Raising/lowering conveyance apparatus for article conveying container with container condition sensors

A raising/lowering conveyance apparatus for an article conveying container, comprising:

• at least two sets of container holders to hold an article conveying container from both sides so as to raise/lower the article conveying container, the container holders being operable to be raised/lowered in conjunction with each other and to be freely movable closer to or away from the container in a back-and-forth horizontal direction;
• a sensor comprising reflection-type photoelectric receptors attached to a lower end of each of the at least two sets of container holders, the sensor being operable to detect an upper end height of a transferred container when the sensor clears an upper end of the transferred container and the reflection-type photoelectric receptors stop receiving light reflected from the transferred container;
• and
• wherein the conveyance apparatus is operable to determine an abnormality in a position of the transferred container by comparing a detected value of the upper end height of the transferred container, as detected by the sensor, with an expected value of the upper end height of the transferred container calculated on the basis of a height of the container that is handled.

A raising/lowering conveyance apparatus for an article conveying container, comprising:

• at least two sets of container holders to hold an article conveying container from both sides so as to raise/lower the article conveying container, the container holders being operable to be raised/lowered in conjunction with each other and to be freely movable closer to or away from the container in a back-and-forth horizontal direction;
• a sensor comprising a first reflection-type photoelectric receptor attached to a lower end of one of the at least two sets of container holders and a second reflection-type photoelectric receptor attached to a lower end of another of the at least two sets of container holders, the first reflection-type photoelectric receptor being operable to detect a first side upper end height of a transferred container when the first reflection-type photoelectric receptor clears an upper end of the transferred container and stops receiving light reflected from the transferred container, and the second reflection-type photoelectric receptor being operable to detect a second side upper end height of a transferred container when the second reflection-type photoelectric receptor clears an upper end of the transferred container and stops receiving light reflected from the transferred container;
• and
• wherein the conveyance apparatus is operable to determine an abnormality in a position of the transferred container by comparing a detected value of the first side upper end height of the transferred container, as detected by the first reflection-type photoelectric receptor, with a detected value of the second side upper end height of the transferred container, as detected by the second reflection-type photoelectric receptor.