Gripper Guide Structure for Stable Container Transfer Outside Shafts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing storage and retrieval systems face challenges in guiding grippers for containers of varying heights, leading to inaccurate positioning, swinging movements, potential damage, and reduced performance due to complex guide devices that increase the transport vehicle's height and disrupt driving dynamics.
Innovation Solution
A storage and retrieval system with a guide device featuring guide elements that protrude upward from the gripper or can be moved downward from the shaft, ensuring secure guidance of the gripper outside the shaft or storage column, maintaining the transport vehicle's driving dynamics by minimizing the increase in its height.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the gripper moves outside the shaft to transfer containers of different heights, then access to containers is enabled, but the gripper becomes unguided leading to inaccurate positioning and swinging movements
Solution Approach 1:
A guide element is introduced as an intermediary component between the gripper and the shaft structure. This guide element extends beyond the shaft supports to provide continuous guidance to the gripper when it moves outside the shaft, eliminating the unguided state that causes positioning inaccuracies and swinging movements while maintaining adaptability to different container heights
Solution Approach 2:
The guide element extends in the vertical dimension beyond the shaft supports, creating a new spatial dimension for guidance. This vertical extension allows the gripper to maintain guidance contact even when positioned outside the shaft, solving the positioning accuracy problem without constraining the horizontal movement needed for container access
2Ease of operation
If the gripper is unguided when moving outside the shaft, then container transfer is possible, but damage to the gripper may occur due to swinging movements
Solution Approach 1:
The guide element serves as a protective intermediary that maintains guidance contact with the gripper during external movements. This continuous guidance prevents uncontrolled swinging movements that could damage the gripper, while still allowing the gripper to move outside the shaft for container transfer operations
Solution Approach 2:
The guide element provides preemptive guidance constraints before the gripper can develop harmful swinging movements. By maintaining guidance contact in advance during the transition outside the shaft, it prevents the development of unstable movements that could lead to gripper damage
3Manufacturing precision
If a guide shuttle is arranged above the gripper to provide guidance, then positioning accuracy is improved, but the transport vehicle structure becomes complex and high
Solution Approach 1:
The guidance function is extracted from the transport vehicle structure and relocated to the shaft structure through the guide element. This separation eliminates the need for complex guide shuttles mounted on the transport vehicle, simplifying the vehicle structure while maintaining positioning accuracy through the shaft-integrated guide element
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of mounting the guide element on the transport vehicle (as in conventional guide shuttles), the guide element is integrated into the shaft structure. This inversion of the mounting approach simplifies the transport vehicle while achieving the same guidance function through the shaft-based guide element
Data Source
AI summary
A storage and retrieval system for containers that can be moved along a shaft of a station by way of a gripper. A guide device for guided vertical movement of the gripper is designed such that (a) the guide device has at least one guide element which protrudes upward from the gripper, for guiding cooperation with the shaft or a storage column and/or with an upper closure element of a transport vehicle and/or gripper, and projects upward at least in the uppermost position of the gripper beyond an upper end of the transport vehicle or the closure element, or terminates flush with the upper end or the closure element, and/or (b) the guide device has at least one guide element which can be moved downwards from a lower end of the shaft or from at least one support of the shaft, for guiding cooperation with the gripper and/or the container.