Hoist-type material finishing line

A free standing hoist apparatus for lifting, transporting and depositing work loads among a plurality of material finishing locations disposed in a linear array along a base floor, with each said work load including carrier means, said hoist apparatus comprising elongated track means adapted to be fixedly positioned on said base floor parallel to and laterally spaced from said array to guide the remainder of said hoist apparatus and said work ldads and a self-propelled hoist mechanism supported and guided by said track means and the floor including a base with drive means for propelling said base only horizontally along said base floor and means cooperating with said track means for confining propulsion of said base to a path lengthwise of said track means, guide means fixedly projecting vertically upwardly from said base, a pick-up arm carried by said guide means for vertical motion with respect to said base and cantilevered from said guide means over said array so as to pass successively over said plurality of locations as said base is propelled along said path, said pick-up arm only capable of rectilinear movement, pick-up means rigidly suspended from an end of said arm remote from said guide means and above said array for selectively engaging said carrier means, and means coupling said arm to said base for moving said arm only vertically along said guide means between a lowered position in which said pick-up means only capable of rectilinear movement is disposed to pass beneath said carrier means as said hoist mechanism is propelled along said path and a raised position in which said arm and said pick-up means are adapted to support said carrier means and said work load for transportation above said locations.

Hoist apparatus for lifting, transporting, and depositing work loads among a plurality of locations disposed in a linear array along a base floor, with each of said work loads including carrier means, said hoist apparatus comprising elongated track means adapted to be fixedly positioned on said base floor parallel to and laterally spaced from said array, and a self-propelled hoist mechanism including a base with drive means for propelling said base along said base floor and means cooperating with said track means for confining propulsion of said base to a path lengthwise of said track means, fixed guide means projecting vertically upward from said base including first and second guide ways spaced from each other laterally from said track, a pick-up arm carried by said guide ways for vertical motion between upper and lower positions with respect to said base and cantilevered from said guide ways over said array so as to pass successively over said plurality of locations as said base is propelled along said path, flexible means for maintaining the orientation of said arm including first and second sprockets spaced from each other in a longitudinal direction of said track means and respectively disposed on said first and second ways above said upper position of said arm, third and fourth sprockets mounted on said base between said first and second ways and respectively coplanar with said first and second sprockets;

• chain means comprising a first chain affixed at one end to said arm exteriorly of said first way and trained around said first and third sprockets to a second edd affixed to said arm between said first and second ways, and a second chain affixed at one end to said arm exteriorly of said second way and trained around said second and fourth sprockets to a second end affixed to said arm between said first and second ways, pick-up means rigidly suspended from an end of said arm remote from said guide means and above said array for selectively engaging said carrier means, coupling means comprising linear drive means extending between said base and said arm and coupled to said arm between said guide means and said pick-up means for bodily moving said arm with respect to said guide means and said base between a lowered position in which said pick-up means is disposed to pass beneath the carrier means as said hoist mechanism is propelled along said path and a raised position in which said arm and said pick-up means are adapted to support said carrier means and said work load for transportation above said locations, control means coupled to said linear drive means and said base drive means for selectively raising and lowering said arm and for selectively propelling said hoist mechanism along said path in both said raised and said lowered positions of said arm, and position indicating means carried at fixed longitudinally spaced positions on said track means corresponding to individual ones of said plurality of locations, and mean carried by said base for cooperating with said position indicating means to identify locations of said hoist mechanism along said track means relative to said plurality of locations.