SYSTEM FOR MOVING GOODS INTO, OUT OF, AND WITHIN HIGH-BAY STORAGE

Abstract

The invention relates to a transport and handover system for storing and removing or relocating storage goods (1) in high-bay warehouses (2), in particular in a transshipment facility of a seaport or inland port for the storage of standard containers, wherein the high-bay warehouse (2) consists of an arbitrary number of warehouse modules (10), which are arranged next to each other in the longitudinal direction and in the width direction of the high-bay warehouse (2) extending transversely to the longitudinal direction and which have a plurality of rack compartments (12) lying one over the other in the vertical direction, said warehouse modules being separated from each other by aisles (11) extending parallel to the storing and removal sides of the rack compartments (12) or warehouse modules (10), wherein at least one storage and retrieval machine (19) that can move back and forth is provided in each aisle (11) for transporting and storing and removing or relocating the storage goods (1), and a storage and retrieval machine (19). Accelerated transfer with fewer steel constructions is achieved in that the high-bay warehouse (2) is designed with at least one transverse conveying device (13; 113), which crosses at least some aisles (11) and conveys the supplied storage goods (1) into the high-bay warehouse (2) and/or out of the high-bay warehouse. For handling of the storage goods (1) provided from below the level of the running rails (20), the base bar of the storage and retrieval machine (19) is designed with a passage opening in a frame-like manner so that the storage goods (1) can be lifted through.

Claims

1. A transport and transfer system for storing and retrieving or relocating storage items in a high-bay warehouse having a plurality of storage modules that are in longitudinal and transverse rows of the high-bay warehouse and in height have a plurality of rack bays disposed one above the other and that are separated from one another by lanes extending parallel to storing and retrieving sides of the rack bays or of the storage modules, the system comprising: a respective storage and retrieval apparatus movable back and forth for transporting as well as storing and retrieving or relocating the storage items in each lane; and a transverse conveyor that crosses at least some lanes and that conveys the supplied storage items into and/or out of the high-bay warehouse.

2. The transport and transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the transverse conveyor is in a pit of the warehouse foundation.

3. The transport and transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the transverse conveyor is on a warehouse foundation of a lowermost rack bay level of at least one row of successive storage modules.

4. The transport and transfer system according to claim 3, further comprising: a return path below the transverse conveyor in the warehouse foundation for return transport of full or empty pallets or conveying carriages.

5. The transport and transfer system according to claim 2, further comprising: a return path for return transport of empty pallets or conveying carriages is in the pit below the transverse conveyor.

6. The transport and transfer system according to claim 2, wherein the transverse conveyor is on a floor of the pit and extends parallel to a return path for empty pallets or conveying carriages.

7. The transport and transfer system according to claim 1, further comprising: a frame that consists of vertical posts and head crossbars and foot beams connecting the posts together and that corresponds with at least the height of the multistory storage modules, and a hoist platform that is moved along the vertical posts by drive means for servicing the rack bays or adjacent storage modules on the left-hand side and right-hand side by load receiving means insertable and withdrawable orthogonally to the lane, the foot beam being of frame-like construction with a passage opening for storage items to be lifted through.

8. The transport and transfer system according to claim 7, wherein the storage and retrieval apparatus is movable on two rails in the lanes at a horizontal spacing from and parallel to one another above the lowermost rack bay level.

9. The transport and transfer system according to claim 8, wherein the vertical posts of the frames of the storage and retrieval apparatus extend downward beyond the foot beam.

Description

[0017] Further features and details of the invention are evident from the claims and the following description of embodiments of the invention schematically illustrated in the drawings for the transshipment of standard containers, wherein:

[0018] FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a container transshipment facility and a transfer station upstream of a high-bay warehouse, for taking containers from a vessel (not illustrated) and conveying them to in front of the high-bay warehouse for storage by a storage and retrieval apparatus movable in the lanes thereof on elevated rails therein or for transport away in the case of retrieval with then reverse movement sequences, the high-bay warehouse having in linear alignment with the transfer station a transverse conveyor constructed in the lowermost rack bay level and a return path recessed or disposed deeper in the warehouse foundation;

[0019] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional detail view of a container transshipment facility in a high-bay warehouse where, unlike FIG. 1, the unillustrated transfer stations are upstream of the openings of the lanes and the transverse conveyors and the return paths are in pits of the warehouse foundation and (not illustrated) outside the high-bay warehouse near the longitudinal sides thereof;

[0020] FIG. 3 is a partial longitudinal view of a detail of FIG. 2 and of a lane with storage and retrieval apparatus movable therein on the foundation;

[0021] FIG. 4 is an overall view of the storage and retrieval apparatus as seen from the longitudinal side facing the storage modules or rack bays;

[0022] FIG. 5 is a detail view of the storage and retrieval apparatus of FIG. 4 substantially showing the foot beam or travel frame with the hoist platform lowered together with a suspended container to above a lowermost rack bay level or a transverse conveyor arranged in a pit of the foundation (cf. FIG. 2); and

[0023] FIG. 6 is a plan view of FIG. 5.

