The present invention relates to a storage system for storing elongated articles, such as hoses or the like, which can be coiled to a certain coiling radius for the duration of storage. The storage system comprises a combination consisting of a storage unit and a carrier unit. The storage unit includes two or more holders for receiving an article, especially a certain size of article, the holders being preferably intended for storing articles of varying sizes. The carrier unit is adapted to convey the articles into contact with the storage unit to be stored on a given holder or to be removed at least partially from a holder.

In view of the prior art, reference is made to the publication DE-3306673. This publication discloses a storage system, wherein the storage unit in the form of shelves includes a plurality of holders. The shelves included in the holders are mounted upon rollers for facilitating the transfer of shelf assemblies from the storage unit into contact with a carrier unit for the transfers of an article. The carrier unit includes a roller-equipped receiving dock which is adapted to be movable in vertical direction. Although the storage system disclosed in the cited publication DE-3306673 is functional as such, it is not, however, particularly suitable for elongated articles, such as hoses, cables, wires and the like, to be coiled to a certain coiling radius for the duration of storage.

An object of this invention is to introduce a storage system which is particularly suitable for elongated articles coilable to a certain coiling radius for the duration of storage. One particularly important object of the invention is to provide a storage system which is particularly well adaptable to the retail sales of

such articles, e.g. to the sales facilities of shops for hydraulic equipment and heating, lighting, air- conditioning and electrical equipment, hardware stores etc, but also to appropriate industrial applications. In the first place, especially in this type of applica¬ tions, particular attention has been paid in the storage system to the way of receiving such articles within the confines of a retail shop from the wholesale level, secondly to the transfer of articles into the sales facilities, and thirdly to the docking in connec¬ tion with the storage unit in a manner that the articles can be unloaded from the storage unit as required by the amounts purchased in retail trade. In view of fulfilling these objects, a storage system of the invention is primarily characterized in that

- the holders are designed to be substantially cylindrical or the like, that the holders are adapted to be rotatable around the medial axle of a preferably horizontally extending cylindrical element for coiling an article around the cylindrical element and vice versa, that

- the carrier unit is adapted to be freely movable on wheels or the like according to the intended application of the carrier unit, that the carrier unit includes elements for receiving the article to be supported by the carrier unit, and that the storage unit and the carrier unit are provided with mechanisms for interlocking the same especially for the duration of article transfers.

A storage system designed as set forth above is highly functional especially in sales facilities for receiving shipments of articles from the wholesale level for retail trade. Thus, shipments from the wholesale level can be carried at suitable intervals into contact with a storage unit for coiling the same on a cylin-

drical holder to be ready for retail sales. It is prior known that the wholesale shipments of hoses or the like are delivered to retail trade in a pre-storage form, which is an endless loop assembly including a plurality of turns of an article, e.g. a hose intended for use in hydraulic and heating, lighting, air- conditioning and electrical applications. The radius of curvature for a storage form is established on the basis of the coiling characteristics of a particular tubular element, whereby the loop assembly includes in the middle thereof an open centre that can be conveniently used for suspending the pre-storage form from the carrier unit.

A storage system of the invention comprises a plurality of embodiments set forth in the annexed non-independent claims.

The invention will be described more closely in the following specification with reference made to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings

Fig. 1 is a basic layout representation showing an embodiment of a storage system in connection with a retail shop,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a first stage included in the operation of a storage system, whereby the article is ready for a transfer into contact with a carrier unit,

Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of a carrier unit provided with an article,

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a preliminary stage included in the transfer of an article from a carrier unit to a storage

unit, whereby the carrier unit is brought into contact with the storage unit, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the trnasfer of an article from a carrier unit to a storage unit, whereby the carrier unit and the storage unit are interlocked to each other.

Fig. 1 illustrates a layout representation of a retail shop provided with a store 2 for articles delivered from the wholesale level. The store 2 is provided with a receiving dock 3 for receiving articles, e.g. hoses or the like, delivered from the wholesale level e.g. by means of a truck 4 in a pre-storage form on pallets S. In the present embodiment, the shop 1 is fitted with two storage units 5 and the object of carrier units is to transfer articles T along a route indicated by arrows 6 into contact with holders included in the storage units. An explicit object of the storage system is to provide the shop 1 with a functional solution for making the articles intended for retail trade available for customers in such a manner that the retail amounts of articles can be readily brought out in the open from a particular holder included in the storage unit.

