Load grasping apparatus for narrow aisle stacker crane

摘要

A warehouse stacker crane for inserting and removing a load in a storage station of a storage rack including a chassis movable horizontally along an aisle adjacent the storage rack, a carriage on the chassis which is movable vertically to a position aligned with the storage station, and load-grasping apparatus on the carriage for releasably grasping the load and for inserting and removing it from the storage station. The load grasping apparatus comprises a horizontally disposed rotatable splined shaft on which a pair of arms is mounted. The arms have load-engaging devices at their distal ends. The arms are swingable in horizontally spaced apart parallel vertical planes 15 as the shaft is selectively rotated. The arms are also slidably movable axially on the shaft toward and away from each other to grasp and release the load by a selectively operable actuator connected therebetween. Prior to load insertion and removal the arms are drawn toward each other to engage the load. During load 20 insertion and removal the carriage is moved vertically simultaneously with the arms (with load attached) being pivoted. As a result, the load moves only horizontally relative to the storage station. After load insertion, the carriage is lowered slightly to place the load in an at-rest position in the storage station. Prior to load removal, the carriage is raised slightly to raise the load from the at-rest position. A control system operates the stacker crane and the load-grasping apparatus.