Patent ID: 6626612
Filing Date: 2003-09-30
Classification: B65G

Abstract:
A transporting apparatus, comprising a transporting plane and a transporting platform which is adapted to be displaced in different directions along or across the transporting plane in a largely friction-free manner on an air cushion above the transporting plane, the air cushion being generated by air nozzles which are distributed in the transporting plane and are each adapted to be optionally opened and closed individually by means of a valve, and through which compressed air flows out in the upward direction from beneath through the transporting plane, and the valves of the air nozzles and the transporting platform being designed such that they interact with one another depending on the position of the transporting platform, wherein the valves of the air nozzles are designed as solenoid valves equipped with a magnet coil, and wherein the transporting platform has ferromagnetic regions which are adapted to interact with the magnet coils of the solenoid valves in dependence on the position of the transporting platform relative to the transporting plane, and wherein a non-magnetic cover plate is arranged between the magnet coils and the transporting plane and the air nozzles are formed by bores in the cover plate.