Container Lifting Frame Alignment With Adjustable Band Connectors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container-handling vehicles in automated storage and retrieval systems require complex lifting devices with numerous secondary shafts and sheaves, which are service-intensive and occupy significant space, necessitating manual adjustments that are cumbersome and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A container-handling vehicle with a lifting device featuring a lifting band drive assembly, a horizontal lifting frame, and adjustable lifting band connectors, allowing for horizontal alignment of the lifting frame without additional guiding assemblies, using a minimum of parts and enabling easy adjustment of lifting band lengths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple movable parts and band guiding assemblies are used in the lifting device, then the lifting function is achieved, but the device complexity and space occupancy increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the band guiding assemblies from the lifting device, extracting only the essential lifting function. The lifting bands are connected directly to the lifting shaft without intermediate guiding components, significantly reducing the number of parts while maintaining the lifting capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using complex band guiding assemblies to control the lifting bands, the patent inverts the approach by allowing the lifting bands to connect directly to the rotating lifting shaft. The shaft's rotation directly controls the bands' movement, eliminating the need for separate guiding mechanisms.
2Reliability
If multiple movable parts and band guiding assemblies are used in the lifting device, then the lifting function is achieved, but the space occupied by the lifting device increases
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the band guiding assemblies, the patent extracts unnecessary space-consuming components. The lifting device occupies significantly less vertical and horizontal space, allowing for more compact vehicle design and better utilization of the storage system's three-dimensional grid.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the function of the band guiding assemblies into the lifting shaft itself. The shaft performs both the rotation function and the implicit guiding function of the bands, consolidating multiple functions into a single component and reducing overall device volume.
3Ease of manufacture
If manual adjustment of lifting bands is required, then the lifting device can be maintained, but the ease of operation and maintenance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The lifting device is designed to be inherently adjustable through the adjustable lifting band connectors, which allow for simple vertical positioning adjustments. This self-adjustable design eliminates the need for complex manual intervention and specialized maintenance procedures, enabling easier on-site adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic adjustability to the lifting band connectors, allowing them to be vertically adjusted to different positions. This dynamic capability enables the system to adapt to wear and tension changes without requiring complete disassembly or complex manual adjustment procedures.
4Device complexity
If the lifting frame cannot maintain a horizontal plane, then the structure is simpler, but the operational reliability and precision decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustable lifting band connectors enable the lifting frame to dynamically maintain a horizontal plane during operation. By allowing vertical adjustment of the band connectors, the system can compensate for any deviations and ensure the lifting frame remains level, improving operational reliability without significant structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the vertical position parameter of the lifting band connectors to enable horizontal plane maintenance. By adjusting the vertical distance between the lifting frame and the lifting shaft through the adjustable connectors, the system ensures the lifting frame operates in a consistent horizontal plane, improving precision and reliability.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The present invention provides a container-handling vehicle (9') for picking up storage containers (6) from a three-dimensional grid (4) of an underlying storage system (1), comprising a vehicle body (13) and at least one lifting device (18') for lifting a storage container (6) from the grid (4), the lifting device (18') comprises a lifting band drive assembly (47,47',31), a horizontal lifting frame (17) and a plurality of lifting bands (16a, 16b); the lifting band drive assembly (47,47',31) is connected to the vehicle body (13) and comprises at least one rotatable lifting shaft (22.22'); the lifting frame (17,17') comprises four corner sections (36), gripper elements (24) for releasable connection to a storage container (6), and a lifting band connector (32,32') arranged at each of the corner sections; the lifting bands (16a,16b) are connected to the lifting band drive assembly (47,47',31) and the lifting band connectors (32,32'), such that the lifting frame (17,17') may move in a vertical direction relative to the lifting band drive assembly by rotation of the lifting shaft (22,22'); wherein at least three of the lifting band connectors (32,32') are adjustable, such that the vertical distance between the respective corner sections and the lifting band drive assembly may be adjusted.