Article Rearranging Device Sorting Bottleneck
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing article rearranging devices take a significant amount of time to rearrange articles from a receiving portion to a delivering portion in a specified order, due to inefficient sorting and transportation processes, leading to delays in delivery.
Innovation Solution
An article rearranging device with a series of collecting and transporting portions, controlled by a controller, that distributes and collects articles into groups based on their assigned order, allowing for sequential transportation from upstream to downstream branches, ensuring articles with earlier positions in the order are delivered before those with later positions, thereby optimizing the delivery process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If articles are sorted using multiple buffer lines with sequential primary and secondary sorting processes, then articles can be rearranged into the specified order, but the time required from receipt to delivery increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The sorting process is divided into multiple segments corresponding to different buffer lines, with each buffer line handling a specific range of article numbers. This segmentation allows parallel processing of different article groups simultaneously, reducing overall sorting time while maintaining accurate sorting into the specified order
Solution Approach 2:
Articles are pre-assigned to specific buffer lines based on their target positions in the specified order before the actual sorting operation begins. This preliminary assignment optimizes the sorting path and reduces the time required during the actual sorting process, as articles are directed straight to their destination buffer lines without unnecessary intermediate steps
2Ease of operation
If articles are collected in buffer lines grouped by ones digit first, then by tens digit, then articles are arranged in groups with same ones digits, but articles with sequential numbers are not collected efficiently in each buffer line
Solution Approach 1:
Each buffer line is assigned a specific local function of handling articles with particular number ranges (e.g., buffer line 1 for articles 1-10, buffer line 2 for articles 11-20). This localized specialization allows each buffer line to efficiently collect and hold its designated articles without interference from other buffer lines, improving overall collection efficiency while maintaining the ability to sort into the specified sequential order
Data Source
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AI summary
An arranging section A is provided to rearrange the order of articles B received by a receiving portion into a specified order. The articles are classified into article groups of the same number of articles as the number of the last collecting branch portions V. For each article group, elements of a subsequence representing the specified order assigned to a plurality of articles B forming an article group are elements of a consecutive subsequence for the articles forming the article group, so that the articles B in one article group are distributed and collected before the articles B in any other article group. And when transporting the plurality of articles B from the upstream collecting branch portions U to the last collecting branch portions V, the articles B in an article group formed by the articles B to which earlier positions in the specified order are assigned are distributed among the last collecting branch portions V before articles B in any other article group formed by articles B to which later positions in the specified order are assigned, and the articles B are distributed among, and collected in, the last collecting branch portions V, one by one in accordance with the specified order.