Shuttle Rack Transfer Arm Layout for Mixed-Depth Package Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Shuttle-type automated warehouses face challenges in efficiently storing multiple types of packages with different depth widths, as existing transfer devices require significant stroke amounts and time to accommodate varying package sizes.
Innovation Solution
The automated warehouse employs a transfer device with a side arm comprising a base, middle, and top arm, featuring end and intermediate hooks that can accommodate large and small packages without changing hooks, allowing efficient storage by minimizing the stroke amount required for transferring packages to the backmost positions of racks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional transfer device is used to store multiple types of packages with different depth widths, then the device can accommodate various package sizes, but the stroke amount of the side arm increases and transfer time is extended
Solution Approach 1:
The top arm is segmented into multiple sections (first section, second section, third section) with different hook configurations. The first section has end hooks for large packages, the second section has intermediate hooks for small packages, and the third section has end hooks for large packages. This segmentation allows the transfer device to handle different package sizes without requiring the entire side arm to stroke the full distance, thereby reducing transfer time while maintaining versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the top arm are given different local qualities in terms of hook positioning and spacing. The first section hooks are spaced for large packages, the second section hooks are spaced for small packages, and the third section hooks are spaced for large packages. This local differentiation enables optimized transfer operations for each package type, reducing the stroke amount required and thus decreasing transfer time.
2Loss of time
If the stroke amount of the side arm is reduced to speed up transfer, then transfer time is shortened, but the ability to accommodate packages with different depth widths is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The top arm is divided into multiple sections with different hook configurations. The first section uses end hooks for large packages, the second section uses intermediate hooks for small packages, and the third section uses end hooks for large packages. This segmentation allows the side arm to use shorter strokes for small packages (using intermediate hooks) while maintaining the capability to handle large packages (using end hooks), thus reducing transfer time without sacrificing adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The top arm structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it can transfer large packages using end hooks in the first and third sections, and transfer small packages using intermediate hooks in the second section. This multi-functionality within a single structure allows the system to maintain versatility for different package types while using optimized stroke amounts for each package size, thereby reducing overall transfer time.
3Adaptability or versatility
If intermediate hooks are added to the top arm to enable small package transfer, then adaptability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The first, second, and third sections are merged into a single integrated top arm structure that can handle both large and small packages. The intermediate hooks in the second section are integrated within the same structural framework as the end hooks in the first and third sections. This merging approach allows the system to gain adaptability for transferring both package types while minimizing the increase in device complexity by using a unified structural design rather than separate mechanisms.
Data Source
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AI summary
There is provided a shuttle-type automated warehouse that can efficiently store a plurality of types of packages having different depth widths in a depth direction of a rack. A shuttle type automated warehouse 1 of the present invention includes a loading/unloading vehicle 4 including a transfer device 12, and racks 2 on both sides of a traveling path 10 for the vehicle, the transfer device 12 includes a base arm 34, middle arms 36 and 38, a top arm 40, end hooks 46a and 46b, and intermediate hooks 48a and 48b, the end hooks 46a and 46b are formed in positions and a width that allow two large packages A to be transferred from front to back of each of the racks 2 by only the end hooks 46a and 46b, with respect to the racks 2 on both the sides of the traveling path 10, and the intermediate hooks 48a and 48b are formed in positions and a width that allow three small packages B to be transferred from the front to the back of each of the racks 2 by only the intermediate hooks 48a and 48b, with respect to the racks 2 on both the sides of the traveling path 10.