Transport Facility

A transport facility comprising:

• a first transport cart configured to transport an article;
• a transport path along which the first transport cart moves in one direction;
• a holding device comprising a plurality of holding sections configured to hold articles successively transported to the holding sections;
• a carry-out section configured to perform article carry-out;
• and
• a control system configured to control the first transport cart, and
• wherein:
• the transport path forms a loop path along which the first transport cart passes a carry-out position corresponding to the carry-out section while moving in one direction in a loop,
• the transport path comprises:
• a first zone set downstream of the carry-out position;
• and
• a second zone set downstream of the first zone and upstream of the carry-out position, and extending parallel with the first zone while being spaced apart from the first zone in a specific direction,
• the plurality of holding sections is arranged in a line along the first zone,
• the transport facility further comprises a plurality of temporary storage sections arranged along the transport path and configured to temporarily store articles,
• the plurality of temporary storage sections comprises a plurality of dual-zone temporary storage sections arranged in a line along both the first zone and the second zone at positions between the first zone and the second zone in the specific direction, and
• the first transport cart is further configured to perform article transfer with the plurality of holding sections, the plurality of temporary storage sections, and the carry-out section at positions corresponding thereto along the transport path,
• a target article is one of the articles held by the plurality of holding sections, a non-target article is an article other than the target article among the articles held by the plurality of holding sections, a target holding section is the holding section in which the target article is held, and a non-target holding section is the holding section in which the non-target article is held,
• in a case where the target article is to be transported to the carry-out section by the first transport cart, in response to presence of an empty dual-zone temporary storage section downstream of the target holding section in the first zone, the control system executes, using the first transport cart, relay carry-out processing comprising setting the empty dual-zone temporary storage section as a first target temporary storage section, receiving the target article from the target holding section and passing the target article to the first target temporary storage section in the first zone, and then receiving the target article from the first target temporary storage section in the second zone and passing the target article to the carry-out section, and
• while the control system executes the relay carry-out processing, in response to presence of the non-target holding section downstream of a position where the target article was passed to the first target temporary storage section in the first zone and presence of an empty temporary storage section downstream of the non-target holding section and upstream of a position where the target article is to be received from the first target temporary storage section in the second zone, the control system executes, using the first transport cart, intermediate transport processing comprising setting the empty temporary storage section as a second target temporary storage section and, during the relay carry-out processing, receiving the non-target article from the non-target holding section and passing the non-target article to the second target temporary storage section.