Method for shifting goods and apparatus therefor by inverting a container

Abstract: A method for shifting goods in which goods (B) arranged in a predetermined manner within a container (10) having an opening portion (11) are taken out of the container (10) in such a manner as to correspond to the arrangement of the storing state of the goods (B), the method comprising the steps of superposing goods take-out tool (20) including partitions (21) which are formed in such a manner as to correspond to the ar­ rangement of the storing state of the goods (B) on the opening portion (11) of the container (10), and inverting the superposed container (10) and goods (B) take-out tool (20) and taking out the goods (B) contained in the container into the goods take-out tool (20) without changing the arrangement of the storing state of the goods (B).

Description: This invention relates to a method for shifting goods with the features cited in the preamble of claim 1 and an apparatus for carrying out the method with the features cited in the preamble of claim 14. The Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. 63-17702 describes such a method where the container is inverted over a hopper. In the inverted position, the goods contained in the container fall out of the container and are fed into the hopper. Unfortunately, all the goods are fed into the hopper at the same time in an unarranged manner. For further processes the goods have to be sorted and rearranged with an additional complicated method. This takes time and causes further costs for the apparatus that handles the rearrangement of the goods. Further, FR-A-2596299 discloses a device comprising several rotatable buckets mounted on an endless conveyor belt. Said endless conveyor belt can be stopped so that a few buckets are positioned above a hopper, comprising several partitions corresponding to the arrangement of the different buckets positioned above said hopper. One or several buckets can be inverted, so that the goods, contained therein, fall through a space of the hopper, seperated by two partitions. After passing said hopper, said goods fall in a box comprising several compartments corresponding to the arrangement of the partitions of the hopper. Said box is mounted on a second conveyor belt for transporting the goods filed in the compartments of the box to other stations for further processes. Unfortunately, this device is not suitable for taking goods out of containers, buckets, etc, corresponding to the storing state of the goods in each of said buckets. As the prior art relating to a method for shifting goods and an apparatus therefor, there have been known those as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 53-7875, Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 60-13615, Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 62-153017, Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 55-43873, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 57-21842, etc. In Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 53-7875, there is described a method for encasing goods, in which a packing box including an inner partition has an open bottom so that goods can smoothly be encased through the open bottom. In Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 60-13615, there is described a guiding frame of a bottle packing machine, in which goods (bottles) are guided to a packing box or case and stored therein as one lot without disordering the arrangement of the goods. Also, in Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 62-153017, there is described an apparatus for orderly taking out goods which are transferred on the line without disordering the arrangement of the goods. Also, in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 55-43873, there is described a manipulator, in which a plurality of goods can simultaneously be held or released by one driving system. In Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 57-21842, there is described an uncaser (uncasing device) of the type in that goods arranged in several rows and stored within a delivery case are taken out and fed by a single row at a time. However, the encasing method described in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 53-7875, the guiding frame described in Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 60-13615, or the apparatus for orderly taking out bottles, etc. described in Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 62-153017 merely discloses encasing techniques, etc. which are utilized at one stage of processes for producing goods. None of them discloses or even suggests that foods contained in a container are taken out in the form as arranged in the container. That is, in the method for encasing goods described in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 53-7875, it is impossible to shift goods contained in a container into the above-mentioned packing box in the form as orderly arranged in the container because the inner partitions of the packing box is not projected outside the packing box and therefore, the inner partitions cannot be inserted into the container which contains goods therein. Also, in the guiding frame described in Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 60-13615, although a guiding frame (partition) can be inserted between bottles (goods) which are held by a bottle holder, the goods contained in the container cannot be taken out because it is designed as such that the partitions must be inserted between the goods from the bottom side thereof. Also, in the apparatus for orderly taking out bottles. etc. which is described in Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. 62-153017, goods contained in a container having a side wall cannot be taken out of the container because a bottle arranging member must be horizontally moved in order to take out the goods according to this apparatus. Also, in the manipulator described in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 55-43873 or in the uncaser for taking out and feeding goods arranged in several rows within a container by each row at a time described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 57-21842, since a plurality of goods contained in a container is held, one each at a time, by a chucking head, any disorderly arrangement of the goods within a container makes it impossible for the chucking head to hold goods for shifting. Also, as the prior art relating to a method for taking out goods which have been shifted during the goods shifting work and an apparatus for carrying out the method, there has been known one described in Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 58-47220, etc. And, in this Publication, there is described an automatic weighing apparatus comprising an opening and closing shutter disposed proximate to an upper surface of a series of containers which are to be carried to a predetermined position, and a timing hopper provided with the same number of pooling spaces for objects to be weighed with respect to the number of the containers formed in such a manner as to correspond to the respective containers of said series of containers by serving the opening and closing shutter as a bottom surface thereof, the opening and closing shutter being moved to feed the objects to be weighed and pooled in the respective pooling spaces to the corresponding containers. However, in the automatic weighing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 58-47220, the objects to be weighed and pooled in a plurality of pooling spaces can be taken out and brought into the corresponding containers. However, since the opening and closing shutter is formed of one sheet of plate, the goods (objects to be weighed) contained (pooled) in the respective foods storing portions (pooling spaces) are taken out all at a time, and the goods (objects to be weighed which are pooled) cannot be taken out by a desired number (pooling spaces) at a time. It is therefore the object of the present invention to overcome the shortcomings inherent in the prior art and to provide a method for shifting goods in which goods arranged in a pre-determined manner within a container having an opening portion such as a corrugated fibreboard box, a plastic container, etc, are taken out of the container in such a manner as to correspond to the arrangement of the storing state of the goods and to provide an apparatus suitable for carrying out the above-mentioned method for shifting goods. This object is attained by providing a method with the features cited in the characterizing clause of claim 1 and an apparatus with the features cited in the characterizing clause of claim 13. Further embodiments and improvements of the invention are cited in the dependant claims. Further, The present invention is improved by providing a method for shifting goods in which goods arranged in a predetermined manner within a container having an opening portion are taken out of the container in such a manner as to correspond to the arrangement of the storing state of the goods, the method comprising the steps of superposing goods take-out tool including partitions which are formed in such a manner as to correspond to the arrangement of storing state of the goods on the opening portion of the container; and inverting the superposed container and goods take-out tool and taking out the goods contained in the container into the goods take-out tool without changing the arrangement of the storing state of the goods. Further, The present invention is improved by providing an apparatus for shifting goods in which goods arranged in a predetermined manner within a container having an opening portion are taken out of the container in such a manner as to correspond to the arrangement of the storing state of the goods, the apparatus comprising a goods take-out tool including partitions for separating the goods contained in the container according to the arrangement of the storing state of the goods by inserting foremost ends of the partitions into the opening portion of the container; a superposing device for superposing the goods take-out tool on the container by inserting the foremost ends of the partitions of the goods take-out tool into the container through the opening portion; and an inverting device for inverting the superposed container and goods take-out tool and taking out the goods of the container into the goods take-out tool in accordance with the partitions. That is, according to a method for shifting goods and an apparatus therefor, by inverting a goods take-out tool and a container after superposing the goods take-out tool on an opening portion of the container, goods which are arranged in a predetermined manner within a container having an opening portion such as a corrugated fiberboard box, a plastic container, etc. can be taken out of the container in such a manner as to correspond to the arrangement of the storing state of the goods within the container. Further, the present invention is improved by providing a goods take-out tool in which goods arranged in a predetermined manner within a container having an opening portion are taken out in such a manner as to correspond to the arrangement of the storing state of the goods, the tool comprising partitions for separating the goods contained in the container according to the arrangement of the storing state of the goods by inserting its foremost ends into the opening portion of the container; and a shutter being able to open and close in a basic end portion side of the partitions. Also, according to the goods take-out tool of the present invention, goods arranged in a predetermined manner within a container having an opening portion such as a corrugated fiberboard box, a plastic container, etc. can be taken out of the container in such a manner as to correspond to the arrangement of the storing state of the goods with ease and with a high efficiency. Further, the present invention is improved by providing a goods take-out method which includes goods storing portions arranged in a matrix shape including n pieces of line and shutters opening and closing an opening portion of said goods storing portions, a desired number of goods being taken out by moving the shutter, said method being characterized in that after the total number of goods taken out is converted from a decimal number (base 10 number) to n-ary number (base n number), the shutter is moved with reference to the numeral value shown by the n-ary number (base n number) converted, thereby to take out a desired number of goods in succession. Further, the present invention is improved by providing a goods take-out apparatus comprising a plurality of goods storing portions disposed in a matrix shape, a first shutter and a second shutter for opening and closing an opening portion of the goods storing portions, and driving mechanisms for driving the first shutter and the second shutter respectively, one of said first and second shutters being able to move in the line direction and the other being able to move in the row direction. Also, according to a method for taking out goods and an apparatus therefor of the present invention, a shutter is moved along the opening portions of the goods storing portions arranged in the line direction and in the row direction according to a desired number and goods stored in goods storing portions arranged in a matrix shape including n pieces of line can be taken out by a desired number. That is, after the total number of the goods taken out is converted from a decimal number (base 10 number) to an n-ary number (base n number corresponding to n showing the number of lines of the goods storing portions, the opening portions of the goods storing portions are opened and closed with reference to the numerical value shown in the n-ary number (base n number) converted, thereby a desired number of goods can be taken out rapidly and with a high efficiency. Further, the present invention is improved by providing a transfer apparatus comprising a traveling table provided with a container transfer apparatus for transferring a container with goods contained therein from storing facilities and an inverting device for inverting the container which has been transferred onto the container transfer apparatus and a traveling table being able to travel toward the storing facilities, a lifting table for travelably supporting the traveling table, and a traveling body for vertically movably supporting the said lifting table, said traveling table and said traveling body being disposed as such that they travel in the generally perpendicular directions with respect to each other, said lifting table being provided with a passage for the container to be dropped and discharged therethrough. Also, according to a transfer apparatus of the present invention, since an empty container having an opening portion such as a corrugated fiberboard, a plastic container, etc., out of which goods have been taken, can be taken out and discharged at position where the empty container has been taken out, the empty container can be effectively discharged and the transferring performance can greatly be increased as a whole. