COLLECTING CARRIAGE FOR PICKING UP A CERTAIN NUMBER OF BOXES FROM STORAGE TRACKS PLACED ONE ALONGSIDE THE OTHER

Abstract: Collecting carriage by means of which, in shipping departments and equivalent, quantities of merchandise packed into boxes or equivalent packaging units are collected out of stacks of boxes (1) placed on storage tracks located one alongside the other as quantities of boxes of specified number in a specified sequence, and delivered further onto an exit conveyor (2). The carriage moves back and forth as of controlled location on a cross-track in front of the storage tracks and collects a desired number of boxes out of the selected storage stack, and delivers the collected boxes onto the exit conveyor (2) by means of the delivery conveyor (4) and a receiving member (5). The inclusion of the receiving member (5), turnable around its vertical axis and movable vertically, has resulted in a faster operation of the carriage, due to the fact that the co-operation of the delivery conveyor (4) and the receiving member (5) as well as preferably also the delivery operation onto the exit conveyor (2) can be effected simultaneously with the location movements of the carriage.

Description: Collecting carriage for picking up a certain number of boxes from storage tracks placed one alongside the other The present invention is concerned with a collecting carriage for picking up a certain number of boxes from a sta k consisting of boxes placed one above the other, Jhe said stacks being placed one after the other on storage tracks placed one alongside the other. Collecting carriages of the type concerned are used, e.g., in forwarding departments, such as wholesale companies and equivalent, from which several different types of merchandise are delivered to retail stores as packed into boxes. Each type of merchandise has been packed into boxes so that each box contains the same quantity of the merchandise concerned. The boxes are stacked to stacks of several boxes placed one above the other, and the said stacks are placed one after the other on a warehouse conveyor, such as gently forwards slanting roller track, on which they travel towards the collecting device. Each type of merchandise is placed on a track of its own, and the said tracks are placed side by side as parallel to each other. The collecting carriage has been arranged so that it runs bacTc and forth along a track placed transversely in front of the storage tracks. The col¬ lecting carriage is run either as manually controlled or as programmed, in accordance with the orders to be delivered, to positions facing the different lines of box stacks, from which lines the collecting carriage picks up the desired number of boxes from each selected stack. For the purpose of taking the boxes from the stack, the collecting carriage is provided with appro¬ priate grasping members, such as a pair of grasping arms, whose arms can be pushed to the sides of a stack of boxes and pulled towards each other so as to grasp a box. The pair of grasping arms is supported by an appropriate lifting device, by means of which the pair of grasping O PI arms can be raised and lowered as desired. This lifting- device usually also includes a conveyor device, which receives the boxes lifted and pulled out of the stack from the pair of grasping arms as well as delivers the boxes further to an exit conveyor for carriage forwards. It is drawback of the prior-art collecting carriages that the conveyor receiving the stack of boxes from the grasping members must be lowered to the level of the receiving conveyor and that the stack of boxes must be run from it onto the receiving conveyor before the grasping members can be run to a new grasping posi¬ tion. This of course imposes its limitations on the speed of operation of the apparatus. It may be con¬ sidered another drawback that the receiving conveyor must be parallel to the storage conveyor, whereat the collecting carriage must always be driven to the posi¬ tion facing this conveyor for the delivery of the stack of boxes picked up. In alternative embodiments, there are several parallel receiving conveyors, likewise parallel to the storage conveyors, possibly the same number as the number of the storage conveyors. This makes the equipment unnecessarily complicated. The drawbacks related to the said prior-art equipments can be eliminated by means of the collecting- carriage solution in accordance with the invention, whose characteristics come out from the attached patent claims. The invention will be illustrated by means of the attached drawing. The drawing shows a construction of a collecting carriage, of a basic construction in itself known, which consists of a carriage 6 moving back and forth along rails or a corresponding guiding base as controlled in respect of its location. The carriage includes a sledge controllably movable in the vertical direction, and on that sledge are supported a pair of grasping arms 3 forming the grasping member as well as a conveyor 4, so-called delivery conveyor. receiving the stack of boxes from the pair of grasping — arms. In addition to these components in themselves known, according to the invention, a receiving member 5 receiving the stack of boxes from the conveyor 4 is installed on the carriage, which said receiving member can be raised andϊ,lowered as controlled in support on its own support device 7. Moreover, the receiving member 5 can be turned around its vertical axis at least over about 90 degrees. By means of the said solution, above all the operational advantage has been obtained that the re¬ ceiving member 5 can be raised to. the level of the receiving conveyor 4, onto which the stack of boxes lifted and pulled out of the stack is run for delivery onto the exit conveyor. Thereby the delivery conveyor 4 and the grasping member 3 moving in connection with same are immediately free for a new picking up after the conveyor 4 has delivered the preceding stack of boxes to the receiving member 5. Moreover, the delivery from the conveyor 4 to the receiving member may take place while the carriage is moving, which makes the operation of the carriage essentially more rapid. Moreover, the receiving member 5 can be constructed so that it is capable of delivering the stack of boxes received by it from the delivery conveyor 4 onto the exit conveyor 2 while the carriage is moving. It is another remarkable advantage of the solution of collecting carriage in accordance with the invention that the exit conveyor 2 may be placed as parallel to the track of running of the carriage, whereat the quantities of boxes collected from the storage stacks can be placed onto the conveyor concerned as stacks placed one after the other. In the said embodiment, the operation must, of course, be programmed or controlled so that it starts its collecting cycle from the outlet end of the exit conveyor 2, whereby there will be no stack previously delivered onto the exit conveyor in the way of a new == stack to be delivered onto same and whereby the collected quantities of boxes will be received in the correct sequence. The receiving member 5 preferably comprises two fork-shaped support arms, onto which the stack of boxes can be run off the delivery conveyor. The top face of " the forks is preferably outwardly slanting, whereat, when the receiving member has been lowered onto the exit conveyor and turned so as to be parallel to the said conveyor, the stack of boxes remains on the exit conveyor when the carriage continues its movement or when the exit conveyor is started.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: - 1. Collecting carriage for collecting a ^ chosen number of boxes from stacks of boxes (1) placed 5 on roller tracks or equivalent storage bases placed side by side as well as for delivering the collected number of boxes onto an exit conveyor (2) , which said carriage has been made such, that it can be.shifted along a track perpendicular to the storage tracks 10 selectively to positions facing the delivery ends of each storage track and which said carriage is provided with members (3, 4) which can be raised and lowered for the purpose of grasping a selected box in a selected stack as " well as for raising and pulling the chosen box 15 and the boxes placed on same out of the stack in view of delivery onto the exit conveyor, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that the carriage is provided with a sepa¬ rate receiving member (5) for receiving the box or stack of boxes pulled out of the storage stack from the 20 members (3, 4) taking the box out of the stack as well as for further delivery of the box or stack of boxes onto an exit conveyor (2) , which is preferably per¬ pendicular to the storage conveyors. 2. Collecting carriage as claimed in claim 1, 25 c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the receiving member consists of a receiving base, which can be turned from its position parallel to the exit conveyor (2) to a position parallel to the members (3,4) taking the boxes out of the stack and which can be raised from the plane 30 immediately above the exit conveyor to the plane of the members taking the boxes out of the stack. 3. Collecting carriage as claimed in claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the receiving plane of the receiving member is inclined in the outlet 35 direction of the exit conveyor.

Inventors: SALO ESKO, SALO, ESKO
Applicants: SALO ESKO TEKNILLINEN, TEKNILLINEN TOIMISTO ESKO SALO KY
Application year: 1984
Main classification: B65G1
IPC codes: B65G1