WO1990006891A1

WO1990006891A1 - A storage system

Info

Publication number: WO1990006891A1
Application number: PCT/FI1988/000198
Authority: WO
Inventors: Oy Tradeout
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1987-10-29
Filing date: 1988-12-16
Publication date: 1990-06-28
Anticipated expiration: 1991-06-16
Also published as: FI874765A7; FI874765L; FI874765A0

Abstract

This invention relates to a storage system comprising several storage racks (1) positioned in two lines (1A, 1B) with the longitudinal sides of the racks facing each other, a gangway (2) defined between said lines having a width (b) at least equal to the length (a) of the racks (1). In order for the goods stored in the racks to be as easily accessible as possible and for the storeroom to be utilized as efficiently as possible, the racks in the storage system according to the invention are arranged to be displaceable in the longitudinal direction thereof on wheels along a support of the rack, such as the floor of the storeroom, the system further comprising means for guiding the rack.

Description

A storage system

This invention relates to a storage system com¬ prising several storage racks positioned in two lines with the longitudinal sides of the racks facing each other, a gangway defined between said lines having a width at least equal to the length of the racks.

There are known storage systems in which the racks are arranged to be displaceable on rails extend- ing longitudinally of the line of racks. In this way a gangway can be formed between any desired racks, usually filing shelves, through which gangway the goods on the racks are easily accessible. Storage sys¬ tems of this type are used particularly in file rooms for the storage of various documents, periodicals or the like. Such a storage system is efficient and space-saving for the above purpose, whereas it is not very suitable for industrial applications in which goods in storage racks or on shelves have to be reached by means of a forklift, too. This is mainly because forklifts require relatively wide gangways, and on the other hand, the great weight of the shelves used in industrial storehouses makes it impossible to displace the whole line at the same time. From German Offenlegungsschrift 2144651 and

Swiss Patent 661704 A5, storage systems are known in which the racks themselves are fixed whereas the shelves on the racks are displaceable. In these known systems the racks are positioned in such a way that they define therebetween a gangway having a width at least equal to the length of the shelves on the racks. Thus the shelves can be drawn out of the racks on a platform movable on the gangway between the shelves. These racks are intended for storing elongated objects and are not suitable for single items which should be reached also by means of a normal forklift.

The object of the present invention is to pro¬ vide a storage system which is space-saving and ef¬ ficient while it enables easy access to the goods in storage even when using forklifts.

The above object is achieved by means of a storage system according to the invention, which is characterized in that the racks are arranged to be displaceable in the longitudinal direction thereof, the system further ' comprising means for guiding the rack. In this way, each storage rack can be drawn out from the storage space thereof into the gangway, so that the goods positioned therein are very easily accessible from either side of the rack. The racks are preferably arranged to be dis¬ placeable on wheels along a support, such as the floor of the storeroom. Depending on the desired carrying capacity, for instance, the wheels supporting the rack may be either fixed in position, such as bearings fitted on a shaft, or e.g. rubber-coated pivotable wheels. The different wheel types require different means for guiding the rack. With unpivotable wheels, for instance, it is preferable that the means for guiding the rack comprise rails fastened to the sup- port of the rack, whereby the wheels are arranged to move on the rails. In racks comprising pivotable wheels, the means for guiding the rack may comprise either a guide groove or the like provided in the sup¬ port of the rack and at least one guide roll or the like attached to the rack and arranged to move along the guide groove or the like, or a bar or the like provided above the rack for guiding the rack during displacement so that it maintains its direction.

In the following the storage system according to the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the attached drawing, whose figure is a schematical view of one embodiment of the storage sys¬ tem according to the invention.

