Rack and delivery vehicle including the same
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing racks require manual input of pallet sizes, which is time-consuming and inefficient, and lack the ability to automatically detect and accommodate storage boxes of multiple sizes.
Innovation Solution
A rack design with sliding supports and sensors between pairs of supports that can detect the size of storage boxes, allowing for automatic size determination and accommodating multiple sizes, along with a lock mechanism and identification reader for secure and efficient storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If manual input of pallet sizes is used, then the rack can accommodate multiple sizes, but it takes time and effort
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automatic detection of storage box sizes using sensors, eliminating the need for manual size input by workers. The sensors self-identify the dimensions and characteristics of stored items, allowing the rack to adapt to different sizes without human intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical process of size input with an automated sensing system. Sensors detect the presence and dimensions of storage boxes, substituting human labor with an automated detection mechanism that determines size categories automatically.
2Extent of automation
If sensors are positioned between pairs of supports, then storage box sizes can be automatically detected, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor array between support pairs serves multiple functions: detecting presence, determining size category, and identifying position of storage boxes. This multi-functional approach achieves automatic detection without proportionally increasing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The detection system is divided into discrete sensor units positioned at specific intervals between support pairs. Each sensor segment detects specific size categories, allowing the complex detection task to be broken into simpler, manageable sensing zones that can be independently calibrated.
3Reliability
If lock mechanisms are added to secure storage boxes, then storage security is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking function is extracted as a separate, modular mechanism that can be independently controlled. The lock mechanism operates independently from the detection system, allowing security to be added without interfering with the size detection functionality while maintaining manageable system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The lock mechanism incorporates detection feedback to automatically engage or disengage based on storage box presence and size. This feedback-controlled operation simplifies the user interface while maintaining security, as the system automatically determines when locking is necessary based on sensor input.
Data Source
AI summary
A rack includes a casing and a plurality of pairs of supports that is provided inside the casing so as to extend in a depth direction and arrayed at regular intervals in an up-down direction. The rack can house all storage boxes of two or more prespecified sizes while supporting the storage boxes so as to be slidable along the respective pairs of supports. Sensors that detect objects are provided one between each two pairs of supports that are adjacent to each other in the up-down direction among the pairs of supports. When storage boxes of a smallest size are housed in the rack so as to be closest to one another in the up-down direction, the sensors are located in clearances between the storage boxes of the smallest size in the up-down direction.