subject: Unmanned Storage System [print this page] Systems of the same general type as the invention disclosed and claimed herein have been known for many years and are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,840,313 and 3,490,616. In such systems, an array of stacked automatic storage and retrieval system compartments, each containing one rectangular or prismatic bin, extends along an aisle, so that one end of each compartment is horizontally accessible from the aisle. Suitably controlled platform means translate up and down the aisle, horizontally positioning a vertically movable extractor means adjacent the appropriate column of bins. Simultaneously or sequentially the extractor is vertically positioned to access the desired bin in that column, to remove it from its automatic storage and retrieval system location and transport it to any new automatic storage and retrieval system location or to some other location such as a conveyor belt or product assembly area.
As is discussed in the patents cited above, systems of this type are designed to facilitate space-efficient automatic storage and retrieval system and retrieval of large numbers of items. Accordingly, it is desirable to reduce the total array height required to store a given number of bins as closely as possible to the total height of the bins themselves. It is also desirable to minimize the complexity and expense of the individual bins, since overall they constitute a significant portion of the total cost of such systems.
Prior art systems did not accommodate these several desirable features. Some prior art devices used pin and chain extraction from the end of the bin, requiring the bin to have a lip attached to each of its ends, to engage the pin. Such bin constructions were expensive and furthermore prevented the bins from being stacked for shipment. Other prior art designs employed magnetic extraction, which required the expensive attachment of magnetic devices to each end of every bin. Still other devices employed shuttle extraction, whereby an element of the extraction device would slide under the bin, lift it off its support within the automatic storage and retrieval system compartment and then extract it. The shuttle extraction technique necessarily enlarged the total array height, since vertical clearances had to be provided in every single automatic storage and retrieval system compartment.
