Cargo handling systems employing conveyors are quite common in storage warehouses and the like. Such systems generally employ a continuously moving conveyor belt on which travels the material being handled, which material may be in the form of individual articles or boxes, bags or similar bundles. In more elaborate systems, a plurality of conveyor belts, traveling in different directions, are employed, such that material can be transported simultaneously to various locations about the warehouse.
However, where such multi-directional conveyor systems are desired and employed, they are usually not fully reversible resulting in limited usability of the system. Because the change in direction is most often accomplished by merely permitting the cargo to drop from a conveyor traveling in one direction to a second conveyor traveling in an angular direction, the possibility of reversing the travel of the system, as is often desired, does not exist.
Furthermore, in warehouses having most types of known conveyor systems, workers are required to add and remove material from the continuously moving conveyor belt at the appropriate locations. The workers also must transport the material between the conveyor belt and the physical location where the material is stored.
When the material is quite heavy and/or when the distance between the conveyor and the physical storage location is great, the workers are strained to keep the material handling rate as high as possible. As a result, more workers or additional equipment, such as fork-lift trucks, are required to keep up with the flow of material on the continuously moving conveyor. Alternatively, additional conveyor systems can be installed thereby minimizing the distances from the various physical storage areas. However, such additional conveyor systems are costly, require additional floor space otherwise available for storage, and do not resolve the problems the worker faces when handling heavy material.
Despite the many warehouse facilities in existence, and the continuing need to handle material efficiently, with minimal man-power, no known material handling system is available to efficiently transport material between a continually moving conveyor and a storage area or cargo carrier, particularly if the material is heavy and/or the distance from the conveyor is great.