Handling installation for supporting displacing and stacking loads in predetermined positions

An installation comprising, in combination, a load storage zone having at least one gangway extending therein, each gangway being provided on either side with fixed members comprising an upper track and a lower track, and a vehicle for loading and unloading said load storage zone having tyred support wheels for carrying the vehicle on the floor external to each gangway, the tyred support wheels including driving wheels and steerable wheels and the vehicle being further provided with flanged metal rollers for supporting the vehicle on the lower track during movement of the vehicle along a chosen gangway, the flanged metal rollers including inner flanges for guiding the vehicle on the lower tracks the lower tracks being disposed at a sufficient height above the floor level in the load-storage zone to raise the tyred support wheels off the floor when the vehicle is in the gangway, and the vertical spacing between the upper and lower tracks being sufficient to provide clearance for the flanged metal rollers whilst ensuring stability of the vehicle against any tilting movement of the vehicle when the vehicle is under load in the gangway,

• wherein the gangway is provided at at least one end thereof with an inclined floor surface for the tyred support wheels of the vehicle, and
• wherein the floor level in the load storage zone is lower than the floor level outside and adjacent the load-storage zone and the inclined floor surface comprises a downward incline in the direction of entry of a vehicle into the gangway, thereby constituting the declining portion, and
• wherein the floor portion is at a given level outside the tracks and drops to a second lower level for a length corresponding to the downward incline, the downward incline beginning slightly after the beginning of the tracks.