Modular Transport Pallet Layout for Tall Computer Rack Handling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for handling and transporting high-density computer racks are unsafe and inefficient, requiring multiple operators and limited by door height, leading to difficulties in maximizing rack height and exposing equipment to adverse weather conditions during depalletization.
Innovation Solution
A packaging layout utilizing a transport pallet with separable modules and anchoring means that allows the computer rack to be securely attached and lifted, enabling higher rack heights and safer, single-operator depalletization, while minimizing space between the pallet and rack, and facilitating the use of handling devices like fork lifts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the rack height is increased to maximize storage capacity, then the useful height of the rack is improved, but the passage height under the upper frame of the doors becomes a limiting factor that restricts the rack height when palletized
Solution Approach 1:
The pallet is divided into separable modules (side modules and intermediate supporting means) that can be detached. This allows the rack to be separated from the pallet structure, enabling the rack height to exceed the door passage height while still being transportable through standard doors when assembled with the pallet.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses dynamic anchoring means that can be attached and detached. The anchoring means are laid out facing each other to maintain the rack in a horizontal position during transport, and can be quickly secured or released depending on whether the rack needs to be moved through doorways or installed in its final high-position location.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional palletization methods are used with ramps, then the loading process is simple, but the depalletization procedure requires two or three operators and reveals safety deficiencies
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the mechanical ramp-based loading system with a lifting device (such as a forklift). The anchoring means are designed to work with lifting devices, allowing the rack to be vertically lifted onto the pallet rather than rolled up a ramp. This substitution enables single-operator depalletization while maintaining safety, as the lifting device provides controlled and stable handling of the heavy rack.
3Ease of operation
If the rack is depalletized outside buildings to avoid door height limitations, then the rack can be handled, but the hardware is exposed to adverse weather conditions and requires transport to the room
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the pallet into modular components with detachable anchoring means, the rack can be kept assembled and protected on the pallet while being moved through doorways. The pallet structure acts as a protective enclosure that shields the hardware from weather during transport and installation, eliminating the need for outdoor depalletization.
4Strength
If anchoring means are distributed under the lower face of the rack on either side of the vertical median plane, then the rack is securely attached to the pallet, but the space between the pallet top and rack lower face must be minimized
Solution Approach 1:
The anchoring means are positioned asymmetrically distributed under the lower face of the rack on either side of the vertical median plane. This asymmetric distribution optimizes the attachment security by creating a stable triangular support configuration with the intermediate supporting means, while minimizing the gap distance between the pallet top and rack lower face through strategic positioning.
Data Source
AI summary
A layout for packaging a computer rack comprises a transport pallet (2) and a computer rack; the computer rack being associable with casters extending vertically by a first distance relatively to a lower face of the rack. The computer rack is made integral with the pallet by two anchoring means distributed on the underside of the rack on either side of a vertical median plane (P1); the pallet includes two side modules and an intermediate supporting means separable from the remainder of the pallet and allowing the side modules to be connected. The side modules are removably attached to the anchoring means, so as to ensure that the computer rack is maintained in a horizontal position, and that the pallet is spaced away from the underside of the rack by a second distance (H2) smaller than said first distance.