Materials handling device

Claim 1

In a storage facility of the type having a plurality of superposed storage means arranged in parallel rows with access aisles between said parallel rows and a transfer aisle extending transversely of said access aisles, means for depositing materials in and removing said materials from said storage means comprising a pair of elevated rails extending longitudinally of said transfer aisle in a horizontal plane at a height from the floor of said transfer aisle sufficient to provide adequate clearance for workmen, lift trucks and the like in said transfer aisle, a pair of rails extending longitudinally of each of said access aisles and elevated from the floor of its respective access aisle in a horizontal plane above said plane of said transfer aisle rails, a carriage comprising a wheeled support means, a pair of spaced rails on said carriage, means for moving said carriage on said transfer aisle rails and to align said pair of carriage rails with any one of said pairs of access aisle rails on either side of said transfer aisle, a stacker assembly comprising a wheeled support, dolly means supported by said stacker means for moving said stacker along any one of said pairs of access aisle rails on either side of said transfer aisle and on to and off of said rails on said carriage, means on said stacker assembly for raising and lowering said dolly above and below said rails in said access aisles to the level of any one of said superposed storage means and to a lowermost position wherein said dolly means may be loaded and unloaded directly, means for extending said dolly transversely of said stacker assembly into any one of said storage means, stacker assembly locking means to maintain said stacker assembly in position on said rails on said carriage or in positions along said rails in said access aisles in alignment with said superposed storage means and carriage locking means to maintain said carriage in positions along said rails in said transfer aisle with said rails on said carriage in alignment with any of said pairs of rails in said access aisles, said stacker assembly locking means comprising at least on locking wheel mounted on said stacker assembly, a locking wheel receiving pocket mounted on at least one of said carriage rails and a plurality of locking wheel receiving pockets mounted on at least one rail of each pair of rails in said access aisles, said last-mentioned pockets being so located on said access aisle rails as to determine said positions along said access aisle rails in which said stacker assembly is desired to be locked, said locking wheel on said stacker assembly being movable between an extended position wherein it will be received within any desired one of said pockets and a retracted position clear of said pocket, said locking wheel when extended into one of said carriage rail or transfer aisle rail pockets locking said stacker assembly in the position determined by said last-mentioned pocket, said carriage locking means comprising at least one locking wheel mounted on said carriage and a plurality of locking wheel receiving pockets mounted on at least one of said rails of said pair of rails in said transfer aisle at positions corresponding to positions wherein said carriage rails are aligned with each of said pair of rails in said access aisles, said carriage locking wheel being movable between an extended position wherein it is received within any one of said pockets on said transfer aisle rail and a retracted position clear of said last-mentioned pockets, linkage means in association with said carriage locking wheel and contactable by said stacker assembly locking wheel, whereby said carriage locking wheel is in said retracted position when said stacker assembly locking wheel is received within said pocket on said carrIage rail and said carriage locking wheel is in its extended position when said stacker assembly locking wheel is clear of said pocket on said carriage rail.