An arcuate 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 arcuate 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
arcuate 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 arcuate 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.