Patent ID: 6854815

Claim:
A shelf carousel comprising: a) a plurality of shelves pivotally suspended in a continuous article carrying position for movement along a continuous carousel path having a front path, a back path, and top and bottom paths connecting the front and back paths, b) a controllable drive unit connected for powered movement of the shelves along the carousel path and for positioning of individual shelves at an access height along said front path, c) a pair of stationary guide track systems (i) spaced on each side of the shelves and (ii) tracking along said carousel path, and d) a plurality of tracking elements (i) connected to the shelves for movement therewith and (ii) operatively engaging said guide track systems, e) said guide track systems having front cam-track segments vertically spaced above or below the access height in said front path, said cam-track segments being configured to cam said tracking elements and thereby pivot the front of said shelves (i) downwardly from horizontal to a forwardly tipped position as said tracking elements travel therethrough, whereby content on the shelves is slidably biased towards the front of the shelves as said tracking elements travel through said cam-track segments, the front of the shelves being configured to retain the content on the shelves when in is said forwardly tipped position, and (ii) then back to horizontal as said tracking elements exit said cam-track segments and the shelves travel along said front path.