Importance

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Abstract

A passive discharge mechanism for discharging articles from a trolley at selected locations is disclosed. The trolley may be equipped with on-board intelligence for communicating with an external controller, monitoring the trolley's location, and signaling actuation of a moveable member for engaging the passive discharge mechanism as the trolley reaches a selected destination for an article conveyed by the trolley. In one aspect the passive discharge mechanism comprises a transverse conveyor; in another aspect the passive discharge mechanism includes a tilt-type tray. A trolley for conveying articles along a monorail having arcuate portions includes a rigid frame having a longitudinal axis and opposed ends is also disclosed. A pair of rotatable yokes are coupled to the frame adjacent to the opposed ends of the frame for rotational movement around an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis as the trolley car travels along an arcuate portion of the monorail, each of the yokes having a pair of opposed arms extending from the mainframe, a pair of guide wheels mounted on each of the opposed arms for rotational contact with a guide surface of the monorail, and a load bearing wheel mounted adjacent to each of the opposed ends of the rigid frame, each of the load bearing wheels being rotatable around an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis for rotational movement around the axis as the trolley car travels along an arcuate portion of the monorail, the load bearing wheels extending through an uppermost portion of the rigid frame and contacting an upper load bearing surface of the monorail.

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First Claim