Multiple tray carriers for early bag storage system
First Claim
1. An apparatus for storing early bags arriving at an airport and for discharging such stored early bags to a make-up operation for a desired departure flight, comprising:
- an endless storage conveyor having a plurality of baggage carriers, each of said baggage carriers being equipped with a plurality of trays, each said tray being adapted to receive one of said early bags, said trays being arranged in end-to-end endless fashion and supported for continuous recirculating movement on a path of travel defined by a conveyor track;
induction conveyor means for loading each of said early bags onto a separate one of said baggage carriers;
identification means for identifying each of said early bags and the said baggage carrier onto which it is loaded; and
discharge means adjacent to a portion of said conveyor track for selectively removing early bags from baggage carriers passing said discharge means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for the storage of early baggage includes a storage conveyor with multiple tray carriers for receiving early bags from the baggage handling system, for example, of an airport and for discharging early bags onto the baggage handling system. The storage conveyor is arranged in a serpentine fashion for efficient use of horizontal space and includes evenly spaced entry and discharge stations. The system can deliver bags to the baggage handling system in a selected period of time to account for changes in flight departure times or changes in a passenger'"'"'s travel plans.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An apparatus for storing early bags arriving at an airport and for discharging such stored early bags to a make-up operation for a desired departure flight, comprising:
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an endless storage conveyor having a plurality of baggage carriers, each of said baggage carriers being equipped with a plurality of trays, each said tray being adapted to receive one of said early bags, said trays being arranged in end-to-end endless fashion and supported for continuous recirculating movement on a path of travel defined by a conveyor track; induction conveyor means for loading each of said early bags onto a separate one of said baggage carriers; identification means for identifying each of said early bags and the said baggage carrier onto which it is loaded; and discharge means adjacent to a portion of said conveyor track for selectively removing early bags from baggage carriers passing said discharge means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for storing early bags arriving at an airport and discharging the stored early bags to a make-up operation for a desired departure flight, comprising the steps of:
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providing a storage area for said early bags; providing in the storage area a continuously driven conveyor equipped with a conveyor track; providing the conveyor with a plurality of baggage carriers arranged in an end-to-end endless fashion, wherein each carrier is equipped with a plurality of trays, each tray being adapted to receive an early bag, and wherein each carrier is supported for recirculating movement on a path of travel defined by the conveyor track; identifying and recording each early bag arriving at the airport and its departure flight; loading each of the identified early bags onto a tray on a baggage carrier, and recording the identity of that tray; providing discharge means, adjacent to a portion of the path of travel of said baggage carriers, for removing early bags from the carriers; determining the opening time of the make-up operation for each departure flight; and selectively removing from the baggage carriers passing by the discharge means early bags for each departure flight, in response to the opening time of the make-up operation of the flight. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A method for storing early bags arriving at an airport and discharging such stored early bags to a make-up operation for a desired departure flight, comprising the steps of:
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providing a storage area for said early bags; installing in said storage area a conveyor system having arranged thereon a plurality of baggage carriers, each carrier comprising a plurality of trays, each of said trays being adapted to receive an early bag, and each carrier supported for recirculating movement on a path of travel defined by a conveyor track; identifying each early bag and its departure flight, and recording this information; providing identifying means for identifying each of said baggage carriers; providing induction conveyor means adjacent to at least one portion of said path of travel of said baggage carriers for loading each of said identified early bags onto one of said baggage carriers; recording the identity of the carrier onto which each bag is placed; providing discharge station means adjacent to another portion of said path of travel of said baggage carriers for removing early bags from the baggage carriers; determining the opening time of said make-up operation for each departure flight; and selectively removing from said baggage carriers passing by said discharge station means early bags for each departure flight in response to the opening of the make-up operation thereof. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus for storing early bags, comprising:
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a conveyor track; a plurality of baggage carriers supported from said conveyor track, each of said carriers having a plurality of trays adapted to receive one of said early bags, and each of said carriers equipped on the bottom with a vertically protruding guide plate; and at least one guide rail segment, substantially parallel to said conveyor track, adapted to receive said guide plate. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification