Jervis B. Webb Company

Other

Shelden M Kavieff

Clarence A Dehne

George D MacMunn

A conveyor system including a conveyor track, carriers supported thereby, and carrier propelling elements associated with the conveyor track, wherein each carrier includes frame structure having an article supporting portion disposed to one side of the conveyor track and a stabilizing portion disposed to the opposite side thereof. An auxiliary track mounted in parallel, transversely spaced relation with the conveyor track on the opposite side thereof, is engageable by stabilizing wheels on the stabilizing portion of the carrier frame structure so that the article supporting portion thereof is adapted to form a cantilevered type support on which an article can be mounted and transported, spaced transversely from the conveyor track and propelling elements. An article processing station is separated from the conveyor track and propelling elements by a slotted barrier wall through which the article supporting portion of the carrier frame structure projects.

Conveyor system with cantilever carriers

Apparatus for transferring a group of unit loads between a shipping dock and a vehicle bed comprises a transfer beam assembly which has a base equipped with wheels engageable with the surfaces of the shipping dock and vehicle bed, has a length greater than that of the vehicle bed, and is movable lengthwise by a reversible drive unit installed on the shipping dock, the movement being defined by guide rails on the shipping dock. Load engaging members mounted on the base of the assembly are vertically movable by inflatable tubes between a raised, load supporting position and a lowered load clearing position. Individual load units are assembled into a load unit group for transfer to a vehicle, or disassembled from a load unit group transferred from a vehicle, by raising and lowering movements of the load engaging members, and by indexing movement of the transfer beam assembly between a normal position and a pickup station adjacent the end of the assembly remote from the vehicle receiving edge of the shipping dock.

Apparatus for handling a group of unit loads

An article storage and delivery system comprising a rack having vertical rows of article storage compartments, and a storage and retrieval machine movable along one side of the rack for selectively placing articles in and removing them from the compartments. An indexable turntable, having a plurality of circumferentially spaced article supports, is arranged at the opposite side of and partially within the rack so that each support is indexable into a machine accessible position, thereby enabling articles to be transferred by the machine between the storage compartments and the turntable supports. By dedicating each turntable support to a particular article type, different articles on the turntable are selectively deliverable by indexing movements thereof to a station on the turntable periphery externally of the rack.

Article handling apparatus for the storage and delivery of plural types

A system for providing a buffer between upstream and downstream article processing lines employs a storage and retrieval machine operable in a storage mode to store in a matrix of storage bins unit loads of articles received from the upstream line during an interruption in the processing rate of the downstream line; and, operable in a retrieval mode to supply the stored articles to the downstream line when required. The storage machine includes separately driven components consisting of a horizontally movable carriage, a vertically movable elevator mounted on the carriage, and a bi-laterally movable load carrying table mounted on the elevator. Movements of these components are regulated by a control which counts the number of unit loads in storage and computes, in accordance with predetermined storage and retrieval sequences, the location in the matrix of the storage bin for the next storage or retrieval operation and directs the machine table to that location. In the storage mode, each successive storage operation of the machine is initiated in response to the presence of a group of articles, or unit load, at a transfer station located adjacent the entrance to the downstream line; and, in the retrieval mode, each successive operation of the machine occurs in response to the deposit of a unit load on the transfer station by the table of the machine.

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Farmington Hills, MI, United States of America

Shelden M Kavieff