Reciprocating Shuttle Sorter for Multi-Bin Dynamic Sortation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current sortation systems are inefficient and costly due to their inflexibility, high mechanical complexity, and reliance on human labor, which limits throughput and requires a large number of collection bins, leading to increased space and capital costs.
Innovation Solution
A dynamic sortation system utilizing robotic manipulators and learning algorithms to efficiently assign objects to collection bins based on real-time data and historical trends, reducing the need for pre-defined bin assignments and allowing for flexible correspondence between sorter outputs and destinations, thereby optimizing space usage and reducing manual labor requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If discrete trays with actuators are used for each divert location, then objects can be automatically sorted to multiple destinations, but mechanical complexity and cost per divert increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple collection bins are merged into a single reciprocating carriage structure, allowing one carriage to serve multiple destinations sequentially. This eliminates the need for separate actuators at each divert location, reducing mechanical complexity while maintaining adaptability to multiple destinations.
Solution Approach 2:
The carriage is made reciprocating (dynamic) rather than stationary, allowing it to move between different collection bin locations. This dynamic positioning enables a single carriage to access multiple destinations without requiring fixed actuators at each location, thereby reducing overall system complexity.
2Productivity
If a large number of collection bins are deployed to handle diverse object types, then all objects can be sorted simultaneously, but physical space and capital costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The reciprocating carriage serves multiple collection bin locations sequentially, making a single carriage structure universal for multiple destinations. This reduces the total number of carriages needed while maintaining the ability to sort to many different destinations, thereby reducing physical space requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of arranging collection bins in a single linear array requiring long conveyor tracks, the reciprocating carriage enables access to multiple bins through bidirectional movement, effectively utilizing space in a different dimensional configuration and reducing the footprint of the sortation system.
3Adaptability or versatility
If human workers perform sortation manually, then flexibility in handling various object types is maintained, but throughput is limited by worker speed
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses automated scanning and identification to determine object destinations, with the reciprocating carriage automatically delivering objects to the correct bins. This self-service automation maintains flexibility through smart routing algorithms while dramatically increasing throughput beyond human capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
Manual human sortation is replaced with an automated system combining optical scanning, computational routing, and mechanical reciprocating carriage movement. This substitution maintains the flexibility of human decision-making through software algorithms while achieving the speed and consistency of automated mechanical systems.
4Extent of automation
If recirculating conveyors with tilt trays are used, then automated sortation is achieved, but every divert requires an actuator increasing cost and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The actuator mechanism is extracted from multiple fixed locations and consolidated into a single reciprocating carriage. This centralization eliminates the need for numerous distributed actuators, reducing complexity and cost while maintaining automated sortation capability across multiple destinations.
Solution Approach 2:
The reciprocating carriage acts as an intermediary between the single actuator and multiple collection bins. Instead of requiring actuators at each bin location, the carriage mediates the delivery process by moving objects to the appropriate bins sequentially, reducing the total number of actuators needed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves higher throughput, lower operational costs, and greater scalability by dynamically allocating sorter outputs to destinations, allowing for efficient handling of varying object sizes and weights, and reducing the need for extensive manual intervention.
Implementation Method 1
a reciprocating carriage (50) configured to reciprocate between a first end and a second end
Implementation Method 2
the load bed (52) is tipped, causing the object (80) to be released into a collection bin (22, 24, 26, 28, 32, 34, 36 or 38)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A
AI summary
An automated shuttle sorter is disclosed that includes a carriage that is movable from a load position at which the carriage may be loaded, and at least two destination locations into which any contents of the carriage may be provided from the carriage