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US 6,308,818 B1Granted
Transport system with integrated transport carrier and directors
AssigneeAsyst Technologies, Inc.
InventorsAnthony C. Bonora, Richard H. Gould
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A director assembly for selectively directing a transport carrier from one conveyor path portion to another. The director assembly having a pair of spaced director rails positioned below and in between drive and support rails of the conveyor. The pair of spaced director rails can be selectively raised and rotated and then lowered to direct the carrier to the new path portion.
Claims12
A transport system for transporting articles comprising:
- a transport carrier for carrying at least one article between workstations;
- a conveyor having a drive rail for supporting said transport carrier, said drive rail including a drive system for propelling said transport carrier along the conveyor;
- a support rail parallel to and spaced from said drive rail for supporting said transport carrier;
- at least one shoe carried by said transport carrier, said shoe being configured to ride on said support rail for movably supporting said transport carrier on said Support rail;
- and
- a director assembly for directing the transport carrier along the conveyor, the director assembly having a pair of spaced director rails positioned below and in between the drive and support rails of the conveyor, said spaced director rails being configured to be raised to support the transfer device, and
- a rotor assembly having a rotor which lifts to engage the transport carrier and rotates to turn the transport carrier to a selected position.
4 more elements
A method of transporting articles comprising the steps of:
- providing a transport carrier for holding at least one article and having a base and at least one shoe carried by the base;
- positioning the transport device with the base of the transport carrier supported on a drive rail and the shoe carried by the transport carrier supported on a support rail of a conveyor system;
- actuating a drive system carried by the drive rail to propel the transport carrier along the drive rail and support rail;
- and
- redirecting the transport carrier as it travels along the conveyor system by lifting a pair of spaced director rails positioned below and in between the drive and support rails to support the transport carrier;
- and
- rotating the transport carrier to a selected position.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.