A storage and order-picking system including a warehouse, wherein the warehouse includes a storage module formed by two racks including one rack aisle therebetween; separation stations associated with the storage module, each separation station having associated therewith a respective pick up location; separate conveying systems for feeding storage containers from the warehouse to the pick up locations of the separation stations, respectively; and a robot arranged between the separate conveyors such that the robot can pick up during one movement cycle from each of the separate conveying systems respectively one article and can deliver between the corresponding article pick up locations one article which has already been picked up to a deposition location.

An embodiment includes: a first transport module on which a carriage moves; a second transport module that is configured to be able to move to a position for connecting to the first transport module and on which the carriage is able to move to and from the first transport module; a position detection unit that detects a position in a moving direction of the second transport module and outputs position information; a first control unit that controls motion of the carriage on the first transport module; a second control unit that controls motion of the carriage on the second transport module; a third control unit that controls motion of the second transport module; and a fourth control unit that controls the first to third control units. The fourth control unit corrects a position where the second transport module connects to the first transport module based on the position information.

Provided is a transfer system including: a first conveyor, a second conveyor, a vertical position adjustment mechanism configured to adjust relative vertical positions of the first conveyor and the second conveyor; and a horizontal position adjustment mechanism configured to adjust, in a horizontal plane, relative positions of the first conveyor and the second conveyor in a direction orthogonal to a transfer direction.

An article sorting facility includes a plurality of storage members each configured to store one or more articles, a plurality of article transport vehicles each capable of traveling in at least a portion of a preset travel lane with one or more support members on board, each support member being configured to support one or more articles; a plurality of work areas each configured to allow work to be performed to transfer articles between one or more storage members and at least one of the one or more support members on board an article transport vehicle in the travel lane, wherein each of the work areas is located adjacent to one or more storage members and to the travel lane, wherein the plurality of work areas are arranged one adjacent to another along the travel lane, and wherein two or more article transport vehicles are in the travel lane simultaneously to travel in a line.

A conveying module includes a base structure; a first conveying device to convey a unit of goods in a first conveying direction (x) in the horizontal; a second conveying device to convey a unit of goods in a second conveying direction (y) in the horizontal, wherein the second conveying direction runs substantially perpendicular to the first conveying direction; a carrier structure to carry a unit of goods; a first lifting device to raise and/or lower the first conveying device in the vertical (z) between a lower position and an upper position; and a second lifting device to raise and/or lower the second conveying device in the vertical (z) between a lower position and an upper position; wherein a unit of goods located on the conveying module rests on the carrier structure when the first conveying device and the second conveying device are in the lower position.

The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a method that includes providing a first pipe having a first leading end and a first trailing end, providing a second pipe having a second leading end and a second trailing end, abutting at least a portion of the second leading end to at least a portion of the first trailing end to define a pipe abutment zone comprising a portion of the first pipe measured longitudinally from the first trailing end and a portion of the second pipe measured longitudinally from the second leading end, conveying the first and second pipe past an inspection device, inspecting by the inspection device a first portion of the pipe abutment zone and a second portion of the pipe abutment zone, and providing defect data that describes defects detected within the first portion and the second portion.

The present disclosure relates to a load assist module for transferring articles onto a downstream conveyor. The load assist module may include a roller conveyor having one or more rollers that together define a conveyor plane, such that the one or more rollers may be actuatable to convey the article along the conveyor plane in a direction of a downstream conveyor. The load assist module may further include a pusher assembly positioned adjacent the conveyor plane. The pusher assembly may include a track-guided vertical popup with a base and a pop-up. The pop-up may be actuatable such that the pop-up extends through the conveyor plane to contact the article. The pusher assembly may drive the track-guided vertical popup toward the direction of the downstream conveyor such that the track-guided vertical popup pushes the article.

A linear drive transport system includes a plurality of fixed tracks and a junction track disposed on a conveyor configured to align the junction track with each of the plurality of fixed tracks. The plurality of fixed tracks and the junction track include one of electromagnetic coils or permanent magnets arranged in series along the respective plurality of fixed tracks and the junction track. In addition, the linear drive transport system includes a plurality of movers configured to move along the fixed tracks and configured to transition between each of the plurality of fixed tracks and the junction track when aligned, wherein the movers comprise the other of the electromagnetic coils or the permanent magnets.

A weigh-in-motion scale system for a linear synchronous motor conveyor and a method for weighing objects on a linear synchronous motor conveyor are described herein. In one embodiment, the weigh-in-motion scale system includes a support structure for supporting the following: a weigh cell, a section of a linear synchronous motor conveyor track, a vehicle for transporting an object, and an object; and a weigh cell on the support structure on which a section of a linear synchronous motor conveyor track rests directly or indirectly. In one embodiment, the method includes transporting a vehicle with an object thereon along a section of a linear synchronous motor conveyor track; and at a weighing station while the vehicle with the object thereon is being transported, weighing the section of a linear synchronous motor conveyor track, vehicle, and object to determine the weight of the object.

The invention relates to an apparatus for the single-track or multi-track conveying of objects along a conveying path extending in a conveying direction, wherein the conveying path for at least one track comprises at least one conveying device that takes over objects at the input side from a functional unit connected upstream and that transfers objects at the output side to a functional unit connected downstream; and wherein the conveying device as a whole and/or in an output-side end region is adjustable transversely to the conveying direction by means of an adjustment device such that the transverse position of objects to be transferred is changed within the respective track.