Moving Floor System With Vertical Lift Cart Return
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Solution Overview
Problem
In assembly line processes for large products like farm implements and airplanes, workers must move alongside the product to perform assembly tasks, leading to inefficiencies due to the need for workers to keep up with the moving product and manage tools and equipment.
Innovation Solution
A moving floor system with a recessed pit design featuring a continuous work surface formed by individual carts on upper support rails, utilizing vertical lift conveyors to cycle carts between upper and lower levels, allowing for efficient movement and return of carts to maintain a constant work surface speed, minimizing the footprint and optimizing cart circulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If workers move alongside the product to perform assembly tasks, then assembly can be performed on moving products, but worker effort and complexity increase due to the need to keep up with the moving product
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of moving workers alongside the product, the patent inverts the approach by moving the work surface (floor) beneath stationary workers. The floor carries the product through the assembly area, allowing workers to remain in fixed positions while still performing assembly tasks on the moving product.
Solution Approach 2:
The moving floor is divided into multiple independently controllable sections or modules. Each section can be adjusted in speed and position, allowing different parts of the assembly line to operate at optimal speeds and enabling workers at different stations to work independently without interfering with each other.
2Productivity
If a continuous moving work surface is used, then product movement is smooth and efficient, but system complexity increases due to the need for cart circulation and return mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the work surface carts with the return mechanism into a single integrated system. The same carts that form the moving work surface are reused for the return trip, eliminating the need for separate return carriers and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The carts serve multiple functions: they support the product during the forward journey, are lifted vertically by elevators, transported back along the return path, and then reused to continue the cycle. This multi-functionality reduces the number of different components needed in the system.
3Area of stationary object
If the lower level is positioned directly beneath the upper level, then the footprint of the system is minimized, but space for cart return mechanisms is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a horizontal return path to a vertical dimension by incorporating elevators that lift carts from the lower level back to the upper level. This dimensional change allows the system to maintain a compact footprint while providing an efficient return path for the carts.
Solution Approach 2:
The return mechanism is nested within the structure of the moving floor system itself. The elevators and return path are integrated into the existing framework, utilizing the vertical space between and around the upper and lower levels rather than requiring additional external space.
Data Source
AI summary
A moving floor system that includes a moving work surface to move work products from an upstream end to a downstream end. The moving work surface is formed from a plurality of individual carts joined to each other. The stack of carts is moved along upper support rails located at an upper level. When each individual cart reaches the downstream end, a downstream lift conveyor moves the individual cart from the upper level to a lower level. When at the lower level, each individual cart is returned from the downstream end to the upstream end. When each individual cart reaches the upstream end, an upstream lift conveyor returns the individual carts from the lower level to the upper level. An upper drive mechanism provides the motive force to move the stack of carts along the upper level at the working speed.