Patent ID: 7787985

Claim:
Article storage facility comprising: an article storage rack having a plurality of storage units arranged in horizontal rows and vertical columns, the article storage rack having a first horizontal end and a second horizontal end spaced apart from the first horizontal end in a horizontal direction; article supports arranged in a horizontal direction for use in storing articles into and retrieving articles from the article storage rack, the article supports being provided independently of the article storage rack, and a plurality of the article supports are positioned closer to the first horizontal end than to the second horizontal end; a plurality of moving members movable in a horizontal direction on a single predetermined path for transporting articles between the storage units and the article supports, wherein the plurality of moving members are adapted to be able to be at positions corresponding to the article supports such that the plurality of moving members can transfer articles from or to the corresponding article supports simultaneously; transfer means provided to each of the plurality of moving members for transferring an article between the storage unit or the article support and the moving member; and control means for controlling operations of the moving members and the transfer means, wherein the control means controls horizontal movement of the moving members and the vertical movements of the transfer means in order to move the transfer means to rack side article transfer positions which correspond to each of the plurality of storage unit or to storage/retrieval transfer positions that correspond to the article supports, wherein the control means further controls transfer operations of the transfer means so that the transfer means can transfer articles from and to the storage units and the article supports at the rack side article transfer positions and storage/retrieval transfer positions respectively, and further wherein, in response to a storing command to store a plurality of articles to different storage units of the rack, the control means performs a multiple storing operation wherein the control means controls horizontal movements of the plurality of moving members, vertical movements of the plurality of transfer means provided to each of the plurality of moving members, and transfer operations of the plurality of transfer means in order to cause the plurality of the transfer means: a) to be at respective storage/retrieval positions; b) to receive articles from respective article supports; c) to move to rack side article transfer positions corresponding to the storage units in which the articles are to be stored; and d) to transfer the received articles to the storage units.