Patent ID: 7693600
Filing Date: 2010-04-06
Classification: B65G

Abstract:
1. An article transporting apparatus comprising: a plurality of movable bodies for transporting articles, the movable bodies being movable between a plurality of article transfer locations; and operation controlling means for controlling the plurality of movable bodies so that the movable bodies effect article transporting operations in accordance with an article transport request information; wherein the operation controlling means selects a movable body from the plurality of movable bodies for an article transporting operation based on a first operation condition configured to cause each of the movable bodies to have a different past operation history such that a timing for replacing a replaceable part for one movable body is different from replacement timings for other movable body or bodies; wherein said first operation condition is a target ratio between respective past operation histories of the movable bodies; and wherein said operation controlling means controls the operations of the plurality of movable bodies such that a ratio between the past operation histories of the movable bodies approaches the target ratio.