Automated Garment Storage and Retrieval With Autonomous Hook Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing garment-on-hanger (GOH) storage and retrieval systems require significant human labor, limiting efficiency and increasing costs due to the need for manual handling at multiple stages.
Innovation Solution
An automated storage and retrieval system utilizing autonomous transport vehicles and storage/retrieval apparatuses that can independently move within a storage area, manipulate GOH items, and use standardized mounting hooks to minimize interference, enabling automated storage and retrieval of GOH items across multiple levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If overhead conveyors are used to transport GOH items, then transportation efficiency is improved, but significant human labor is still required for handling items
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs autonomous transport vehicles that can independently navigate the storage area and autonomously retrieve/store GOH items without human intervention. The vehicles self-navigate using sensors and processors, and automatically interact with storage racks, eliminating the need for manual handling while maintaining efficient transportation.
2Ease of operation
If workers manually handle GOH items at multiple stages, then flexibility in handling is maintained, but system efficiency and cost-effectiveness are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical handling by workers with automated robotic systems. Autonomous transport vehicles perform the functions previously done manually - retrieving, transporting, and storing GOH items - thereby eliminating human labor while maintaining operational flexibility through programmable control.
3Area of stationary object
If multiple autonomous vehicles operate simultaneously, then storage area coverage is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses sensors and processors in each autonomous vehicle to detect the locations of other vehicles and dynamically adjusts routes to avoid collisions. This feedback mechanism enables multiple vehicles to operate simultaneously in the same storage area without interfering with each other, expanding coverage while managing complexity through intelligent control.
Data Source
AI summary
An automated storage and retrieval system for managing the contents of a garment-on-hanger (GOH) storage area includes an autonomous “transporter” that is configured to transport GOH items between the processing area and the storage area and an automated “forager” that can hold and manipulate a GOH item to place it in, or retrieve it from, a storage location. The transporter and forager work together to automatically store and retrieve GOH items, riding on a system of rails and moving between vertical levels on an elevator. Standardized “mother hooks” are used from which the GOH items hang, which may be held by a picker arm of the forager, and inserted into slots in storage areas and on the transporter. Blades on the forager may be inserted to either side of a GOH item to allow adjacent GOH items to be displaced during manipulation.