Abstract:
The invention concerns one or two belts-staircases that link several storage levels. Each level has linear storage belts accessed through a belt that connect the level to the intake. The outlet from the storage belts ends in another belt connecting them to the outlet and again to the storage belts. At the intake to levels and storage belts there are divertors to divert merchandises into them. To control the flow, there are photoelectric cells and tag readers at the intakes and outlets of the various devices.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    WO0017072, Mar. 30, 2000, entitled ‘Almacén automático’ (Automatic Warehouse).  
           [0002]    WO0053518, Sep. 14, 2000, entitled ‘Sistema de almacenamiento automático de especial aplicación a vehículos’ (Automatic Storage System, especially Suitable for Vehicles).  
           [0003]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,937, Aug. 9, 1985, entitled “Automatic storage and distribution system”, about a storage system having rows and columns of sloped storage lanes.  
         FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    The invention belongs to the technical field of the devices of storage and handling of goods, including the preparation of orders for customers.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    Taking my inventions WO0017072 and WO0053518 (see cross-reference to related applications) as a starting point, the aim is to obtain a more compact storage with less internal paths for the merchandise. Said inventions can be considered as the previous state of the technique covered by the invention I propose in this application, although it takes from them any elements, it combines them in such a way that the result is more efficient than separately.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The system relies on the following principles:  
           [0007]    A circular conveyor belt (i.e., a belt whose points always follow a periodic path, such as those used to transport luggage at airports) with a rectangular shape.  
           [0008]    All merchandises are in barcode-tagged parcels. Parcels must be considered in a generic sense. Therefore, a parcel may be a pallet, a package, a barrel, etc. There is not any problem if several parcels carry the same barcode, provided that their contents are consistent with the barcode. Thus, in the case of massive storage, two pallets containing the same type of detergent can carry the same barcode (if a certain rotation of the product is needed, the entry date in the warehouse can be used). In the case of a transportation agency, several parcels with the same destination may as well carry the same barcode.  
           [0009]    An intake, placed on a side of the belt, where merchandise enters the system, equipped with photoelectric cells and tag readers. And an outlet, placed on the same side of the belt, which may consist of a divertor, also equipped with tag readers and photoelectric cells.  
           [0010]    Otherwise, an access to this kind of belt can be either an intake or an outlet, provided it is equipped with tag readers and photoelectric cells both before and after the free space and divertor.  
           [0011]    Finally, on the other two sides (opposite to each other) of the ‘circular’ belt, there are linear belts. The intake to these straight belts is on a side of the ‘circular’ belt, equipped with photoelectric cells, tag readers and divertors. The outlet is on the other side of the ‘circular’ belt and is equipped with tag readers.  
           [0012]    The circular belt turns in the following direction: intake, intakes to linear belts, outlets from linear belts, outlet.  
           [0013]    The following is a description of the two essential functions of the warehouse, i.e. parcel storing and recovering.  
           [0014]    Parcel storing. The parcel is placed at the intake either manually or using a belt or mechanism. The parcel is carried on the belt and passes first through a photoelectric cell and then through the tag reader. The cell sends a signal to the computer both when it is switched on and off, which, however, will only be acknowledged if confirmed by a ‘correct reading’ message from the tag reader. The computer then determines the belt length occupied by the parcel by a simple calculation: occupied length=time between cell&#39;s on and off signals x belt speed. Depending on the length measured, the computer activates the divertors of the linear belts, which have free space for that parcel. When the parcel comes across the first divertor, this divertor enters it on the corresponding belt and the belt starts to move and determines its length and barcode with its photoelectric cell and tag reader. These data are transmitted to the computer, which finishes the operation and leaves the system standing by.  
           [0015]    During these storage operations, if the parcel has not been successfully detected on input, there are two options: either let the parcel go around the circuit until it leaves it or make the parcel pass again through the intake (we are talking about a rotary belt).  
           [0016]    Parcel recovering. The computer orders that all parcels between the end of the linear belt containing the desired parcel and the parcel itself be released, simply by activating the belt and stopping it when the barcode is detected at the outlet, while activating the divertor of that linear belt. All merchandise, except the desired parcel, is re-entered on its linear belt after being carried on the circular belt. The desired parcel, which is the last one, when passes through the tag reader, activates the divertor and it is released.  
           [0017]    Obviously, most times parcels will be entered and released in groups. Therefore, placing these groups on the same linear belt can be really effort-saving.  
           [0018]    The system can be further completed by multiple-level storage, i.e., by networks of belts, similar to the ones described, installed on levels connected to sloping conveyor belts. These would be very similar to an escalator. 
       
    
    
     INDEX OF FIGURES  
       [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1. Horizontal warehouse.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2. Multiple-level warehouse.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3. Another horizontal warehouse variation.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 4. Another belt-staircase type.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 5. Another vertical warehouse varation with interconnection elevator.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 6. Multiple-level warehouse with a closed interconnection conveyor belt.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 7. Sloped linear storage belts with rollers 
     
