Transport system

A transport system comprising:

• a plurality of carriers each designated to carry a specific class of goods, and each driven by a linear induction motor;
• a plurality of stations each of which is designated to allow entry of carriers carrying predetermined classes of goods upon being designated as a destination for a carrier;
• a track means for moving said carriers between said plurality of stations;
• operation control means for controlling movement of each of said carriers upon reception of station destination data from a station according to the class data of goods carried by a carrier and a class data of said station;
• wherein said operation control means permits entry of a said carrier only if said specific class of goods carried matches the specific class of said station.

A transport system comprising:

• a plurality of carriers each designated to carry a specific class of goods, and each driven by a linear induction motor;
• a plurality of stations each of which is designated to allow entry of carriers carrying predetermined classes of goods;
• track means on which said carrier are moved, said track means having a plurality of position sensors for detecting location of said carriers along said track means;
• said transport system being functionally divided into a plurality of operating blocks, each of said operating blocks being provided with an operation control means;
• system operation management means for management of said transport system according to data supplied from a plurality of operation control means;
• wherein a said operation control means controls movement of one of said carriers according to a specified destination station and an output signal from at least one of said position sensors that has been actuated by said one carrier;
• said operation control means of a block mutually supplying destination data and an identification number of said carrier to the operation control means of the destination block of the said one carrier if said destination is located outside of the block where said one carrier is originally located;
• each of said operation control means supplying said system operation management means with operation status data of the corresponding operating block for use in management of said transport system by said system operation management means;
• and
• said system operation management means permitting entry of said carrier to the destination station only if said specific class of goods carried by said one carrier is matched with said specific class of goods of said station.

A transport system for a plurality of carriers comprising:

• track means having a plurality of position sensors for detecting a location of each of a plurality of carriers which are driven by a linear induction motor along said track means;
• a plurality of stations along said track means each capable of being specified as a destination of said carriers;
• a plurality of standby track means branching from said track means for parking of waiting in-bound carriers;
• operation control means for controlling movement of each of said carriers according to a specified destination station and an output signal from at least one of said position sensors;
• wherein said operation control means supplies additional in-bound carriers from at least one other standby track means if the number of in-bound carriers in a said standby track means is not more than a predetermined number.

A transport system for a plurality of carriers comprising:

• track means having a plurality of position sensors for detecting a location of a plurality of carriers which are driven by a linear induction motor along said track means;
• a plurality of stations along said track means each being capable of being specified as a destination of said carriers;
• a plurality of standby track means branching from said track means for parking waiting in-bound carriers;
• said transport system being functionally divided into a plurality of operating blocks, each of which is provided with an operation control means;
• system operation management means for carrying out management of said transport system according to data supplied from said operation control means of said plurality of blocks;
• wherein said operation control means controls movement of one of said carriers according to a specified destination station and an output signal from at least one of said position sensors that has been actuated;
• said operation control means mutually supplying a destination data and an identification number of said one carrier to said operation control means of the other operating blocks if said destination of said one carrier is located outside the operating block of said one carrier from which said one carrier originates;
• each of said operation control means supplying said system operation management means with operation status data of the corresponding operating block for use in management of said transport system by said system operation management means;
• and
• said system operation management means supplying additional in-bound carriers from other standby track means if the number of in-bound carriers in a said standby track means is not more than a specific number.