The present invention relates to a storage method for stockpiling cases or the like stacked on top of each other .

This type of storage methods and equipment are current¬ ly embodied in a manner that the cases are laid on storage tracks, a number of such tracks adjacent to each other. At the first end of storage tracks the case piles are supplied onto the storage tracks and, accordingly, the pick-up of cases for the following process stage is done at the opposite end of storage tracks. This type of storage methods and equipment are used e.g. in brewery, meat packing and bakery industries. The cases are usually made of a plastic material, being e.g. cases for bottles or bakery products. The storage methods and equipment are first of all used as receiving stores of a production plant for receiving the return cases coming from retail business. E.g. in bakery industry, due to hygienic requirements, this intermediate store is unloaded through a washing stage and an intermediate store of clean cases to an actual packing stage, wherein the case is loaded with bakery products. Also this stage is followed by an intermediate storage stage of outgoing cases of bakery products. The above indicates that the storage of cases all the way from receiving point to the delivery of cases containing fresh bakery products is problematic both in terms of required space and production control. The prior art conveyor track stores are first of all unsatisfactory because of high investment costs required thereby. On the other hand, such conveyor tracks cause a substantial space requirement since every sub-store involved in the process requires a separate storage unit which includes a number of conveyor tracks matching the need of this unit. In addition, the cleaning of such conveyor tracks is problematic which is a major drawback

particularly in food industry which requires a high standard of hygiene. Thus, e.g. in terms of the requirements of bakery industry, the basis of total storage dimensions must be a possibility of having enough room for the entire number of cases in circulation to be placed in storage facilities located upstream of the actual packing stage of bakery products. It is obvious, however, that e.g. the washing stage of bakery cases may produce such a capacity bottleneck that the intermediate store for cases coming into the washing stage is filled while, at the same time, the intermediate store for cases required in the bakery products packing stage does not include a sufficient number of cases in view of what would be needed in the actual packing stage.

An object of the present invention is to provide a storage method for mostly eliminating the above problems and, thus, for elevating the available prior art. This object is primarily achieved by a storage method of the invention in a manner that

case piles or the like included in a store are placed in successive rows on a base, such as on the floor of a storage space, that

said store is provided in a parallel relationship with the rows of case piles or the like with at least one storage conveyor or the like for carrying in the longitudinal direction thereof the case piles and/or cases or the like of which the case piles are built, said storage conveyor being positioned horizontally beside the case piles or the like, that

said storage conveyor or the like is adapted to be movable in a direction perpendicular to its longitudinal direction substantially in a plane

parallel with the plane of the base above the free area of said base in a manner that said storage conveyor is in connection with the respective space for the row of case piles or the like at the longitudinal lateral side of said storage conveyor so as to be used for stockpiling purposes, and that

said storage conveyor or the like is provided with a handling apparatus movable in its longitudinal direction for building case piles and/or for carrying them to a row of case piles from a conveyor or the like and vice versa.

The above-described method is capable of providing a reliable storage which is low in investment costs and can be modified in many ways within the basic idea of the invention to suit various types of applications.

Other non-independent claims directed to a method disclose preferred embodiments of the method.

The invention relates also to a storage system for particularly for stockpiling cases or the like stacked on top of each other. The main characterizing features of the storage system are set forth in the characterizing section of the independent claim directed to a storage system. The storage system is capable of achieving the benefits offered by the method.

The annexed non-independent claims directed to a storage system disclose some preferred embodiments of the invention.

The invention will be described with reference made to the accompanying drawing. The drawing is a plan view of one storage system of the invention for applying the method.

A storage method of the invention is based on the fact that the storage base comprises a solid horizontal base or support, such as the floor of a storage space. By using a storage conveyor 2 there are case piles laid upon floor 1. in rows 3 which are successively positioned parallel to the longitudinal direction of the storage conveyor. According to the arrow 4, the conveyor is adapted to be movable in a direction substantially parallel with the plane of the base and perpendicular to its longitudinal direction whereby, as the row 3a adjacent to the storage conveyor is either fully loaded or unloaded, the storage conveyor 2 moves above the free area of the base 1 to a position where it can begin either to load the following row upon the base 1 beside said storage conveyor or to unload the first fully loaded row, e.g. a row 3b in the drawing. Thus the storage conveyor assumes a position where it is in connection with the space of the row of case piles to be handled in the next stage.

