Article Transport Facility With Temporary Placing Stand
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Solution Overview
Problem
In article transport facilities, the use of unmanned transport vehicles can lead to delays when no vehicle is available to receive articles, disrupting the supply chain and causing delays in subsequent operations.
Innovation Solution
An article transport facility with a temporary placing stand adjacent to the transport path allows articles to be stored temporarily when no vehicle is available, ensuring continuous supply from the article supply unit, and includes a work area for transferring articles to vehicles and a sorting area for organizing deliveries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If unmanned transport vehicles are used instead of conveyors, then the degree of freedom of transport is increased, but delays occur when no vehicle is available to receive articles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a temporary placing stand where articles can be stored in advance before being transferred to transport vehicles. This preliminary storage capability ensures that articles are ready for immediate transfer when vehicles become available, eliminating waiting time and maintaining continuous supply operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The temporary placing stand acts as an intermediary between the article supply unit and transport vehicles. It serves as a buffer zone that decouples the supply process from the transport process, allowing articles to be supplied continuously while vehicles are prepared or en route, thus resolving the timing mismatch without reducing transport flexibility.
2Device complexity
If articles are transferred directly from supply unit to transport vehicle, then the transfer process is simplified, but the supply unit must stop when no vehicle is available
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the transfer process into two distinct locations: a work area for direct transfer to transport vehicles and a temporary placing stand for intermediate storage. This segmentation allows the supply unit to operate continuously by switching between these two destinations, maintaining productivity while keeping the transfer process relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a temporal dimension to the transfer process by introducing intermediate storage. Instead of a direct one-to-one transfer, articles can be held in the temporary placing stand until a vehicle is available, effectively adding a time buffer without significantly increasing spatial or operational complexity.
3Reliability
If the article supply unit stops when no transport vehicle is available, then article transfer is prevented, but delays occur in subsequent operations
Solution Approach 1:
The temporary placing stand enables preliminary storage of articles that are ready for transfer. When transport vehicles are unavailable, articles are placed on the stand rather than halting the supply unit, ensuring that transfer can resume immediately when vehicles become available, thus preventing delays in subsequent operations while maintaining transfer reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
An article transport facility (100) includes a work area placed adjacent to a transport path (Fr) from a first side (Y1) in a path width direction and adjacent to an article supply unit (Pg) from a first side (X1) in a path direction so that articles (G) supplied from the article supply unit (Pg) are transferred to a transport vehicle (V). A temporary placing stand (1) on which the articles (G) supplied from the article supply unit (Pg) are temporarily placed is provided for a region adjacent to the work area (WA) from a second side (X2) in the path direction and sandwiched between the transport path (Fr) and the article supply unit (Pg) in the path width direction (Y).