Material handling system with queue chute

Abstract

A material handling system for the disposal of materials in multi-floor buildings. The material handling system has one or more main chutes each having one or more sets of loading stations, queue chutes, and gates. The queue chutes store material to be disposed, which is held back from entering into the main chute by the gate. The material is loaded into the queue chute via an opening in the loading station. The opening of the gates is controlled using a material handling system controller, which is controlled via a control panel or automatically using a timer or based upon the output of one or more level sensors that can determine the fullness of the queue chutes. The main chutes can have primary gates to allow for safe maintenance of the system. The loading stations can have secondary access to the main chutes.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A material handling system, comprising:
 at least one material handling chute assembly, each material handling chute assembly comprising:
 a main chute extending from an upper story to a lower story in a multi-floor building; 
 one or more loading stations each having an access opening and a bottom opening; 
 one or more queue chutes each comprising a substantially vertical section and a transition section, the vertical section connected at a first end to the bottom opening of one of the loading stations and the transition section connected at a second end to the main chute; and 
 one or more gates positioned proximate the second end of the queue chute to selectively open and close an aperture between the queue chute and the main chute. 
   
     
     
         2 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein:
 the main chute further comprises a main chute output and a primary gate positioned between the main chute and the main chute output to selectively open and close an aperture between the main chute and the main chute output.   
     
     
         3 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein:
 the transition section comprises a curve.   
     
     
         4 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein:
 the transition section is joined to the vertical section at an angle.   
     
     
         5 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein:
 each loading station further comprises a loading station access door for selectively providing access to the loading station.   
     
     
         6 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 one or more level sensors configured to determine the fullness of each queue chute.   
     
     
         7 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 6 , wherein:
 the one or more level sensors are further configured to determine a fullness time for each queue chute.   
     
     
         8 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein:
 each loading station is mounted to the main chute by one or more side struts.   
     
     
         9 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a material handling system controller configured to actuate the one or more gates.   
     
     
         10 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 9 , further comprising:
 one or more level sensors configured to determine the fullness of each queue chute;   the selective opening and closing of the one or more gates being automatically determined by an output of the level sensors.   
     
     
         11 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 10 , wherein
 the one or more level sensors are further configured to determine a fullness time for each queue chute.   
     
     
         12 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 one or more additional material handling chute assemblies.   
     
     
         13 . A material handling system, comprising:
 two or more material handling chute assemblies, each material handling chute assembly comprising:
 a main chute extending from an upper story to a lower story in a multi-floor building; 
 one or more loading stations each having an access opening and a bottom opening; 
 one or more queue chutes each comprising a substantially vertical section and a transition section, the vertical section connected at a first end to the bottom opening of one of the loading stations and the transition section connected at a second end to the main chute; and 
 one or more gates positioned proximate the second end of the queue chute to selectively open and close an aperture between the queue chute and the main chute. 
   
     
     
         14 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein:
 each main chute each further comprises a main chute output and a primary gate positioned between the main chute and the main chute output to selectively open and close an aperture between the main chute and the main chute output.   
     
     
         15 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein:
 each main chute of the two or more material handling chute assemblies terminates at an independently selected location.   
     
     
         16 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein:
 the transition section comprises a curve.   
     
     
         17 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein:
 the transition section is joined to the vertical section at an angle.   
     
     
         18 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein:
 each loading station further comprises a loading station access door for selectively providing access to the loading station.   
     
     
         19 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising:
 one or more level sensors configured to determine the fullness of each queue chute.   
     
     
         20 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 19 , wherein:
 the one or more level sensors are further configured to determine a fullness time for each queue chute.   
     
     
         21 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein:
 each loading station is mounted to the main chute by one or more side struts.   
     
     
         22 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising:
 a material handling system controller configured to actuate the one or more gates.   
     
     
         23 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 22 , further comprising:
 one or more level sensors configured to determine the fullness of each queue chute;   the selective opening and closing of the one or more gates being automatically determined by an output of the level sensors.   
     
     
         24 . The material handling system as recited in  claim 23 , wherein:
 the one or more level sensors are further configured to determine a fullness time for each queue chute.   
     
     
         25 . A method of creating a material handling system in an existing material handling system having a main chute and one or more loading stations connected to the main chute, comprising:
 cutting an opening into the bottom of each of the loading stations;   for each loading station, cutting a main chute access opening into the main chute, below the loading station, and;   mounting a queue chute having a vertical section and a transition section between each loading station opening and main chute access opening.