Driverless Transport Vehicle With Modular Electronics for Faster Maintenance

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing driverless transport vehicles face challenges in efficiently maintaining and replacing electrical and electronic components due to limited space, requiring complex and time-consuming processes that increase downtime.

Innovation Solution

A modular design with interchangeable modules in the vehicle's chassis, separating components into front, middle, and rear sections, allowing quick replacement and maintenance in a dust-free environment, with integrated electronic control units and simplified electrical connections.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If electrical and electronic components are integrated directly into the transport vehicle chassis, then the vehicle structure is compact and space-efficient, but component replacement and maintenance become time-consuming and complex

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecomponent replacement easeVSAvoidmaintenance downtime
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the vehicle into modular sections (front vehicle section, middle vehicle section, rear vehicle section) separated by partition walls. Electrical and electronic components are concentrated in the middle vehicle section, which can be independently accessed and maintained without disassembling the entire vehicle, thus reducing maintenance downtime while maintaining compact overall structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts electrical and electronic components from the integrated chassis structure and places them in a dedicated middle vehicle section. This separation allows the middle section to be removed or accessed independently for maintenance, enabling quick component replacement without affecting the rest of the vehicle structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Loss of time

If components are easily accessible for maintenance, then replacement time is reduced, but vehicle structure complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecomponent replacement timeVSAvoidvehicle structure complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of timeVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The vehicle is segmented into three functional sections separated by partition walls, with the middle section housing all electrical and electronic components. This segmentation provides easy access to components through the rear opening while adding minimal structural complexity compared to a fully integrated design.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The middle vehicle section serves multiple functions: it houses electrical components, provides access for maintenance through the rear opening, and can be independently removed or serviced. This multi-functionality reduces overall vehicle complexity by combining several purposes into a single modular section.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP4153525B1Driverless transport vehicle with improved maintainability
Publication Date: 2025.09.03 CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGIES GMBH
  • EP4153525B1 patent drawingFigure 1a~3
  • EP4153525B1 patent drawingFigure 4a~4b
  • EP4153525B1 patent drawingFigure 5~7b

AI summary

The invention relates to a driverless, in particular automatically guided transport vehicle (1) for conveying payloads, in particular a material transport vehicle in a plant, having a payload lifting device (2). For improved maintenance capability in particular for electrical and electronic components and systems, it is proposed that a removable interchangeable module (2), in which a plurality of electrical and/or electronic components are combined, is arranged in the chassis (8).