Abstract:
An arrangement is provided for dry storing boats ( 2 ) and holding them readily available, comprising a number of boat storage spaces ( 22 ) arranged at a waterfront area, and a lifting device ( 7 ) for lifting or pulling boats ( 2 ) from the water. The boat storage spaces ( 22 ) are formed according to the invention by a mechanized shelf or honeycomb storage facility ( 13 ) or the like, having fixed installed transportation devices ( 15, 19 ) for the storage and removal of boats ( 2 ). Preferably, cassettes ( 16 ) are provided, on which the boats ( 2 ) are stored and removed as well as transported.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/331,526, filed Jan. 13, 2006, which claims the benefit of EP 05 000 574.3, filed Jan. 13, 2005, both of which are incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The invention relates to an arrangement for dry storage of boats which holds them readily available, having a number of boat storage spaces arranged at a waterfront area and with a lifting device for lifting or pulling boats off the water. 
         [0003]    At waterfront areas and preferred coastal regions, due to the limited amount of space, there is frequently a lack of docking spaces for boats, in particular when they are also intended to keep boats readily available, either on land or along boat docks. The storage and ready availability of boats at the waterfront area, the term also including coastal regions, is therefore increasingly problematic. 
         [0004]    Being relatively small water crafts, boats have traditionally been stored preferably dry and readily available, and therefore they were pulled onto shore. This frequently occurs via a rope winch, to which the boat is fastened, and by which the boat is pulled off the water and onto the shore. Conversely, the boat can then be returned to the water, if necessary, after a loading process. 
         [0005]    Alternatively, boats are frequently stored on the water and held readily available, namely along a boat dock so that they can be loaded and entered therefrom. However, dry storage is naturally better for the life of the boat. 
         [0006]    Due to the frequent lack of the above-mentioned boat docking spaces and/or storage spaces, increasingly boats are stored at buoys as an additional alternative without any direct access via a gangplank. 
         [0007]    Attempts to address these issues are provided by JP 2-183055 and JP 2-241891. These references provide for a shelf operating system for boat storage. However, they do not include a good method for transporting boats between the lifting device and the shelf operating system. JP 2-183055 provides a shuttle car with rollers that has to roll on tracks that are moved into and out of the water, subjecting the tracks as well as the shuttle wagon rollers and bearings to the corrosive effects of the water. Additionally, it also appears that this shuttle wagon is an integral part of the transport system which must be moveable throughout the entire system in order to carry the boat holding pallet. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    The present invention is therefore based on the object to provide an arrangement for dry storing boats and holding them readily available, which allows, on a given area, a larger number of boats than previously thought possible to stored and held available. 
         [0009]    This objective is attained according to the invention. 
         [0010]    Therefore, according to the present invention, boat storage spaces arranged at the waterfront area are formed by a mechanized shelf or honeycomb storage facility or the like, having transportation devices for loading and removing boats that are installed in a fixed manner. The invention is also based on the idea that storage techniques established in other fields, in particular in steel trading, for large and heavy objects that cannot be moved manually, may also be suitable for the storage and removal of boats. Boats are here lifted or pulled off the water by the lifting device, and subsequently they are placed by the transportation devices of the mechanized storage facility in a storage space, i.e. a shelf or a honeycomb of a honeycomb storage facility, in particular. Due to the fact that such a storage facility according to the invention allows several storage spaces to be arranged on top of one another and to establish the storage spaces at a certain distance from the shore, considerably more boats can be stored in a certain coastal area, and due to the mechanized transportation devices can also be kept readily available. Additionally, it is possible to cover the storage facility according to the invention with a roof or to arrange it inside a warehouse, which offers the great advantage that the boats are not subject to weathering and in particular to the UV-rays of the sun during the time they are stored and kept readily available. Additionally, a warehouse also provides improved protection from theft and vandalism. 
         [0011]    Preferably, the transportation devices of the arrangement according to the invention serve not only for the immediate storage and removal of the boats into and out of the boat storage spaces, but also for the transportation of the boats between the boat storage spaces and the lifting device, so that an automatic operation of the storage facility from lifting the boat off the water to storing it in the storage facility and vice versa can occur. 
         [0012]    For this purpose, the use of cassettes is particularly preferred here, on which the boats can be held for transportation and for storing and unloading. The cassettes are adjusted to the transportation devices and can therefore be easily pulled, pushed, and lifted, regardless of the shape and size of the boat supported on it. 
