Sensorized Buffer Belt for FIFO Object Restocking
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Solution Overview
Problem
In production lines, asynchronisms between upstream and downstream stations due to unforeseen events or speed differences lead to desynchronization, causing forced stoppages and inefficiencies, with a need for a solution to store accumulated objects outside the production flow and maintain operation while ensuring ordered restocking when flows resume.
Innovation Solution
A temporary-storage system with a belt equipped with sensors and a control unit that records object deposition traces and determines a removal sequence for ordered retrieval, allowing automatic management of object sequencing and reordering without operator intervention, using a FIFO method to reintegrate objects into the production line.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If objects are stored in a temporary storage system during desynchronization, then the upstream station can continue operating, but the system complexity increases due to additional storage and control mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The temporary storage system acts as an intermediary buffer between the upstream and downstream stations. When desynchronization occurs, objects are deposited onto the temporary storage belt rather than causing a stoppage. The control unit manages this intermediate storage, allowing the upstream station to continue operating while objects wait for downstream availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The production line is segmented into distinct functional zones: the upstream station, the temporary storage system with its belt and sensors, and the downstream station. This segmentation allows independent operation of each segment, so that the upstream station can continue producing while objects are temporarily held in the intermediate storage zone.
2Reliability
If a temporary storage system is implemented to buffer objects during asynchronism, then forced stoppages are prevented, but the device complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The temporary storage system uses a moving belt rather than a static storage area. Objects are continuously conveyed along the belt, which can be adjusted in speed and direction based on the synchronization status of upstream and downstream stations. This dynamic approach maximizes storage capacity within a compact footprint.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters (belt speed, sensor activation patterns, removal sequencing) based on the storage phase. During loading phase, the belt accumulates objects; during discharge phase, it releases them in the recorded sequence. This parameter adaptation allows reliable buffering without requiring excessive storage space.
3Productivity
If objects are removed from temporary storage in the correct sequence, then production efficiency is maintained, but the control system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit records the position and sequence of objects during the loading phase, before they need to be removed. This preliminary recording of deposition traces allows the system to automatically retrieve objects in the correct sequence during the discharge phase without requiring complex real-time decision-making or operator intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
Sensors on the temporary storage belt provide continuous feedback to the control unit about object positions and removal status. This feedback mechanism ensures that objects are removed in the correct sequence while allowing the control system to adapt to variations in downstream station readiness, maintaining productivity through automated sequence management.
Data Source
AI summary
A temporary-storage system that includes a temporary-storage belt, a control unit and signalling means. The temporary-storage belt comprises a plurality of regularly distributed sensors. During a loading phase, the control unit receives information coming from at least one of the sensors when an object is deposited on the temporary-storage belt and records a trace of the deposition of the object in association with a reference to each of the sensors activated by the deposition. During an unloading phase, the control unit determines a sequence of removal of the objects and, for each object to be removed, identifies the sensors referenced, transmits to the signalling means signalling information identifying the position of the object, and receives information coming from at least one of the sensors when the object is removed.