Patent ID: 8374719
Filing Date: 2013-02-12
Classification: B61B,B65G,H01L

Abstract:
1. An article processing facility comprising: an article carrier movable along a track extending by way of an article transfer location corresponding to an article processing apparatus; an article gripper provided on said article carrier, said article gripper being movable vertically and switchable between a holding state for holding an article and a release state for releasing the article; a pair of article racks for temporarily storing articles, each of said article racks being shiftable between an extended position projecting toward said track for transferring an article to and from said article carrier at said article transfer location, and a retracted position retracted away from said track, said article carrier is configured to transfer an article to and from each of said article racks in said extended position when the article carrier is at the article transfer location; and an operation controller for controlling traveling operation of said article carrier so that it stops at said article transfer location when unloading an article from or loading an article to an article loading and unloading station of said article processing apparatus, and for controlling vertical movement of said article gripper and switching of said article gripper between said holding state and said release state when delivering an article to said article loading and unloading station or receiving an article from said article loading and unloading station; wherein said operation controller is configured to control vertical movement of said article gripper, switching of said article gripper between said holding state and said release state, and shifting of said pair of article racks such as to: 1) temporarily place said article for loading on one of said article racks, and thereafter to temporarily place said article for unloading on the other of said article racks when an article for loading held by said article gripper is to be delivered to said article loading and unloading station but an article for unloading is present at said article loading and unloading station; and 2) next, transfer said article for loading to said article loading and unloading station, wherein the temporary placement of said article for loading on one of said article racks, the temporary placement of said article for unloading on the other of said article racks, and the transferring of said article for loading to said article loading and unloading station are performed while the article carrier is stopped at one position on the track from a beginning through a completion of a series of steps including the temporary placement of said article for loading on one of said article racks; the temporary placement of said article for unloading on the other of said article racks; and the transferring of said article for loading to said article loading and unloading, and wherein said article carrier includes a shift control device for shifting said article racks between said extended position and said retracted position when said article carrier is at said article transfer location; and said operation controller is configured to control operation of said shift control device for shifting said article racks.