Thus, in particular reference to Figs. 2-5, the storage system includes two principal components, a storage unit 5 and a carrier unit 7.

In the illustrated embdiment (Figs. 4 and 5) , the storage unit 5 includes a base element 8, preferably in the form of a bent and welded plate structure. From the flat-shaped base element extends upwards at least one upright support column 9, which in the present embodiment is mounted centrally in connection with the base element. The number of cylindrical

holders 10 in the present embodiment is six and those are mounted on the upright support successively in vertical direction, such that there are three cylin¬ drical holders 10 on either side of the upright support column. Thus, the cylindrical holders have medial axles 11 which are substantially parallel and horizon¬ tal. Furthermore, the medial axles 11 are journalled or otherwise mounted in connection with the upright column in such a manner that it is possible to rotate the holders around the medial axle 11 during the transfers of article T. It is obvious that a varying number of holders 10 can be mounted in connection with the upright support column 9. As indicated particularly in Fig. 1, the storage units can be assembled from a sort of modules, each having a base element 8 and one upright support 9, the latter being provided with two or more, e.g. just six cylindrical holders 10.

The cylindrical holders 10 are structurally designed to include an end flange assembly 12 at both ends of the holder 10. The radial dimension of flange as¬ semblies 12 from the medial axle 11 exceeds the radial dimension of a cylindrical holder. Thus, the end flange assemblies prevent the outbreak of an article from a cylindrical holder in lateral direction (longi¬ tudinally of the medial axle 11) . As illustrated particularly in Figs. 4 and 5, the cylindrical holders 10 are created by means of a rod assembly 13 for making the cylindrical holders substantially light- structured for a more convenient handling thereof. The rod assemblies 13 are fastened to the flange assemblies 12 for connecting said flange assemblies 12. The individual rods included in a rod assembly are located at a standard radial distance from the medial axle 11 (centre of rotation) . Furthermore, such rods are set at fixed intervals in the peripheral direction of the cylindrical element. In the illus-

trated embodiment, the rod assembly 13 includes five outer rods set at fixed intervals in the peripheral direction of the cylindrical element. As shown par¬ ticularly in Figs. 4 and 5, it is also possible to provide the rod assembly with inner rods as well, located inside the outer periphery of the cylindrical element as structural brace elements. The rod assembly 13 can be further applied by providing the flange assemblies 12 with an array of elements, especially installation holes 12a, in an effort of producing cylindrical elements optionally with a varying radius for use as holders. Hence, it is possible to use the rod assembly 13 for creating a holder 10 in accordance with the dimensions of articles T to be stored.

Especially Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate that the base element 8 is provided with first mechanisms 14 for providing a locking between storage unit 5 and carrier unit 7 for the duration of transfer movements of article T. This first mechanism may be a hole or a like created between the storage-unit supporting bed, especially a floor, and the base element 8, said hole being at least partially formed by the design of said base element 8.

Referring especially to Fig. 3, the carrier unit 7 includes as principal components a base element 15 provided with wheels 31 or the like for providing unimpeded movements for the carrier unit according to an intended application. Furthermore, the carrier unit includes an upright support assembly 16. The upright support assembly is provided with a handle 17 for the manual manipulation of the carrier unit during the course of handling. In addition, the carrier unit includes elements 18 for receiving and carrying an article T. The carrier unit is further provided with second mechanisms 19 for providing a locking between storage unit 5 and carrier unit 7 for the

duration of transfer movements of article T between said units.

As indicated especially in Fig. 2, the elements 18 for receiving an article are mounted in connection with and fastened to the upright support assembly 16 and comprise a cylindrical unit 20, which is provided with an end flange element 21 removable at least from the distal end of said cylindrical unit, especially for receiving an article upon a support provided by the cylindrical unit 20. Fig. 2 illustrates the carrier unit in the process of receiving article T in a pre- storage form from a pallet S located in the store 2 shown in Fig. l. At this time, the end flange element 21 is removed from the contact with cylindrical unit 20, to which it is locked e.g. with a screw clamp 22 (Fig. 3) . Starting from the situation shown in Fig. 2 and in the direction of an arrow 23, the article T in a pre-storage form can be placed by way of its open centre to be supported by the cylindrical unit 20. In other words, the pre-storage form consisting of an endless loop assembly is suspended to be supported by the cylindrical unit. The end of this cylindrical unit, abutting against the upright support assembly 16, is further fitted with an arresting flange 24 extending from the outer periphery of cylindrical unit 20 the same way as the end flange element 21. Thus, particularly in the conveyance situation shown in Fig. 3, the article T retains its position on top of the cylindrical unit 20 and is not able to shift itself laterally off the top of said cylindrical unit. In the position shown in Fig. 3, while the article T is supported by carrier unit 7, a transfer operation shown in Fig. 1 by the arrows 6 is carried out and the transfer operation terminates in the position shown in Fig. 4. At this point, the mechanisms 14 and 19 are fixed together and a transfer movement of the carrier unit is effected in the direction of