The storage system shown in the figure com- prises a number of storage racks 1 which may be pro¬ vided with shelves or suspension bars or other suit¬ able spaces for storage of a variety of goods of dif¬ ferent sizes and shapes. These goods may be products to be picked up manually or they may be positioned on truck platforms so as to be transferred by forklifts. The racks 1 are positioned in succession with the longitudinal sides thereof facing each other in two parallel lines 1A and IB, whereby a gangway 2 is de¬ fined between the two lines. The racks in the lines 1A and IB are preferably equally long for optimum utiliz¬ ation of the storeroom; however, such an equal length is not necessary for the operation of the storage sys¬ tem. In the figure, the width of the lines 1A and 1B- that is, the length of each rack 1 is indicated with the reference a. Correspondingly, the width of the gangway 2 is indicated with the reference b. In order that any one of the storage racks 1 could be wholly drawn into the gangway 2, the width b of the gangway should be at least equal to the length a of the rack 1. When the rack 1 is positioned in the gangway 2, the goods positioned therein are very easily accessible from both sides of the rack, even by a forklift, if necessary. As appears from the figure, all the storage racks 1 need not be equal in width but they can vary in width as desired. When racks are provided with un- pivotable wheels, it is, however, to be preferred that racks positioned in alignment with each other on op¬ posite sides of the gangway 2 are of equal width so that the rails 3 fitted in the floor of the storeroom for guiding the racks could extent continuously across the entire storeroom. Of course, it is also possible to position two narrower racks on one side of the gangway and one rack having a width equal to the com¬ bined width of the the two narrower racks on the other side. In this way, the number of rails 3 in the floor of the gangway 2 can be substantially decreased. As appears from the above, it is also possible to use racks with pivotable wheels, whereby the floor of the gangway can be left even, and the means for guiding the rack comprise either a guide groove or the like provided in the support of the rack and at least one guide roll or the like attached to the rack and ar¬ ranged to move along the guide groove or the like, or a bar or the like positioned above the rack, the rack being arranged to be guided by the bar for maintaining the direction of the rack during displacement.

Even though not shown in more detail in the figure, the rails 3 can be formed by shallow grooves formed in the floor of the storeroom, whereby they do not hamper passage in the gangway 2. Correspondingly, the racks 1 are provided with wheels which may be e.g. bearings on which the racks 1 rest. As a consequence, they are very easily displaceable along the rails 3. If desired, the required displacement of the racks 1 can be very simply mechanized by providing a trans¬ mission means, such as a gear rack or a chain, in the lower portion of each rack below the plinth thereof, for instance. The transmission means is operationally connected to an electric motor secured to the floor of the storeroom. Thereby each rack may be provided with a separate motor fitted near the rack end on the side of the gangway 2. Alternatively, the racks may have a common motor operating through suitable transmission means, such as shafts and gears, for displacing the racks into the gangway and away therefrom. Since each rack 1 is separately displaceable, the racks can be very simply controlled in a centralized way e.g. by means of a suitable control computer which can also keep accounts for the storehouse. The displacement of each rack 1 to the gangway 2 can thereby be initiated by a single signal through a suitable relay system. The displacement can be subsequently controlled by means of suitable limit switches. After the desired objects have been picked up from the rack or placed therein, the rack 1 can be displaced back into the storage space thereof by again applying a single signal to the control system of this particular rack so that the electric motor displacing this rack starts to operate in the reverse direction for displacing the rack back into the storage space thereof.

The storage system according to the invention enables the surface area of the storeroom to be util¬ ized extremely efficiently in one-storey storehouses in particular, so that 2/3 of the surface area of the storehouse can be covered with the storage racks. The storage system has been described above by way of example by means of one specific embodiment. So it is to be understood that the storage system according to the invention can be varied considerably according to the requirements in each particular case without, how¬ ever, deviating from the scope of protection defined in the attached claims.

Claims

Claims :

1. A storage system comprising several storage racks (1) positioned in two lines (1A, IB) with the longitudinal sides of the racks facing each other, a gangway (2) defined between said lines having a width (b) at least equal to the length (a) of the racks (1), c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the racks are arranged to be displaceable in the longitudinal direc- tion thereof, the system further comprising means for guiding the rack.

2. A storage rack according to claims 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the racks are dis¬ placeable on wheels along a support such as the floor of the storeroom.

3. A storage system according to claim 1 and 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said means for guiding the rack comprise rails (3) fastened to the support of the rack, the wheels being arranged to move along the rails..

4. A storage system according to claim 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the rails (3) extend across the whole storeroom.

5. A storage system according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said means for guiding the rack comprise a guide groove or the like provided in the support of the rack and at least one guide roll or the like attached to the rack and ar¬ ranged to move along the guide groove or the like.

6. A storage system according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said means for guiding the rack comprise a bar or the like provided above the rack, the rack being arranged to be guided by said bar for maintaining the direction of the rack during displacement.

7. A storage system according to claim 4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that racks positioned on opposite sides of the gangway are in alignment with each other.

8. A storage system according to claim 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the racks posi¬ tioned on opposite sides of the gangway in alignment with each other are equally wide.

9. A storage system according to any of the claims 1 to 8, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said means for displacing each one of the racks comprise a transmission means attached to the rack, such as a gear rack or a chain, and an electric motor fastened to the floor of the storeroom and operationally con- nected to said transmission means.