×

Driverless vehicle conveyor system

  • US 4,389,941 A
  • Filed: 11/21/1980
  • Issued: 06/28/1983
  • Est. Priority Date: 11/21/1980
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
Patent Images

1. In a driverless vehicle system wherein a driverless vehicle has support wheels which ride on tracks, comprising two straight non-parallel sections of track having adjacent ends spaced from one another by a gap, a drive shaft parallel to the tracks in each of said straight sections, a transfer vehicle in said gap for supporting and transferring driverless vehicles across the gap from one straight section to the other, a drive shaft on said transfer vehicle, said transfer vehicle being mounted for oscillation along an arc about an upright axis from a receiving position adjacent one end of the gap to a discharge position adjacent the other end of the gap, said upright axis being located within the included angle defined by an extension of the axes of said drive shafts in said straight sections, motor means connected to said transfer vehicle for oscillating said transfer vehicle, means for causing the rotation of one drive shaft associated with one of said straight sections to transfer a driverless vehicle onto the transfer vehicle and for using rotation of the drive shaft associated with the other straight section to discharge a driverless vehicle off the transfer vehicle, means for accumulating a driverless vehicle on one end of said straight sections of track when said transfer vehicle is not in its receiving position, limit stop means on the transfer vehicle for restraining a vehicle from discharging off the transfer vehicle, and means for releasing the last mentioned limit stop means when the transfer vehicle is in its discharge position.

View all claims
  • 1 Assignment
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×