Patent ID: 9679795
Date: 2017-06-13
CPC Classifications: B65G,H01L,Y10T

Claim:
1. An article storage facility comprising: a plurality of storage sections for storing containers; an inactive gas supply passage for supplying inactive gas to each of the plurality of storage sections; inject portions, each of which is configured to inject the inactive gas supplied to an associated one of the storage sections by the inactive gas supply passage into inside an associated one of the containers stored in the associated one of the storage sections; wherein the plurality of storage sections are divided into a plurality of zones, wherein the inactive gas supply passage includes a base gas supply portion, a plurality of zone gas supply portions each of which branches off from the base gas supply portion to associated one of the plurality of zones to supply the inactive gas which flows through the base gas supply portion to the associated one of the plurality of zones, a plurality of storage section gas supply portions each of which is branched off from each zone gas supply portion to respective ones of the storage sections and configured to supply the inactive gas which flows through a corresponding zone gas supply portion individually to associated one of the plurality of storage sections that belong to one of the plurality of zones that corresponds to the corresponding zone gas supply portion, and is configured to allow the inactive gas to be injected from associated one of the inject portions, wherein the article storage facility further comprises: a first switching valve provided in each of the plurality of zone gas supply portions, and which can be switched between an open state in which the inactive gas is allowed to flow through the first switching valve and a closed state in which the inactive gas is prevented from flowing through the first switching valve; a second switching valve provided in either (a) each of the plurality of zone gas supply portions, on a downstream side, with respect to a gas supplying direction, of a position in which the first switching valve is provided, or (b) each of the plurality of storage section gas supply portions, wherein the second switching valve can be switched between an open state in which the inactive gas is allowed to flow through the second switching valve and a closed state in which the inactive gas is prevented from flowing through the second switching valve; and a plurality of relief passages connected to respective ones of the plurality of zone gas supply portions for discharging inactive gas from the respective ones of the zone gas supply portions; wherein each of the plurality of relief passages is connected to the inactive gas supply passage on the downstream side, with respect to the gas supplying direction, of a position in which the first switching valve is provided in the inactive gas supply passage and on the upstream side, with respect to the gas supplying direction, of a position in which the second switching valve is provided, and wherein each of the plurality of relief passages is provided with a zone relief switching valve which can be switched between an open state in which inactive gas is allowed to flow through the zone relief switching valve, and a closed state in which inactive gas is prevented from flowing through the zone relief switching valve.