[0024] At least one transfer station 4 for unloading containers 1 from a vessel and storage in a high-bay warehouse 2 or, conversely, retrieval and loading of a vessel or a vehicle for onward transportation is, according to FIG. 1, in front of the high-bay warehouse 2 at the side facing the quay 3. This comprises in linear succession in feed direction (arrow) 5 on the quay from outside towards the high-bay warehouse 2 a take-over carriage 6, a distributor vehicle 7 movable out of the line parallel to the high-bay warehouse 2, a stationary deposit 8 and a lifting table 9. The transfer station 4 adjoins, in a line, a transverse conveyor 13 crossing all of the lanes 11 running in the high-bay warehouse 2 between storage modules 10 that follow one another at a mutual spacing over the width, with rack bays 12 therein over the entire height and parallel to the longitudinal sides of the high-bay warehouse. The transverse conveyor 13 is in the lowermost rack bay level 14 on the warehouse foundation 15. A return path 16 is constructed in the warehouse foundation 15 below the transverse conveyor.

[0025] The transfer station 4 is in a two-level construction, i.e. the take-over carriage 6, the distributor vehicle 7, the stationary deposit 8 and the lifting table 9 have an upper level 1 and a lower level 11, wherein the lifting table 9 serves the purpose of overcoming height differences between, on the one hand, the upper level 1 of the transfer station 4 as well as the transverse conveyor 13 and, on the other hand, the lower level 11 as well as the return path 16, and of guaranteeing the respective linear path. This is because the container 1 lifted off a vessel by load receiving means 17 of a loading bridge (not illustrated) —optionally two containers 1 can be directly lifted off simultaneously by the load receiving means 17 and delivered to the take-over carriage 6—is deposited, with its longitudinal side facing in feed direction 5, on the upper level 1 of the take-over carriage 6 on a pallet 18 provided thereat, transferred to the uppermost level 1 of the distributor vehicle 7 and transported through movement of the distributor vehicle 7 parallel to the high-bay warehouse 2 until in front of a free stationary deposit 8 of one of the plurality of transfer stations 4 and conveyed from this to the uppermost level 1 of the lifting table 9.

[0026] The lifting table 9 lowers the pallet 18 together with the container 1 until in a position aligned with the transverse conveyor 13 that then positions the previously taken-over pallet 18 together with the container 1 in one of the lanes 11 for take-over by storage and retrieval apparatus 19 arranged in each lane 11. The pallets 18 free after taking over of the containers 1 by the storage and retrieval apparatus 19 are lowered at the end of the transverse conveyor 13 by lifting means onto the return path 16 that is recessed in the warehouse foundation 15 and is deeper and that similarly can have, for example, roller-path rollers or the like, and transported oppositely to the feed direction 5 until initially on the lifting table 9 that is adjusted with its lower level 11 in alignment with the return path 13, of the transfer station 4. The lifting table 9 is thereafter raised until its lower level 11 is in alignment with the lower levels 11 of the stationary deposit 8, the distributor vehicle 7 and the take-over carriage 6, so that the pallets 18 are returned by the conveying means of the aforesaid transfer station units to their starting position for reuse. For that purpose, the take-over carriage 6 is similarly equipped with lifting means that lift the pallets 18 from the lower level 11 to the upper level 1.

[0027] The storage and retrieval apparatus 19 looks after storage and retrieval or rearranging of the containers 1 into or from the rack bays 12 of the storage modules 10 and, in the embodiment according to FIG. 1, is movable on two rails 20 arranged at a horizontal spacing from one another in the lanes 11 between the lowermost (first) rack bay level 14 and the (second) rack bay level following above that. For storing, a container 1 positioned in a lane 11 is lifted off its pallet 18, for which purpose a hoist platform 21 (cf. FIG. 4)—that as known from WO 2015/123342 A1 can comprise at least two gradual telescopic load receiving means 22, wherein these for adaptation to different lengths of the containers 1 can be movable towards one another or away from one another—is lowered until the telescopic load receiving means 22 arrives above the suspension points of the container 1 by its locking means for locking. The locked and suspended container 1 can thereafter be brought, by raising the hoist platform 21 and moving the storage and retrieval apparatus 19, in front of any rack bay 12 of the adjacent storage modules 10 and be stored in the desired rack bay 12 by gradual telescoping of the load receiving means 22 (telescopic forks or telescopic table). Retrieval takes place with reversed movement sequences.

