Rack loader/unloader system and method of using same

The rack loader/unloader system includes a rack unloader and a container elevator disposed on opposite sides of a rack conveyor to unload containers from a rack at a transfer station. The container elevator enables unloaded containers to be transported away from the transfer station as replacement containers are accumulated to replace the unloaded containers. A rack loader displaces the replacement containers from the container elevator into the rack.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
Not applicable. 
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
Not applicable. 
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
Not applicable. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Technical Field 
The invention relates in general to a system for loading and unloading a 
container rack. The invention relates more particularly to a system and 
method for loading and unloading water bottles into and out of a water 
bottle rack. 
2. Background Art 
There have been many devices for loading/unloading trays and containers to 
and from transport racks. For example, loading and unloading devices were 
disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,203,696; 4,277,216; 4,621,969; 4,929,140; 
5,310,300; and 5,547,329. 
The loading of full water bottles requires heavy duty loading equipment to 
accommodate the weight of each bottle. For a five gallon water bottle full 
of water, the approximate weight of the container and water is about 
forty-five pounds. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,203,696 and 4,277,216 disclose systems for loading and 
unloading trays to and from a tray rack. The disclosed systems include a 
conveyor coupled at one end to a vertical frame, and which extend away 
from the frame to engage the trays within the tray rack. Such systems are 
not suitable, however, for use with water bottles as the conveyors would 
be required to support full water bottles at an unsupported end thereof. 
Consequently, the conveyors would be subjected to undue stress, likely 
resulting in costly replacement or repair expenses. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,929,140 and 5,310,300 disclose systems for loading water 
bottles onto a bottle rack. The systems included devices for repositioning 
the water bottles, and devices for loading the repositioned water bottles 
onto the rack. Although the systems were suitable for loading full water 
bottles, the disclosed systems did not facilitate the unloading of empty 
water bottles from the rack. 
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a system and method for 
loading and unloading water bottles to and from a rack. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,621,969 and 5,547,329 disclose systems for loading and 
unloading containers to and from a rack. The systems included a rack 
unloading device positioned at a rack unloading station, a rack loading 
device positioned at a rack loading station, and a conveyor system for 
transporting the rack between the rack unloading station and the rack 
loading station. 
While the disclosed systems enabled a rack to be unloaded and loaded, the 
systems required two separate stations, each occupying its own allotted 
floor space. As a result, the disclosed systems did not utilize the 
available floor space efficiently. 
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved system 
and method for unloading and loading a bottle rack. Such a system should 
be suitable for use to load and unload heavy bottles of water relative to 
the rack, and should use space efficiently. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Therefore, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a 
new and improved rack loader/unloader system for unloading and loading 
water bottles quickly and efficiently according to a novel method, wherein 
the system utilizes space in an efficient manner. 
Briefly, the above and further objects of the present invention are 
realized by providing a new and novel rack loader/unloader system which 
can be operated in accordance with a novel method to unload and load a 
rack. 
The rack loader/unloader system includes a rack unloader and a container 
elevator disposed on opposite sides of a rack conveyor to unload 
containers from a rack at a transfer station. The container elevator 
enables unloaded containers to be transported away from the transfer 
station as replacement containers are accumulated to replace the unloaded 
containers. A rack loader displaces the replacement containers from the 
container elevator into the rack.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, 
there is shown a rack loader/unloader system 10 which is constructed in 
accordance with the present invention. The system 10 facilitates the 
loading and unloading of container racks, such as the rack 14, in a quick 
and efficient manner, and utilizes a minimum amount of floor space. 
The rack 14 is a conventional water bottle rack utilized by water delivery 
vehicles (not shown) to transport water bottles. The rack 14 is adapted to 
receive and support about twenty-four to thirty-six five-gallon water 
bottles. As shown in FIG. 1, the rack 14 is capable of storing four 
columns 15-18 of water bottles, each of the columns 15-18 having five 
vertical rows of bottles, with each row having two horizontally aligned 
water bottles. It will be understood by one skilled in the art that the 
rack 14 can have other combinations of columns and rows, and still be 
functional with the system 10. Although the use of five-gallon water 
bottles is described in the present application, it will be apparent to 
one skilled in the art that other containers can be loaded and unloaded 
from a rack in accordance with the present invention. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the system 10 includes a rack conveyor arrangement 12 
for transporting the rack 14 relative to a transfer station 20 for loading 
and unloading the rack 14. The conveyor arrangement 12 extends to an 
unloading area (not shown) to receive and transport the rack 14 having 
empty water bottles therein from an incoming water delivery vehicle (not 
shown). The conveyor arrangement 12 further extends to a loading area (not 
shown) to transport the rack 14 having full water bottles therein onto an 
outgoing water delivery vehicle (not shown). The conveyor arrangement 12 
includes a rack positioning arrangement 30 at the transfer station 20 to 
facilitate the incremental loading and unloading of the rack 14. 
