Material handling system

A material handling system suitable for machine tools or the like, comprising:

• a carriage assembly having a vertically extending column, a load carrier, means for moving said load carrier vertically along said column, and means for moving said carriage assembly horizontally along a first given direction, said load carrier extending horizontally away from said column in a second given direction perpendicular to said first given direction;
• a staging structure having a front, a back, and two sides, and comprising a plurality of horizontal supporting surfaces spaced from each other by a vertical space, said first given direction being between said two sides and parallel to the front, and said second given direction being from the front to the back, at least one side of the staging structure being open to admit a transporting pallet loaded on said load carrier therethrough;
• a loading station positioned laterally of said staging structure along said first given direction, and including at least one horizontal supporting surface;
• said load carrier extending in said second given direction to overlap the supporting surfaces of the staging structure and loading station to be in an overlapping position when located, respectively, in front thereof;
• means on at least one of said load carrier and the supporting surfaces of both the staging structure and loading station for permitting relative vertical movement therebetween so that an upper surface of the load carrier can be moved between a height at least equal to that of an upper surface of said supporting surfaces and a height below a lower surface of the supporting surfaces while being in said overlapping position;
• and
• a horizontal passage along the first given direction passing completely through the staging structure to said loading station, and extending widthwise from the front toward the back of the staging structure, and a vertical passage adjacent the at least one open side of said staging structure, said vertical passage being in communication with said horizontal passage and with each said vertical space between adjacent supporting surfaces of the staging structure;
• and
• said vertical and horizontal passages, and each said vertical space, being sized to accommodate said transporting pallet loaded on the load carrier, said carriage assembly moving means being for moving said carriage assembly between the staging structure and loading station with the load carrier being in said horizontal passage.