Conveyor system and vehicle for use therein
AssigneeSI Handling Systems, Inc.
InventorKazusuke Kaji
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A driverless vehicle is supported by wheels adapted to ride on a floor whereby the conveyor system does not include rails for supporting the vehicle. Guide rollers are provided on one side of the vehicle for contact with a guide on a floor mounted frame. The frame includes a drive shaft for driving a drive wheel on the vehicle. The drive wheel can oscillate about a generally horizontal axis between a drive position and an accumulation position. The floor supported frame includes pivotally mounted sections so that the vehicle can traverse 90.degree. angles.
Claims6
A driverless vehicle comprising a horizontally disposed base supported by wheels therebelow which are adapted to ride on a floor, guide rollers supported by the base and projecting from one side of the base for contact with a guide, at least one drive wheel at an elevation above the elevation of the axis of said wheels and being supported by the base adjacent said one side of the base, control means for oscillating said drive wheel about a generally horizontal axis between a drive position and an accumulation position, and means on the base for selectively moving the drive wheel generally horizontally between an operative position wherein it can frictionally contact a rotating drive shaft to be disposed alongside the base and an inoperative position wherein it is out of contact with a drive shaft.
A conveyor system comprising a plurality of aligned drive shafts, frame sections supporting said shafts at an elevation above a floor, one of said shafts being supported by a frame section oscillatable through an arc of 90.degree. about a vertical axis for alignment with each of two mutually perpendicular frame sections, a driverless vehicle having a horizontally disposed base supported by wheels therebelow which ride on said floor, guide rollers supported by the base and projecting from one side of the base for contact with a guide supported by said frame sections, at least one drive wheel at an elevation above the elevation of the axis of said support wheels, said drive wheel being supported by the base adjacent said one side of the base, control means for oscillating said drive wheel about a generally horizontal axis between a drive position and an accumulation position, means on the base for selectively moving the drive wheel generally horizontally at said elevation between an operative position wherein it can frictionally contact said drive shaft and an inoperative position wherein it is out of contact with said drive shafts, means on said oscillatable frame section for selectively actuating said control means on the base to cause a vehicle moving therealong to accumulate, and said vehicle support wheels being caster wheels so that the vehicle may oscillate with the last-mentioned frame section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.