Three-dimensional automatic warehouse equipment

Claim 1

A three dimensional automatic warehouse apparatus comprising: at least two spaced opposed racks defining between them an aisle; a stacker truck movable along said aisle and having a vertically movable loader thereon, elevator means for raising and lowering said loader to a desired level, and a transfer fork pivotally mounted on said loader for being displacable between an article support position in which said transfer fork projects horizontally from said loader in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of movement of said stacker truck along said aisle and a stowed position by rotation through 90° in a plane perpendicular to the plane of movement of said stacker along said aisle; said racks having a plurality of pillars disposed along said aisle and a plurality of cantilever arms projecting from each pillar toward the aisle at a plurality of levels, the space between adjacent arms on the same level being larger than the width of said transfer fork, and the space between the ends of said cantilever arms pillars on opposite sides of said aisle being greater than the dimension of said stacker truck transversely of the direction of the aisle with the fork in the stowed position and less than the dimension of said stacker truck transversely of the direction of the aisle with the fork in the projected position.