         [0013]    To the extent said cassettes are also provided for lifting or pulling the boats off the water and, being adjusted to the lifting device for this purpose, a boat can automatically be put onto the cassette while still in the water, lifted off the water together with it, and stored by the transportation device in a boat storage space in the shelf or honeycomb storage facility or the like. Conversely, when needed, the transportation devices fetch the boat, stored on its cassette in the storage space, out of the storage facility and put it into the water, so that it can be used. Such cassettes are very advantageous in that boats of the most different dimensions and shapes up to a maximum size and a maximum weight can be transported as well as stored and removed, without having to design the transportation device and the boat storage spaces in a flexible manner to adjust them to the different shapes of the boats. Rather, the transportation devices and the boat storage spaces are merely to serve for the transportation and the acceptance of identical cassettes, while the cassette itself is adapted to the shape of the hull of the boat. 
         [0014]    The cassettes can be provided with holding devices for latching support arms of lifting devices, and preferably they are provided with adjustable fasteners, in particular adjustable supports for adjusting to different boats. Then the boats merely need to be placed onto the cassettes, in order to be securely held when transported as well as stored or removed by them. Particularly when the boats are to be lifted or pulled off the water on the cassette this is very advantageous, because then the cassette merely needs to be brought underneath the floating boat and then be lifted in order to put the boat onto the cassette. 
         [0015]    The cassettes according to this further development of the arrangement according to the invention can also be provided with driving wheels, to be activated, when needed, by which they then can be moved on land “manually” with or without a boat supported on them and be manipulated. This increases the flexibility of the arrangement. 
         [0016]    Additionally, a number of cassettes can be provided, that are also adjusted to the transportation devices, however serve to hold at least one land vehicle each. This offers the advantage that, after the removal of the boat for the purpose of using it, the car by which the boat owner usually drives to the arrangement according to the invention, can be stored on a cassette in the boat storage space that has become available, and after the return of the boat it can again be removed for driving away. This way, the arrangement according to the invention is always used to optimized capacity, and the problematic amount of space required at conventional boat docks for the land vehicles of the boat owners, is advantageously minimized. Furthermore, during the absence of the owners a considerably increased protection from theft of the land vehicle results. 
         [0017]    The transportation arrangements of the device according to the invention includes preferably a shelf operating device for storing and removing boats and a shifting car for transporting the boats between the lifting device and the shelf operating device. Here, the shelf operating device can be embodied in a manner known per se, for example, in the type of a shelf operating device for the storing and removing poles in honeycomb storage devices. Depending on the size of the arrangement according to the invention, several shelf paths can be provided with several shelf operating devices. Here, the shifting car has the purpose to drive to several shelf operating devices, when necessary, with it being beneficial if it can be moved perpendicularly in reference to the shelf paths. The shifting car includes a carriage and a rotatable carrier that can be rotated around a vertical axis, which then allows an easy transfer of the pallet between the shifting car and the shelf operating device with or without a boat. 
         [0018]    This preferably occurs such that the shifting car is provided with a device for pulling and pushing the cassette onto and off the shifting car, by which the cassette at the lifting device can be moved to a stand-by station or away from it as well as to a transfer location for the shelf operating device or away from it. The transfer location between the shelf operating device and the shifting car also serves as a buffer, because the shifting car can, after transferring a cassette to the transfer location, already perform the next task, even if the shelf operating system is not ready for accepting the cassette located on the transfer location, but is still performing another task. The same applies to the stand-by station between the lifting device and the shifting car. 
         [0019]    The shifting car and the shelf operating device can run on rails, known per se, which facilitates a fully automated operation. 
         [0020]    Further advantages result when, in addition to the storage device, the arrangement is also provided with a service station, accessible from all sides, which can be approached by the transportation device. Using the arrangement according to the invention it is then possible to lift a boat off the water via the lifting device and to drive it to the service station for maintenance. Alternatively, a boat stored in the storage facility can be removed and be driven to the service station or to a location for loading and/or unloading or to a gas station. 
         [0021]    It is also advantageous for a loading station to be provided next to the storage facility for the land-side loading of a boat into the arrangement. In this loading station, a boat to be brought into the arrangement can be put onto a cassette, and then the cassette can be adjusted to the boat. The loading station is also an interface between the arrangement according to the invention and a vehicle for the transportation of a boat on land. 
