A picking facility includes a first conveyor for transporting a container that includes an opening portion provided on an upper side thereof and can contain an article, and a second conveyor for transporting a target article. The height level of a transport face of the first conveyor is set to be lower than the height level of a transport face of the second conveyor, and a difference between the height level of the transport face of the second conveyor and the height level of the transport face of the first conveyor is determined based on the height of the container.

A finishing system includes a workpiece carrier configured to hold a workpiece, and a plurality of work stations arranged in a row along an axis defining a process line, each of the plurality of work stations configured to receive the workpiece and treat the workpiece. A hoist runway, including fixed and movable rail sections, extends along the plurality of work stations of the process line. A hoist is movable along the hoist runway to traverse the plurality of work stations, the hoist coupled to the workpiece carrier to raise and lower the workpiece carrier and to move the workpiece carrier along the process line. A side transfer mechanism moves the movable rail section, with the hoist situated thereon, in a direction transverse to the axis so that the hoist is movable out of the process line.

An article accumulating apparatus that uses a robot to transfer to a predetermined location and accumulate an article conveyed thereto is disclosed. The article accumulating apparatus includes a conveyance unit, an accumulation unit, and a discharge unit. The conveyance unit is configured to convey the article. The accumulation unit is disposed in series with the conveyance unit and is configured to accumulate the article. The discharge unit is configured to discharge the article in the conveyance unit to an area outside the accumulation unit. The discharge unit is disposed in a robot movable range that is a range in which the robot holds and transfers the article to the accumulation unit.

An article conveying system includes a tray that is disposed on a floor surface and on which an article to be conveyed is mounted, a robot provided with a force sensor that detects an external force, a frictional force reduction device provided in at least one of the floor surface or the tray, to adjust a frictional force between the floor surface and the tray, and a controller that controls the robot to apply a lateral load to the tray and thereby slide the tray on the floor surface, and controls the frictional force reduction device based on a magnitude of the external force in a direction of the lateral load that is detected by the force sensor when the lateral load is applied.

A tray feeder mechanism comprising a plurality of trays within a tray feeder, each tray including a tray handle, and a gripper positioned within a gripping area defined by the tray handles, wherein the gripper is configured to remove a tray from the tray feeder when the tray feeder stops.

The invention relates to a transport device for an item to be transported, the device comprising: a transport rake having at least one tine; and a counter rake having at least one tine, the counter rake being adjustable relative to the transport rake in the transport direction in order to clamp an item to be transported between the at least one tine of the transport rake and the at least one tine of the counter rake, at least either the transport rake or the counter rake being connected to a transport element which is movable linearly in the transport direction, a drive element being provided to which the transport element is not connected and to which the transport element is coupled or by which the transport element is driven only by means of contactless remote forces.

A system for transferring articles, comprising: a plurality of gripping devices, configured to grip respective articles which pass along a first conveyor, wherein each gripping device is movable independently from the remaining gripping devices, a control unit, configured for controlling said plurality of gripping devices, the transfer system being characterised in that it comprises a first detection sensor, configured to detect a first value indicating a position of an article on the first conveyor, and in that said control unit is configured for: receiving said first value, positioning a gripping device at said article, as a function of said first value, gripping said article by said gripping device, adjusting, as a function of the first value, a speed of the gripping device which grips the article, and releasing the article from the gripping device when the article reaches a release position.

An article transport vehicle (200) has: a carrier base (202) configured for movement along a guideway and a pair of gripping arms (216), each gripping arm (216) having a first end (216a) connected to the carrier base (202) and a second end (216b) protruding from the carrier base (202). The pair of gripping arms (216) is movable between a closed position configured for holding an article (302) and an open position configured for releasing the article (302). The article transport vehicle (200) further has a closure mechanism (238) for moving the pair of gripping arms (216) between the closed position and the open position. The closure mechanism (238) is configured for biasing the pair of gripping arms (216) to the closed position and moving the pair of gripping arms (216) to the open position when the carrier base (202) is positioned at a predetermined portion of the guideway.

The invention relates to a handling device (1) comprising a drive carriage (2) that can be moved in relation to a beam (3), a scissor lift (7) comprising a plurality of scissor lift members (8) being arranged on the drive carriage (2) with the first end thereof, and a beam plate (11) that can move in relation to the drive carriage (2) by means of the scissor lift (7) being arranged on the second end of the scissor lift (7). A grip tool is arranged on the beam plate (11), and a drive (18) for actuating the scissor lift (7) is arranged on the drive carriage (2). The beam (3) has an H-shaped cross-section formed from a middle limb (25) and upper and lower limbs (26, 27) projecting from said middle limb.

The invention relates to a handling device (1), having a drive carriage (2) that is movable relative to a carrier (3), wherein a scissor lift (7) having a plurality of scissor-lift members (8) is arranged with its first end on the drive carriage (2), wherein a carrier plate (11) that is movable relative to the drive carriage (2) by means of the scissor lift (7) is arranged at the second end of the scissor lift (7), wherein: a gripping tool is arranged on the carrier plate (11), the scissor-lift members (8) are hollow throughout and are sealingly interconnected in order to actuate the gripping tool by means of a gaseous medium.