[0028] The free passage of the containers 1 that are taken over from the lowermost rack bay level 14, during storage in the rack bay levels following thereabove, as illustrated in FIG. 6, is made possible by a frame-like construction of the foot beam 23 of the storage and retrieval apparatus 19 with a passage opening 24.

[0029] The storage and retrieval apparatus 19 enabling space-saving lanes 11 that are very narrow due to the telescopic load receiving means 22 and that correspond with the width dimension of the containers, has—as apparent particularly from FIG. 4 showing the hoist platform 21 with a suspended container 1 in the uppermost position and in a downwardly lowered position (cf. FIG. 5)—a frame 27 that consists of vertical posts 25 and a head crossbar 26 interconnecting these as well as the connecting foot beam 23 constructed with the passage opening 24 for the containers 1 or storage items and that corresponds with the height of the multistory storage modules 10. The raising and lowering of the hoist platform 21 is carried out by hoists 28 at the foot beam 23 and cables 29 deflected at the head crossbar 26 by rollers. In the case of use in, in particular, a construction of the transverse conveyor 13 according to FIG. 1, the vertical posts 25 are provided with an extension 30 projecting over a short travel path downwardly beyond the foot beam 23 (cf. FIG. 4).

[0030] In the transshipment facility of FIGS. 2 and 3, the transverse conveyors 113 and the return paths 116 combined therewith and deeper are provided so as to be completely recessed in pits 31 that cross under the high-bay warehouse 2, of the warehouse foundation. The storage and retrieval apparatus 19 can thus be at ground level, i.e. be moved directly on the warehouse foundation 15 (cf. FIG. 3). The above-described transfer stations 4 are here at the quay side in a position aligned with the lanes 11. The containers 1 fed by the load receiving means 17 of the loading bridges from the vessel are again deposited on take-over carriages 6 in pallets 18, transferred to the distributor vehicle 7 and transferred from this to the stationary deposits 8. If the containers 1 are fed by the load receiving means 17 of the loading bridges so as to face not by the narrow ends thereof, but by the wide sides thereof in the direction of the lanes, a rotary table orienting the containers 1 can be upstream of the stationary deposits 8 in the transfer station. The containers 1 positioned in this way in front of the lanes are taken over from there by the storage and retrieval apparatus 19 for storage in the rack bays 12 of the storage modules 10 and the empty pallets 19 are lowered by the lifting table 9 for return to the lower level 11.

[0031] The retrieval of the containers 1 after lowering thereof through the passage opening 24 of the foot beam 23 of the storage and retrieval apparatus 19 into the pit 31 is carried out by the transverse conveyor 113 and the return transport of the empty pallets 18 by the return path 116, wherein the transverse conveyors 113 and the return paths 116 end outside the high-bay warehouse 1 near the longitudinal-side outer walls thereof and lifting tables for the containers 1 and on the other hand the empty pallets 18 are there. The lifted containers 1 can be taken over by cranes for loading of, for example, a truck or a vessel. The lowered empty pallets 18 are transported by the return path 116 or the conveying means thereof for lifting to the higher level of the transverse conveyor 113 and positioned by these for reloading with a container 1 that is to be retrieved, below a lane.

TABLE-US-00001 Reference numeral list 1 container/storage items 2 high-bay warehouse 3 quay 4 transfer station 5 feed direction (arrow) 6 take-over carriage 7 distributor vehicle 8 stationary deposit 9 lifting table 10 storage module 11 lane 12 rack bay 13; 113 transverse conveyor 14 lowermost rack bay level 15 warehouse foundation 16; 116 return path 17 load receiving means (of the loading bridge) 18 pallet 19 storage and retrieval apparatus 20 rails of the storage and retrieval apparatus 21 hoist platform 22 load receiving means 23 foot beam/travel frame 24 passage opening 25 vertical posts 26 head crossbar 27 frame 28 hoist 29 cable 30 extension (of the vertical posts) 31 pit l upper level ll lower level