To facilitate the unloading and loading of the water bottle columns 15-18, 
the system 10 further includes a rack unloader arrangement 40 disposed on 
one side of the conveyor arrangement 12, a container elevator 50 disposed 
across the conveyor arrangement 12 from the rack unloader 40, and a rack 
loader 80 adjacent to the container elevator 50, wherein the rack unloader 
40, the container elevator 50 and the rack loader 80 are located at the 
transfer station 20, perpendicular to the conveyor arrangement 12 and 
substantially in alignment with one another. 
An outfeed conveyor arrangement 22 extends from an upper end of the 
container elevator 50 to a bottle washing facility (not shown) to carry 
away unloaded bottles from the rack 14 for re-use. A replacement conveyor 
arrangement 24 extends from a water bottle filling facility (not shown) to 
a lower end of the elevator 50 for supplying full bottles to the transfer 
station 20. 
The system 10 further includes a control arrangement 100 connected by 
conductors (not shown) to the rack conveyor arrangement 12, the rack 
positioning arrangement 30, the rack unloader arrangement 40, the 
container elevator 50, the rack loader arrangement 80, the outfeed 
conveyor arrangement 22, and the replacement conveyor arrangement 24 to 
control the operation and sequence of the system 10. The controller 100 
can include a programmable controller or any other suitable automated 
control system. 
In operation, the rack 14 containing columns 15-18 of empty bottles is 
transported to the transfer station 20 by the conveyor arrangement 12. The 
positioning arrangement 30 is activated to position the first column 15 of 
bottles in alignment with the rack unloader 40 and the container elevator 
50 (FIG. 2). Once the column 15 is aligned, the rack unloader arrangement 
40 is activated to displace horizontally the group or column 15 of bottles 
out of the rack 14. The displaced column 15 is received and supported in 
the container elevator 50 (FIG. 3). 
The elevator 50 is activated to vertically displace the column 15 of 
bottles toward the upper end of the container elevator 50. The replacement 
conveyor arrangement 24 is activated to supply full replacement water 
bottles to the lower end of the container elevator 50. By incrementally 
advancing the container elevator 50, the replacement water bottles are 
continuously received within the container elevator 50 to form a 
replacement column of replacement water bottles. 
The incremental vertical displacement of the container elevator 50 enables 
the replacement full water bottles to be accumulated in the container 
elevator 50, and also positions the displaced empty water bottles at the 
upper end of the container elevator 50. The outfeed conveyor arrangement 
22 displaces horizontally the top most row of empty bottles from the 
container elevator 50, and transports the displaced empty bottles to the 
bottle washing facility (FIG. 4). 
The steps of activating the elevator 50 to incrementally vertically 
displace the empty bottles, supply replacement full bottles to the 
elevator 50, and displace the topmost empty bottle out of the elevator 50, 
are repeated until all of the empty bottles of the column 15 have been 
incrementally displaced to the upper end of the elevator 50 and displaced 
therefrom by the conveyor arrangement 22, and a replacement group or 
column of full water bottles corresponding to the column 15 of empty water 
bottles has been accumulated in the container elevator 50 and positioned 
in alignment with the rack loader 80. The rack loader 80 is then activated 
to push or horizontally displace the accumulated column of full water 
bottles out of the elevator 50 and into the rack 14, wherein the 
accumulated column of full water bottles occupies the same space 
previously occupied by the column 15 of empty water bottles (FIG. 5). 
Once the column 15 has been replaced by the full water bottles, the 
positioning arrangement 30 and the conveyor arrangement 12 are activated 
to incrementally advance the rack 14. The rack positioning arrangement 30 
subsequently positions the rack 14 to place the column 16 of empty water 
bottles in alignment with the rack unloader arrangement 40 and the 
container elevator 50. The column 16 of empty water bottles is replaced by 
a column of full replacement water bottles in the same manner as described 
in connection with the column 15 of empty water bottles. The rack 14 is 
subsequently positioned to unload and load the columns 17 and 18 with 
corresponding columns of full water bottles in the same manner as 
described above for the columns 15 and 16. 
The operation of the system 10 can be controlled by the control arrangement 
100 to unload and load various sizes and configurations of racks, such as 
the rack 14. Furthermore, the operation of the system 10 can also be 
controlled by the control arrangement 100 to operate according to an 
"unload only" sequence and according to a "load only" sequence. In this 
regard, full bottles may not be available for loading onto a rack, or a 
rack may not contain any empty bottles. In these situations, a complete 
unload/load sequence is not required. In the unload only sequence, the 
system 10 unloads the bottles as described previously, however, the 
loading of replacement bottles is not performed. In the load only 
sequence, the unloading sequence described previously is not performed, 
but the replacement bottles are loaded in the manner described above. 
Considering now the positioning arrangement 30 in greater detail with 
reference to FIG. 6, the arrangement 30 includes a plurality of spaced 
apart stop members 32, 34, 36 and 38 for engaging and positioning the rack 
14 relative to the container elevator 50. The stop members 32, 34, 36 and 
38 are pneumatically or hydraulically controlled between a retracted 
position and an extended position. As shown in FIG. 6, stop member 38 is 
in an extended position to position the first column 15 (FIG. 1) of 
bottles in alignment with the elevator 50. The remaining stop members 32, 
34 and 36 are shown in a retracted position which would permit the rack to 
pass over the stop members 32, 34 and 36. 
