Below-Container Gripping Frame for Obstructed Container Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gripping devices used by load handling devices in grid storage structures often fail to properly align and engage with storage containers due to obstructions, leading to insecure or incomplete gripping.
Innovation Solution
A gripping device with a frame and gripping mechanism that allows for releasable engagement from below the container, featuring a downwardly extending peripheral wall with a central opening and bridge member for routing components, along with sensors and actuators for precise alignment and secure gripping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the gripping device uses a conventional solid frame structure, then structural strength is improved, but alignment and engagement with containers is worsened due to obstructions from protruding items
Solution Approach 1:
The frame is segmented by introducing openings that divide the solid structure into multiple sections. This segmentation allows protruding items to pass through the openings without blocking the gripping mechanism's alignment and engagement with the container, while the remaining frame structure maintains sufficient structural strength.
2Force
If the gripping device engages from above the container, then gripping force is improved, but engagement is worsened when obstructions prevent proper alignment
Solution Approach 1:
The gripping mechanism is inverted to engage with the container from below instead of from above. This inversion allows the gripping mechanism to bypass obstructions on the container's top surface and engage with the container's bottom or side surfaces, ensuring reliable engagement even when the top surface is obstructed.
Data Source
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AI summary
A gripping device (100) for being suspended from a load handling device for lifting and moving containers stacked in stacks in a grid storage structure comprising a plurality of tracks arranged in a grid pattern above the stacks of containers. The gripping device comprises a frame (101) having a top side and a bottom side. The frame has a substantially downwardly extending peripheral wall (108) defining at least one opening (111) through the top side and bottom side of the frame. A gripping mechanism (150) is mounted to the peripheral wall and is configured to releasably grip a container from below the frame.