Container Base Switching for High-Density Vertical Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional storage systems with large and heavy racks face challenges in reducing the size or weight while maintaining storage capacity.
Innovation Solution
A storage system with a base that supports containers and a transport robot, featuring a load unit, lift unit, and switch unit to manage vertical movement, allowing for efficient stacking and unstacking of containers to optimize storage density.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If large and heavy racks are used to increase storage capacity, then storage capacity is improved, but rack size and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The rack is divided into multiple levels with individual support structures for each level. Each level can independently support containers, allowing the rack to achieve high storage capacity through vertical segmentation rather than relying on a single heavy structure. The support members are distributed throughout the rack body, providing localized support where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from horizontal expansion to vertical expansion by adding multiple levels stacked vertically. Containers are arranged in vertical columns with support members positioned at different heights. This vertical dimensionality allows the rack to increase storage capacity without proportionally increasing its footprint or overall weight, as the same support structure serves multiple levels.
2Weight of stationary object
If rack size is reduced to decrease weight, then rack weight is improved, but storage capacity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The rack incorporates movable support members that can be adjusted vertically along the rack structure. This dynamic capability allows the support members to be positioned at optimal heights for different container weights and sizes, enabling the same rack structure to adapt to various storage configurations without requiring additional heavy structural elements for each specific arrangement.
Solution Approach 2:
The support members are designed to serve multiple functions: they provide structural support, enable vertical adjustment of container positions, and facilitate the stacking of multiple container levels. This multi-functionality allows the rack to maintain high storage capacity with a lighter structure, as the same components perform multiple roles rather than requiring separate dedicated elements for each function.
Data Source
AI summary
The storage system includes a base that supports a container for accommodating articles and a transport robot for transporting the container. The transport robot has a load unit that can load the container and a lift unit for moving the load unit in the vertical direction. The transport robot has a switch unit for switching between a state in which the base restricts the vertical movement of the container and a state in which the base does not restrict the vertical movement of the container. When the storage system increases the number of containers supported by the base, the lift unit moves the container to be stored from a position below the support position on the base to the support position in a state in which the base does not restrict the vertical movement of the container. After the container to be stored reaches the support position, the switch unit switches from a state in which the base does not restrict the vertical movement of the container to a state in which the base restricts the vertical movement of the container.