Patent ID: 7686559
Filing Date: 2010-03-30
Classification: B65G

Abstract:
1. An article transport facility comprising: a plurality of mobile bodies movable along a single track for transporting articles; an article storage rack disposed beside said track and including a plurality of storage units arranged vertically and in juxtaposition in a direction along said track; a plurality of load support tables arranged in juxtaposition in the direction along said track at positions adjacent said article storage rack in the direction along said track; a control means capable of executing an individual moving operation for controlling movements of said mobile bodies individually of each other where the mobile bodies are separated from each other; wherein said control means executes a joint moving operation for controlling respective running of two of said plurality of mobile bodies to cause these two mobile bodies to run together provided said two mobile bodies are running in a same direction and being under normal operating conditions and provided a distance between said two mobile bodies is less than a predetermined distance; wherein, in the joint moving operation, a first mobile body as one of said two mobile bodies which is located rearwards in the running direction pushes a second mobile body as the other of said two mobile bodies which is located forwards in the running direction; and wherein said predetermined distance is either a distance between said two mobile bodies when these bodies are located at positions corresponding, respectively, to two of said storage units which are directly next to each other in the direction along said track, or a distance between said two mobile bodies when these bodies are located at positions corresponding, respectively, to two of said load support tables which are directly next to each other in the direction along said track.