Traditionally, the storage and transportation of various materials in an inventory warehouse utilized the conventional wooden pallet. These conventional wooden pallets are usually transported by the use of either a hand truck or a conventional forklift. In either case, an operator moves the fork beneath the pallet, lifts the pallet and then physically moves the pallet to the desired location.
Conventional wooden pallets have many disadvantages. For instance, wooden pallets are subject to breakage, exposing sharp wooden edges, corners and nails, which can cause damage to both materials and to persons.
Additionally, the conventional pallets themselves are relatively heavy and cumbersome to maneuver even when utilizing the hand truck or forklift. Because of their weight and bulk, pallets are difficult for an individual person to carry from point to point. Pallets must frequently be moved from flatbed trucks onto loading docks, and vice versa. Therefore, when utilizing the conventional pallet, a hand truck or forklift must be present at every location.
In an effort to address some of the disadvantages previously described, pallets have been designed to incorporate an air bearing, film or cushion between the bottom of the pallet and the floor supporting the pallet. This design feature greatly eliminates friction between the pallet and the underlying floor enabling the pallet, along with its load, to be moved along the floor or other ground surface with relative ease.
In known warehouses, pallets and their loads are arranged side by side on one or more levels. The displacement of loaded pallets requires bulky, slow-acting and expensive transporting and lifting equipment that requires relatively broad access passageways to access the pallets. These access passageways involve a considerable loss of useful space in the warehouse. Furthermore, labor and maintenance are added costs that can be high utilizing traditional storage techniques.
The current invention provides a system and apparatus that is modular in design and able to automatically store, handle, retrieve and deliver bulk material inventory. The invention provides for aisle-less warehouses with the ability to automatically deliver palletized or other packaged goods and containers from the cargo bed of trucks, trains, planes, ships and the like directly onto the smooth floor of a warehouse. Additionally the invention can be used to move objects to any designated point in or out of the facility without manual human intervention.