Automated material handling system with motorized transfer vehicles

• US 7,101,139 B1
• Filed: 05/06/2003
• Issued: 09/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BEC Companies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Charles E. Benedict
• Inventors: Benedict, Charles E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lillis, Eileen D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOWE, MICHAEL S
• Application Number:
  US10/429,784
• Time in Patent Office: 1,218 Days
• Field of Search: 414/332, 414/467, 414/909, 414/281, 414/660, 901/1, 901/48, 901/50, 180/7.1, 180/6.48, 180/6.5, 180/168, 187/249, 191/2, 191/22.R, 104/88.01, 104/88.02
• US Class Current: 414/281
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 25/22 for palletised articles
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/04 mechanical
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/0478 for matrix-arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 9/00 Kinds or types of lifts in, or associated with, buildings or other structures characterised by control systems B66B1/00; apparatus for raising or lowering persons on stages of theatres A63J5/12

Abstract

A material handling system for use in storing and moving goods within multi-level storage warehouses, ocean going vessels and the like wherein storage areas are provided on at least one of the levels and wherein goods are automatically transferred to and from the storage areas and between the various levels by self-propelled load transfer vehicles. The load transfer vehicles move across the surface of the various levels and deliver are also movable within open vertical trunks between the levels to thereby move goods to any desired area.

Claims

1. An automated material transfer and storage system for moving articles along and between a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal levels, the system comprising:

at least one vertical trunk extending between and communicating the plurality of horizontal levels, said at least one trunk defining an open shaft including ingress/egress openings at said plurality of horizontal levels and having opposite sides oriented, and vertically spaced first rack elements extending vertically within said at least one vertical trunk in offset relationship relative to said ingress/egress openings so as to be spaced in non-interfering relationship relative to said ingress/egress openings;

a load transfer vehicle having an article support surface, at least one first drive means for moving said transfer vehicle horizontally across the plurality of horizontal levels, at least one second rotatable drive means having a plurality of teeth which are directly engageable so as to mesh with said first rack elements for moving said transfer vehicle vertically within said at least one vertical trunk, and at least one third drive means for automatically loading and off-loading said transfer vehicle onto said first rack elements;

means for supplying power to said transfer vehicle and connected to said at least one first, second and third drive means; and

control means carried by said transfer vehicle for controlling said at least one first, second and third drive means so as to maneuver said transfer vehicle along said plurality of horizontal levels and within said at least one trunk whereby an article supported on said transfer vehicle can be automatically transported from point-to-point along and between said plurality of horizontal levels and within said at least one vertical trunk.

2. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 1 wherein said means for supplying power includes at least one battery carried by said transfer vehicle.

3. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 1 wherein said means for supplying power includes an electrical raceway system.

4. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 1 wherein said first drive means includes at least one drive wheel means pivotally mounted to said transfer vehicle and connected to said means for supplying power to drive said at least one drive wheel means and steering means for selectively rotating said at least one drive wheel means such that said transfer vehicle can be maneuvered omni-directionally relative to said plurality of horizontal levels.

5. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 4 including a plurality of omni-directional roller means mounted to said transfer vehicle for supporting said transfer vehicle on said plurality of horizontal levels.

6. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 1 wherein said first drive means includes at least one pair of drive elements, and said means for supplying power includes means for driving said at least one pair of drive wheel elements such that said drive wheel elements are independently operable in opposite directions whereby said transfer vehicle can be maneuvered omni-directionally relative to said plurality of horizontal levels.

7. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 6 including a plurality of omni-directional roller means mounted to said transfer vehicle for supporting said transfer vehicle on said plurality of horizontal levels.

8. The automated material transfer and storage systems of claim 1 including opposing vertically spaced first rack elements extending vertically along said opposite sides of said at least one trunk, said second rotatable drive means including a pair of elongated drive rotors extending outwardly from opposite sides of said transfer vehicle, each of said drive rotors having a plurality of equally spaced teeth extending generally parallel to an elongated central axis thereof, said teeth of said drive rotors being cooperatively engaged with vertically spaced teeth extending from said opposing first rack elements, and means for supplying powering including means for causing each of said drive rotors to be uniformly driven in oppositely rotating directions.

9. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 8 including an electrical generator carried by said transfer vehicle and being operatively connected to said drive rotors to generate electrical energy when said transfer vehicle moves downwardly within said at least one trunk, and said means for supplying power including at least one battery carried by said transfer vehicle which is operatively connected to said generator for receiving charging power therefrom.

10. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 8 including brake means for operatively retaining the said transfer vehicle in a fixed position within said at least one trunk, said brake means being operative in response to loss of electrical power from said means for supplying power.

11. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 8 including second rack elements extending horizontally within said at least one trunk from each of said ingress/egress openings, said second rack elements including a plurality of equally spaced teeth, said at least one third drive means including drive members extending from said opposite sides of said transfer vehicle, each of said drive members including teeth for intermeshing with said teeth of said second rack elements, and means for powering said drive members on opposite sides of said transfer vehicle in uniform rotational velocity and in opposite directions.

12. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 11 including deployment means carried by said transfer vehicle for selectively deploying said drive members from a first position within said transfer vehicle to a second position extending from said opposite sides of said transfer vehicle to engage said second rack elements.

13. The automated material transfer and storage systems of claim 1 wherein said second drive means includes a pair of elongated drive rotors extending outwardly from opposite sides of said transfer vehicle, each of said drive rotors having a plurality of equally spaced teeth extending generally parallel to an elongated central axis thereof, said teeth of said drive rotors being cooperatively engaged with vertically spaced teeth extending from said opposing first rack elements, and said means for supplying powering including means for causing each of said drive rotors to be uniformly driven in oppositely rotating directions.

14. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 13 including an electrical generator carried by said transfer vehicle and being operatively connected to said drive rotors to generate electrical energy when said transfer vehicle moves downwardly within said at least one trunk, and said means for supplying power including at least one battery carried by said transfer vehicle which is operatively connected to said generator for receiving charging power therefrom.

15. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 14 including brake means for operatively retaining the said transfer vehicle in a fixed position within said at least one trunk, said brake means being operative in response to loss of electrical power from said means for supplying power.

16. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 1 including a plurality of horizontally and vertically spaced storage bins within at least one of said vertically spaced horizontal levels, additional vertical racks provided on vertical faces of said storage bins, said additional vertical racks having teeth in which said plurality of teeth of said at least one second rotatable drive means are directly engageable so as to move said transfer vehicle vertically relative to said storage bins.

17. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 1 including second rack elements extending horizontally within said at least one trunk from each of said ingress/egress openings, said second rack elements including a plurality of equally spaced teeth, said at least one third drive means including drive members extending from said opposite sides of said transfer vehicle, each of said drive members including teeth for intermeshing with said teeth of said second rack elements, and means for powering said drive members on opposite side of said transfer vehicle in uniform rotational velocity and in opposite directions.

18. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 1 including article handling means carried by said transfer vehicle for automatically loading and off-loading articles onto said transfer vehicle.

19. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 18 wherein said article handling means includes lift means for selectively elevating and extending articles relative to said article support surface of said transfer vehicle.

20. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 19 wherein said lift means includes fork lift arms which are guidingly carried by a lift tower which is moveably mounted to said article support surface of said transfer vehicle.

21. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 19 including stabilization means carried by said transfer vehicle for selectively engaging one of said plurality of levels to prevent tilting of said transfer vehicle when an article is extended on said lift means from said transfer vehicle.

22. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 1 including a cover member for covering an upper end of said at least one trunk, said cover member being moveable from a first position to permit access to said at least one trunk to a second position to close said upper end of said at least one trunk and means for normally retaining said cover member in said second position.

23. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 22 wherein said upper end of said at least one trunk is positioned at an uppermost one of said plurality of horizontal levels, and means carried by said cover means for permitting said transfer vehicle to ingress/egress at said upper end of said at least one trunk relative to said uppermost level.

24. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 23 wherein said cover member includes a pair of doors having upper surfaces which are co-extensive with said uppermost level when in said second position, means for pivotally mounting said doors relative to said uppermost level, and supplemental first and second rack elements provided on a lower surface of said doors such that said supplemental first rack elements are aligned with said first rack elements of said at least one trunk when said doors are in said first position.

25. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 1 wherein said article support surface of said load transfer vehicle includes a rotatable platform.

26. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 1 wherein said control means includes means for receiving and transmitting information relative to a central control system remote from said load transfer vehicle with respect to storage locations of articles and distribution destinations of articles within the system.

27. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 26 wherein said control means includes means for receiving information which is applied to an article within the system.

28. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 27 wherein said control means includes an on-board guidance system including means for communicating with a remote guidance source.

29. The automated material transfer and storage system of claim 26 including a plurality of load transfer vehicles.

30. A load transfer vehicle for distributing articles with respect to a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal levels which levels are communicated by at least one vertical trunk which defines an open shaft including ingress and egress openings at said plurality of horizontal levels and having first rack elements extending vertically within the open shaft, the load transfer vehicle comprising;

a body including an article support surface, at least one first drive means for mobilizing said transfer vehicle horizontally across the plurality of horizontal levels and at least one second rotatable drive means having teeth which are directly engageable with said first rack elements for moving the transfer vehicle vertically within the at least one vertical trunk;

at least one third drive means for automatically loading and off-loading the transfer vehicle relative to the first rack elements within the at least one trunk;

means for supplying power to said at least one first, second, and third drive means; and

control means carried by said transfer vehicle for controlling said at least one first, second and third drive means so as to maneuver the transfer vehicle along the plurality of horizontal levels and within the at least one trunk whereby an article supported on said article support surface can be transported from point-to-point along and between the plurality of horizontal levels and within the at least one trunk.

31. The load transfer vehicle of claim 30 in which said means for supplying power includes at least one battery carried by the vehicle, and means associated with said at least our second rotatable drive means to recharge said at least one battery.

32. The load transfer vehicle of claim 30 wherein said at least one first drive means includes omni-directional driving members for supporting said body and for moving the load transfer vehicle across the plurality of levels.

33. The load transfer vehicle of claim 30 in which said at least one second drive means includes a pair of oppositely oriented rotating drive elements extending from opposite sides of said body, said drive elements including a plurality of generally equally spaced teeth, means for rotating said drive elements in uniform rotational velocity and in opposite directions, and said teeth being spaced so as to be cooperatively meshed with teeth associated with the first rack elements.

34. The load transfer vehicle of claim 30 in which the at least one third drive means includes rotating members extending from said opposite sides of said body of the transfer vehicle, each of said rotating members including teeth for intermeshing with teeth of second horizontal rack elements provided within the at least one vertical trunk, and means for powering said rotating members in uniform rotational velocity and in opposite directions.

35. The load transfer vehicle of claim 30 including means carried by said body for automatically loading and discharging articles from said article support surface.

36. The load transfer vehicle of claim 30 including an automated guidance system carried by said body.

37. The load transfer vehicle of claim 30 including means for reorienting said article support surface.

38. The load transfer vehicle of claim 30 including anchor means deployable relative to said body for securing said body relative to one of the plurality of levels.

39. The load transfer vehicle of claim 30 including means carried by said body for electrically communicating with coded devices carried by an article to be transferred on the transfer vehicle.