Abstract:
A series of work arms are pivotally mounted on a chain drive and each has a pair of vertically spaced flanged wheels which roll against vertical track elements to hold the work arm erect as it lifts or lowers a load carried by a supporting cradle offset relative to the center of the work arm. Upper transverse track elements guide the upper wheel as it passes from one side of the chain drive to the other. To prevent the upper wheel, for example, from slipping back the wrong way during the crossover, a stop is located on each side of the center in positions where they will engage respective cradles so that, should the work arm tend to tilt too far from a vertical orientation, it will be prevented from doing so by engagement of one or the other cradle with its respective stop.
Abstract:
A vertical storage device has a number of storage platforms carried by a pair of endless chains which move the platforms from a lowermost loading and unloading station to various storage positions on one side or the other of the device. On each end of each platform is a v-shaped yoke with a traveler at the free end of each leg of the yoke. A pair of semi-circular tracks carried by a track guide serve the bottom and top of the device, at each end, one track being receptive of one of the travelers and the other track being receptive of the other traveler. The tracks cross each other midway between opposite ends forming an open intersection so that a traveler which is on the inside of path crosses over upon a reversal of direction and becomes the outside traveler. A pair of interconnected switch tongues at the intersection is moved to one position or another when pressed against by the first traveler to reach the intersection making certain that each traveler travels in the right track. The tracks at each location are mounted on a guide and the guide has a limited floating attachment to the frame, held in a normal position by springs, in order to relieve the strain during operation and to minimize wear.