    
       [0026]    Numbering of elements in figures is the same for every one.  
         [0027]    All figures are described in the following sections.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0028]    The embodiment would consist in a multiple-level warehouse, each level of which similar to the previous one (except for the location of the intake/outlet). Firstly, every level will be described, then the belt-staircase connecting each one of them, and finally the overall operation.  
         [0029]    Storage level. A general overview is illustrated in FIG. 1.  
         [0030]    The merchandise goes through ( 1 ), passing through the photoelectric cell and tag reader ( 2 ), entering the circuit ( 3 ), until it comes across one of the divertors ( 4 ), which drags it on its linear belt ( 5 ), and passing previously through the photoelectric cell and tag reader ( 5 ).  
         [0031]    The merchandise goes out through the outlet at the linear belt ( 7 ), passing through the tag reader ( 8 ) and entering the circuit ( 3 ), which takes it to the outlet ( 1 ) by activating the divertor ( 10 ), which was in turn activated by the tag reader ( 6 ).  
         [0032]    The intake and outlet of merchandises have already been explained.  
         [0033]    Belt-staircase connecting the levels. The illustration in FIG. 2 represents a multiple-level warehouse pattern in which each level is similar to the previous one.  
         [0034]    The staircase comprises so many flights ( 11 ) as the number of levels located above the first one, and these flights are simply conveyor belts. However, in order to prevent the merchandise from falling, the belts may be equipped with fixing elements. These elements can be rotary flanges separated in a regular way so that the merchandise does not go backwards while ascending or forwards while descending.  
         [0035]    Each flight ends in a landing through which a level is accessed via its intake ( 1 ) by activating a divertor ( 14 ).  
         [0036]    In the case of this embodiment, the belt-staircase goes upwards on the side of the levels and downwards on the most external part.  
         [0037]    As for every intake, a photoelectric cell and a tag reader are located at the staircase&#39;s intake ( 12 ).  
         [0038]    General warehouse operation.  
         [0039]    The merchandise enters the warehouse passing through the photoelectric cell and tag reader ( 12 ), which act in the same way as the ( 2 ) at the intake ( 1 ). Thus the computer estimates the parcel&#39;s length and activates the divertor of the ‘landing’ where the merchandise is supposed to be better placed. Once the merchandise enters each level, the operation is the same as already mentioned.  
         [0040]    To recover the merchandise, and due to the actions that take place in its single-level warehouse, it is launched through ( 1 ) on to the corresponding ‘landing’, then it runs through the belt-staircase up to the top level, and then goes down again to the ground level, where it is delivered.  
         [0041]    Both the ascent (intake) and the descent (outlet) may end on the same conveyor belt ( 16 ), provided that the intake has a divertor ( 15 ) activated by the computer or the tag reader ( 12 ).  
         [0042]    Other embodiments of the warehouse  
         [0043]    The single-level storage system can be modified as showed in FIG. 3. In this figure, instead of a circular belt ( 3 ), there are three linear belts ( 3 ) ( 3   b ) and ( 3   c ), and the outlet, instead of being placed on the same side as the intake ( 1 ), is on the opposite side ( 1   b ). The belt ( 3   c ) must be able to move in both directions. The input of merchandise is basically similar to the input mentioned for FIG. 1; however, for the output, the merchandise preceding (from the end) the desired one on its linear belt must be released and re-arranged first, thus taking advantage of the belt&#39;s reversibility ( 3   c ).  
         [0044]    According to this layout, there would be two staircases: one ascending on the side of the intakes ( 11 ), and one descending on the side of the outlets ( 11   b ). The arrows show the direction followed by the merchandise.  
         [0045]    This layout would allow the belts-staircases to look more like ordinary staircases that change directions on every landing, as it is showed in FIG. 4, which is very difficult (due to the complex linking systems required) in the case of two-direction belts-staircases. This would shorten the paths.  
         [0046]    Furthermore, the stairs, in order to obtain less steep slopes, can go around the levels, in the same way as ancient ziggurats, obviously changing the direction the intakes-outlets of each level are facing. However, this could lengthen the path for the merchandise.  
         [0047]    Another possibility is that the belts-staircases mentioned are moving staircases, replacing the divertors at landings by pushers. In that case, there would not be necessary that the moving staircases comprise backward elements.  
         [0048]    There can also be an interconnection belt surrounding the whole warehouse. The first level would be accessed through the intakes and/or outlets from the belt itself, while the above levels would be accessed through the interconnection elevators, either using one elevator for all of them, one elevator for the ascent and one for the descent of all levels, an elevator for each level, or two elevators per level (one for the ascent and another one for the descent), depending on how quick the operation should be.  
         [0049]    A layout derived from the previous one is that in which the intake and outlet belts of the storage belts in the storage level are removed ( 1 . 3 ,  3 . 3 ,  3 . 3   b  and  3 . 3   c ), thus consisting each storage level only of storage belts ( 1 . 5 ,  3 . 5 ), being this configuration showed in FIG. 5. Storage linear belts are thus grouped in columns, with both input and output ends located in front of an interconnection elevator ( 5 . 12 ,  5 . 13 ). These belts are accessed from the interconnection belt ( 5 . 11 ) through the interconnection elevators mentioned ( 5 . 12 ,  5 . 13 ).  
         [0050]    Finally, if the the belt-staircase or moving staircase are closed or elevators is cyclical, if said interconnections devices have a divertor and a tag reader at they outlet as showed in FIG. 6 ( 17 , 18 ), it allows rearranging the merchandise and to prepare orders for clients on a regular basis, since activating or deactivating divertors or pushers would be enough. To prepare client orders, the merchandises of the same type are stored in linear storage belts so that in each one of them there is only one type of merchandise. To each client is assigned one or several empty linear storage belts.  
         [0051]    In all cases, see FIG. 7, the linear storage belts can be sloped belts ( 19 ) with rollers ( 20 ) equipped with a braking system ( 21 ), so that the movement in the belt is caused by the action of gravity on the merchandise. The belt would be activated by simply releasing the brakes.