Conveying System and Converying Method
AssigneeMurata Machinery, Ltd.
InventorsTatsuji Ota, Masazumi Fukushima, Yasuhisa Ito
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for transporting an article between a plurality of processing devices includes a track extending above load ports of the processing devices, and an overhead travelling vehicle that travels along the track and has a hoist. A local track disposed lower than the track at least to a position under the track, and is oriented perpendicular to the track when viewed from above. A local carriage travels along the local track and has a hoist for vertically moving the article. A buffer disposed below the local track delivers and receives the article to and from the local carriage, and extends at least to a position under the track.
Claims8
A transfer system for transporting articles between a plurality of processing devices comprising:
- an overhead travelling vehicle track extending above load ports of the processing devices;
- an overhead travelling vehicle configured to travel along the overhead travelling vehicle track and having a hoist:
- a local track disposed lower than the overhead travelling vehicle track, extending at least to a position under the overhead travelling vehicle track, and oriented perpendicular to the overhead travelling vehicle track when viewed from above;
- a local carriage configured to travel along the local track and having a hoist for vertically moving an article;
- and
- a buffer disposed below the local track, configured to allow the local carriage to deliver and receive an article to and from the buffer, and extending at least to a position under the overhead travelling vehicle track.
A transfer system configured to be added on to an existing transfer system to a height lower than an overhead travelling vehicle track thereof and oriented perpendicular to the overhead travelling vehicle track when viewed from above, comprising:
- a local track;
- a local carriage configured to travel along the local track and having a hoist for vertically moving an article;
- and
- a buffer disposed below the local track and configured to allow the local carriage to deliver and receive an article to and from the buffer;
- the local track and the buffer extending to positions under the overhead travelling vehicle track.
A method for transporting an article between a plurality of processing devices by means of overhead travelling vehicles and a local carriage, using:
- an overhead travelling vehicle track extending above load ports of the processing devices,
- a plurality of overhead travelling vehicles configured to travel along the overhead travelling vehicle track and having a hoist,
- a local track disposed lower than the overhead travelling vehicle track, extending at least to a position under the overhead travelling vehicle track, and oriented perpendicular to the overhead travelling vehicle track when viewed from above,
- a local carriage configured to travel along the local track and having a hoist for vertically moving an article, and
- a buffer disposed below the local track, configured to allow the local carriage to deliver and receive an article to and from the buffer, and extending at least to a position under the overhead travelling vehicle track,
- the method comprising, for transporting an article from a first load port to a second load port:
- a step for picking up the article from the first load port by a first overhead travelling vehicle and offloading the article to a first position of the buffer under the overhead travelling vehicle track by the first overhead travelling vehicle,
- a subsequent step for transporting the article from the first position to a second position of the buffer by the local carriage,
- a subsequent step for transporting the article from the second position to the first position by the local carriage, and
- a subsequent step for transporting out the article from the first position and offloading the article to the second load port by a second overhead travelling vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.