Procedure for automatically disposing and fetching carts and a device for carrying out said procedure

A combination for automatically disposing transport carts in a given order on a disposition area in a row laterally adjacent one another, and automatically fetching the carts from the disposition area in another given order which may be independent of the order in which they are disposed, comprising:

• said transport carts each having a front, a longitudinal axis and being non-driven;
• a traction truck which is self-propelled, the traction truck having a longitudinal axis and being driven essentially only in a forward direction, the traction truck having an upper side and a center line on the upper side extending along the longitudinal axis thereof;
• coupling means provided on said carts and the traction truck to couple a cart and traction truck together, and coupling means including a rod provided on the traction truck at the center of the center line, the rod being vertically arranged;
• a surface upon which the carts and truck may be moved;
• first loop means carried by the surface for directing the essentially forward movement of the traction truck, the first loop means being parallel to said row of carts and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the carts on the front side of the carts, so that the traction truck when fetching a cart is directed along the first loop means to a coupling position in which the coupling means on the cart and traction truck are coupled with one another and the longitudinal axis of the traction truck is essentially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cart;
• departure loop means carried by the surface for directing the essentially forward movement of the traction truck, the departure loop means commencing just past the coupling position in the direction of movement of the traction truck along the first loop means and making a sharp turn of about more than 90.degree. in a direction away from the row of carts;
• and
• loop section means carried by the surface for directing the essentially forward movement of the traction truck, the loop section means connecting to the departure loop means after the sharp turn and making a turn in a direction opposite of the sharp turn, the coupling means being such that the traction truck coupled to the cart will make a turning movement so that the longitudinal axes of the traction truck and cart will coincide and thereafter the traction truck which is coupled to a cart from the coupling position will be directed along the departure loop means and loop section means in a path shaped as an "S" to remove the cart coupled thereto from the row of carts free of touching any other cart.