High-Bay Empty Container Stacking for Automated Warehouse Throughput
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Solution Overview
Problem
The handling of empty containers in high bay storage systems is often manual and inefficient, requiring separate storage areas and additional vehicles, which limits automation and throughput.
Innovation Solution
A high bay storage system design that integrates areas for stacking empty containers directly within the system, eliminating separate rack compartments and utilizing stacker cranes for automated handling, allowing for 'double deep' storage and minimizing material use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If separate storage areas for empty containers are provided outside the high bay storage system, then empty containers can be stacked directly one on top of the other, but this requires additional vehicles and manual handling, reducing automation and increasing time consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the empty container storage function into the high bay storage system by providing storage locations (6a, 6b) within the system boundaries. This eliminates the need for separate external storage areas and integrates empty container handling into the automated stacker crane system, thereby increasing automation while avoiding additional external infrastructure
Solution Approach 2:
The stacker crane system is designed to perform multiple functions: handling both loaded and empty containers, and performing both storage and retrieval operations. The storage locations (6a, 6b) are configured to accommodate empty containers in addition to the standard rack compartments for loaded containers, making the system multi-functional and eliminating the need for separate dedicated empty container handling vehicles
2Quantity of substance
If standard rack compartments are used for all container types, then loaded containers can be stored efficiently, but empty containers cannot be stacked high enough to maximize space utilization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage system into different types of storage locations: standard rack compartments (3) for loaded containers and specialized storage locations (6a, 6b) for empty containers. This segmentation allows each type of storage location to be optimized for its specific purpose, enabling empty containers to be stacked higher (5-8 containers deep) than would be possible in standard rack compartments
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the vertical dimension by allowing empty containers to be stacked directly one on top of the other in the storage locations (6a, 6b), creating deep stacks of 5-8 containers. This vertical stacking approach maximizes space utilization by fully utilizing the height of the bay warehouse, whereas standard rack compartments would limit stacking height due to the need for access aisles and structural support
3Productivity
If manual handling of empty containers is used, then simple infrastructure is sufficient, but time consumption and labor requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service automated handling where the stacker crane automatically picks up, transports, and places empty containers into the storage locations (6a, 6b) without requiring manual intervention. The system can autonomously manage the entire empty container handling process, from receipt to storage, eliminating the need for manual labor and significantly reducing time consumption while maintaining high productivity
Data Source
AI summary
A high bay storage system for storing and retrieving containers includes a plurality of separate rack compartments arranged horizontally next to one another and vertically one above the other, and storage aisles arranged between groups of rack compartments and extending in parallel with one another and in each of which at least one stacker crane is moveable back and forth, this stacker crane being designed to move the containers vertically and horizontally and to move them into and out of the rack compartments. The high bay storage system, in addition to the separate rack compartments, has at least one area which is designed and suitable for receiving empty containers stacked one on top of the other. A method allows for storing and retrieving and relocating containers in such a high bay storage system.