Article delivery apparatus
First Claim
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1. An article delivery/receiving apparatus for delivering/receiving articles through the use of trays comprising, in combination, a main body adapted to be disposed in the vicinity of a working station in a factory and a carrier containing a stack of trays therein;
- and said main body including;
a tray loading/unloading portion having a space for encasing said carrier, and where said carrier containing said stack of trays is loaded or unloaded,an article delivery/receiving portion formed at an upper portion of said main body to allow for cooperation with a working robot or the like, and being disposed in juxtaposition to said tray loading/unloading portion,a first lift means, for stepwise lifting said stack of trays, and being engageable with the lower most tray of said stack,an upper lateral means provided at said main body for laterally shifting a tray located at the uppermost position of said stack to said article delivery/receiving portion; and
a second lift means, for stepwise lowering the shifted trays disposed at said article delivery/receiving portion so as to provide for the sequential and stepwise tray circulation within said main body of said apparatus and an article delivery/receiving operation which is repetitive for each sequence or cycle of tray operation.
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Abstract
An article delivery apparatus comprising a main body and an article carrier formed essentially of stack of trays holding articles thereon. The main body has at least one tray loading portion for unloadably loading the carrier therein and a shifting mechanism for circulating the trays within the main body through an article delivery position where the articles on the tray are delivered to for example a working robot.
50 Citations
14 Claims
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1. An article delivery/receiving apparatus for delivering/receiving articles through the use of trays comprising, in combination, a main body adapted to be disposed in the vicinity of a working station in a factory and a carrier containing a stack of trays therein;
- and said main body including;
a tray loading/unloading portion having a space for encasing said carrier, and where said carrier containing said stack of trays is loaded or unloaded, an article delivery/receiving portion formed at an upper portion of said main body to allow for cooperation with a working robot or the like, and being disposed in juxtaposition to said tray loading/unloading portion, a first lift means, for stepwise lifting said stack of trays, and being engageable with the lower most tray of said stack, an upper lateral means provided at said main body for laterally shifting a tray located at the uppermost position of said stack to said article delivery/receiving portion; and a second lift means, for stepwise lowering the shifted trays disposed at said article delivery/receiving portion so as to provide for the sequential and stepwise tray circulation within said main body of said apparatus and an article delivery/receiving operation which is repetitive for each sequence or cycle of tray operation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- and said main body including;
Specification