US 4,729,323 AGranted

Transportation system of a floated-carrier type

AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

InventorsMimpei Morishita, Teruo Azukizawa

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A transportation system of a floated-carrier type, according to the present invention, comprises a guide rail composed of main lines and branch lines, intersecting one another, a coupling section connecting the main and branch lines, and a carrier for carrying cargo, the carrier being capable of running along the guide rail. The carrier is kept floating, in a non-contact manner, from the guide rail, by means of an electromagnetic attractive force. A transfer apparatus is provided at the coupling section. At the coupling section, the carrier, having so far been running along the main lines, is stopped, and is then transferred from the coupling section to the branch lines, all in a non-contact manner. Thus, the mounting space of the transfer apparatus is small, and the carrier can be transferred from the main lines to the branch lines, without producing dust or noise.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A transportation system of a floated-carrier type for transporting a cargo between predetermined positions, comprising:

a guide rail formed of a ferromagnetic material and including at least one first rail section and at least one second rail section intersecting the first rail section;
a coupling section connecting the first and second rail sections;
a carrier for carrying the cargo, said carrier being capable of running along the guide rail;
at least one magnetic unit having an electromagnet provided on the carrier so as to face the guide rail, said carrier being adapted to be suspended from the guide rail, in a non-contact manner, by means of an electromagnetic attractive force acting between the magnetic unit and the guide rail, so that a gap of a predetermined size is maintained between the magnetic unit and the guide rail;
transfer means provided at the coupling section, and adapted so that, at the coupling section, the carrier, having so far been running along the first rail section, is stopped, and is then transferred from the coupling section to the second rail section, all in a non-contact manner.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.