Patent ID: 7343995

Claim:
An air cargo transport system having guide lines which connect an air cargo holding area in an airport terminal building with an aircraft parking area on a tarmac, and a plurality of auto-running tow vehicles for conveying air cargo which can automatically run along the guide lines, comprising: a plurality of branch marks at each branch guiding said auto-running tow vehicles to the aircraft parking area; and a plurality of stop marks which cause said auto-running tow vehicle to stop at a desired aircraft parking area by reading said stop mark provided along said guide line in order to automatically tow the air cargo from the air cargo holding area in the airport terminal building to the aircraft parking area, wherein: the plurality of branch marks includes bar code marks, light emitting elements and embedded oscillators, each of said branch marks imparting a specific meaning to guide the plurality of auto-running tow vehicles to turn right or left based upon memorized route instructions, each of said plurality of auto-running tow vehicles is configured to have and is controlled by a rule which determines which of said plurality of auto-running tow vehicles should have priority to proceed along said guide lines in order to avoid accidents and collisions between the auto-running tow vehicles when said plurality of auto-running tow vehicles merge in the same direction at a branching point, and said establishing priority is based on which side of sensors provided on both sides of said each of plurality of auto-running tow vehicles detects said branch mark.