An upper shelf section of a holding rack includes an upper placement section fixed to a ceiling. A lower shelf section of the holding rack includes: a fixed support fixed to the upper shelf section, a lower placement section supported by the fixed support so as to be capable of advancing and retreating relative to a travel rail as viewed in a vertical direction; and a drive transmission mechanism drivable by a rack drive mechanism of a transport vehicle to cause the lower placement section to advance and retreat. The lower placement section is positioned directly below the upper placement section while in a retreated position, and is positioned directly below the travel rail while in an advanced position. The lower placement section is below a lower end of the transport vehicle.

A suspended transport vehicle travels along a track supported by a ceiling and transfers an article to a shelf of a rack installed on a floor, the suspended transport vehicle has a driving part, a first traveling part and a second traveling part, a ceiling-side member that is suspended downwards from the first traveling part and the second traveling part and has a transferring part that transfers the article to the shelf of the rack, a floor-side member that is provided so as to be capable of relative movement with respect to the ceiling-side member and has travel rollers being contacting parts in contact with a first guide part installed on the floor, and a distance sensor that detects a relative distance between the ceiling-side member and the floor-side member.

A transfer machine raises and lowers a support portion in a transfer operation between a lower set position that is set below a placement portion of a transfer location subject to the transfer operation, and an upper set position that is set above the placement portion, and a control device changes setting of at least one of the lower set position and the upper set position to set a different raising/lowering range of the support portion that covers a range from the lower set position to the upper set position, between a case where an article is transferred to the transfer location provided in a storage/retrieval section, and a case where the article is transferred to the transfer location provided in accommodation sections.

There is disclosed agiotage and retrieval system e.g. suitable for use in an airport and for aircraft baggage. In order e.g. to provide such system which improves usage and availability in view of the prior-art, a control system controls the system in two modes of operation. In a first mode of operation, a first rack region serving device (110) is only serving a first rack region 104 using a first feeding and extraction conveyor system (114), and a second rack region serving device (112) is only serving a second rack region (106) using a second feeding and extraction conveyor system (116). In a second mode of operation, only the first rack region serving device (110) is used for serving both the first and second rack regions (104, 106), and only the first feeding and extraction conveyor system (114) is used for feeding articles to the first rack region serving device (110) and for taking away articles from the first rack region serving device (110).

In one aspect, a warehousing apparatus comprises: a temporary storage layer board, with the temporary storage layer board being used for providing a temporary storage station; a plurality of shelves, with each shelf comprising at least one storage layer board and a plurality of stand columns arranged at intervals in the horizontal direction, the storage layer board being spaced apart from the temporary storage layer board in the vertical direction by means of the stand column, and the storage layer board being used for providing a storage position; a first robot passage for a first robot to travel in, with the first robot being used for storing goods on and taking goods to the temporary storage layer board and a second robot passage for a second robot to travel in, with the second robot being used for carrying the goods between the temporary storage layer board and the storage layer board. The warehousing apparatus along with related systems and control methods can improve the efficiency of goods entering and exiting a warehouse.

A transfer driver includes a transfer drive transmission mechanism drivingly coupled to a contact section, and a transfer drive source configured to drive the transfer drive transmission mechanism. A guide driver includes a guide drive transmission mechanism drivingly coupled to a pair of guide sections, and a guide drive source configured to drive the guide drive transmission mechanism. The transfer drive source and the guide drive source are disposed on a transfer-direction scooping side relative to a holder, and the transfer drive transmission mechanism and the guide drive transmission mechanism intersect each other in a vertical view at an intersection portion, and are adjacent to each other in a vertical direction at the intersection portion.

A pair of drive wheels are disposed in a middle region of a travel body section in a body length direction and are separated from each other in a body width direction. A first drive source is disposed on a first side in the body length direction relative to a width direction reference line and a first side in a body width direction relative to a length direction reference line in top-down view. A second drive source is disposed on a second side in the body length direction relative to the width direction reference line and a second side in the body width direction relative to the length direction reference line in top-down view.

A device for storing cylindrical material according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a rack shelf including one or more racks in which a circular axis is stored, a rack master including a first rack master fork configured to collect a first circular axis in which an article stored in a target rack is not mounted, and a second rack master fork configured to transport a second circular axis in which the article is mounted in the target rack from which the first circular axis is collected, a turn skid configured to collect the first circular axis collected from the first rack master fork; and an input/output port configure to mount the article in the first circular axis collected from the turn skid.

A storage system is disclosed where goods can be stored in containers and the containers are stored in stacks. Above the stacks runs a grid network of rails (e.g., tracks) on which load handling devices can run. To take containers from the stacks and deposit then at alternative locations in the stacks or deposit then at stations where goods may be picked. The framework may be provided with one or more of the following exemplary services: power, power control, heating, lighting, cooling, sensors, and data logging devices. The provision of these services within the framework rather than across the system as a whole, can allow for flexibility in storage whilst reducing cost and inefficiency.

A method for retrieving content stored in a warehouse, the method may include: maintaining first content in boxes of a lowest shelf of a storage unit of the warehouse, while maintaining in boxes of higher shelves of the storage unit second content that is of less interest than the first content; accessing the boxes of the lowest shelf and providing the boxes to interfacing units, by a first robot; accessing the boxes of the higher shelves and providing the boxes to the interfacing units, by a second robot; wherein the first robot, when positioned at a lower position, is lower than a height of the lowest shelf; and wherein the second robot is higher than the height of the lowest shelf.