Shelf-Climbing Carriage Layout for Warehouse Picking Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing warehouse logistics systems face inefficiencies due to long travel distances for order pickers, layout knowledge requirements, and bottlenecks caused by robots moving only on the floor between shelves, leading to fatigue, time loss, and reduced picking flow.
Innovation Solution
A self-guided carriage with retractable sprockets that can climb onto and under shelves, using motorized wheels and sprockets to navigate aisles and shelves, optimizing path efficiency and reducing traffic conflicts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If robots move only on the floor between shelves, then the system is simple to operate, but bottlenecks occur and picking flow slows down
Solution Approach 1:
The robot's sprockets are designed to be dynamically deployable and retractable. When climbing, the sprockets extend to engage with the shelves; when moving on the floor, they retract. This dynamic transformation allows the robot to switch between floor-based and shelf-based movement, eliminating bottlenecks and increasing picking flow without permanently complicating the robot's structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a vertical dimension to robot movement by enabling the robot to climb and move along shelves. Previously, robots were constrained to horizontal floor movement between shelves. By utilizing the vertical dimension and allowing robots to traverse along shelf structures, the system creates additional pathways, reduces congestion on the floor, and significantly improves overall picking flow.
2Ease of operation
If robots climb along shelves using fixed sprockets, then climbing capability is achieved, but the robot cannot move under shelves efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The sprockets are mounted on supports that can move relative to the robot's frame, allowing them to extend laterally when climbing and retract when moving on the floor or under shelves. This dynamic configuration enables the robot to efficiently perform both climbing operations and under-shelf navigation, optimizing paths and improving productivity without sacrificing climbing capability.
3Quantity of substance
If multiple robots operate in the same aisle, then storage capacity increases, but traffic conflicts and bottlenecks increase
Solution Approach 1:
By enabling robots to move along shelves in the vertical dimension rather than being confined to floor-level horizontal movement, the system creates multiple independent pathways within the same aisle. Robots can travel at different vertical levels, reducing traffic conflicts and allowing more robots to operate simultaneously without causing bottlenecks, thereby improving both capacity and reliability.
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 enhances warehouse flow by minimizing ground travel, increasing storage and retrieval capacity, and optimizing traffic flow, thus reducing fatigue and preparation time.
Implementation Method 1
said climbing means comprising four sprockets each intended to cooperate with racks or chains (31) attached to said posts
Data Source
AI summary
An order picking system including: shelving units delimiting an aisle; and a self-guiding carriage having climbing elements including four sprockets each intended to cooperate with shelves or chains attached to the posts, each of the sprockets being mounted on a support movable with respect to the frame of the carriage between an extended position and a retracted position. The width or length of the carriage is less than the spacing between the posts of the first pair of posts or the second pair of posts, and the movable support is configured such that, in the deployed position, at least a portion of each of the sprockets also protrudes from an edge of the frame facing the aisle.