         [0022]    The lifting device of the arrangement according to the invention preferably comprises essentially a gantry crane with support elements for accepting one cassette each, and at the side facing the water, the cassette can be lowered below the water level and below the keel of the boat to be lifted, so that the boat can be moved over the cassette, and while on land the cassette can be put down on a stand-by station. 
         [0023]    Particular advantages result here from the lifting device being provided with a centering device for centering a boat over a cassette lowered below the water level. This centering device may comprise sliders that can symmetrically approach the exterior hull of the boat from starboard and port-side and, if necessary, be complemented by a centering stop for the bow of the boat. Such a centering device ensures that the cassette merely needs to be raised in order to lift the boat, with the boat then automatically resting on the cassette correctly and centered and being lifted together with it by the arrangement according to the invention. This again is a measure allowing the fully-automated operation of the arrangement according to the invention, it desired. 
         [0024]    The support elements of the lifting device may comprise a number of support arms connected to one another in order to form a lifting structure. The support arms are preferably pivotal to the outside, in order to also allow an automatic latching and unlatching of the cassette in and out of the respective fastening devices. The lifting device is preferably provided, at least at the water-facing side, with vertical guides for the lifting structure, with the parts of the lifting devices arranged facing the water preferably being embodied floating, in particularly such that they can be supported floating via pontoons guided in vertical guides. This measure ensures a secure and reliable operation of the lifting device even at varying water levels. 
         [0025]    Further particular advantages result when the crane of the lifting device spans at least one road lane between its water-facing and its land-facing travel stops. This way it is possible for the storage facility according to the invention to be arranged, for example, behind a coastal road, and thus use areas for storing boats and holding them readily available that previously were not useable for this purpose. 
         [0026]    The arrangement according to the invention is advantageously provided with a central control or control system for the transportation devices, with the central control allocating a certain boat to a certain cassette, and thus controlling the storage and removal process pursuant a specific boat. It is useful for this central control system also to control the lifting device, preferably such that upon request of a boat positioned in front of the lifting device it fetches the corresponding cassette, lowers it below the water level, lifts the cassette again after the boat has been moved and centered over it, until the boat rests thereupon, lifts the boat on the cassette off the water, optionally semi-automatically, transports it to the boat storage space, and stores it there. In order to remove the boat, this control process occurs in reverse. 
         [0027]    Depending on the embodiment of the arrangement according to the invention, upon request, the central control process can either transport a certain boat to a service station or, after having fetched a boat from the boat storage space, storing a cassette with a land vehicle in said boat storage space and vice versa. 
         [0028]    When loading a boat into the loading station, the central control advantageously identifies the boat, identifies the cassette, and allocates those two, so that this connection can be saved as a data set. This offers particular advantages in connection with a perhaps existing arrangement for an automatic identification of boats brought into the loading station of the arrangement, namely with regard to a fully-automated operation of the arrangement according to the invention. Because, when a boat in front of the lifting device has been recognized, automatically the corresponding cassette is fetched from storage and lowered in the lifting device below the water level. After the boat has moved into the lifting device, the cassette is lifted and the boat together with the cassette is transported to storage in the above-described manner and stored there. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0029]    In the following, an exemplary embodiment of an arrangement according to the invention is explained in greater detail using the attached drawings. They show: 
           [0030]      FIG. 1  a perspective overall view of an arrangement according to the invention; 
           [0031]      FIG. 2  a perspective top view with remote building parts; 
           [0032]      FIG. 3  a view according to  FIG. 2 , from a different perspective; 
           [0033]      FIG. 4  a schematic side view; 
           [0034]      FIG. 5  a cassette in a perspective view; 
           [0035]      FIG. 6A  a perspective view of a cassette on a shifting car, including a boat; 
           [0036]      FIG. 6B  a perspective view of the cassette of  FIG. 6A , with the shifting car shown partially rotated; 
           [0037]      FIG. 7  a detailed view for the transfer of a cassette from a transfer station to a shelf operating device; 
           [0038]      FIG. 8  a perspective view of a lifting device; 
           [0039]      FIG. 9  a detail for fastening a cassette to the lifting device; 
           [0040]      FIG. 10  the lifting device from  FIG. 8  with a boat having entered; 
           [0041]      FIG. 11  a schematic frontal view of the centering of a boat in the lifting device; 
           [0042]      FIG. 12  a schematic frontal view of a boat stored on a cassette; 
           [0043]      FIG. 13  a view of the shifting car in a first position; and 
           [0044]      FIG. 14  a view of the shifting car in a partially rotated position. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0045]    The perspective overview of an arrangement according to the invention illustrated in  FIG. 1  shows an inner harbor  1  with a number of boats  2  as well as a warehouse  3  with skylight devices  4  and restaurant facilities  5  next to a driveway  6 . As an interface between the inner harbor  1  and the warehouse  3 , a total of eight lifting devices  7  operate, in which one crane, embodied as a gantry crane  8  with a lifting structure  9 , can move a cassette (not shown) with or without a boat between the inner harbor  1  and a stand-by station  10  at the entry of the warehouse  3 . In addition to the lifting device  7 , four service stations  11  are provided as well as a loading station  12  as an interface between the driveway  6  and the arrangement according to the invention. 
