ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 23 -- United States Patent no. 12,421,087, issued on Sept. 23, was assigned to AutoStore Technology AS (Nedre Vats, Norway).
"Container-handling vehicle" was invented by Trond Austrheim (Etne, Norway).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A container-handling vehicle includes a lifting shaft having first and second end sections, a motor for rotating the lifting shaft, a lifting frame for releasably connecting to a storage container, and a first pair of lifting bands and a second pair of lifting bands connecting the lifting shaft to the lifting frame. Each lifting band has a first end connected to the lifting shaft and a second end connected to the lifting frame. Each pair of li...