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a goods shifting apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a container and a goods take-out tool already inverted to a goods drop-out device side by an inverting device of the goods shifting apparatus; Fig. 3 is a side view of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a goods take-out tool forming the goods shifting apparatus; Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a container with goods contained therein; Fig. 6 is a front view showing the goods take-out tool of Fig. 4 which is already superposed on the container of Fig. 5 by a superposing device; Fig. 7 is a side view of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing a container containing goods having a shape different from that of Fig. 5 and a goods take-out tool inverted and superposed on a goods drop-out device; Fig. 9 is a schematic plan view of Fig. 8 for explaining the movement of shutters; Fig. 10 is a plan view of Fig. 1; Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 respectively are front views, when looked from a traveling rail side, for explaining the arrangement of goods which are to be racked in take-out compartments of a gravity flow rack and goods drop-out devices; Fig. 22 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of a goods take-out tool of the present invention; Fig. 23 is a perspective view showing a container with goods contained therein; Fig. 24 is a front view showing the goods take-out tool of Fig. 22 which is superposed on the container of Fig. 23 by a superposing device; Fig. 25 is a side view of Fig. 24; Fig. 26 is a perspective view showing the guide piece of Fig. 22 in its enlarged scale; Fig. 27 is a perspective view of a goods take-out tool according to a third embodiment for taking out goods identical with those of Fig. 8 from a container and superposed on a goods drop-out device; Fig. 28 is a perspective view showing a container with goods contained therein and a goods take-out tool according to a fourth embodiment inverted and superposed on a goods drop-out device; Fig. 29 is a perspective view showing the goods take-out tool and the first holding hand of Fig. 28 in their enlarged scales when they are being inverted in the normal direction; Fig. 30 is an enlarged plan view of an important portion of Fig. 29; Fig. 31 is a perspective view of a goods take-out tool according to a fifth embodiment; Fig. 32 is a side view of a goods take-out tool which is superposed on a container according to a sixth embodiment; Fig. 33 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a goods take-out apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 34 is a perspective view of Fig. 33 but with a casing omitted therefrom in order to enhance an easy understanding of the construction thereof; Fig. 35 and Fig. 36 are schematic views showing the moving state of the shutters in the embodiment of Fig. 33; Fig. 37 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the goods take-out tool; Fig. 38 is a perspective view showing a goods take-out apparatus according to a second embodiment; Fig. 39 is a perspective view of Fig. 38 but with a casing omitted therefrom in order to enhance an easy understanding of the construction thereof; Fig. 40 is a schematic plan view showing the moving states of the first and the second shutters of Fig. 38; Fig. 41 is a perspective view corresponding to Fig. 39 showing a goods take-out apparatus according to a third embodiment; Fig. 42 is a perspective view of a second shutter and a dog thereof in their enlarged scales; Fig. 43 is a perspective view showing a goods take-out apparatus according to a fourth embodiment; Fig. 44 is a schematic plan view showing the moving states of the casing and the shutters of Fig. 43; Fig. 45 is a perspective view showing a goods shifting apparatus to which a transfer apparatus according to the present invention is applied; Fig. 46 is a perspective view showing a container and a goods take-out tool inverted to a goods drop-out device side by an inverting apparatus of a transfer apparatus; Fig. 47 is a side view of Fig. 45; Fig. 48 is a perspective view showing another goods shifting apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 49 is a perspective view showing a container and a goods take-out tool inverted to a goods drop-out device side by an inverting device of a goods shifting apparatus; and Fig. 50 is a perspective view, partly broken, for showing an inverting device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT One embodiment of a goods shifting apparatus suitable for carrying out a goods shifting method according to the present invention will now be described first. This embodiment is suitable for taking out goods such as bottles, boxes, bags, etc. from a container having an opening portion, such as a corrugated fiberboard box, a plastic container, etc. and feeding the goods into a storing box, etc. for assembling and storing. Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are perspective views showing one embodiment of a goods shifting apparatus. Fig. 1 is an illustration showing a whole picture of the goods shifting apparatus, whereas Fig. 2 is an illustration showing a container and a goods take-out tool inverted to a goods drop-out device side by an inverting device of the goods shifting apparatus. Fig. 3 is a side view of Fig. 1. In the goods shifting apparatus of this embodiment, a goods transfer apparatus A, as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3, takes out a container 10 from storing facilities C for storing goods B and shifting only the goods B from the container 10 to a goods take-out apparatus E through an inverting device 40. The goods transfer apparatus A is disposed between the storing facilities C and the goods take-out apparatus E. Also, all of the goods B contained in the container 10 are once shifted into the goods take-out apparatus E and thereafter, a desired number of the goods B are taken to a goods feeding apparatus D from the goods take-out apparatus E, and then the goods B taken out are fed into a storing box F. The goods transfer apparatus A comprises a goods take-out tool 20 which is provided with partitions 21 corresponding to the arrangement of a plurality of the goods B contained in the container 10 and adapted to individually separate the goods B as shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, a container take-out device 30 for taking out the container 10 from the storing facilities C as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3, an inverting device 40 including a superposing device 41 for superposing the goods take-out tool 20 and the container 10, a lifting table (carriage) 50 provided with the inverting device 40 mounted thereon, and a traveling body (stacker crane) 60 for vertically movably supporting the carriage 50. Also, as is shown in Fig. 10, the storing facilities C are disposed opposite the goods feeding apparatus D with a traveling path (traveling rail) 61 disposed therebetween and include gravity flow racks 70 having a multirow and a multi-stage storing sections, as will be described, disposed along the traveling rail 61 at a plurality of spaces intermittently. Also, the goods feeding apparatus D chiefly comprises a spiral chute 90 provided with a goods drop-out device 80 continuously formed along the traveling rail 61. Each of the above-mentioned component elements will now be described. Firstly, the goods take-out tool 20, the container take-out device 30, the inverting device 40, etc. which form the goods transfer apparatus A will be described with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. The goods take-out tool 20, as shown in Fig. 4, is formed as a transferable casing 23 which is provided with partitions 21, a shutter 22, etc., the foremost end portion of the partitions 21 projecting outward from a basic portion 24 along an opening edge of the transferable casing 23 of the goods take-out tool 20. And, if the projected foremost end portion of the partitions 21, as shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, is inverted to the opening portion 11 side of the container 10 in order to superpose the goods take-out tool 20 on the container 10, the foremost end of the partitions 21 will come to a position lower than the shoulder portions of the goods B. In the superposed state, the partition 21, as shown in Fig. 4, separates as a goods storing portion 26 for individually storing the goods B therein according to the arrangement (four lines x three rows) of the goods B contained in the container 10 and is provided at its external end portion with a chamfering 21a in order to enhance an easy introduction of the goods take-out tool 20 into the opening portion 11 of container 10. Also, the shutter 22 is formed of one sheet of plate and open- closably mounted with respect to the basic end portion side of the goods take-out tool 20 so that all of the goods B can be shifted to goods take-out apparatus E simultaneously. After the goods B have been shifted to the goods take-out apparatus E from the goods take-out tool 20, the goods B are fed to the storing box F through a chute 91 and the spiral chute 90 in order to assemble and store the goods in the storing box F. The container take-out device 30, as shown in Fig. 3, comprises a pantagraph type lifting device (not shown) disposed on the carriage 50 of the stacker crane 60, a fixed conveyor 31 mounted on the said lifting device, and a slidable conveyor 33 being vertically swingable about a pivotal point 32 at the container take-out side and being slidable in such a manner as to advance into the gravity flow rack 70. Also, the inverting device 40 comprises a traveling table 42 for traveling in the flowing direction of the container 10 stored in the gravity flow rack 70 on the carriage 50 of the stacker crane 60, i.e., in the forward and backward direction with reference to the gravity flow rack 70, a frame 43 erected upward from the upper surface of the traveling table 42, a rotary shaft 44 supported in the vicinity of an upper end of the frame 43, a first holding hand 45 which is opened and closed in the axial direction (hereinafter referred to as the "right and left direction") of the rotary shaft 44 and adapted to hold the goods take-out tool 20, a guide member 46 extending down to the vicinity of the rotary shaft 44 side of the first holding hand 45, and a second holding hand 47 which, in the state holding the container 10, is moved upward and downward along the guide member 46 to superpose the container 10 on the goods take-out tool 20 held by the first holding hand 45. Of these component elements, the first and the second holding hands 45 and 47 and the guide member 46 form the superposing device 41, and the superposing device 41 is integrally caused to pivot about the rotary shaft 44 by the inverting device 40. The first holding hand 45 is opened and closed by a revolution of a screw shaft 48 which is supported by the frame 43 in such a manner as to be parallel with the rotary shaft 44 and which is formed on the right half thereof from its center with a right screw and on the left half thereof with a left screw in such a manner as to be symmetric with each other. Also, the first holding hand 45 is provided on its inner side with an engaging projection (not shown) for engaging in an engaging recess 25 (see Fig. 4) formed in the vicinity of the basic portion 24 at each side of the opening end of the goods take-out tool 20 so that the first holding hand 45 can firmly hold the goods take-out tool 20 and so that the goods take-out tool 20 is not literally dropped during the inverting action. Also, the second holding hand 47 is formed of a parallelogram-like link mechanism (not shown) having, as one side thereof, a holding hand base which is moved upward and downward along the guide member 46 and is moved in the right and left direction until it forms a desired space for holding the container 10. Also, the guide member 46 is provided at its inner side with a screw shaft (not shown) so that the second holding hand 47 is moved upward and downward by means of the actuation of the screw shaft. Furthermore, the stacker crane 60 is designed in such a manner as to travel on the traveling rail 61 which is disposed along the take-out compartments 71 of each gravity flow rack 70 arranged among spaces. The stacker crane 60 is provided with the container take-out device 30 and the inverting device 40 mounted on the carriage 50 as such that the devices 30 and 40 can be moved upward and downward. Next, there will be described the gravity flow rack 70 forming the storing facilities C, the goods drop-out device 80 forming the goods take-out apparatus E, etc. The storing facilities C include, as described in the foregoing, racking spaces, e.i., a plurality of sets of gravity flow racks 70a, 70b, ··· disposed at spaces along the traveling rail 61 (see Fig. 10). And, the traveling rail 61 is provided at its portion opposite a space formed between the adjacent gravity flow racks 70a and 70b with an interference control zone Z ab for preventing the collision between the adjacent goods transfer apparatuses Aa and Ab. Likewise, the traveling rail 61 is provided at its portion opposite a space formed between the adjacent gravity flow racks 70b and 70c with an interference control zone Z bc for preventing the collision between the adjacent goods transfer apparatuses Ab and Ac. Also, the storing facilities C, as described in the foregoing, include a plurality of sets of gravity flow racks 70a, 70b, ··· disposed among spaces along the traveling rail 61. Each of the gravity flow racks 70a, 70b, ··· comprises an inclination roller conveyor of a plurality of rows and a plurality of stages continuously formed along the traveling rail 61 and is provided on its inclined front end with a take-out compartment 71. The inclination roller conveyor is provided on its front end portion with a stopper 72. Due to the foregoing arrangement, the container 10 fed is slided downward along the inclination roller conveyor by its own gravity and retained by the stopper 72. And, the take-out compartment 71 comprises a main take-out compartment 71a disposed opposite the goods drop-out device 80, as will be described, with the traveling rail 61 placed therebetween, and an auxiliary take-out compartment 71b disposed between the adjacent main take-out compartments 71a in such a manner as to be opposite the goods drop-out device 80 with the traveling rail 61 placed therebetween with a step difference, in other words, the auxiliary take-out compartment 71b being not opposite the goods drop-out device 80 (see Fig. 3 and Fig. 11). Also, the goods drop-out devices 80 of the goods take-out apparatus E, as shown in Fig. 10, are continuously disposed along the traveling rail 61. The goods drop-out device 80 comprises main goods drop-out devices 80a disposed opposite to the gravity flow racks 70, and auxiliary goods drop-out devices 80b disposed opposite a portion where the gravity flow racks 70 are not disposed, in other words, the auxiliary goods drop-out devices 80b being disposed opposite to a space formed between the adjacent gravity flow racks 70. And, the main goods drop-out device 80a and the auxiliary goods drop-out device 80b respectively comprise a casing 81 for containing the goods B which are shifted from the goods take-out tool 20 and discharging them one by one, a partition 82 for individually separating the goods in such a manner as to correspond to the partition 21 of the goods take-out tool 20, and a shutter (opening & closing plate) 83 (see Fig. 8) for discharging, one by one, the goods B contained and dropping the goods B onto a chute 91 for guiding them to the spiral chute 90. The main goods drop-out device 80a and the auxiliary good drop-out device 80b are fixedly mounted on an upper portion of the chute 91 as shown in Fig. 3. Also, the goods drop-out device 80 is provided on its upper end with a guide plate 84 for guiding the container 10 which contains the goods B therein so that the container 10 containing the goods B will be smoothly superposed on the goods drop-out device 80 through the goods take-out tool 20. Also, the spiral chute 90 is designed as such that the goods B discharged from the respective goods drop-out devices 80 are slided and fed into desired storing boxes F such as containers through a plurality of chutes 91 in the stage direction, i.e., in the vertical direction. The chutes 91 are formed as such that the width thereof is gradually reduced as it goes toward the spiral chute 90 from the goods drop-out devices 80 in order to guide the goods B discharged from six goods drop-out devices 80 arranged in the horizontal direction to the spiral chute 90. Also, an empty container discharging conveyor 100, which is located in a position of a generally same height as the container 10 under a status where the goods take-out tool 20 inverted by the inverting device 40 of the goods transfer apparatus A is superposed on the goods drop-out device 80, is disposed in a space formed between the spiral chute 90 and the goods drop-out device 80, so that the empty container 10 would be conveyed onto the empty container discharging conveyor 100 by the second holding hand 47 and discharged outside the system. Also, a storing box carrying conveyor 110 is disposed in such a manner as to connect the vicinities of the downstream end portions of the plurality of sets of the spiral chutes 90, so that the storing box F can be conveyed to the vicinity of the downstream end portion of a desired spiral chute 90. The goods B illustrated in Fig. 5 through Fig. 7 are flat-shaped plastic bottles containing liquid, etc. and each having a screw portion formed of a right screw threadedly engaged with a screw cap N. In the figures, twelve such goods B are arranged in a form of four lines by three rows within the container 10. The plurality of the goods B contained in the container 10 have a clearance of a certain dimension around the upper part of them and therefore, are apt to be disordered in arrangement. In order to prevent such an undesirable situation from occurring, the partition 21 of the goods take-out tool 20 is formed in such a manner as to be projected from the basic portion 24. Also, in case that the container 10, as shown in Fig. 5, is a corrugated fiberboard box, a plastic container or the like having an opening portion 11 at its upper surface, the container 10 may be fed to the gravity flow rack 70 as it is. However, in case that the container 10 is a corrugated fiberboard box or the like which is packed, the package should be cut at its upper surface to form the opening portion 11 beforehand and then fed to the gravity flow rack 70. Next, there will be described one mode of carrying out a goods shifting method of the present invention with reference to an operating mode of a case where the above-mentioned goods shifting apparatus is used. In the apparatus of this embodiment, the shifting mode is different between cases where goods are frequently shifted and where goods are not frequently shifted. Firstly, one example of a goods shifting mode for goods B which are to be frequently shifted will be described. For the purpose of convenience for explanation, the main goods drop-out device 80a and the auxiliary goods drop-out device 80b are illustrated as the goods drop-out device 80 in Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. In Fig. 11, a plurality of containers containing one item of goods B, which are to be frequently shifted, are stored in the main take-out compartment 71a of the gravity flow rack 70 of the storing facilities C, whereas a plurality of containers containing one item of goods B, which are not to be frequently shifted, are stored in the auxiliary take-out compartment 71b thereof. On the other hand, when the goods B stored in the goods take-out tool 20 have been shifted to the main goods drop-out device 80a, the inverting device 40 is moved to a position opposite the empty goods take-out tool 20 by means of the traveling of the stacker crane 60 and by means of the upward and downward movement of the carriage 50, and the empty container 10 is poked out onto the empty container discharging conveyor 100 with the front edge of the second holding hand 47. That is, in the state that a distance between the hand elements of the second holding hand 47 is slightly smaller than the width of the container 10, the traveling table 42 is moved in the direction of the empty container discharging conveyor 100. In other words, the traveling table 42 is moved backward with reference to the gravity flow rack 70 in order to transfer the empty container 10 onto the empty container discharging conveyor 100. Also, when the empty container 10 has been transferred onto the empty container discharging conveyor 100, since the first holding hand 45 is positioned outside the engaging recess 25 of the goods take-out tool 20, the first holding hand 45 is closed in order to hold the goods take-out tool 20. When the first holding hand 45 is caused to hold the goods take-out tool 20, it is rotated counterclockwise by approximately 10° in the side view of Fig. 3 and thereafter, the traveling table 42 is advanced to a position shown by the solid line in the figure. In that state, the first holding hand 45 is further rotated counterclockwise by approximately 170° and comes to a position as shown by the solid line of Fig. 3. At this time, since the carriage 50 of the stacker crane 60 is also opposite a main take-out compartment 71a with the goods B to be supplied stored therein, the container take-out device 30 is caused to take out the container 10 containing the goods B stored in the main take-out compartment 71a. That is, at the position where the empty container 10 was discharged, the slidable conveyor 33 is moved forward to the main take-out compartment 71a without moving the carriage 50 of the stacker crane 60, and when the container 10 containing the goods B was taken out, by one piece, by means of the pivotal movement of its goods take-out side upward about its pivotal point, the slidable conveyor 33 is moved backward in order to convey the container 10 to a predetermined position on the fixed conveyor 31. Thereafter, when the fixed conveyor 31 and the slidable conveyor 33 is moved up to a centering position through a pantagraph type lifting device outside the figure, the second holding hand 47 is caused to hold the side surfaces of the container 10 taken out while still supporting the bottom surface thereof and centering thereof is performed. After centering, the second holding hand 47 is moved upward along the guide member 46 to lift the container 10 up to the vicinity of the basic portion 24 of the goods take-out tool 20 and stopped with the partition 21 projecting downward from the basic portion 24 and inserted into the container 10 as shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7. Even if there occurs a disorderly arrangement of the goods B due to a clearance formed at an upper part of the container 10, the goods are individually separated in order to maintain the original orderly arrangement of the goods B by means of the insertion of the partition 21 into the clearance. Also, when the goods take-out tool 20 is superposed on the container 10, if a space δ of approximately 5mm is left as shown in Fig. 6, the goods B can smoothly be shifted to the goods take-out tool 20 from the container 10. When the basic portion 24 of the goods take-out tool 20 and the opening portion 11 of the container 10 are superposed in the manner as described, the inverting device 40 is activated to invert the goods take-out tool 20 and the container 10 in the manner as shown in Fig. 2. That is, the first and the second holding hands 45, 47 and the guiding member 46 are inverted counterclockwise in Fig. 3 by serving the rotary shaft 44 as a supporting shaft thereof. This inverting device will be described in more detail. After the first holding hand 45 is rotated clockwise by approximately 170° , the traveling table 42 is moved backward to bring the goods take-out tool 20, which is being inverted, to position at a generally upper part of the main goods drop-out device 80a. Thereafter, the first holding hand 45 is further rotated clockwise by approximately 10° to superposed the goods take-out tool 20 and the container 10 on the good drop-out device 80a. By this inverting action, the goods B contained in the container 10 and individually separated by the partition 21 are shifted to the goods take-out tool 20. When the goods take-out tool 20 and the container 10 have been superposed on the main goods drop-out device 80a, the first holding hand 45 is opened to release the goods take-out tool 20, and at the same time, the second holding hand 47 is also opened to release the container 10. Thereafter, the traveling table 42 is moved forward and waits for the next goods B to be shifted. The goods B, which were shifted to the goods storing portions 85 (see Fig. 8) which are defined in a matrix shape consisting of four lines x two rows within a main goods drop-out device 80a respectively, are dropped out when the shutter 83 for opening and closing the opening portions of the goods storing portions 85 is moved in the releasing direction and dropped onto the chute 91. As soon as all of the goods B are sequentially dropped out from the main goods drop-out device 80a, the shutter 22 of the goods take-out tool 20 is released in the direction as shown by an arrow of Fig. 8 to automatically shift all of the goods B contained in the goods take-out tool 20 into the main goods drop-out device 80a which is closed at its bottom by the shutter 83. Next, there will be described the goods B which are less frequently to be shifted. In case that the goods B are shifted to the auxiliary goods drop-out device 80b from the auxiliary take-out compartment 71b in which the goods B less frequently required to be shifted are stored, since the auxiliary take-out compartment 71b and the auxiliary goods drop-out device 80b are not faced with each other, the inverting device 40 is caused to hold the empty goods take-out tool 20 racked on the auxiliary goods drop-out device 80b. When the traveling table 42 is moved to a position as shown by the solid line in Fig. 3, the inverting device 40 holding the empty goods take-out tool 20 is rotated counterclockwise by approximately 170° . After the inverting device 40 has been rotated in the manner described or while the device 40 is being rotated, the stacker crane 60 is caused to travel and the carriage 50 is moved upward and downward until it comes to a position opposite the auxiliary take-out compartment 71b which stores therein the goods B to be supplied. In the foregoing state, the container 10 containing the goods B is taken out by the container take-out device 30 and the container 10 containing the goods B and the goods take-out tool 20 are superposed one upon the other by the superposing device 41. Then, after the inverting device 40 has been rotated clockwise by approximately 170° or while the device 40 is being rotated, the stacker crane 60 is caused to travel and the carriage 50 is moved upward and downward until it comes to face with the predetermined auxiliary goods drop-out device 80b again. Then, the inverting device 40 is further rotated clockwise by approximately 10° to superpose the goods take-out tool 20 and the container 10 on the auxiliary goods drop-out device 80b. After the goods B, which are frequently required to be shifted or the goods B, which are less frequently required to be shifted in the manner described, are racked on the goods drop-out device 80 through the goods take-out tool 20, the goods B which have been shifted onto the goods drop-out device 80 are taken out in sequence by releasing the shutter 83 as shown, for example, in Fig. 8 according to a desired number commanded by a picking command. The goods B taken out are slided to the storing box F, such as a desired container, etc., through the chute 91 and the spiral chute 90. Since a plurality of chutes 91 are connected to one spiral chute 90 at positions or levels of different heights, different items of goods B can almost simultaneously be taken out of the plurality of goods drop-out devices 80 into one storing box F, such as a container, etc., so as to be assembled and stored automatically. Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 respectively are front views, when looked from a traveling rail 61 side, for explaining the arrangement of the containers 10 containing therein the goods B which are racked in the take-out compartment 71 and in the goods drop-out device 80 respectively. That is, as shown in Fig. 11 and Fig. 12, the containers (1) through (16) containing the goods B, which are frequently required to be shifted, are racked in the main take-out compartments 71a which are disposed in such a manner as to be placed opposite the main goods drop-out devices 80a. According to a command of shifting the goods B, the container 10 containing the goods B is racked onto the main goods drop-out device 80a from the main take-out compartment 71a through the goods take-out tool 20. Therefore, the containers (1) through (16) containing the goods B, which are frequently required to be shifted, can effectively be shifted to the main goods drop-out devices 80a from the main take-out compartments 71a without the traveling of the stacker crane 60 and without the reciprocal movement of the carriage 50 upward and downward. Since one stacker crane 60 covers one unit of the gravity flow rack 70 as its working range, the containers (1) through (16) containing the goods B, which are frequently required to be shifted, can be shifted without the stacker crane 60 entering into the interference zones Z ab , Z bc , ···. Therefore, the goods B can be shifted very efficiently and without a waste of time for the interference waiting. Also, the containers through containing the goods B, which are less frequently required to be shifted, are racked in the auxiliary take-out compartments 71b disposed between the main take-out compartments 71a and at position having a step difference with respect to the goods drop-out device 80, so that according to a command of shifting the goods B, the container 10 containing the goods B is racked in a portion where no gravity flow rack 70 is disposed, i.e., the auxiliary goods drop-out device 80b is disposed opposite a space interposed between the adjacent gravity flow racks 70 from the auxiliary take-out compartment 71b through the goods take-out tool 20. Therefore, although it is required to cause the stacker crane 60 to travel in order to shift the container 10, since the gravity flow racks 70 are disposed in such a manner as that a plurality of spaces are intermittently interposed therebetween, the probability for the adjacent stacker cranes 60 being interfered with each other can be lowered. Also, as already described, the traveling rail 61 as a traveling path for the stacker crane 60 is provided with the interference control zones Z ab , Z bc , ···. In case that any of the adjacent stacker cranes 60, 60 is already within the interference control zones Z ab , Z bc , ···, or in case that any of the adjacent stacker cranes 60, 60 has received a command for traveling into the interference control zones Z ab , Z bc ,···, the other stacker crane 60 is caused to wait without traveling into the interference control zones Z ab , Z bc , ··· until the stacker crane 60, which has received the traveling command, comes out of the interference control zones Z ab , Z bc , ···. The other stacker crane 60 is preferably controlled during the waiting time as such that the goods B, which are to be shifted next and which are present outside the interference control zones Z ab , Z bc , ···, are shifted with priority. In this way, whether the goods are frequently required to be shifted or less frequently required to be shifted, when the goods B are to be automatically taken out of the goods drop-out device 80 in this embodiment, the goods, which have been shifted to the goods drop-out device 80, are sequentially taken out by a desired number each time by moving the shutter 83 in the line direction (the direction shown by an arrow) as shown in Fig. 8 with reference to the numeral value shown in base 4 number, more specifically, with reference to the numeral value of each digit of base 4 number after the total number of the goods B taken out is converted from a decimal number to a base 4 number according to a picking command. That is, in case that one piece of the goods B is to be taken out, as shown in Table 1 and in Fig. 9 as will be described, one piece of the goods B is taken out of the goods drop-out device 80 first, and then, in case that five pieces of the goods B are to be taken out newly, six pieces of the goods B are to be taken out in total. In the respective cases, since the total number of the taken-out goods B becomes 1 in a decimal number (1 in a base 4 number) and 6 in a decimal number (12 in a base 4 number) respectively, firstly, the shutter 83 of No. 1 on the first line is moved by one row portion in the line direction (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "x-direction") to take out one piece of the goods B and then, the shutter 83 of No. 1 is further moved by one row portion in the x-direction (two row portions are released), at the same time, the shutter 83 of No. 2 on the second line is moved by two row portions in the x-direction and furthermore, the shutters 83 of No. 3 and No. 4 on the third and fourth lines are sequentially moved by one row portion each time in the x-direction to take out five pieces of the goods B. That is, if the number in upper digit (upper place) of a numerical value shown in base 4 number is "0", it shows that the opening portions of the goods storing portions 85 on the second row are all closed. The numerical value of the lower digit (lower place), when the number in upper digit (upper place) is "0", represents the number of the opening portions of the goods storing portions 85 on the first row which are to be opened. Likewise, when the number of upper digit is "1", it represents the number of the opening portions of the goods storing portions 85 on the second row which are to be opened. Therefore, it can easily be determined which shutters 83 should be moved and in what place the shutter 83 should be moved with reference to the total number of the taken-out goods B shown in a base 4 number, and a desired quantity of the goods B can be taken out in sequence by moving the shutter 83 based on such determination. The goods B, which have been taken out of the goods drop-out device 80, are fed to a desired storing box F by the goods feeding apparatus D. Also, the goods take-out tool 20, as shown in Fig. 22 through Fig. 26, is formed as a transferable casing 23 which includes partitions 21 disposed in an intersecting fashion, guide pieces 27 having a conical upper portion, a shutter 22, etc. The partitions 21, like the embodiments shown in Fig. 4 through Fig. 7, project outward from the basic portion 24 along the opening end of the transferable casing 23 of the goods take-out tool 20, and its upper end is of serrate shape in this embodiment. Also, the partition 21 is provided with a guide piece 27 projecting from the tip of the intersecting portion thereof. And, when the projecting end portion of the partitions 21 and the guide pieces 27, as shown in Fig. 24 and Fig. 25, are to be inverted to the opening portion 11 side of the container 10 to superpose the goods take-out tool 20 on the container 10, firstly, the guide piece 27 of the goods take-out tool 20 is inserted into a space defined by four goods B and successively, the foremost end of the partition 21 is inserted between a goods B and another goods B (see Fig. 24). Therefore, even if there is a small amount of displacement in centering between the container 10 and the goods take-out tool 20, the partitions 21 are inserted while correctly repositioning the goods B. And, the partitions 21, as shown in Fig. 22, separate the container 10 into goods storing portions 26 each storing one goods B according to the arrangement (four lines x three rows) of the goods B stored in the container 10. Also, the shutter 22, like the embodiment shown in Fig. 4 through Fig. 7, is formed of one sheet of plate and open-and closably mounted with respect to the basic end portion side of the partition 21 of the goods takeout tool 20 so that all of the goods B can be shifted to the goods drop-out device 80 of the goods feeding apparatus D almost simultaneously. After the goods B are shifted from the goods take-out tool 20 to the goods drop-out device 80, the goods B are discharged onto the spiral chute through the chute 91 according to a picking command and assembled and stored in the same manner as the afore-mentioned embodiments. Therefore, according to the goods take-out tool 20 of this embodiment, firstly, the guide piece 27 is inserted into the space 12 defined by four goods B of the goods B arranged in a matrix shape within the container 10 and successively, the foremost end of the partition 21 is inserted therein. Therefore, even in case the goods B contain in the container 10 are of generally square column shape as shown in Fig. 23, the goods B can be separated individually without fail. Also, if a space δ of approximately 5mm is left when the goods take-out tool 20 and the container 10 are superposed as shown in Fig. 24, the goods B can smoothly be shifted to the goods take-out tool 20 from the container 10. Also, Fig. 27 is a view showing a third embodiment of a goods take-out tool 20, and is a perspective view schematically showing a superposing state between the goods take-out tool 20 for shifting the goods B having a different configuration from that of Fig. 23, i.e., flat-shaped plastic bottle with a cap threadedly secured to its head portion and the goods drop-out device 80, wherein the goods B are being discharged. Since a certain measure of gaps 12 are present at the upper portions (cap side) of the goods B arranged in form of four lines x two rows are stored within the container 10, the arrangement of the goods is apt to be disordered when the container 10 is laterally turned. To prevent this, the partitions 21 of the goods take-out tool 20 are designed in such a manner as to project from the basic portion 24 so that when the goods take-out tool 20 is superposed on the container 10, the foremost end of the partitions 21 and the guide pieces 27 reaches to a lower position than the shoulder portions of each goods B. Therefore, even if the arrangement of the goods B are slightly disordered within the container 10 due to the gaps 12 between the goods B stored in the container 10, the goods B are taken out in an orderly arranged state because when the container 10 is superposed on the goods take-out tool 20 for taking out the goods B, firstly, the guide pieces 27 are inserted into the gaps and successively, the foremost ends of the partitions 21 are inserted therein to correctly rearrange the goods B in their original states and immediately thereafter, the partitions 21 are inserted therein to individually separate the goods B. Therefore, the goods B can be taken out into the transferable casing 23 of the goods take-out tool 20 in individually separated and orderly arranged state. The guide piece 27 employed in the second and the third embodiment may extend its lower cylindrical portion to the vicinity of the shutter 22, and the configuration of the upper portion of the guide piece 27 may be of pyramid shape, arrowhead shape (sagittate shape), bullet shape, semispherical shape or the like. Also, the material of the guide piece 27 is not particularly limited. For example, plastics, etc. are preferable. In case the guide pieces 27 are of plastic bullet shape, the guide pieces 27, as shown in Fig. 26, may be each provided at its lower cylindrical portion to be filled to the intersecting portion of the partitions 21 with grooves 27a corresponding to the respective partitions 21, so that a cut edge portion 21a of the partition 21 can be held by groove 27a thereby to secure a partition 21 to the guide piece 27. Also, the opening portion 11 of the container 10 may be disposed to a side surface portion of the container 10. It may be designed as such that the goods B are stored in multistage. Also, the partitions 21 may separate the container 10 as such that each section contains more than two goods B. Also, the goods take-out tool 20 of the present invention, as shown in Fig. 28 through Fig. 30, may be omitted with the transferable casing 23 in the above-mentioned embodiments. That is, the goods take-out tool 20 may comprise a goods take-out tool body 20a including partitions 21 disposed in an intersecting state, guide pieces 27 having a conical shaped upper portion, etc., and a shutter 22, the partitions 21 projecting from the basic portion 24 along the opening portion of the goods take-out tool body 20a, the foremost end portion of the partition 21 being of mountain shape. Also, the partition 21 is provided at its intersecting portion with a guide piece 27 as such that the guide piece 27 projects from the foremost end of the partition 21. Also, the goods take-out tool body 20a comprises a framework 20b of a C-shape in section provided with the partitions 21, the guide pieces 27, etc., the framework 20b being formed at its inner side with a groove 28 (see Fig. 29). And, a pair of opposite side surfaces of the goods take-out tool body 20a are each provided with a cut 29 for permitting a first engaging protrusion 45a of a first holding hand 45, and an engaging recess 25 adapted to engage with a second engaging protrusion 45b of the first holding hand 45. Also, the shutter 22 is formed of one sheet of plate as in the above-mentioned respective embodiments and is slided along the groove 28 of the goods take-out tool body 20b to release the opening portion of the goods take-out tool 20 so that all of the goods B can be shifted to the goods drop-out device 80 of the goods feeding apparatus D almost simultaneously. Also, the opposite side surfaces of the shutter 22 are provided with an engaging recess 22a at position in alignment with the cut 29 of the goods take-out body 20a when the shutter 22 is in its closed position, so that the first engaging protrusion 45a of the first hold hand 45 is engaged with the engaging recess 22a. And, when the goods take-out tool 20 and the container 10 is inverted after the container 10 is superposed on the goods take-out tool 20 as shown in Fig. 28, the goods B are separated by the projecting partition 21 and placed on the shutter 22. Therefore, the goods B are taken out into the goods take-out tool 20 in the state as arranged and stored in the container 10 and then wait until they are shifted to the goods drop-out device 80. When a command is issued for shifting the goods B to the goods drop-out device 80, the shutter 22 is released. The goods B contained in the container 10 which has been shifted to the goods drop-out device 80 are discharged onto the spiral chute 90 through the chute 91 for assembling and storing according to a picking command. And, in connection with the goods take-out tool 20, the first holding hand 45 employed in this embodiment is also different in construction from the above-mentioned embodiments. That is, the first holding hand 45 of this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 29 and Fig. 30, is provided with a first engaging protrusion 45a which is permitted to penetrate the cut 29 of the goods take-out tool body 20a and adapted to engage with an engaging recess 22a formed at the side surface of a shutter 22, and a second engaging protrusion 45b adapted to engaging with an engaging recess 25 formed at the side surface of the goods take-out tool body 20a. Due to the foregoing arrangement, the goods take-out tool body 20a and the shutter 22 can be held by the first holding hand 45 almost simultaneously and without fail. Therefore, the goods take-out tool body 20a is not literally dropped and the shutter 22 is not literally come off during inverting. Also, when the first holding hand 45 is caused to effect an inverting action while holding the goods take-out tool body 20a and the shutter 22 through the cut 29 of the goods take-out tool body 20a almost simultaneously, the shutter 22 is not come off because the shutter 22 is held by the first engaging protrusion 45a of the first holding hand 45. The engaging recess portion 25 of the goods take-out tool body 20a and the second engaging protrusion 45b of the first holding hand 45 may also be omitted. Also, the first engaging protrusion 45a of the first holding hand 45 may be provided on one first holding hand 45 only. Also, the foremost end of the first engaging protrusion 45a may be of flat shape and the engaging recess 22a may be provided on the shutter 22. Also, Fig. 31 is a perspective view showing a fifth embodiment of a goods take-out tool 20. The goods take-out tool 20 of this embodiment is applicable to goods B having a different configuration from that of the goods B shown in Fig. 5, Fig. 8, Fig. 23, Fig. 27 and Fig. 28, and the configuration of the foremost end of the partition 21 is different from those of the above-mentioned embodiments. Also, Fig. 32 is a side view showing a sixth embodiment of a goods take-out tool 20, and is applicable to bottle shaped goods B shown in the figure. The goods take-out tool 20 of this embodiment includes a partition 21 which is alternatively provided at its foremost end with a large serrated protrusion and a small serrated protrusion. Next, a goods drop-out device forming a goods take-out apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiment shown in Fig. 33 through Fig. 36. A goods drop-out device 180 of this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 33 and Fig. 34, comprises a casing 181 having a plurality of goods storing portions 185 which are disposed in a matrix (four lines x six rows) shape separated by a partition 182, an shutter 183 consisting of two shutters 183a and 183b, and driving mechanisms 187, 188 for driving the shutters 183a and 183b respectively, the first shutter (plate shutter ) 183a being able to move in the line direction (x-direction) whereas the second shutter (caterpillar shutter) 183b being able to move in the row direction (y-direction). The casing 181 is disposed astride a rectangular rail frame 186. The casing 181 is provided on its under-surface with a plate shutter 183a and a caterpillar shutter 183b in such a manner as to block an opening portion formed at the under-surface of the casing 181. And, the plate shutter 183a can be moved by one row portion at a time in the x-direction, whereas the caterpillar shutter 183b can be moved by one goods storing portion 185 at a time in the y-direction. Thus, the plate shutter 183a is slided in the x-direction by means of a driving force of a servo motor 187c through a pinion 187b meshing with a rack 187a disposed along one side of the rail frame 186 which is secured to the casing 181 as mentioned. Also, by pulse controlling the servo motor 187c, the plate shutter 183a is brought to position corresponding to the position of one row portion of the opening portion of the goods storing portion 185 to determine the stopping position of the plate shutter 183a. On the other hand, the catapillar shutter 183b is secured at one end of its catapillar portion to the under-surface of the plate shutter 183a, and the other end thereof is left free. And, the catapillar portion is supported by a supporting table 188b which is slidable along an guide shaft 188a stretched in the y-direction of the casing 181 at a lower side of the plate shutter 183a. The supporting table 188b is moved in the y-direction by the servo motor 188c hauling a wire 188d. In addition, by pulse controlling the servo motor 188c, the stopping position of the supporting table 188b is determined corresponding to position of the opening portion of the goods storing portion 185. Furthermore, by suspending a free end of the catapillar portion from a portion of the caterpillar portion supported by the supporting table 188b, the opening portions of the goods storing portions 185 are released one by one in the row direction. The caterpillar shutter 183b is juxtaposed in such a manner as to project from one side edge of the plate shutter 183a by a length of one row portion so that the goods B are taken out by each goods storing portion 185 at a time by means of the activation of the supporting table 188b. Next, one mode for carrying out a goods take-out method of the present invention using the goods take-out apparatus of this embodiment will be described. Fig. 35 is a schematic plan view of Fig. 33 showing which position the plate shutter 183a and the caterpillar shutter 183b are moved to based on total six pieces of the goods B taken out as in the embodiment of Fig. 8 and Fig. 9. And, in order to wholly close the opening portions of the goods storing portions 185, the positional coordinate of the shutter 183, when the free end of the caterpillar portion of the caterpillar shutter 183b is located at the external angular portion of the casing 181, is defined as origin O, the moving line direction (x-direction) of the plate shutter 183a is defined as x-axis, and the moving row direction (y-direction) of the caterpillar shutter 183b is defined as y-axis, and the moving direction of the shutter 183 will be described in accordance with this definition. According to this definition, Fig. 35 shows a case where the coordinate of the position to which the plate shutter 183a and the caterpillar shutter 183b are to be moved is (1, 2). That is, as shown in table 2 as will be listed and Fig. 36, in case that six pieces of goods B are taken out in the state where the shutter 183 is wholly closed (shutter 183 is located at position (0, 0) of the origin O), the plate shutter 183a is moved by one row portion in the x-axis direction and at the same time, the caterpillar shutter 183b is moved by two piece portion of the goods storing portion 185 in the y-axis direction, thereby the plate shutter 183a and the caterpillar shutter 183b are moved in order to take out four pieces of goods B corresponding to one row portion and two pieces of the goods B of next one row, thus total six pieces of the goods B. That is, the shutter 183 is moved to position where the positional coordinate of the free end of the caterpillar portion of the caterpillar shutter 183b forming the shutter 183 becomes (1, 2). In this case, the numerical value 12 obtained by converting the total take-out number of six pieces of the goods B in a decimal number to a base 4 number corresponding to the line number 4 of this embodiment are coincident with the above-mentioned positional coordinate (1, 2). That is, the x-coordinate of the positional coordinate is coincident with the figure of the higher place of a base 4 number, whereas the y-coordinate is coincident with the figure of the lower place of base 4 number. In case additional three pieces of the goods B are to be taken out, that is, in case the total take-out number is nine pieces, firstly, the caterpillar shutter 183b is moved by one row portion within the row of the goods storing portion 185, i.e., by -1 in the y-axis direction to close, and then, the plate shutter 183a is moved by one row portion, i.e., by +1 in the x-axis direction, thereby three pieces of the goods B can be taken out. In this case, the positional coordinate of the free end of the caterpillar portion of the caterpillar shutter 183b is (2, 1), and the respective coordinates are coincident with the numerical number 21 (9 in a decimal number) in base 4 number. That is, if the total line number in the y-axis direction of the goods storing portion 185 in the casing 181 is represented by n, after the total number of the take-out goods B is converted to n-ary number (base n number) corresponding to the numerical value of the above-mentioned total line number n from a decimal number (base 10 number), the position to which the shutter 183 is to be moved can be calculated with ease according to the total take-out number by regarding the lower place of the n-ary number after conversion as the y-coordinate showing the stopping position of the free end of the shutter, that is, the caterpillar portion of the caterpillar shutter 183b in this embodiment and the higher place (digit) as the x-coordinate. By properly setting a pulse number corresponding to the size of the goods B, goods B of various sizes can be taken out by one kind of the shutter 183 without exchanging the shutter 183 and without changing the location of the shutter 183. In the apparatus of this embodiment as in the case with the goods drop-out device 80 of Fig. 8, by controlling the movement of the shutter 183 according to the total take-out number of the goods B which was converted to an n-ary number from a decimal number, a desired number of the goods B can be taken out correctly and without fail. The plate shutter 183a or the caterpillar shutter 183b shown in Fig. 33 and Fig. 34 may be driven by a chain. Fig. 37 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the goods take-out tool 20. The goods take-out tool 20 of this embodiment is provided with a shutter 22b able to take out the goods B one by one. By employing the goods take-out tool 20 of this embodiment, the goods take-out method of the present invention can be carried out without the goods drop-out tool 80. Also, a goods take-out apparatus (goods drop-out device) 280 of the present invention will not be described with reference to Fig. 38 and Fig. 39. Fig. 38 is a perspective view showing the goods drop-out device 280, and Fig. 39 is a perspective view in which a casing 281 is omitted so that the structure of the goods drop-out device 280 of Fig. 38 can be understood more easily. The goods drop-out device 280, as shown in Fig. 38, is adapted to store therein the goods B which were shifted from the goods take-out tool 20 (not shown) and discharged one by one. The goods drop-out device 280 is fixed located on a chute 91 for guiding the goods B onto a spiral chute 90. And, the goods drop-out device 280 includes partitions 282 for individually separating the goods B in such a manner as to correspond to the partitions 21 of the goods take-out tool 20, a casing 281 provided with a plurality of goods storing portions 285 defined by the partitions 282 in a matrix (four lines x six rows) shape, a first shutter (plate shutter ) 283a and a second shutter (discrete shutter) 283b for opening and closing the goods storing portions 285, and a first driving mechanism 287 for driving the plate shutter 283a and a second driving mechanism 288 for driving the discrete shutter 283b. The plate shutter 283a is formed of a plate having a width of generally four line portions and is able to move in the line direction (x-direction of Fig. 38). The discrete shutter 283b is formed of a plate having a width of generally one line portion and is provided with four discrete shutters respectively corresponding to each of the goods storing portions 285 in the row direction (y-direction of Fig. 38), the discrete shutter 283b being able to move in the x-direction individually. Also, the goods drop-out device 280 is provided on its upper end with a guide plate 84 (see Fig. 3) adapted to guide the goods take-out tool 20 as such that the goods take-out tool 20 can smoothly be superposed on the goods drop-out device 280. The casing 281 is disposed astride a rectangular rail frame 286. The casing 281 is provided on its under surface with the plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b which are disposed in such a manner as to block an opening portion formed at the under surface of the casing 281. And, the plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b are, integrally and relatively movably, moved in the x-direction by generally one row portion at a time. Thus, the plate shutter 283a is slided in the x-direction by the driving force of the servo motor 287c through the pinion 287b meshing with the rack 287a disposed along one side of the rail frame 286 which is secured to the casing 281 as mentioned, and by pulse controlling the servo motor 287c, the stopping position of the plate shutter 283a is determined in such a manner as to correspond to the position of one raw portion of the opening portion of the goods storing portion 285. On the other hand, the discrete shutter 283b can be moved reciprocally in the x-direction from one side edge of the plate shutter 283a by a length of a generally one row portion. That is, the plate shutter 283a is provided on its reverse surface with a channel-like guide frame 288a disposed in the y-direction and with an air cylinder 288b mounted in such a manner as to be perpendicular to the inner side surface of the guide frame 288a. Further, the air cylinder 288b is provided with the discrete shutter 283b mounted on the tip of a rod thereof. And, by the activation of the air cylinder 288b, the rod is reciprocally removed and as a result, the discrete shutter 283b penetrating a guide hole 288c formed in the external side surface of the guide frame 288a is individually and reciprocally moved. The goods B, which have been shifted to the goods storing portions 285 defined in a matrix shape consisting of four lines x six rows within the goods drop-out device 280 of this embodiment (see Fig. 38), are discharged by each goods storing portion 285 at a time and dropped on the chute 91 by the movement of the plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b for opening and closing the opening portion of the goods storing portion 285 in the line direction (x-direction). When all of the goods B have sequentially been discharged from the goods drop-out device 80, the shutter 22 of the goods take-out tool 20 is immediately released so that all of the goods B stored in the goods take-out tool 20 are automatically shifted to the goods drop-out device 280. In this embodiment, when the goods B are to be automatically taken out of the goods drop-out device 280, the goods B which have been shifted to the goods drop-out device 280 are sequentially taken out in the following manner. That is, after converting the total number of the goods taken out is converted to a base 4 number from a base 10 number according to a desired number of the goods B according to a picking command, the plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b are moved in the line direction (x-direction) as shown, for example, in Fig. 40 according to figures shown in a base 4 number converted, more particularly, to figures of each place of the base 4 number, and a desired number of the goods B are sequentially taken out. Fig. 40 is a schematic plan view of Fig. 38 showing what part of position the plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b are moved to in case the total take-out number of the goods B taken out of the goods drop-out device 280 is six pieces. And, in order to wholly close the opening portion of the goods storing portion 285, when all of four pieces of the discrete shutter 283b are in position for closing the goods storing portions 285 (position where all of the discrete shutter are projected), that is, when the right foremost end portion of the plate of the rightmost discrete shutter 283b is positioned at the external angular portion of the casing 81, if, as in the same case of the afore-mentioned goods take-out apparatus 180, the line direction (x-direction) for the plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b to move to is defined as x-axis and if a direction perpendicular thereto, that is, the row direction (y-direction) is defined as y-axis by serving the positional coordinate of the shutter 283 comprising the plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b as origin O, Fig. 40 shows the coordinate (1, 2) of the position where the plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b should be moved to. That is, as shown in table 2 as will be listed and Fig. 36, in case six pieces of the goods B are to be taken out from the state where the shutter 283 are wholly closed (the shutter body 283 are located at the origin O position (0. 0)), the plate shutter 283a is moved by one row portion in the x-axis direction and at the same time, the rightmost discrete shutter 283b and the next discrete shutter 283b next from the rightmost, thus two pieces of the discrete shutter 283b in total, are moved in such a manner as to be opened (the discrete shutter 283b is retreated). By this, the plate shutter 283a and two pieces of the discrete shutter 283b are moved in the x-direction respectively so that four pieces of the goods B corresponding to one row portion and two pieces of the goods B belonging to the next one row, thus six pieces of the goods B in total, are taken out. That is, the shutter 283 is moved until the positional coordinate of the right foremost end of the plate of the rightmost discrete shutter 283b among the third and the fourth discrete shutters 283b from the right which are in projecting state. In this case, the figure 12 obtained by converting the total take-out number of six pieces of the goods B in a decimal number to a base 4 number corresponding to the line number 4 of this embodiment and the afore-mentioned positional coordinate (1, 2) are coincident with each other. That is, the x-coordinate of the positional coordinate is coincident with a figure of a higher place of a base 4 number, whereas the y-coordinate is coincident with a figure of a lower place of a base 4 number. Furthermore, in case three more pieces of the goods B are taken out, that is, in case the total take-out number is nine pieces, firstly, the second discrete shutter 283b from the right is projected to close the corresponding goods storing portion 285 and then, the plate shutter 283a is further moved by one row portion, thereby three pieces of the goods B are taken out. In this case, the positional coordinate of the right foremost end of the plate of the discrete shutter 283b is (2, 1) and the respective coordinates are coincident with the figure 21 (9 in a decimal number) in base 4 number. That is, if the total line number in the y-axis direction of the goods storing portion 285 in the casing 281 is represented by n, after converting the total number of the goods B which are to be taken out is converted to a n-ary number corresponding to the total line number n, there can be easily calculate the position for the shutter 283 comprising the plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b to move to according to the total take-out number by serving the lower place of the n-ary number converted as the y-coordinate showing the position of the right foremost end of the plate of the discrete shutter 283b which is in projecting state and the higher place thereof as the x-coordinate. The plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b are moved in accordance with the figures of each place which were obtained by calculation. By properly setting a pulse value corresponding to the size of the goods B to the servo motor 287c and by adjusting the mounting position of the guide frame 288a, the goods B having various sizes can be taken out by one kind of the plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b without exchanging the plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b and without changing the arrangement thereof. Therefore, a desired number of the goods B can be taken out correctly and without fail by controlling the movement of the plate shutter 283a and the discrete shutter 283b in accordance with the total take-out number of the goods B which was converted to an n-ary number from a decimal number as in the above-mentioned embodiments. In the embodiments shown in Fig. 38 through Fig. 40, instead of providing the fourth (the leftmost) discrete shutter 283b from the right, there may be provided a fixed plate. That is, the number of the discrete shutters (the second shutters) 283b may be less by one piece than the line number of the goods storing portion 285. In this case, if, for example, the goods B stored in the fourth line (the leftmost) from the right are to be taken out by one piece only, it may be designed as such that the rightmost discrete shutter 283b through the third discrete shutter 283b from the right are be projected to close the corresponding goods storing portions 285 and then, the plate shutter 283a is moved by one row portion, that is, the plate shutter 283a is opened by one row portion, thereby to take out the goods B from the proper goods storing portion 285 by one piece. Next, a third embodiment of a goods take-out apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 41 and Fig. 42. Fig. 41 is a perspective view corresponding to Fig. 39 showing a goods take-out apparatus (goods drop-out device) 380 which is different from that of Fig. 38. Fig. 42 is a perspective view showing a second shutter 383c and a dog 388g thereof in enlarge scale. The goods drop-out device 380, as shown in Fig. 41 and Fig. 42, is provided with a second shutter 383c which is of different structure from that of Fig. 38. That is, the first shutter (plate shutter) 383a is capable of moving in the line direction (x-direction) as in the same case with the goods drop-out device 380 of Fig. 38, and a larger number of the keyboard-shaped second shutters (keyboard shutter) 383c than the line number are provided. The keyboard shutters 383c are pivotally supported on the under-surface of the plate shutter 383a through a shaft 383d. The keyboard shutters 383c are pivoted about the shaft 383d by approximately 90° through the dog 388g mounted on an endless chain 388f which is turned in the row direction (y-direction) by a servo motor 388 and is projected by a length of a generally one row portion in the x-direction from one side edge of the plate shutter 383a. By pulse controlling the servo motor 388e, the dog 388g is moved to a predetermined position and the keyboard shutters 383c are pivoted by a predetermined quantity to open and close the opening portion of the desired goods storing portions 385. Also, since the tip of the dog 388g is formed in bow shape, when the dog 388g is moved in the direction as shown by an arrow S of Fig. 42, one piece of the keyboard shutter 383c formed in an L-shape is pushed down with the tip of the dog 388g. As a result, the other piece is lifted up in the direction as shown by an arrow U of Fig. 42 to close the opening and closing portion of the goods storing portion 385. Also, in case that the opening portion of the goods storing portion 385 is to be opened, the dog 388g may be moved in the direction opposite the arrow S of Fig. 42. Since there are provided more keyboard shutters 383c than the line number of the goods storing portion 385, the opening portion of the goods storing portion 385 can be closed by a plurality of keyboard shutters 383c according to the size of the opening portion of the goods storing portion 385. Thus, by properly setting the pulse value to the servo motor 388e according to the size of the goods B, the goods B having various sizes can be taken out by one kind of the keyboard shutter 383c without exchanging the keyboard shutter 383c and without changing the arrangement thereof. The plate shutters 283a, 383a, of Fig. 39 and Fig. 41 may be driven by a chain. It goes without saying that in the above-mentioned various embodiments, any direction may be taken as the line and any direction may be taken as the row in the matrix-shaped arrangement of the goods storing portions 285, 385. Another goods take-out apparatus (goods drop-out device) 480 used in the present invention, as shown in Fig. 43, comprises a goods storing device (casing) 481 having a plurality of goods storing portions 485 which are defined in a matrix shape, a closing member (plate) 483 fixedly located in such a manner as to close an opening portion of the casing 481, a shutter 484 able to open and close the opening portion mounted on the plate 483 per each goods storing portion 485, and a driving mechanism 487 for driving the casing 481, the casing 481 being moved along the plate 483 by the driving mechanism 487. That is, the goods drop-out device 480 of this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 43, stores their the goods B which were shifted from the goods take-out tool 20 (not shown) and discharges one by one. The goods drop-out device 480 is fixedly located on an upper portion of a chute 91 which is adapted to guide the goods B to a spiral chute 90. And, the goods drop-out device 480 comprises partitions 482 for individually separating the goods B in such a manner as to corresponding to the partitions 21 of the goods take-out tool 20, a goods storing device (casing) 481 having a plurality of goods storing portions 485 which are defined in a matrix shape (four lines x six rows) by the partitions 482, a closing member (plate) 483 for closing an opening portion of the casing 481, a shutter 484 able to open and close the opening portion mounted on the plate 483 per each goods storing portion 485, a driving mechanism 487 for driving the casing 481, and an opening and closing mechanism 488 for opening and closing the shutter 484. The plate 483 has an area of a portion consisting of generally four lines x six rows. Also, the shutter 484 comprises a small plate having a width of a generally one line portion and is provided with four shutter 484 corresponding to the respective goods storing portions 485 and is moved reciprocally from the y-direction end of the plate 483 to the x-direction end thereof per each shutter 484. Also, a guide plate 84 (see Fig. 3) adapted to smoothly superpose the goods drop-out device 480 on the casing 481 is erected from a rectangular frame 486. Also, the casing 481 is moved on the upper surface of the plate 483 along the plate 483 by the driving mechanism 487 mounted on the frame 486. Also, the plate 483 is fixedly located on an upper end portion of the chute 91 through the frame 486. The casing 481 receives a driving force of the servo motor 487c through an endless chain 487a mounted on the frame 487 fixedly located on the chute 91 and is slidedly moved on the plate 483 in the x-direction, and the stopping position thereof is determined corresponding to a position of one row portion of the opening portion of the casing 481 by pulse controlling the servo motor 487c. 487b denotes a mounting metal piece for connecting the case 481 to the endless chain 487a. On the other hand, the shutter 484 is reciprocally movable by a length of a generally one row portion in the x-direction from one side edge of the plate 483. That is, the plate 483 is provided with a channel-like guide frame 488a arranged on the reverse surface of the plate 483 in the y-direction. An air cylinder 488b is mounted in such a manner as to perpendicular to the inner side surface of the guide frame 488a. Furthermore, the cylinder 488b is provided on the tip of its rod with the afore-mentioned shutter 484. And, by the activation of the air cylinder 488b, the rod is reciprocally moved to reciprocally and separately move the shutter 484 penetrating a guide hole 488c formed in the external side surface of the guide frame 488a. Therefore, the goods B, which were shifted from the goods take-out tool 20 respectively to the goods storing portions 485 (see Fig. 43) defined in a matrix shape consisting of four lines x six rows within the goods drop-out device 80, and discharged by each goods storing portion 485 at a time according to the movement of the casing 481 and the shutter 484 in the line direction (x-direction) and dropped on the chute 91. When all of the goods B have been taken out subsequently from the goods drop-out device 480, the casing 481 is moved to position (the right upper portion of the casing 481 to the position of the original O in Fig. 44) where the casing 481 and the goods take-out tool 20 are superposed, and successively, the shutter 22 of the goods take-out tool 20 is released to permit all of the goods B contained in the goods take-out tool 20 to be automatically shifted to the goods drop-out device 480. In this embodiment, when the goods B are to be automatically taken out of the goods drop-out device 480, the goods B shifted to the goods drop-out device 480 are taken out by a desired number at a time according to a picking command by moving the casing 481 and the shutter 484 in the line direction (x-direction). Fig. 44 is a schematic plan view of Fig. 43 showing what part of the position the casing 481 and the shutter 484 are moved to in case the total take-out number of the goods B taken out of the goods drop-out device 480 is six pieces. That is, in case the goods B are taken out by six pieces, the casing 481 is moved by one row portion in a direction opposite the x-direction and the rightmost shutter 484 and the shutter next therefrom, thus two shutters 484 in total, are moved in such a manner as to be opened (the shutters 484 are retreated), thereby four goods B corresponding to one row portion and two goods B of the next row, thus six goods B in total, are taken out. Furthermore, in case three more goods B are to be taken out, that is, in case the total take-out number is nine pieces, firstly, the second shutter 484 from the right is caused to project to close the corresponding goods storing portion 485, and then, the casing 481 is further moved by one row portion in a direction opposite the x-direction, thereby three goods B can be taken out. In the goods drop-out device 80, for example, in Fig. 44, there may be provided a fixed small plate instead of providing the fourth (the leftmost) side shutter 848 from the right. The shutter 484 may be provided less by one piece than the line number of the goods storing portion 485. In this case, in the state where the goods B stored in the first through the third lines from the right are already taken out for example, in case that the goods B stored in the fourth line (the leftmost side) from the right are taken out by one piece only, the right most shutter 383 through the third shutter from the left may be caused to project to close the corresponding goods storing portions 485 and then, the casing 481 may be moved by one row portion in a direction opposite the x-direction, that is, the casing 481 may be opened by one row portion, thereby the goods B are taken out by one piece from the corresponding goods storing portion 485. Also, the shutter 484 may be directly mounted on the frame 486 instead of being mounted on the plate 483. Also, the casing 481 may be driven by a rack and a pinion. Next, there will be described one embodiment of the goods transfer apparatus A which is used in case that an empty container discharging conveyor 100 is disposed at a lower part of the storing facilities C. The goods transfer apparatus A of this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 45 and Fig. 47, is designed as such that a container 10 containing therein the goods B is taken out from the storing facilities C for storing the goods B stored in the container 10 and transferred to the goods take-out apparatus E and only the goods B contained in the container 10 are shifted. The empty container 10 is taken out from the goods take-out apparatus E side again and the empty container 10 is discharged onto the empty container discharging conveyor 100. The goods transfer apparatus A is disposed between the storing facilities C and the goods feeding apparatus C as in the same case of Fig. 1 and Fig. 3. The goods feeding apparatus D of this embodiment is provided with a spiral chute 90 which is spirated in a direction opposite that of the afore-mentioned one. The goods transfer apparatus A, like the afore-mentioned various embodiments, comprises a goods take-out tool 20, a container transfer device (container take-out device) 30 for transferring (taking out) a container 10 from storing facilities C, an inverting device 40 including a superposing device 41 adapted to superpose the goods take-out tool 20 and the container 10 with each other, a traveling table 42 with the container take-out device 30 and the inverting device 40 mounted thereon and being able to travel toward the storing facilities C, a carriage 50 travelably carrying the traveling table 42, and a stacker crane 60 for vertically movably supporting the carriage 50. And, the traveling table 42 and the stacker crane 60 are traveled in directions generally perpendicular to each other, and the carriage 50 is formed therein with a through-hole 51 as a passage for drop discharging the container 10 therethrough. Also, a gravity flow rack 70 of the storing facilities C, like one previously described, comprises inclination conveyors of a multirow and multistage, and an inclined front end thereof is formed with a take-out compartment 71. Also, the inclination conveyor is provided on its front end portion with a stopper 72 so that the container 10 fed is slided down the inclination convey by its own gravity. And, there is disposed an empty container discharging conveyor 100 in a space formed at a lower portion of the gravity flow rack 70. The empty container 10 taken out onto the container take-out device 30 by the inverting device 40 mounted on the carriage 50 is dropped into the through-hole 51 by the reversely rotating container take-out device 30, i.e., conveyor 34 and a tilt conveyor 35 tilted downward and is drop discharged onto the empty container discharging conveyor 100 from the through-hole 51 via the guide plates 52, 52 and the chute 62, and is then conveyed to a downstream processing process (not shown) by the empty container discharging conveyor 100. Therefore, according to this embodiment, when the goods B contained in the goods take-out tool 20 have been shifted to the goods drop-out device 80, according to the stacker crane 60 and the vertical reciprocal movement of the carriage 50, the inverting device 40 is caused to travel to position opposite the empty container 10 and the goods take-out tool 20, and at the same time, the distance of the first holding hand 45 of the inverting device 40 is moved to position slightly wider than the width of the goods take-out tool 20 and the distance of the second holding hand 47 is moved to position slightly wider than the width of the container 10. Thereafter, the traveling table 42 is moved to the goods drop-out device 80 side. At this time, since the inverting device 40 is already waiting facing the goods drop-out device 80 side, it is not necessary to invert the inverting device 40 prior to the taking-out of the empty container 10 and the goods take-out tool 20. As described in the foregoing, when the inverting device 40 is caused to advance to the goods drop-out device 80 side to bring the opened first and second holding hands 45 and 47 to the external side of the engaging recess 25 of the goods take-out tool 20 and the external side of the container 10 respectively, the first holding hand 45 and the second holding hand 47 are closed to hold the empty container 10 and the goods take-out tool 20 respectively. After the first holding hand 45 and the second holding hand 47 is rotated clockwise by approximately 10° in the side view of Fig. 47, the traveling table 42 is moved forward toward the gravity flow rack 70. After the first holding hand 45 and the second holding hand 47 are further rotated clockwise by approximately 170° in that state, the traveling table 42 is moved backward again to the end portion of the goods drop-out device 80 side, thereby to make appearance of the through-hold 51 provided in the traveling passage of the traveling table 42 as shown in Fig. 47. And, upon opening of the second holding hand 47, the empty container 10 is released onto the conveyor 34 and conveyed to the through-hole 51 by the conveyor 34 and the tilt conveyor 35 which are being driven in the discharging direction. Then, the empty container 10 is dropped onto the chute 62 guided by the guide plates 52, 52 and discharged onto the empty container discharging conveyor 100 via the chute 62. When the empty container 10 has been discharged, the goods transfer apparatus A is activated in the same manner as in the afore-mentioned embodiment to shift the container 10 from the storing facilities C to the goods take-out apparatus E. When the container 10 is to be taken out of the gravity flow rack 70, a plurality of containers 10 may be taken out simultaneously and after the plurality of container 10 taken out is shifted to the goods drop-out device 80 simultaneously, the plurality of empty containers 10 may be discharged simultaneously. Also, the chute 62 for discharging the empty container 10 may be disposed at the empty container discharging conveyor 100 side. Also, the empty container discharging conveyor 100 may be disposed at a lower part of the through-hole 51. According to the goods transfer apparatus A of this embodiment, as described above, since a container having the opening portion 11 containing the goods B such as a corrugated fiberboard box, a plastic container, etc. can be picked out of the storing facilities and the empty container 10, which is still in position where the goods B have been taken out therefrom, can be discharged at that position, the empty container 10 can be discharged with high efficiency and the overall transferring capacity can be greatly increased. In case that the take-out compartment 70 and the goods drop-out device 80 are not opposite each other, after the empty container 10 is taken out, the empty container 10 may be discharged during the movement of the stacker crane 60 to the desired take-out compartment 70. Also, by providing the guide plate 52 at the lower side of the through-hole 51 and by providing the chute 62 to the stacker crane 60, the container 10 can be discharged more safely. Also, by making the structure of the goods transfer apparatus A of the above-mentioned various embodiments as those shown in Fig. 48 through Fig. 50, the goods B can be shifted safely without disordering the storing state of the goods B within the container 10. That is, as shown in Fig. 48, the goods transfer apparatus A of this embodiment is designed as such that, as in the above-mentioned various embodiments, the container 10 containing the goods therein is taken out of the storing facilities C and then only the goods B within the container 10 is shifted to the goods take-out apparatus E. The goods transfer apparatus A of this embodiment is disposed between the storing facilities C and the goods feeding apparatus D. The inverting device 40 comprises a traveling table 42 being able to travel on the carriage 50 of the stacker crane 60 in the flowing direction, i.e., in the forward and backward direction with reference to the gravity flow rack 70, of the container 10 stored on the gravity flow rack 70, a frame 43 erected on the traveling table 42, a rotary shaft 44 supported in the vicinity of the upper end of the frame 43, a first holding hand being opened and closed in the axial direction (hereinafter referred to as the "right and left direction") to hold the goods take-out tool 20, a guide member 46 hanging down in the direction of approximately 90° clockwise with respect to the hanging direction of the first holding hand 45 about the axis of the rotary shaft 44 from a position slightly offset toward the foremost end side of the first holding hand 45 from its basic end, and a second holding hand 47 being moved upward and downward along the guide member 46 while holding the container 10 and superposing the container 10 on the goods take-out tool 20 held by the first holding hand 45. Of these, the first and second holding hands 45, 47 and the guide member 46 form the superposing device 41, and the inverting device 40 integrally pivot the superposing device 41 about the rotary shaft 44. Also, the first and second holding hands 45, 45 is vertically attached to the rotary shaft 44 through the arms 43a, 43a so as to be rotated together with the rotary shaft 44. Also, between the pair of arms 43a, 43a, the screw shaft 48, that is, the screw shaft 48 being provided at one side from its center with a right screw and at the other side therefrom with a left screw, extends in parallel with the rotary shaft 44, so that the distance between the pair of arms 43a, 43a is expended and contracted by means of the activation of the screw shaft 48, thereby to open and close the pair of first holding hands 45, 45. Also, the first holding hand 45 is provided at its inner side with an engaging protrusion 45c adapted to engage with an engaging recess formed in the vicinity of the basic portion 24 of the both sides of the opening end of the goods take-out tool 20 so that the first holding hand 45 can hold the goods take-out tool 20 safely and without dropping it during the inverting. Also, the second holding hand 47 comprises a container receiving table 47a formed of a perforated plate for supporting the bottom surface of the container 10 in its generally flat shape, a pair of holding plates 47b, 47b being able to move in the right and left direction above the container receiving table 47a, and a screw shaft 47c for opening and closing the holding plate 47b, 47b, that is, the screw shaft 47c being formed at one side from its center with a right screw and at the other side therefrom with a left screw, the holding plates 47b, 47b being moved in the right and left direction until they form a desired holding distance for holding the container. Also, when the container receiving table 47a is located at the lowering terminal, a wheel of a wheel conveyor 36 is inserted into a hole portion of the container receiving table 47a and projected from the hole portion. Also, the guide member 46 is provided with a screw shaft 46a therealong. Due to the foregoing arrangement, the actuation of the screw shaft 46a causes the second holding hand 47 to be moved upward and downward along the guide member 46 so as to superpose the container 10 on the goods take-out tool 20. Therefore, according to the present invention, by means of the traveling of the stacker crane and the upward and downward movement of the carriage 50, the inverting device 40 is moved to a desired position and the container take-out device 30 is caused to take out the container 10 stored in a desired take-out compartment 71. That is, when the carriage 50 of the stacker crane 60 is stopped at a desired position, the traveling table 42 is moved forward toward the take-out compartment 71 and the tilt conveyor 35 is pivoted upward at its container take-out side about a pivotal point 32 to take out one piece of the container 10 and convey it to a predetermined position of the wheel conveyor 36. At this time, since the container receiving table 47a is located at the lowering terminal beforehand, the container receiving table 47a is located beneath the container 10 conveyed. Thereafter, when the second holding hand 47 is moved upward to the centering position along the guide member 46, that is, when the upper surface of the container receiving table 47a is moved upward to position higher than the upper surface formed by the wheel conveyor 36, the container 10, while being carried at its bottom surface in its generally flat shape, is held at the side surfaces thereof for centering by the holding plates 47b, 47b which are closed to a predetermined distance by means of the actuation of the screw shaft 47c. After centering, the second holding hand 47 is moved upward along the guide member 46 to lift the container 10 held by it upward to the vicinity of the base portion 24 of the goods take-out tool 20 and stopped with the foremost end of the partitions 21 projecting downward from the basic portion 24 and the guide member 27 being inserted into the container 10. Therefore, since the container 10 is carried and supported at its bottom surface by the container receiving table 47a in its generally flat shape, the partitions, 21 can smoothly be inserted into the opening portion 11 of the container 10 without disordering the storing state of the goods B stored within the container 10. The container receiving table 47a may be formed in a comb teeth shape and a plurality of chain conveyors instead of the wheel conveyor 36 may be disposed adjacent to the gaps between the comb teeth. Also, the container take-out device 30 may be disposed independently on the carriage 50 instead of providing it on the traveling table 42, so that it can be traveled independently from the traveling table 42. taken-out number total taken-out number position of shutter 83 state of shutter 83 decimal number base 4 number No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 see Fig. 9 (hatching portion is closed) 1 1 1 1 row 0 0 0 see Fig. 9 (hatching portion is closed) 5 6 12 2 rows 2 rows 1 row 1 row see Fig. 9 (hatching portion is closed) taken-out number total taken-out number coordinate of shutter 183 (283) state of shutter 183 (283) decimal number base 4 number (x, y) - 0 0 (0, 0) see Fig. 36 (hatching portion is closed) 6 6 12 (1, 2) see Fig. 36 (hatching portion is closed) 3 9 21 (2, 1) see Fig. 36 (hatching portion is closed)

Claims: A method for shifting goods (B) out of a container (10), having an opening portion, by inverting the container (10), characterized in that the goods (B) are taken out of the container (10) in such a manner as to correspond to the arrangement of a storing state of the goods (B) which are standing in the container (10), the method comprising the steps of: superposing a goods takeout tool (20) over the container (10) in which the goods (B) are standing, the goods take-out tool (20) including partitions (21) which correspond to the arrangement of the storing state of the goods (B); inserting the goods take-out tool (20) into the opening portion (11) of the container (10); inverting the superposed take-out tool (20) together with the container (10); removing the goods (B) from the container (10) into the goods take-out tool (20) without changing the arrangement of the storing state of the goods (B), said goods being guided by the partitions (21) inserted into the container (10) as said goods (B) move into the goods take-out tool (20); providing a shutter means (22) in the goods take-out tool (20), said shutter means (22) initially blocking movement of the goods (B) from the goods take-out tool (20) when the container and goods take-out tool (20) are inverted, and removing the shutter means (22) out of the goods take-out tool (20) to permit at least a portion of the goods (B) to be removed therefrom. The method as recited in claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises the step of temporarily storing the goods (B) within the goods take-out tool (20) after the goods (B) are removed from the container (10). The method as recited in one of the claims 1 or 2, characterized in that during the step of removing, the goods (B) moving into the take-out tool (20) are first only partially held within the take-out tool (20) while remaining within the container (10) and are thereafter released by the take-out tool (20) to thereby be removed from both the container (10) and the take-out tool (20). The method as recited in one of the claims 1-3, characterized in that the shutter means (22) is provided with a plurality of sections (22b) and the goods (B) are standing in the container in a plurality of rows and columns, each of the sections (22b) of shutter means (22) corresponding to one row of goods, the method further comprising the steps of: moving one of the sections (22b) of shutter means (22) in a first direction to sequentially discharge each of the goods (B) in one of the rows of goods; and sequentially moving each of the sections (22b) of shutter means (22) to thereby discharge each of the columns of goods (B). The method as recited in one of the claims 1-4, characterized in that it further comprises the steps of: passing the goods (B) from the goods take-out tool (20) to a goods drop-out device (80, 180, 280, 380, 480); and sequentially removing the goods (B) from the goods drop-out device (80, 180, 280, 380, 480). The method as recited in claim 5, characterized in that the goods (B) are standing in the container (10) in a plurality of rows and columns and the goods (B) continue to stand in a plurality of rows and columns when positioned in the goods take-out tool (20), the method further comprises the steps of: providing a sectional shutter means (83) beneath the goods drop-out device (80), each section of the shutter corresponding to one row of goods; moving each of the sections of shutter means (83) in a first direction to sequentially discharge each of the goods (B) in one of the rows of goods during the step of sequentially removing the goods (B) from the goods drop-out device (80); and sequentially moving each of the sections of shutter means (83) to thereby discharge each of the columns of goods (B) during the step of sequentially removing the goods from the goods drop-out device (80). The method as recited in one of the claims 1-6, characterized in that the plurality of sections (22, 83) of the shutter means are sequentially moved by sliding in a generally horizontal plane. The method as recited in claim 5, characterized in that the method further comprises the steps of: providing a plane shutter (383a) for covering at least a portion of the bottom of the goods drop-out device (380), said plane shutter (383a) having a plurality of sections of pivotable shutters (383c) positioned along an edge thereof; and moving the plane shutter (383a) after the plurality of sections of shutters (383c) have pivoted discharging a row of goods to thereafter position said plurality of sections of shutters beneath a different column of goods to be discharged. The method as recited in claim 5, characterized in that it further comprises the steps of: providing the goods drop-out device with a shutter which comprises a plane shutter (183a) and a catepillar shutter (183b), said plane shutter (183a) being movable in a first direction for release of goods (B) in a column and said catepillar shutter (183b) being movable in a second direction for release of goods (B) in a row; and moving the plane shutter (183a) and a catepillar shutter (183b) to thereby remove the goods from the goods drop-out device. The method as recited in claim 5, characterized in that, if further comprises the steps of: providing the goods drop-out device with a shutter which comprises a plate shutter (283a) being movable in an x-direction for release one row portion at a time and discrete shutters (283b) respectively corresponding to each of the goods storing positions in the row direction being individually movable in the x-direction for opening and closing each goods storing portions; and moving the plate shutter (283a) and the discrete shutter (283b) for discharging the goods (B) by each goods storing portion (285). The method as recited in one of the claims 1-10, characterized in that the method further comprises the step of: inserting at least a foremost end portion of the goods take-out tool (20), the foremost end portion including end portions of the partitions (21). The method as recited in one of the claims 1-10, characterized in that a desired number of goods (8) being taken out by moving the shutters, said method comprising the steps of: determining a total number of positions in one row of the matrix shape and a total number of positions in one column of the matrix shape, determining the total number of positions corresponding to a total number of goods to be taken out; converting each of the positions of the matrix shape to an n-ary number, the n-ary number having a first and second digit, the first digit representing an X location of the position in the matrix shape and the second digit representing a Y location of the position in the matrix shape; selecting a desired amount of goods (B) to be taken out; converting the number of desired goods (B) to an n-ary number; moving one of the shutters with reference to the first digit of the converted n-ary number; moving another one of the shutters with reference to the second digit of the converted n-ary number; and discharging the selected amount of goods upon the moving of the shutters. The method as set forth in claim 12, characterized in that the desired amount of goods is less than the total number of goods in the matrix shape, the method further comprises the steps of: selecting a second desired amount of goods to be taken out; converting the second desired amount of goods to a second n-ary number, the second n-ary number being based on the previously-converted n-ary number of the first desired goods; moving the one shutter with reference to the first digit of the second converted n-ary number; moving the another shutter with reference to the second digit of the second converted n-ary number; and discharging the second selected amount of goods upon the moving of the shutters. An apparatus for carrying out the method according to claim 1, comprising an inverting device, characterized in that it further comprises a goods take-out tool (20), including partitions (21) which correspond to the arrangement of the storing state of the goods (B) and shutter means (22), initially blocking movement of the goods (B) from the goods take-out tool (20) when the container (10) and goods take-out tool (20) are inverted, said shutter means (22) being movable out of the goods take-out tool (20) to permit at least a portion of the goods (B) to be removed therefrom. An apparatus as recited in claim 14, characterized in that the shutter means (22) comprises a plurality of sections (22b), each of the sections (22b) of shutter means corresponding to one row of goods and each of said sections (22b) being separately movable. An apparatus as recited in claim 14 or 15, characterized in that, the partitions (21) comprise foremost end portions to be inserted into the opening portion (11) of a container. An apparatus as recited in claim 16, characterized in that, the foremost end portions are provided with guide pieces (27) at their upper side. An apparatus as recited in one of the claims 14 to 17, characterized in that, the goods take-out tool (20) in its inverted position is superposed over a goods drop-out device (80, 180, 280, 380, 480). An apparatus as recited in claim 18, characterized in that, a sectional shutter (83) is provided beneath the goods drop-out device (80) each section of the shutter corresponding to one row of goods (B) and being movable in a first direction to sequentially discharge each of the goods (B) in one of the rows of goods (B) from the goods drop-out device (80). An apparatus as recited in one of the claims 15 to 19, characterized in that, the plurality of sections (22b, 83) of the shutters are slidable in a generally horizontal plane. An apparatus as recited in claim 18, characterized in that, a movable plane shutter (383a) is provided beneath the goods drop-out device (380) for covering at least a portion of the bottom of the goods drop-out device (380), said plane shutter (383a) having a plurality of sections of pivotable shutters (383c) positioned along an edge thereof, each of said pivotable shutters positioned beneath a different row of goods. An apparatus as recited in claim 18, characterized in that, a shutter is provided beneath the goods drop-out device (180), said shutter comprising a plane shutter (183a) and a caterpillar shutter (183b), said plane shutter being movable in a first direction for release of goods (B) in a column and said caterpillar shutter (183b) being movable in a second direction for release of goods (B) in a row. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, characterized in that, a shutter is provided beneath the goods drop-out device, said shutter comprises a plate shutter (283a) and discrete shutters (283b), said plate shutter (283a) being movable in an x-direction for release one row portion at a time and said discrete shutters (283b) respectively corresponding to each of the goods storing portions in the row direction being movable in the x-direction for opening and closing each goods storing portions.

Inventors: HIRATA EIJI, TANAKA NOBUHIRO, TAWARA HIROTOSHI, HIRATA, EIJI, TANAKA, NOBUHIRO, TAWARA, HIROTOSHI
Applicants: KAO CORP, KAO CORPORATION
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B65G1
IPC codes: B65G47, B65G1