         [0046]    In  FIG. 2 , the arrangement according to the invention is shown in a slightly larger scale and without the warehouse  3 , however in a similar perspective as in  FIG. 1 . Here it is discernible that the present storage facility concerns a honeycomb storage facility  13  with several shelf paths  14 , in which one shelf operating device  15  each, known per se, can be moved on rails  17  for storing and removing cassettes  16  with boats  2  supported thereupon into the individual honeycombs and removing them therefrom. In order to transport the boats  2  on their cassettes  16  between the stand-by station  10  of the lifting device  7  and the shelf operating device  15 , shifting cars  19  running on rails  18  are provided, which can longitudinally pull the cassettes  16  off the stand-by station  10 , with or without a boat, or push them onto it and can perpendicularly transfer the cassettes  16  to the transfer stations  20  at the beginning of each shelf path  14  or remove it therefrom, which transfer station  20  serves as an interface for the shelf operating device  15 . For this purpose, the shifting car  19  is provided with a rotary device  21 , by which it can be rotated by 90°, in order to perpendicularly move a cassette  16  onto the transfer station  20  or to remove it therefrom. One cassette  16 ′ can be provided, that is also adjusted to the transportation devices, which serves to hold at least one land vehicle. 
         [0047]    Referring to  FIGS. 13 and 14 , the shifting car  19  is shown in further detail in the position for longitudinal movement ( FIG. 13 ) and being rotated to the 90′ position for transfer to or from the transfer station  20  ( FIG. 14 ). The shifting car  19  includes a rotatable carrier  51  connected to a carriage  52  that is arranged for longitudinal, non-rotating movement on the rails  18 . The carrier  51  is rotatably connected to the carriage  52  via the rotary device  21  for movement about the pivot axis  53 . The rotary device  21  includes, for example, a pivot pin or pivot bearing  54 , a roller chain  55  and an electric motor  56 . The motor  56  is controlled by the control system  50 , and is connected to and rotates the carrier  51  via the roller chain  55 . These elements are shown schematically in  FIG. 14 , and those skilled in the art will understand that other types of drives could be utilized. 
         [0048]    The rotatable carrier  51  of the shifting car  19  also includes support plates  57  for the cassettes  16 , and also includes a sliding support  58  that in the position of the rotatable carrier  51  shown in  FIG. 13  slidably supports the carrier  51  on the rail  18 . Using this arrangement, it is clear that the cassettes  16 , with or without boats, can be moved to or from the stand-by station  10  and transferred to or from the transfer stations  20  at the beginning of each shelf path  14 . The shifting car ( 19 ) allows boats lifted at any one of a plurality of different lifting devices ( 7 ) to be shifted to a desired shelf operating device, of which there can also be a plurality of, as illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The shifting car ( 19 ) also rotates to reposition the boat/cassettes by 90° for handling. This provides a more flexible system for boat storage, retrieval and launching. 
         [0049]    As better discernible in  FIG. 3 , four boat storage spaces  22 , shown in the honeycomb storage  13 , are each arranged on top of one another, and can be approached by the shelf operating device  15 . A linear manipulator  23  pulls the cassette  16  positioned on the transfer station  20  together with the boat  2  onto the transportation structure  24  of the shelf operating device  15  and pushes it reversely when reaching the respective boat storage space  22  off the transportation structure  24  into said space. Removal of a boat  2  or an empty cassette  16  is carried out through reverse function. 
         [0050]    As seen in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the shifting cars  19  can each either put a cassette  16  onto a service station  11  located in the arrangement or fetch it therefrom. The same applies to the loading station  12 . 
