Automated work center
First Claim
1. A randomly accessible consolidation queue for presenting article containing means used in material handling operations to an operator, the consolidation queue comprising:
- a frame;
queue track means carried by the frame and forming a vertically oriented endless loop having a first travel reach and a second travel reach;
a multiplicity of vertically spaced shelves carried by the queue track means for holding said article containing means, said shelves being pivotally coupled to said queue track means such that they remain substantially horizontal as they are carried between the first travel reach and the second travel reach;
drive means for rotating the shelves about the endless loop;
opening means for transferring said article containing means from a shelf on the first travel reach to a loading area to facilitate inserting articles into and removing articles from said article containing means;
means for unloading an article containing means from the consolidation queue on a back side thereof by extracting said article containing means from a shelf located on the second travel reach;
the opening means and the unloading means being arranged to allow simultaneous transfer of a container to said loading area from a shelf on the first travel reach and extraction of a container from a shelf on the second travel reach of the queue track means; and
control means for directing the drive means to rotate the shelves and for actuating said opening and unloading means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An automated work center for use in materials handling operations is disclosed. The work center includes a randomly accessible vertically moving temporary storage queue 11 for receiving containers 25 that hold material goods. A fixed loading ramp 20 is arranged to receive containers 20 from an external system and to load the received containers onto the storage queue 11. A work area 5 having a plurality of rotatable work tables 7 provides an gives the operator access to the containers. A delivery system 14 transfers containers between the storage queue 11 and the work tables 7 and a takeaway system 16 transfers containers between the work area and the conveyor network. An automated control system 17 coordinates the delivery of containers between the temporary storage queue 11 and the work area 5. A consolidation queue 18 having a multiplicity of vertically spaced shelves may be disposed opposite the work tables 7 to facilitate the consolidation of ordered goods.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A randomly accessible consolidation queue for presenting article containing means used in material handling operations to an operator, the consolidation queue comprising:
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a frame; queue track means carried by the frame and forming a vertically oriented endless loop having a first travel reach and a second travel reach; a multiplicity of vertically spaced shelves carried by the queue track means for holding said article containing means, said shelves being pivotally coupled to said queue track means such that they remain substantially horizontal as they are carried between the first travel reach and the second travel reach; drive means for rotating the shelves about the endless loop; opening means for transferring said article containing means from a shelf on the first travel reach to a loading area to facilitate inserting articles into and removing articles from said article containing means; means for unloading an article containing means from the consolidation queue on a back side thereof by extracting said article containing means from a shelf located on the second travel reach; the opening means and the unloading means being arranged to allow simultaneous transfer of a container to said loading area from a shelf on the first travel reach and extraction of a container from a shelf on the second travel reach of the queue track means; and control means for directing the drive means to rotate the shelves and for actuating said opening and unloading means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A randomly accessible consolidation queue for presenting containers used in material handling operations to an operator, the consolidation queue comprising:
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a frame; queue track means carried by the frame and forming a vertically oriented endless loop having a first travel reach and a second travel reach, said queue track means including; a compression chain having a multiplicity of pivotably coupled linkage bars, a multiplicity of axles for pivotally coupling adjacent linkage bars, and a multiplicity of brackets, wherein a first end of each said bracket is mounted to a particular one of said axles and a second end of each said bracket is secured to another bracket at a position that is spaced apart from said compression chain to form a pivot point; a multiplicity of vertically spaced shelf pans carried by the queue track means for holding said containers, said shelf pans including a pair of suspension struts that are pivotally coupled at a particular pivot point, said shelf pans being positioned at substantially equal increments about the queue track means such that a first multiplicity of shelf pans are located on the first travel reach and a second multiplicity of shelf pans are located on the second travel reach, and the shelf pans being pivotally coupled at a particular pivot point so they remain substantially horizontal as they are carried between the first travel reach and the second travel reach; a drive for rotating the shelf pans about the endless loop; opening means for transferring a container from a shelf pan on the first travel reach to a loading area to facilitate inserting articles into and removing articles from the container; and means for unloading a container from the consolidation queue on a back side thereof by extracting the container from a shelf pan located on the second travel reach, the opening means and the unloading means being arranged to allow simultaneous transfer of a container to said loading shelf from a shelf pan on the first travel reach and extraction of a container from a shelf pan on the second travel reach of the queue track means. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification