Patent ID: 9617083
Date: 2017-04-11
CPC Classifications: B65G

Claim:
1. A transfer apparatus which has a first conveyor, a second conveyor, and a lifting unit which raises and lowers at least one of the first and second conveyors, the first conveyor having a first conveying path located in a fixed planar region and conveying an article to be conveyed in a fixed direction, the second conveyor having a second conveying path arranged in the same planar region as the first conveying path and conveying the article to be conveyed in a direction crossing a conveying direction of the first conveying path, the lifting unit raising one of the conveying paths to above the other conveying path to convey the article to be conveyed in a predetermined direction, wherein the lifting unit has a lifting mechanism having a plurality of combined members, and a motor, the lifting mechanism converting a rotation force of the motor to movement in a lifting direction, transmitting the movement to at least one of the first and second conveyors, raising or lowering at least one of the first and second conveyors, and stopping rotation of the motor when the one conveying path reaches a predetermined height, and in process of operating the lifting unit, a physical limit identification operation is executed in which the motor is rotated to operate the lifting mechanism to a physical operation limit whereupon the motor is stopped by being mechanically blocked against further rotation and current supply into the motor is stopped, and control of the motor is changed so that the motor is rotated at low speed until the lifting mechanism reaches the physical operation limit.