         [0051]    In  FIG. 4 , the essential elements of the present exemplary embodiment of the arrangement according to the invention are shown once more schematically in a side view, with the process of storing a boat  2  from the inner harbor  1  being illustrated. The boat  2  is moved over a cassette  16 , which has been lowered below the water level  25 . Subsequently, the gantry crane  8  lifts the cassette  16  out of the water via its lifting structure  9  within vertical guides  26  and displaces it along a rail bridge  27  to the shore, where the cassette  16  is lowered onto the stand-by station  10 . Then the shifting car  19  pulls the cassette  16  longitudinally off the stand-by station and displaces it perpendicularly to the desired shelf path, and subsequently a rotation of the shifting car  19  with the cassette  16  occurs by 90° and the cassette  16  is then pushed broadside onto the transfer station  20  of the respective shelf path. From the transfer station  20  the shelf operating device  15  accepts the cassette  16  with the boat  2 , again in the longitudinal direction, lifts it and stores the boat  2  together with the cassette  16  longitudinally in a boat storage space  22  in the honeycomb storage facility  13 . The control system  50  is also schematically illustrated. 
         [0052]    In  FIG. 5 , a cassette  16  in a simple form is shown in perspective. It essentially comprises a pipe structure with adjustable supports  28  resting thereupon for the exterior hull of a boat. Laterally, fastening devices  29  are mounted, into which latches  30  of support elements  31  of the lifting device  7  can be latched, as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
         [0053]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  show a shifting car  19  with a cassette  16  resting thereupon, which again supports a boat  2 . The cassette  16  shown here differs from the cassette  16  shown in  FIG. 5  in that lateral tipping prevention devices  32  and a keel stopper  33  are provided. At the bottom of the cassette  16 , slide elements  34  are provided for an easier pulling and pushing of the cassette  16  during the transfer to the stand-by stations and the transfer stations as well as the storage and removal. 
         [0054]      FIG. 7  shows a detail: at the front, the cassette  16  shown here is provided with a fastening device  35  for the manipulator  23  on the transportation structure  24  of the shelf operating device  15 . Either a draw hook  35  or a slide hook  37  of the manipulator  23  engages in this holding device  35 , in order to pull the cassette  16  off the transfer station  20  onto the transportation structure  24  of the shelf operating device  15  or, conversely, to push it onto the transfer station  20 . 
         [0055]    In  FIGS. 8 through 10 , schematically a lifting device  7  of the exemplary embodiment of an arrangement according to the invention is shown. In  FIG. 8 , the gantry crane  8  has lowered the lifting structure  9  suspended therefrom and a cassette  16  located on it below the water level onto a lower stop  38 . The lifting structure  9  comprises a total of six support elements  31 , which are latched via links  30  in holding devices  29  of the cassette  16 , as shown in  FIG. 9 . The stop  38  is connected to a gangplank  39 , which gangplank serves as the access for a boat  2  that has moved (sailed) into the lifting device  7 . The gangplank  39  and the stop  38  are supported floating at the vertical guides via pontoons  40 , so that they adjust to the water level in the inner harbor  1 . At the height of the gangplank  39 , at the front, a centering stop  41  for the bow of the boat  2  is arranged (discernible in  FIG. 10 ). Laterally, at the height of the gangplank, a number of sliders  42  are arranged, which can be shifted symmetrically towards the center of the lifting device  7  and in this manner center a boat  2  that has sailed into the lifting device  7  above the cassette  16 . The boat  2  centered in this manner can then simply be placed fittingly onto the cassette by lifting the lifting structure  9 , and then be put down on the stand-by station  10  (not shown here) by further lifting it by the gantry crane  8  and by traveling a rail bridge  27 . 
         [0056]    In  FIG. 11 , another view of the above-described lifting device  7  seen from the side of the inner harbor is shown schematically, in order to illustrate the centering of the boat  2  by the sliders  42 , which ultimately lead to a clean placement of the boat  2  on the supports  28  of the cassette  16  when lifting it via the lifting structure  9 . 
         [0057]    Finally,  FIG. 12  shows schematically two boat storage spaces  22   a  and  22   b  as a part of a honeycomb storage facility  13  in a frontal view, with an empty cassette  16  being stored in the boat storage space  22   a , while a cassette  16  with a boat  2  supported thereupon being discernible in the boat storage space  22   b.    
