| 摘要 |
An article supply system for supplying articles on demand to a production line at which the demand for the articles may be variable or irregular. The system is specifically designed for the production line assembly of composite articles in which two components of the article are continuously manufactured at independently variable rates and fed through separate lines which merge with each other at an assembly station. The system includes a bank of individual storage cells operable to receive, store and discharge in an oriented position like units constituting one component of the composite article. A supply accumulator cell is located upstream of the storage cells to continuously receive the units as they are manufactured and to intermittently transfer the units to selected ones of the storage cells. A demand accumulator is located between the storage cells and the assembly station to continuously supply units to the assembly station in accordance with the demand rate at which the second components of the article are fed to the assembly station. The demand accumulator is supplied with units from the storage cells to maintain an adequate supply of bases within the demand accumulator at all times. Selection of the individual storage cells to be loaded or unloaded is under the control of a computer which maintains an inventory of the status of the various cells at all times. An inspection system also operates through the computer to prevent substandard articles from being transferred to the assembly station.
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