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System and method for managing empty carriers in an automated material handling system

  • US 5,838,566 A
  • Filed: 12/10/1996
  • Issued: 11/17/1998
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/10/1996
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. An automated material handling system, comprising:

  • a plurality of material carriers, a first subset of which contain material and a second subset of which are absent material;

    a first stock area comprising a plurality of first bins, each of which are configured to store a material carrier drawn from either said first or said second subset;

    a control system coupled to the first stock area for computing a first empty percentage calculated as the number of said first bins which contain material carriers from the second subset relative to the number of said first bins; and

    a transportation system responsive to said control system for moving a material carrier drawn from said second subset between a staging area and the first stock area based on a comparison of the first empty percentage to a predetermined threshold.

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