         [0058]    The present exemplary embodiment of the arrangement according to the invention is operated automatically by a central control or control system. For this purpose, a boat  2  is positioned on the loading station  12  for initialization, adjusted to a certain cassette  16 , here, and this certain cassette  16  with the corresponding boat  2  is identified in the control system and saved correspondingly. Then the boat  2  with its cassette  16  is stored in a certain boat storage device  22  determined by the control via the shifting car  19  and a shelf operating device  15 . It is not necessary for this boat storage space  22  to be fixed; it may be determined at random by a technology known per se by the control system in a chaos theory type storage facility, with it only be important that the storage always knows which boat  2  is stored in which storage space  22 , and if necessary, where the cassette  16  allocated to said boat  2  is located, when the boat is to be stored again after use. 
         [0059]    When the owner of a boat wants to sail into the inner harbor  1  with his/her stored boat  2 , the control is activated accordingly, after which it preferably automatically fetches the specific boat from its boat storage space  22  by pulling the boat  2  on its cassette  16  out of the boat storage space  22  onto the transportation structure  24  by the corresponding shelf operating device  15 , pushes it along a respective path from there to the transfer station  20 , where a shifting car  19  accepts the cassette  16  with the boat  2  from the transfer station  20 , rotates by 90°, moves it along rails  18  to a lifting device  7 , and there the boat  2  with the cassette  16  is pushed onto the stand-by station  10 . From the stand-by station  10  the gantry crane  8  removes the cassette  16  with the boat  2  by lowering the lifting structure  9  onto the cassette  16 , latching the links  30  of the support elements  31  of the lifting structure  9  into the holding devices  29  of the cassette  16 , and subsequently displacing the boat along the rail bridge  27  to the stop of the gantry crane  8  facing the water. Here, the cassette  16  is either partially automatically lowered to the stop  38 , with the boat  2  floating on the water surface  25 , and thereby being released from the cassette  16 . Then, it can move/sail by its own power into the inner harbor  1 . The boat owner has waited in the proximity of the gangplank  39  from there he/she and can enter his/her boat  2  in the lifting device  7 . 
         [0060]    Generally, after having sailed the boat  2  out of the lifting device  7 , the cassette  16  is returned in the reverse direction back into the honeycomb storage  13 , with the cassette  16  then being stored in a fixed boat storage space  22 , if predetermined, although this is not necessary, as long as the control remembers where the cassette  16  has been put. 
         [0061]    Upon the return of the boat  2 , it is automatically identified by the control or the boat owner identifies himself/herself at a control interface with the control itself, so that then the corresponding cassette  16  can be fetched from the honeycomb storage  13  and again be lowered at the waterside of the lifting device  7  below the water level  26  and particularly lower than the keel of the boat  2 . The boat  2  is then moved/sailed over the cassette  16  and centered exactly over the cassette  16  after the captain left via the gangplank  39  and the centering device has been activated via the sliders  42 . Subsequently, the cassette  16  is lifted by the gantry crane  8  and stored in the boat storage space  22  in the honeycomb storage facility  13  in the reverse sequence as described above. 
         [0062]    For maintenance purposes, the control can also be instructed to fetch a certain boat  2  from the honeycomb storage facility  13  and to put it to a service station  11 . 
       LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS 
       [0000]    
       
           1  inner harbor 
           2  boat 
           3  warehouse 
           4  skylight device 
           5  restaurant facility 
           6  driveway 
           7  lifting device 
           8  gantry crane 
           9  lifting structure 
           10  stand-by station 
           11  service station 
           12  loading station 
           13  honeycomb storage facility 
           14  shelf path 
           15  shelf operating device 
           16  cassette 
           17  rails 
           18  rails 
           19  shifting car 
           20  transfer station 
           21  rotary device 
           22  boat storage space 
           23  manipulator 
           24  transportation structure 
           25  water level 
           26  vertical guide 
           27  rail bridge 
           28  support 
           29  holding device 
           30  latch 
           31  support element 
           32  tipping prevention device 
           33  keel stop 
           34  slide element 
           35  holding device 
           36  draw hook 
           37  slide hook 
           38  stop 
           39  gangplank 
           40  pontoon 
           41  centering stop 
           42  slider 
           50  control system 
           51  rotatable carrier 
           52  carriage 
           53  pivot axis 
           54  pivot bearing 
           55  roller chain 
           56  electric motor 
           57  support plates 
           58  sliding support