and sideways that move up and down,
This includes conventionally lining up vehicles that have been driven to or from the elevator floor in the access space.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the automated system of the aforementioned US patent, and other similar systems, such basic delivery techniques are not applicable and instead accommodate a conveyor with multiple space-load carriers. Can not do it. This is because such conveyors require additional area for each plinth, which has a negative impact on overall efficiency when considering the usable plinth area relative to the building volume or total floor area. This is because it affects This is especially true when the vehicle operator drives the vehicle into a delivery area, exits the vehicle and leaves the area, and then the automatic retraction system moves the vehicle from the area. or if you follow the reverse procedure, -
This is the case once delivered, until the owner removes the vehicle from its storage location, all without the need for handling by personnel or further operation or operation of the vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel and efficient method for the safe, economical and space efficient delivery and retrieval of motor vehicles or other objects automatically stored by conveyor devices or the like. An object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and parking system.

A further object of the invention is also to provide a novel delivery, storage and retrieval system that has more general application.

Other and further objects of the invention are set out below and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

[Means for solving problems]

Broadly speaking, in perhaps its broadest underlying methodological aspect, the present invention provides a method for delivering a payload to and from a pedestal being conveyed along a longitudinally extending path. A method for removing, wherein said path moves a pedestal by a conveyor to and from a bottom area having a portage volume, off said longitudinal path and transversely of said conveyor and said looping upwardly into the bottom region and then transversely back down along said longitudinal path; carrying the continuous pedestal upwardly into alignment with said bottom region and then again downwardly along said path; moving the conveyor along the loop; stopping a preselected pedestal when conveyed in alignment with the bottom area; and thereafter following either removal, inspection or insertion of a load at that pedestal; , including moving the pedestal from the bottom region by transporting the pedestal downwardly across the loop and longitudinally along the path. This technique has a clear impact on the efficient use of building area and volume for each of the plinths being transported and the spacing between those plinths along the conveyor. In applications for motor vehicle storage and similar uses, the invention also includes automatically inserting a walkway into the side of the pedestal when the pedestal stops in the open bottom area of the driveway area. . Preferred and optimal mode embodiments of the invention are set forth below.

〔Example〕

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to Figures 1A to 1C, the approach (and departure) is performed at ground level G, and the conveyor storage and delivery structure C is underground, so that the approximate delivery volume is It is indicated by V. The conveyor structure C may take the form of a pair of laterally spaced parallel closed loops of Cheno's roller link conveyors. These conveyors run on corresponding parallel closed-loop tracks, each located under each of the approach sides of the porte-cochere V, as described in the above-referenced U.S. patents. , laterally conveying a continuous pedestal supported between them.

The conveyor system C carries a continuous pedestal P, as described above, along a longitudinally extending path, as shown in FIGS. It is transported by passing under the carriageway V along the line. According to the technique of the present invention, the floor area F of the driveway is open. The continuous pedestal P is broken from the normally left-hand longitudinal section into a path extending transversely upward along a pair of partially overlapping adjacent loops C'' and C'', as shown in FIG. 1B. into the open floor area F, as shown in FIG. attached to and conveyed to the chains of conveyor loops C' and C'' (attachment is carried out, for example, as described in the aforementioned U.S. patent specification).
Therefore, a stable horizontal position of the pedestal is maintained when the pedestal is raised to the floor area F and then transported back down again. This is fundamental for automotive storage or similar applications.

In FIG. 1A, it is assumed that a preselected stored car A is called by an attendant in response to a request from the owner of the car in order to make a delivery at the driveway ■ in FIG. 1B. If a pedestal P (carrying the desired car A) arrives and this pedestal at least partially fills the floor area F of the driveway, which is generally smaller in area than the open floor area, then schematically By normal computer commands or operator control of the drive system, indicated at D, the pedestal is stopped and access to the driveway is permitted. Simultaneously and responsively to the cessation of a preselected pedestal P in the floor area F, side walkways W for inserting into and filling the remaining exposed space of the floor area on both sides of said pedestal. is lowered from the upper stowage position shown in FIG. 1A along a column W'' in the portico side wall (by a vertical boob or chino drive, or a tilting or rotating system, not shown) to the position shown in FIG. 1B. substantially simultaneously with the stationary pedestal as shown in FIG. 1st B
It is raised or opened as shown in the figure (or slid sideways and opened, although not shown), allowing the owner of the vehicle to safely enter the driveway and leave the vehicle A without the assistance of an attendant. . Gate G' is then lowered, walkway W is then raised or retracted, such as by lifting upwards through the slope shown in Figures 4B and 4C, and conveyor C conveys the pedestal downward. so that it is aligned with the right-hand portion in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor in Fig. 1C.

A similar procedure for parking and storing a motor vehicle on an empty pedestal is shown in FIGS. 2A-2C. Although the inventive design is shown here as applied to a conveyor movement moving from left to right in the upper portion of the generally longitudinal conveyor loop C, movement in the opposite direction It should be understood that this also applies. In that case, by reversing the direction of travel of the conveyor, the preselected pedestal can be delivered to the driveway in a shorter time.

The entire system is shown in side elevation in Figures 4A-4D. A state in which the conveyor q is stopped, the pedestal P is stopped at the same position as the floor in the driveway, and the walkway W is lowered to the same position as the floor (although not shown, the gate is opened) Suppose that a car A is driven to the driveway (Figure 4A). The driver then leaves the driveway. In FIG. 4B, the conveyor C is still stopped but is about to start moving, and with the sidewalk W raised and the gate (not shown) lowered, the process of receiving cars for storage has begun. Ru. In Figure 4C, the sidewalk W
is still raised and the gate is still closed,
Conveyor C is being moved.

- In the 4D drawing of Rikizutsu, the car is in an underground storage area, and the new pedestal is stopped at the driveway in the same position as the floor.
The walkway W has been lowered again and the gate has been raised again. This is the condition shown in FIG. 5 for receiving a motor vehicle to be stored.

In FIG. 3, the upper portions of partially overlapping continuous lateral conveyor loops C' and C'' are shown as roller link chains (as in the above-cited US patent). Actual embodiments are shown, which move in corresponding C-shaped tracks T' and T' and support a plinth P in the floor area F of the porte-cochere. The left-hand section is shown descending, the left-hand walkway is shown in the retracted upper positioner, and the right-hand section of gate G' is shown in dotted lines, with the left-hand walkway W shown in dotted lines. These are for illustrative and explanatory purposes only; in reality, of course, the left-hand and right-hand portions of the gate and walkway would be raised in the same direction. The details of the mounting of the pedestal and the chino, etc., are well known, as disclosed in the above-mentioned U.S. patent specification.
This is omitted so as not to obscure the novel features of the method and system of the present invention.

Of course, the drawings are taken only from the population side of the conveyor and portage structure, and a similar parallel conveyor structure c-c'-c'' is illustrated in the aforementioned U.S. patent specification and as previously discussed here. It should be understood that along the exit side of the portico, the plinth P is conveyed laterally between their parallel conveyors (positions 1A to 2C). As shown in FIG. 5, a sidewalk W extends between the approach side on the entrance side and the approach side on the exit side of the driveway.

For the purpose of storing motor vehicles, the horizontal dimension of the open floor area when using a 215 cm (7 feet 2 inches) wide plinth and a 90 cm (3 feet) wide walkway. is approximately 6 meters (20 feet), and the horizontal distance between the highest parts of loops c' and C'' is approximately 180 centimeters (6 feet), and conveyor loops C'-T' and C “-T
It has been found that a suitable rise (and fall) angle for " is about 54" with respect to the horizontal. Other dimensions of the redesigned porteco, other porteforms specifically tailored to other applications, including open delivery walls rather than floors, and further design modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. Although possible, they are considered to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figures 1A to 1C are schematic diagrams illustrating the application of the delivery pull-off system and method of the present invention for retrieving vehicles from a storage conveyor; Figures 2A to 2C are parking 1 from Figure 1A for
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred conveyor loop and walkway system for practicing the invention; Figures 4A-4D are similar to Figures 1A-1C and 2;
A longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the entire underground conveyor and above-ground portage system, similar to the partial drawings of FIGS. A to 2C; FIG. It is an external view showing a pair of possible driveways. G...Ground C...Conveyor P...Pedestal V
... Car porch F... Floor area c', c''... Loop A... Car D... Drive system W... Sidewalk W゛... Pillar G'... Game) T' , T”...Orbital applicant's agent Kaoru Furuya Takahiko Mizobe Satoshi Furuya

