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AssigneeGestion Laforest Inc.
InventorsPierre Gagnon, Pierre Laforest
Estimating the term…
A pair of spaced, parallel beams are designed to hold a group of aligned, contiguous article carrying pallets. Each beam has a web of uniform width with a lower, inturned flange to extend under the side edges of the aligned pallets and an upper outturned flange to be picked up by the pivoted jaws of a crane. These jaws together with a pusher/puller carriage are mounted on a long frame suspended from the crane which travels across one face of a rack in which pairs of parallel tracks are arranged in a grid. The pair of jaws, carrying the beams or pallet holders are closed to position the latter under the sides of a group of aligned, contiguous, article carrying pallets assembled at a pick-up station. The pallet carrying holders are aligned by the crane with any selected pair of tracks. One end of the frame latches to the rack and the pusher-puller carriage latches to one end of the pallet holders and pushes the same and their load off the jaws and onto the tracks. In a reverse operation, the pallet holders and their load are pulled off a pair of tracks by the carriage and transferred onto the closed jaws. The crane transports the holders and the group of article carrying pallets, to a delivery station where the jaws open to deposit the pallets. The system is designed for loading uncured concrete blocks into and unloading cured blocks from a curing kiln housing the rack.
The combination of an assembly of several article-carrying pallets of uniform width and in end-to-end relation, with pallet holders for holding said assembly and with a storage rack having storage compartments arranged in a grid of rows and tiers, each compartment having a pair of spaced, parallel supports disposed along its length and on each side thereof, said pallet holders suspending said assembly from said supports in any selected compartment, said pallet holders comprising a pair of separate, pallet carrying beams disposable along opposite sides of said assembly, the length of each beam being substantially equal to the length of said assembly, each beam defining a web of uniform width and bordered by a lower, inturned, longitudinal flange extending under the side edges of the pallets of said assembly and by an upper, outturned, longitudinal flange hooking onto said supports.
A pallet holder for use in a storage rack having storage compartments arranged in a grid of rows and tiers, within each compartment a pair of spaced, parallel supports extending along the length of the compartment on each side of the latter, said pallet holder adapted to suspend from said supports in any selected compartment an assembly of several article-carrying pallets in end-to-end relation, said assembly being of uniform width throughout its length, said pallet holder comprising a pair of separate, elongated pallet carrying elements disposable along opposite sides of said assembly, the length of each element being substantially equal to the length of said assembly, each element defining a web of uniform width and bordered by a lower, inturned, longitudinal flange to extend under the side edges of the pallets of said assembly and by an upper, outturned, longitudinal flange to hooking onto said supports;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.