Patent ID: 7798759

Claim:
An apparatus for storing one or more containers and for transporting the one or more containers between a ceiling-based transport system and a floor-based transport system, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of vertically stacked storage shelves, each one of the plurality of vertically stacked storage shelves substantially horizontally aligned in a common vertical plane with a section of the ceiling-based transport system that is located directly above an uppermost storage shelf; a transfer module comprising, a vertically oriented housing; and a transfer mechanism configured to move the one or more containers within the vertically oriented housing between the ceiling-based transport system and the uppermost storage shelf; a first platform substantially and continuously horizontally aligned in the common vertical plane with the plurality of vertically stacked storage shelves; wherein the first platform is configured to vertically move the one or more container among the uppermost storage shelf, one or more of the vertically stacked storage shelves located beneath the uppermost storage shelf, and the floor-based transport system; and a second platform substantially and continuously horizontally aligned in the common vertical plane with the plurality of vertically stacked storage shelves; wherein the second platform is configured to vertically move the one or more containers among one or more of the vertically stacked storage shelves located beneath the uppermost storage shelf.