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for delivering and retrieving a load to and from a pedestal being transported along a longitudinally extending path, said path extending over a carriageway volume above. deviating from said longitudinal path and looping said conveyor transversely and upwardly into said floor area and then along said longitudinal path. back down in the transverse direction;
moving the conveyor along the loop to convey successive pedestals upwardly in alignment with the floor area and then downwardly again along the path; preselected when conveyed to align with the floor area; and then, following either removal, inspection or insertion of a load in the pedestal, transporting the pedestal longitudinally across the loop and along the path. A method comprising removing from the floor area. 2. the pedestal has an area smaller than the area of the floor area, and walkway means are inserted in alignment with the sides of the stationary pedestal so as to allow access to and from the pedestal; and 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a further step of retracting the walkway means is performed prior to removing the pedestal from the floor area. 3. The access wall of the driveway is gated to prevent access until the walkway means and the pedestal fill the floor area, the gate being opened by stopping the preselected pedestal in the floor area. The method according to claim 2, which comprises: 4. Said pedestal is conveyed by said conveyor between spaced apart parallel conveyors passing under said portico and along each approach side.
The method described in section. 5. Looping from the longitudinal path of the conveyor is performed by splitting the path into a pair of successive partially overlapping transverse loops on each of the parallel conveyors, the pair of loops being continuous. 5. The sides of the pedestal are conveyed transversely upwards to the floor area between each pair of loops and transversely downwardly to merge into said longitudinal path. Method. 6. A delivery pull-off system for a conveyor carrying a load support platform, such as for delivery and removal of motor vehicles, etc., comprising an open floor having a volume for the delivery pull-off; and a longitudinal passageway below said pull-off. closed loop conveyor means extending along said path and conveying a succession of plinths; said conveyor means extending transversely upwardly and then downwardly disposed along said path and immediately below the driveway area; conveyor loop means for conveying successive pedestals upwardly into alignment with said floor area and then again downwardly along said path; a preselected pedestal being aligned with said floor area; means for stopping the conveyor for removal, insertion or inspection of a load when the load has been conveyed; said conveyor means conveying said preselected pedestal transversely below said loop means; and means for subsequently displacing the stationary preselected pedestal from the floor area by causing it to be conveyed longitudinally along the path. 7. The area of said pedestal is smaller than the area of said carriage floor area, and walkway means are inserted into and aligned with the sides of said stationary pedestal to allow access to and from said pedestal. means operable when said preselected pedestal comes to rest on said floor area; and means for moving said preselected pedestal from said floor area after retracting said walkway means. 7. The system of claim 6, wherein: 8. A gate means is provided on the approach wall of the porte-cochere, and means are provided for opening the gate means only when a preselected pedestal in the porte-cochere floor area is stopped and the walkway means is inserted. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein: 9 said walkway means comprises a pair of walkways disposed on each side of said stationary pedestal and stored above said floor area along said porthole side wall between said access walls, said walkway insertion means include means for lowering the walkway onto either side thereof into alignment with the stationary pedestal;
9. The system of claim 8, wherein and said retraction means includes means for raising said walkway back to a retracted position. 10 said conveyor loop means includes a pair of partially overlapping continuous conveyor loops extending transversely upwardly and downwardly out of said longitudinal conveyor path and having said pedestal therebetween; 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the pedestal is lifted horizontally upwardly into the floor area by supporting sides of the pedestal and then returned horizontally downwardly along the longitudinal path. 11 The closed loop conveyor means includes a pair of longitudinally extending parallel spaced similar closed loop conveyors supporting a pedestal therebetween and extending the underside of the portico along each of the access sides. a pair of longitudinally extending closed loop conveyors each passing through a pair of successive conveyors disposed immediately below the port area and approach wall and partially overlapping and laterally extending; 11. The system of claim 10, comprising a loop. 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the conveyor and conveyor loop include roller link chains moving on corresponding tracks. 13. The system of claim 9, wherein said walkway raising and lowering means are actuated in a vertical direction parallel to said side wall. 14. The system of claim 9, wherein said walkway raising and lowering means slopes said walkway upwardly and downwardly adjacent said sidewall. 15. A delivery docking system for a conveyor conveying a load support pedestal, etc., comprising a volume having an open wall area; spaced apart from said docking area and extending longitudinally through said open wall area; conveyor means conveying successive pedestals along a running path; said conveyor means conveying successive pedestals in the area of said open wall region in a loop towards and away from said area; Loop means are provided for transporting the load transversely out of the path into alignment with said area and then laterally away from the path and back longitudinally along said path; means for stopping said conveyor means when a preselected pedestal has been brought into alignment with said open wall area for insertion or inspection; means for subsequently displacing said stationary preselected pedestal from said wall region by transversely conveying it away from the loop means and then causing it to be conveyed longitudinally along said path; A system that has a combination of 16 said conveyor loop means includes a pair of partially overlapping continuous conveyor loops extending transversely out of said longitudinal conveyor path into and from said open wall region; and supporting the pedestal between them to maintain a predetermined orientation of the pedestal from beginning to end.
Delivery carriage system as described in section. 17. The closed loop conveyor means includes a pair of parallel spaced apart similar closed loop conveyors supporting a pedestal therebetween and extending longitudinally along the approach side of the porteconomy; Claim 16, wherein each closed loop conveyor has a pair of successive conveyor loops disposed immediately lateral to said open wall region and access wall and partially overlapping and extending transversely. Delivery carriage system as described in section.