For the above actions the storage conveyor is provided with a handling mechanism 5 movable in its longitudinal direction. By using handling mechanism 5 provided with means for grasping the lowermost case of the .case pile the case piles are carried into rows 3 or case piles are unloaded from a row 3 onto the storage conveyor. The handling mechanism 5 preferably includes case pile building and unloading means, said handling mechanism 5 being capable of building case piles of individual cases or of unloading or dissembling case piles into individual cases. For these purposes the storage conveyor 2 is positioned so that it is beside the case piles in the horizontal direction. It is advantageous to arrange the conveyor directly above said base 1 of course considering the limitations set by the techniccally adaptable solution.

The embodiment shown in the drawing further includes two cross-conveyors 6 and 7 as well as a second storage conveyor 8 which is parallel to the first, previously mentioned storage conveyor 2.

In particular, the embodiment shown the drawing serves to create a versatile storage entity as follows. Storage conveyors 2, 8 are arranged in connection with both cross-conveyors 6 and 7. Furthermore, a point K in the drawing is provided with a handling stage, such as washing of the cases and/or filling thereof with products. Thus, the first cross-conveyor 6 is adapted to supply case pi-les or the like and/or cases or the like onto storage conveyor 2 associated with a first sub-storage la for placing such items in the first sub-storage la in the left-hand side of the drawing. The second cross-conveyor 7 is in turn adapted to receive the case piles and/or the like and/or the cases or the like arriving from storage conveyor 2 associated with first sub-storage la for delivering such items along the second cross-conveyor to a handling stage K (arrow 9).

The second cross-conveyor 7 is adapted to receive the case piles or the like and/or the cases or the like arriving from handling stage K for delivering such items along said second cross-conveyor 7 or the like onto a storage conveyor 8 associated with a second sub-storage lb (arrow 10) for advancing the items to said second sub-storage lb by means of mechanism 5.

On the other hand, the first cross-conveyor 6 is adapted to receive from a storage conveyor 8 associated with second sub-storage lb case piles or the like or cases or the like for delivering such items along said second cross-conveyor 6 out of the storage.

The unloading and/or stacking units of case piles can also be installed at the ends of cross-conveyors 6, 7, the storage itself being only intended for handling the piles and the required stacking and unloading operations being effected outside the storage.

Transfers into and, on the other hand, removals from the storage are effected at the opposite ends of the parallel cross-conveyors. It can be said that there is a flow of articles in the storage along two U- shaped tracks, the bottoms of said U-shapes facing each other. It is obvious from the above that the storage offers a lot of benefits particularly when it is dimensioned to substantially match the total number of cases in a given industrial plant. Thus, the following aspects should be noted about the position of storage conveyors. Sub-storage la includes a storage reserve which can be transferred through a handling stage K into sub-storage lb which is a ready- to-go storage. The empty space between storage conveyors 2, 8 always indicates the number of cases that are outside the storage. If the number of cases in handling stage K is subtracted from the above number, the result is the number of cases outside the overall production process.

In particular, the embodiment shown in the drawing is one complete application of a method and system of the invention.

It is obvious that the basic idea of a method of the invention can be realized by means of a mere .storage conveyor for supplying case piles or cases thereon or for unloading such items therefrom. However, the cross-conveyors provide a continuous flow-through of case piles or cases by operating storage conveyor 2. The method and system can also be applied in

association with conveying systems for loading pallets e.g. on interchangeable platforms that are carried from place to place e.g. by means of a truck or the like. It is obviously quite simple for a skilled person to modify the invention within the scope of the described applications. Particularly in view of handling mechanisms 5, reference can be made to the prior art technology which includes a plurality of various applications in terms of loading and unloading as well as transferring of case piles.