Construction Material Handler With Sliding Bottom
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for moving materials between ground and upper levels on construction sites, such as temporary freight elevators and makeshift wooden boxes, are costly, unsafe, and inefficient, often violating safety regulations and requiring significant worker time and effort.
Innovation Solution
A material handler apparatus with a frame and mesh configuration, featuring a sliding mechanism for loading and unloading materials through a front opening, designed to be lightweight, easily assembled and disassembled, and compatible with cranes or forklifts, allowing safe and efficient material transfer without personnel entering the handler.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a temporary external freight elevator is used to move materials between ground and upper levels, then material transfer capability is improved, but cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The material handling system is divided into separable components: a container for holding materials and a lifting mechanism for vertical transport. This segmentation allows the system to achieve material transfer capability without the complexity of a complete freight elevator, as each component can be independently designed and assembled.
Solution Approach 2:
A container serves as an intermediary between the lifting mechanism and the materials. The container holds multiple materials and interfaces with the lifting mechanism for vertical transport, eliminating the need for direct mechanical handling of individual materials and reducing system complexity.
2Device complexity
If a makeshift wooden box is used to move materials with a crane or forklift, then equipment cost is reduced, but safety hazards increase due to workers needing to enter the box while suspended
Solution Approach 1:
The container is designed with features that enable self-loading and self-unloading operations. The loading ramp allows materials to be loaded without worker entry, and the discharge mechanism enables automatic material release at the destination, eliminating the safety hazard of workers entering suspended structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The hazardous function of worker entry into the container is extracted and replaced by mechanical loading and unloading mechanisms. The loading ramp and discharge mechanism perform the functions that previously required worker entry, thereby eliminating the safety hazard while maintaining equipment simplicity.
3Productivity
If a container with front opening is used for loading materials, then loading efficiency is improved, but structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The container structure implements local quality by concentrating structural reinforcement at critical locations (corners, edges, and support points) while maintaining an open front for loading efficiency. This allows the container to achieve both loading efficiency and structural strength by optimizing material distribution rather than uniformly thickening all walls.
4Productivity
If a sliding mechanism is added to enable material discharge, then unloading efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sliding mechanism transforms the static container bottom into a dynamic discharge surface. By enabling the bottom to move horizontally, the system achieves efficient material unloading through gravity-assisted discharge without requiring complex mechanical systems, as the motion is simple and the driving force is gravitational.
Data Source
AI summary
Various disclosed embodiments include apparatuses for handling construction site materials, methods of fabricating an apparatus for handling construction site materials, and methods of moving materials at a construction site. Given by way of example only and not of limitation, a non-limiting, illustrative apparatus for handling construction site materials includes: a frame defining an opening therein at a front of the frame; a mesh configured to fit over the frame; and a sliding mechanism disposable in the frame and configured to permit materials to be loaded into and unloaded out of the frame through the opening.