Track system for creating finished products
First Claim
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1. A system comprising:
- a plurality of containers for holding a fluent material;
a plurality of vehicles for containers, wherein a container is disposed on a respective vehicle to form a container-loaded vehicle, there being a plurality of container-loaded vehicles;
a track system comprising a track on which the pluraity of container-loaded vehicles are propellable, said track comprising;
a primary transport portion that defines a primary path comprised of track that forms a closed loop that is configured to permit at least one container-loaded vehicle to travel in a holding pattern;
at least one secondary transport portion that extends from the primary transport portion and defines a secondary path comprised of track that intersects the primary path at an ingress location and an egress location; and
at least one unit operation station disposed along a secondary transport portion and configured to perform a container treatment operation on at least one container-loaded vehicle, wherein the plurality of container-loaded vehicles are independently routable along the track system to deliver at least some of the containers to the at least one unit operation station for performing a container treatment operation on at least some of said containers;
wherein one of the unit operation stations comprises a container loading station that is configured to facilitate loading a container onto one of the vehicles andwherein at least one of the unit operation stations comprises a plurality of independently controllable nozzles for dispensing fluent material into the containers.
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Abstract
A track system includes a primary transport portion and a secondary transport portion along which a plurality of vehicles can be propelled. Each secondary transport portion includes a unit operation station for performing a transformation on a container or the contents therein.
210 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a plurality of containers for holding a fluent material; a plurality of vehicles for containers, wherein a container is disposed on a respective vehicle to form a container-loaded vehicle, there being a plurality of container-loaded vehicles; a track system comprising a track on which the pluraity of container-loaded vehicles are propellable, said track comprising; a primary transport portion that defines a primary path comprised of track that forms a closed loop that is configured to permit at least one container-loaded vehicle to travel in a holding pattern; at least one secondary transport portion that extends from the primary transport portion and defines a secondary path comprised of track that intersects the primary path at an ingress location and an egress location; and at least one unit operation station disposed along a secondary transport portion and configured to perform a container treatment operation on at least one container-loaded vehicle, wherein the plurality of container-loaded vehicles are independently routable along the track system to deliver at least some of the containers to the at least one unit operation station for performing a container treatment operation on at least some of said containers; wherein one of the unit operation stations comprises a container loading station that is configured to facilitate loading a container onto one of the vehicles and wherein at least one of the unit operation stations comprises a plurality of independently controllable nozzles for dispensing fluent material into the containers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification