Claims
- 1. A goods handling facility comprising:
- at least one storage rack linearly disposed along a gangway;
- a plurality of vertically aligned shelves of equal dimensions disposed within said storage rack;
- a plurality of storage containers insertable into and removable from said shelves;
- a shelf conveying means movable on said gangway alongside said storage rack;
- a support frame disposed within said shelf conveying means;
- support displacement means for vertically displacing said support frame within said shelf conveying device;
- at least one transport frame supported in said support frame, having a plurality of vertically aligned shelves for inserting said storage containers;
- a charging device mounted at said support frame of said shelf conveying means;
- charging displacement means for vertically displacing said charging device relative to said support frame for collecting individual storage containers from said storage racks; and
- a stationary goods removing station for forming a lot; wherein said shelves of said transport frame and said shelves of said storage rack have container transfer openings, said transport frame being adjustable in the horizontal and vertical positions to align said transfer openings of said plurality of shelves of the transport frame with a respective number of shelves of said storage rack such that respective openings of said transport frame and said storage rack face each other;
- wherein by means of said charging device any storage container within one of said plurality of adjusted shelves is slidably transferable directly from said transport frame into said storage rack, and vice versa; and
- wherein at said stationary goods removing station said at least one transport frame is removable from said support frame of said shelf conveying means wherein an exchanged transport frame on said shelf conveying means is moved alongside said storage rack whereby individual storage containers for a given lot are collected therein from said storage racks so as to allow an exchange of transport frames.
- 2. The goods handling facility of claim 1, wherein said charging device is located at said shelf conveying means and includes gripping members which are insertable into one selected compartment of said transport frame in order to grip a respective storage container, which gripping members are extendable in the direction of said shelves within said storage rack.
- 3. The goods handling facility of claim 2, in which said transport frame comprises horizontal struts or insertion ledges for storage containers which are displaced relative to vertical struts of said transport frame such that a lateral, vertically extending channel is formed, within which said gripping members are positionable vertically to a height of a respective container to be gripped.
- 4. The goods handling facility of claim 3, in which said gripping members are part of a gripping apparatus which in gripping of a storage container is telescopically extendable out of said channel towards said storage depot having shelves.
- 5. The goods handling facility of claim 2, wherein said transport frame has a width in which said gripping members include a gripper each operative to grip a respective storage container at its corner areas, which grippers are arranged to engage the corner areas of a respective storage container located at a front thereof relative to said shelves within said storage racks and are arranged to be displaceable substantially along the width of said transport frame.
- 6. The goods handling facility of claim 1, in which a number of storage shelves in said transport frame exceeds a number of storage containers to be transported therein by at least one.
- 7. The goods handling facility of claim 1, in which said transport frame is removable from and insertable into, respectively, said shelf conveying means by a chain conveyor.
- 8. The goods handling facility of claim 7, in which at said removing station one respective storage container after the other is retrievable out of said transport frame for the removal of goods.
- 9. A goods handling facility as recited in claim 1, wherein said at least one transport frame is removable from said support frame of said shelf conveying means prior to a lot forming operation at said stationary goods removing station.
- 10. A goods handling facility as recited in claim 9, wherein the exchanged transport frame on said shelf conveying frame is moved alongside said storage rack whereby individual storage containers for a given lot are collected therein from said storage racks.
- 11. A goods handling facility as recited in claim 10, wherein the exchanged transport frame on said shelf conveying frame is moved alongside said storage rack whereby individual storage containers for a given lot are collected therein from said storage racks while said lot forming operation continues from said removed transport frame.
- 12. A goods handling facility as recited in claim 11, wherein said lot forming operation continues from said removed transport frame independent of said collection of individual storage containers from said storage racks.
- 13. A goods handling facility as recited in claim 11, wherein said lot forming operation continues from said removed transport frame simultaneous with said collection of individual storage containers from said storage racks.
- 14. A method of operating a goods handling facility having a storage rack with storage containers disposed therein, a plurality of transport means for collecting storage containers therein from said storage rack and a stationary goods removing station at which lot forming operations are performed in accordance with customers' orders, which comprises;
- collecting in a first transport means storage containers from said storage rack in accordance with a first customer's order;
- moving said first transport means to said stationary goods removing station;
- exchanging said first transport means for a second transport means at said stationary goods removing station;
- lot forming at said stationary goods removing station from said first transport means in accordance with said first customer's order;
- moving said second transport means to said storage rack; and
- collecting, in a transport means, storage containers from said storage rack in accordance with a second customer's order while said lot forming operation is performed at said stationary goods removing station.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
15191/86 |
Apr 1986 |
CHX |
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Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/292,635 filed Dec. 30, 1988, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/037,975 filed Apr. 14, 1987, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number |
Date |
Country |
248934 |
Dec 1965 |
ATX |
310088 |
Sep 1973 |
ATX |
2241213 |
Mar 1974 |
DEX |
48803 |
Mar 1985 |
JPX |
77004 |
May 1985 |
JPX |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
292635 |
Dec 1988 |
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Parent |
37975 |
Apr 1987 |
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