Cooled storage system
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing storage systems for refrigerated and frozen food products lack efficient logistics for maintaining controlled temperatures during storage and delivery, leading to prolonged times between storage and distribution.
Innovation Solution
A cooled storage system with a grid structure of storage cells and remotely operated vehicles, featuring thermal insulation and a cooling unit, allowing for separate temperature zones and efficient bin handling and delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the grid structure and vehicles operate in the same cooled environment, then the stored products maintain controlled temperatures, but the vehicle performance deteriorates due to cold conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the temperature control function into two separate zones: a cooled zone for the grid structure containing stored products, and a room temperature zone for the vehicles. This segmentation allows each component to operate in its optimal temperature range, resolving the contradiction between product temperature control and vehicle performance
Solution Approach 2:
Thermal insulation acts as an intermediary barrier between the cooled grid structure and the vehicles. This insulation layer maintains the temperature differential, allowing vehicles to operate at room temperature while the grid structure maintains controlled cooling for stored products
2Device complexity
If manual retrieval methods are used in cold storage, then equipment complexity is reduced, but productivity deteriorates due to slow retrieval times
Solution Approach 1:
The automated vehicles perform retrieval operations autonomously without requiring manual intervention. The vehicles navigate to storage locations, retrieve bins, and deliver them to designated ports, enabling the system to serve itself and achieve high productivity through automation while maintaining relatively simple system architecture
3Temperature
If the entire storage system is cooled, then product temperature control is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of cooling the entire storage system, only the grid structure sections containing stored products are cooled. The vehicles operate in uncooled areas, reducing the overall volume requiring temperature control and thereby decreasing energy consumption while maintaining adequate product temperature control in the necessary zones
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system maintains efficient logistics while ensuring controlled temperatures for stored products, improving delivery times and vehicle performance by maintaining room temperature for the vehicles, thus enhancing operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
there is provided thermal insulation between at least a section of the grid structure and the remotely operated vehicle
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2
Figure 3A~3
AI summary
A cooled storage system comprises a grid structure (20) of storage cells, where each cell is arranged to accommodate a vertical stack of storage bins and having a top level, at least one remotely operated vehicle (27) arranged to move at the top level of the grid structure (20) and receive a bin from a storage cell at the top level of the grid structure (20), where there is provided thermal insulation between at least a section of the grid structure (20) and the remotely operated vehicle (27), and said section of the grid structure (20) has a temperature that is lower than the temperature of the remotely operated vehicle (27).