Poultry Transport Crate Cover Vertical Control During Ejection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing unloading systems for live poultry transport units often result in injury to the poultry due to the poultry's extremities becoming trapped in the gap between the transport crate's side walls and its cover during ejection, as the distance between these components is reduced during the ejection process.
Innovation Solution
The unloading system actively controls the vertical position of each transport crate during ejection to maintain the maximum distance between the crate's trailing side walls and its cover, preventing the poultry's extremities from being trapped and reducing the risk of injury.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the distance between the upper edge of the side walls and the cover is reduced to save space and prevent poultry escape, then space utilization is improved, but the risk of poultry injury increases during ejection
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the vertical position of the cover relative to the transport crate during ejection. The cover is moved from an initial position close to the side walls (for space efficiency) to a retracted position during ejection (for safety), and then returned to the initial position after ejection. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by allowing both compact storage and safe ejection at different times in the process.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover is retracted to a safe distance from the side walls before the ejection process begins. This preliminary action ensures that when the transport crate is pushed forward during ejection, the poultry's extremities cannot become trapped between the side walls and the cover, thus preventing injury while maintaining the benefit of close spacing during non-ejection phases.
2Ease of operation
If the transport crate is pushed forward during ejection, then the unloading process is enabled, but the gap between the side walls and cover is reduced causing poultry extremities to become trapped
Solution Approach 1:
The cover's vertical position is dynamically changed in coordination with the ejection process. During the pushing phase, the cover is retracted to maintain a safe gap. During storage and after ejection, the cover is positioned close to the side walls. This dynamic positioning enables both effective unloading and poultry protection throughout the operation cycle.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover acts as an intermediary element that can be independently positioned relative to the transport crate. By controlling the cover's vertical movement separately from the horizontal ejection motion, the system mediates between the conflicting requirements of pushing the crate forward for unloading while maintaining sufficient gap for poultry safety.
Data Source
AI summary
An unloading system for unloading at least one transport unit having at least one rack and at least one transport crate mounted for receiving poultry. The rack includes a transport restraint for each transport crate, which include a bottom and side walls. A cover arranged at a distance from the upper edge of the side walls. The system includes an unloading station for at least one transport unit, a pushing device for ejecting transport crates in an ejection position, and a receiving device for receiving and conveying ejected transport crates. In the ejection position, position of transport crate to the cover is vertically controllable during the entire ejection operation so a maximum distance between the upper edge of trailing side walls of the transport crates in the pushing direction and the cover are maintainable depending on the position of the transport crate within the rack during the ejection operation.