Rotating Carousel Dolly for Safer Parts Bin Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Dollies used in manufacturing environments often require workers to move to the side of the dolly facing away from the workstation to access parts, increasing assembly time and the risk of injury due to proximity to plant traffic flow.
Innovation Solution
A dolly with a rotatable carousel and locking mechanisms that allow automatic locking at 90° orientations, enabling easy access to parts from any side and reducing the need for workers to move adjacent to plant traffic.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If parts bins are loaded onto opposite or adjacent sides of the dolly to maximize space utilization, then space efficiency is improved, but workers must move to different sides of the dolly to access parts, increasing assembly time and injury risk
Solution Approach 1:
The dolly incorporates a rotatable carousel mechanism that allows the platform to be dynamically reoriented. Workers can rotate the carousel to bring any side with parts bins to the optimal access position, eliminating the need to move to different sides of the dolly. This dynamic reconfiguration maintains high space utilization while providing continuous access to all parts from a single workstation location.
2Area of moving object
If parts bins are loaded onto opposite or adjacent sides of the dolly to maximize space utilization, then space efficiency is improved, but workers must move to different sides of the dolly to access parts, increasing injury risk due to proximity to plant traffic flow
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable carousel enables the dolly to dynamically present all parts bins to a single safe access location. Workers remain stationary at one position away from plant traffic flow while rotating the carousel to access different parts, eliminating exposure to moving vehicle traffic that would occur if workers moved to sides of the dolly adjacent to traffic.
3Ease of operation
If the carousel is made freely rotatable to allow easy access from any side, then accessibility is improved, but the carousel may rotate during transport, causing instability
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is pre-configured with multiple locking positions around the carousel's rotation path. Before transport, the operator rotates the carousel to the desired orientation and engages the locking mechanism to secure it in place. This preliminary action of pre-positioning and securing the carousel eliminates rotation during transport while maintaining the accessibility benefits of the rotatable design.
Data Source
AI summary
A dolly structured for transport of component parts bins to and from plant floor work sites includes a base and a carousel rotatably connected to the base. The carousel has a pair of opposed open sides, with each side structured to enable an entire array or arrangement of component parts bins to be loaded or unloaded onto the carousel at the same time. The dolly also incorporates a first locking mechanism structured to lock the carousel in any of four orientations spaced apart at intervals of 90° during rotation of the carousel. The arrangement described provides flexibility in loading and unloading the carousel with parts bins, decreases the total amount of space needed to load and unload the dolly, and the amount of space needed to maneuver the dolly into a position and orientation that is usable by a worker on the assembly line, and improves user safety.