| 摘要 |
A conveyor system capable of storing and retrieving articles, eg., vehicle bodies 8, comprises a series of storage aisles 4 for receiving articles in a plurality of storage lanes 17 wherein, a selected article moving along a conveyor line 10 mounted on an article carrier (32, Figure 3) can be directed to a shuttle station 14,18 where it is loaded onto a shuttle for movement along a storage aisle 4 for placement of the article and carrier in one of many storage lanes 17. The article and carrier can be retrieved from the storage lane and again placed on the conveyor system for discharge. The conveyor line 10 includes a free track, eg., a fixed rail, and a power track, eg., a drive chain, such that the carriers are driven along the free track by a drive on the power track. Transfer of the article carriers to and from the storage lanes 17 is achieved by aligning a rail on the shuttle with a rail in a selected storage lane and transferring the article carrier over the rails using a pusher/puller assembly mounted on the shuttle. Transfer of the article carriers between the shuttle and conveyor line 10 is carried out in a similar way. |