an arrow 25. Thus, the mechanism 19, comprising the distal end of a carrier-unit extension 26, will proceed into the hole 14 and the carrier unit 7 and the storage unit 5 will be locked relative to each other in such a manner that forces produced during the transfer movements of article T over to a holder 10 are not capable of moving said units 5, 7 relative to each other.

Especially in reference to Fig. 5, it can be appre¬ ciated that one preferred feature in a carrier unit of the invention is the possibility of switching the elements 18 for receiving article T from the carrier- unit transfer position, which is shown e.g. in Fig. 4 and in which the centre axis of cylindrical unit 20 extends in the transfer direction of carrier unit 7 i.e. forward, to at least one other position, i.e. to the position for removing article T from the support provided by carrier unit 7. Such a position is shown in Fig. 5 and, thus, in the illustrated embodiment, said carrier unit 7 includes equipment to be described hereinafter for rotating said elements 18 for receiving article T through 90° sideways about the vertical axis from the carrier-unit transfer position. In Fig. 5, the rotation to the transfer position of article T has been effected to the right for bringing the elements 18 for receiving article T substantially in line with a holder 10a since said mechanisms 14 are located in a central position between two vertical rows of holders in alignment with the upright support column 9 and, in a similar fashion, the second mechanism 19 included in extension 26 is located centrally in the front portion of the carrier unit directly belowd the carrier-unit transfer position (Fig. 3) . Thus, the described solution is capable of providing the benefit that, after establishing a locking between storage unit 5 and carrier unit 7 by using said mechanisms 14, 19, an article T supported by the carrier unit

can be rotated through 90° from the transfer position of carrier unit to the transfer position of article T for the storage effected onto a holder located on either side of the upright column 9. Fig. 5 shows particularly that a holder 10 included in the right- hand vertical row is intended to be filled with article T, said article T being unloaded from the support provided by elements 18 while rotating the cylindrical holder around the medial axle 11. The cylindrical unit 20 can also be adapted to be rotatable around the centre axle 27 of said cylindrical unit for a more convenient unloading. Respectively, it is totally possible to unload e.g. a major retail amount from a holder 10 onto the support provided by elements 18 for carrying such amount e.g. to the customer's own transport vehicle.

The upright support assembly 16 is preferably vertical¬ ly adjustable e.g. by means of a telescopic mechanism (Fig. 4) , the upright support assembly having a bottom section 16a which is tubular and a top section 16b which is rod-shaped and fitted with said elements 18 for receiving article T as well as with said handle 17. Between the sections 16a, 16b of said upright support assembly 16 is provided a vertical adjustment locking mechanism, e.g. a series of vertical holes in the bottom section 16a of said upright support assembly for inserting thereby a locking pin 28 through the bottom section 16a of said upright support assembly 16, said locking pin providing a support for the front surface of said top section 16b. The locking pin 28 serves as a bearing surface during the rotations of top section 16b shown by arrows 29 in Fig. 5. The top section 16b is further provided with another series of elements, especially cross-holes, whereby a second locking pin 32 can be used for ldocking said means 19 in the positions shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

As described hereinbefore, said second mechanims 19 are provided in connection with and preferably at the end of an elongated horizontal extension 26, projecting from the base element 15 in the carrier-unit transfer direction. The extension 26 or a like is at the same time adapted to serve as a supporting leg for standing up the carrier unit and provided for this purpose with a base pad 30 or a like. Thus, the other points of support for the carrier unit comprise a pair of wheels 31 included in the base element 15 and mounted on the opposite ends of an axle beam 15a included in the base element. The longitudinal direction of said axle beam 15a is substantially perpendicular to that of said extension 26 or the like. Thus, the carrier unit 7 is provided with a three-point support in its standing.

The operation of holders 10 can be effected either manually with an operating lever (not shown) or the medial axle 11 can be fitted e.g. with an electric motor drive.

The carrier unit can also be used as an installation stand.