An guide apparatus and method for collecting and moving material into or
away from a selected bin (30a, 30b, 30c) that resides within an array of
storage bins. The guide apparatus comprises three or more trolleys (90,
91, 92, 93, 94, 95a, 95b, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105,
106, 107, 108) that move along at least one track (79, 80, 81, 82, 83,
84, 86a, 86b, 86c, 86d, 86e, 86f, 87a, 87b, 88a, 88b, 89) to create a
guide assembly for a conveyor (60) or conveyor groups (67, 68, 69, 70).
By moving the trolleys (90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95a, 95b, 96, 97, 98, 99,
100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108) along the track (79, 80, 81,
82, 83, 84, 86a, 86b, 86c, 86d, 86e, 86f, 87a, 87b, 88a, 88b, 89), or
track (79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 86a, 86b, 86c, 86d, 86e, 86f, 87a, 87b,
88a, 88b, 89) along the trolleys (90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95a, 95b, 96, 97,
98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108), the conveyor (60)
or conveyor groups (67, 68, 69, 70) can distribute material to or reclaim
material from a selected storage bin (30a, 30b, 30c) using minimal amount
of linear meters of conveyance (60). The guide apparatus and method can
have multiple layers of guide assemblies (110, 112, 114, 120, 122, 124,
126, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 152,
154, 156, 158, 160, 162) to guide conveyor (60) or conveyor groups (67,
68, 69, 70). The guide apparatus and method can have the guide assemblies
(110, 112, 114, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140,
142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 162) combined in a wide
variety of configurations that best suits a particular application.