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US 2006/0051192 A1Published application
Carrying system
AssigneeMurata Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorHiroshi Fujiki
Life of this patent
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AssigneeMurata Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorHiroshi Fujiki
Estimating the term…
Conveyance of an article from a processing device 16 is assigned to an overhead running carriage 12a. Conveyance of an article to the processing device 16 is assigned to an overhead running carriage 12b. When the overhead running carriage 12b reaches the processing device 16 earlier, it unloads the conveyed article onto a buffer shelf 22 facing a load port 20. The article originally present at the load port 20 is loaded on the overhead running carriage 12b and then transferred. The overhead running carriage 12a, reaching the processing device 16 later, transfers the article from the buffer shelf 22 to the load port 20. Conveyance instructions can be assigned without the consciousness of the state of load port. As a result, articles can be efficiently transferred.
A carrying system comprising a carriage that runs on a route along processing devices with load ports to convey articles and a carriage controller that indicates a destination of an article to the carriage, the carrying system being characterized in that a buffer shelf is provided near each of the load ports so that when the carriage which has been instructed to carry an article into a predetermined load port reaches the load port, if another article has already been present at the load port, the carriage unloads the carried-into article onto the buffer shelf and carry the another article out of the load port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.