Load/unload transfer carriage

Claim 1

In a closed loop conveyor system for handling setters filled with ceramic tile, wherein said system includes a first conveyor having a loading means to fill said setters with uncured ceramic tiles, a second-indexing conveyor adapted to receive said loaded setters from said first conveyor and to accumulate said setters into a course of packages for removal from said second conveyor and stacking in courses on a first portable platform for transfer to a curing kiln, while courses of packages comprising setters of cured ceramic tiles are simultaneously unstacked from a second portable platform returned from the curing kiln to said second conveyor, said second conveyor being indexed forwardly each time a course of setters containing uncured tile is removed therefrom and a course of setters containing cured tile is deposited thereon in order to position another uncured course of setters for pickup and to carry away the setters of cured tiles previously deposited thereon, a third conveyor adapted to receive the setters of cured tiles from said second conveyor, wherein said improvement comprises a load/unload transfer means for transferring said courses of setters from said second conveyor to said first portable platform while simultaneously unloading courses of setters from said second portable platform onto said second conveyor, said transfer means comprising: a. a supporting framework overlying said second conveyor and said first and second portable platforms; b. a horizontally reciprocal support beam mounted on said framework and being reciprocal between a first position overlying said second conveyor and a second position overlying said first and second and second portable platforms, the longitudinal axis of said support beam being parallel to the longitudinal axis of said second conveyor; c. vertically reciprocal pickup heads received on opposite ends of said support beam, sad pickup heads overlying said second conveyor when said support beam is in said first position and overlying said first and second portable platforms when said support beam is in said second position; d. said pickup heads being vertically reciprocal between an upper constant level transfer position and a lower, variable level release/pickup position, the movement of each of said pickup heads from said upper position to said lower position being independent of each other; e. a sensing means for terminating the downward movement of the pickup heads at the release/pickup point upon engagement of said pickup head with the top of said course of setters during pickup and upon engagement of the bottom of said course of setters with the deposit surface upon release thereof, whereby courses of setters may be picked up and deposited simultaneously at varying vertical positions while said support beam is in said second position; and f. means on said pickup head for selectively gripping said courses of setters when in engagement therewith in said lower position and releasing said setters when in said lower position.