Abstract: A cargo transport system for automated warehousing, wherein there are guide rail structures each mounted from an opposing shelving face structure of two rows of storage shelves extending substantially parallel to each other and present opposing shelving face structures toward one another, each of the guide rail structures including a guide rail with sides, at least one or more power supply conductors, or control signal conductors, or both power supply conductors and control signal conductors disposed substantially parallel to each other and arranged along the side of at least one guide rail, a cargo carrier adapted to roll over the guide rails, and collector attached from the load carrier for maintaining substantially constant electrically conducting contact with the power supply conductors and the control signals conductors for respectively powering and controlling the movement of the cargo carrier.

Abstract: A vehicle control system for a multi-branching track has a main travelling track for guiding a vehicle, a storage unit disposed before a branch point and storing data for selectively guiding the vehicle to one of a plurality of branch tracks, and a data-reading unit mounted on the vehicle and for reading the data stored at the storage unit. The storage unit stores data of branching directions of the branch tracks and further data of addresses of stations included in the respective branch tracks, with the data and further data being correlated with each other.

Abstract: A power-charging system for a transporter cart is disclosed. The system includes a power-supplying electrode disposed along and at a predetermined section of a travelling passage along which the transporter cart automatically runs by power from a battery mounted thereon and a power-receiving electrode attached to the transporter cart and a slide-contactable with the power-supplying electrode during the automatic run of the cart.

Abstract: A carriage running control system includes a plurality of readable and writable memory media installed along a running track of carriages. Each carriage is capable of communicating information with the memory media. The running track includes special zones such as curved sections, branching sections, merging sections, and sections including stations. When a preceding carriage is present in one of such special zones, the memory medium disposed at the entry end of this zone supplies presence information to a succeeding carriage to prevent the latter from entering the zone. A detector is disposed at the exit end of each such zone for detecting departure of the carriages and resetting the memory medium at the entry end.

Abstract: A travel control system for trains, especially monorail trains, is disclosed. At each stopping point, there is a stop target mounted adajcent to the rail. The train carries a detector for sensing the stop targets and bringing the train to a stop at such targets. At each stop, there is also provided a controllable signal transmitter, cooperating with a receiver carried by the train. The transmitter/receiver combination has a greater effective transmitting range, in a lengthwise direction, than the stop target and its detector. Accordingly, the normal stop instructions can be overridden by activation of the controllable transmitter, allowing the train to pass through the stopping point without stopping. The controllable transmitter is also useful for restarting a train stopped in the normal course.