In the preferred method of operation, all of the stop members 32, 34, 36 
and 38 are initially extended to the extended position. Upon completion of 
the unloading and loading of the first column 15 of the rack 14, the stop 
member 38 is retracted and the conveyor arrangement 12 moves the rack 14 
to the next extended stop member 36. The rack 14 is subsequently moved to 
each remaining stop member 34 and 32 as the corresponding columns 17 and 
18 unloaded and loaded until the rack 14 has been completely unloaded and 
loaded, wherein the last stop member 32 is retracted and the conveyor 
arrangement 12 transports the rack 14 to the loading area. 
As best seen in FIG. 2, the rack unloader 40 includes a frame 42 for 
supporting a plurality of vertically-aligned rack pushers/pistons 44, 45, 
46, 47 and 48. The pushers/pistons 44-48 are spaced apart from one another 
and are adapted to engage the individual rows of a bottle column, such as 
column 15. The column 15 of bottles includes five vertical rows of pairs 
of empty bottles 15A-15E. Each pusher/piston 45-48 is associated with a 
corresponding row of column 15, and is controlled to urge its associated 
row of empty bottles 15A-15E out of the rack 14 and into the container 
elevator 50 (FIG. 3). 
Considering now the container elevator 50 in greater detail with respect to 
FIG. 6, the elevator 50 includes a frame 52, a left drive arrangement 53 
and a right drive arrangement 73. As the left drive arrangement 53 and the 
right drive arrangement 73 are substantially similar, only the left drive 
arrangement 53 will be described in further detail. The left drive 
arrangement 53 includes a drive shaft 54 at the upper end of the elevator 
50 and a driven shaft 56 at the lower end of the elevator 50. A pair of 
continuous conveyor chains 58 and 59 are coupled rotatably between the 
drive shaft 54 and the driven shaft 56. A motor 55 coupled to the drive 
shaft 54 drives the chains 58 and 59 under the control of the control 
arrangement 100. A plurality of L-shaped support members, such as support 
members 61, 62, 63, 64 and 65, are connected horizontally between the 
chains 58 and 59 to help support bottles in the elevator 50. The support 
members 61-65 are spaced apart along the chains 58 and 59 by a distance 
corresponding to the relative position of the bottles in the columns 15-18 
in the rack 14. The support members 61-65 cooperate with like members of 
the right drive arrangement 73 to define container pockets in a vertical 
column to receive and support vertical columns of bottles, such as the 
columns 15-18. 
The uppermost container pocket defines in outfeed position to facilitate 
transporting empty bottles, such as bottles 15A-15E, away from the 
elevator 50. The lowermost container pocket defines an infeed position to 
facilitate supplying full water bottles to the elevator 50. The motor 50 
is operable to raise incrementally the pockets, one pocket at a time, to 
continuously raise a new pocket to the outfeed position, and to 
continuously form a new pocket at the infeed position. The replacement 
conveyor arrangement 24 extends to the lower end of the elevator 50 to 
continuously deliver full replacement water bottles, such as bottles 
26A-26, to the infeed position (FIGS. 2-3). Each time the motor 50 raises 
the pockets, a new pair of replacement bottles is delivered to the infeed 
position. Eventually, a column of replacement bottles 26A-26E are 
accumulated in the pockets of the elevator 50. 
Concurrently with the accumulation of the replacement bottles 26A-26E, the 
empty bottles 15A-15E are incrementally positioned at the outfeed position 
where the empty bottles 15A-15E are displaced from the elevator 50 one row 
at a time (FIG. 4). 
The outfeed conveyor arrangement 22 (FIG. 4) includes a bottle 
pusher/piston 28 aligned with the conveyor 22 at the outfeed position for 
displacing a topmost row of bottles 15A-15E from the elevator 50 onto the 
conveyor 22. 
The rack loader arrangement 80 is substantially similar to the rack 
unloader arrangement 40, and includes a frame 82 to support a plurality of 
vertically aligned bottle pushers/pistons 84, 85, 86, 87 and 88. The 
pushers/pistons 84, 85, 86, 87 and 88 are spaced apart and adapted to 
engage individually each row of full bottles 26A-26E accumulated in the 
elevator 50. The bottle pusher/pistons 84-88 are operable to displace 
horizontally each row of pairs of bottles in the column of full bottles 
26A-26E out of the elevator 50 and into the rack 14 to occupy the 
positions previously occupied by the corresponding column 15 of empty 
bottles 15A-15E (FIG. 5). 
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed, 
it is to be understood that various different modifications are possible 
and are contemplated within the true spirit and scope of the appended 
claims. There is no intention, therefore, of limitations to the exact 
abstract or disclosure herein presented.