Storage pallets and drive means thereof

Claim 1

A horizontal circulation type of storage equipment having a plurality of rows of pallets each capable of carrying an article, said pallets being arranged to provide a vacant space at one end of each of the pallet rows so that successive and alternate transfer of pallets in their longitudinal direction and in their lateral direction in a manner to fill up such vacancies will effect movement of the article carrying pallets to a predetermined station, comprising longitudinal transfer means positioned at each end of the pallet rows for effecting the transfer of said pallets from one row to an adjacent row, and lateral transfer means including a guide groove provided on the lower face of each pallet at right angles to the direction of lateral travel and a pair of pivot arms in each pallet row pivotable at the center thereof about a respective pivot point and having guidE rollers mounted on the respective ends thereof for engagement in said guide grooves, and drive means for imparting unidirectional rotary movement to said pivot arms so as to cause direct transfer of said pallets by one lateral transfer pitch of the pallet in the lateral direction by 180* rotation of said pivot arms, said guide rollers being mounted to make movement in said guide grooves in response to the rotary movement of said pivot arms to convert the circular movement of said pivot arms into linear movement in the lateral direction, said drive means including means for selectively effecting simultaneous rotation of said first and second pivot arms in opposite directions to progressively advance said pallets in the lateral direction with continued rotation of said pivot arms, each pair of pivot arms including first and second pivot arms pivotable at the center thereof with the guide rollers mounted on the corresponding ends of the respective first and second pivot arms engaging in a common guide groove, said pivot arms each having a length equal to the width of a pallet so that said lateral transfer pitch is equal to one pallet width, thereby providing for engagement by the rollers on respective ends of a pivot arm simultaneously with guide grooves on adjacent pallets.