Conveyor system with a maintenance station

Claim 1

A conveyor system comprising a route network of profile rails with branching locations, conveyor carts for travel on the rails and having drive devices which are fed via current paths of the profile rails, adjustable route selection characterizing elements fastened to the conveyor carts for controlling the path of the conveyor carts over the route network, route selection scanning and control devices selectively responsive to said route selection characterizing elements and associated with the branching locations of the route network, and at least one maintenance station for servicing of the conveyor carts and interposed in the route network, wherein the improvement comprises a maintenance scanning and control device which is arranged at a location of the route network which is passed frequently by conveyor carts, said conveyor carts having maintenance status characterizing means selectively adjustable for selectively providing first and second scannable maintenance characteristic values corresponding to first and second maintenance phases, said maintenance scanning and control device being selectively adjustable to respond to said first and second maintenance characteristic values but not to respond to either thereof prior to the beginning of a respective corresponding maintenance phase and being operable in one current maintenance phase to respond only to said first maintenance characteristic value set after a specific preceding maintenance phase to reroute the associated conveyor cart to the maintenance station, and means at the maintenance station whereby each such rerouted conveyor cart after maintenance in said maintenance station during such current maintenance phase has its maintenance status characterizing means permanently adjusted to said second maintenance characteristic value until such conveyor cart is again selected for maintenance.