Shuttle and Load Handling Vehicle for Deep Storage Picking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional storage and order-picking systems are limited in their ability to efficiently handle both pallets and individual containers, as shuttle vehicles can only serve adjacent shelf locations due to limited range and often require special guidance or heavy construction to manage turning and tilting moments, restricting flexibility and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A shelving system with a shuttle and load-handling vehicles that can move in both longitudinal and transverse aisles, featuring a receiving area for multiple load-handling vehicles, independent lifting sections, and a coupling device for communicative operation, allowing for simultaneous handling and transfer of goods across multiple channels without physical connection, enabling flexible and efficient operation across various shelf depths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional shuttles use limited-reach receiving devices, then the shuttle structure remains simple, but the shuttle can only serve adjacent shelf locations reducing system efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the load handling function into two independent parts: the simple shuttle for transport and the sophisticated load handling vehicle for interaction with storage locations. This segmentation allows the shuttle to have extended service range without increasing its structural complexity, as the complex functions are relocated to the load handling vehicle that operates independently at each location.
Solution Approach 2:
The load handling vehicle acts as an intermediary between the shuttle and the storage system. It receives the shuttle as input, performs the complex load handling operations at remote locations, and returns to the shuttle. This intermediary enables the shuttle to serve non-adjacent locations without direct interaction, extending service range while keeping the shuttle structure simple.
2Adaptability or versatility
If lifting mechanisms are used to handle loads, then load handling capability is improved, but rotational or tipping moments are exerted on the shuttle requiring special guidance or heavy construction
Solution Approach 1:
The lifting mechanism is extracted from the shuttle and relocated to the load handling vehicle. This allows the shuttle to maintain lightweight construction without tipping moments, while the load handling vehicle equipped with its own lifting device performs the load handling operations independently when docked with storage locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The load handling vehicle serves as an intermediary that performs the lifting function separately from the shuttle. By decoupling the lifting mechanism from the moving shuttle and placing it only on the stationary or slowly moving load handling vehicle, the system achieves full load handling capability without subjecting the lightweight shuttle to damaging rotational or tipping moments.
3Productivity
If multiple load handling vehicles are used simultaneously, then order picking efficiency is improved through parallelization, but coordination and control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
All load handling vehicles use the same standardized interface and communication protocol to interact with the shuttle and storage system. This universality allows multiple vehicles to operate independently yet coordinately, with the central control system managing task allocation without complex vehicle-specific coordination logic, thus enabling parallelized order picking with manageable control complexity.
4Quantity of substance
If the system is designed for deep storage channels, then storage density is improved, but access time for remote locations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The load handling vehicle performs preliminary actions by positioning itself at the exact storage location before the shuttle arrives or while the shuttle is being repositioned. This allows the actual load transfer to occur quickly when both vehicles are in position, reducing the effective access time despite the deep storage channels, as the preparation work is done in advance during the shuttle's travel time.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a storage and/or order picking system for storing and/or picking goods and comprises a racking system with rows of racks spaced apart from one another by longitudinal aisles and connected to one another by means of at least one transverse aisle. Furthermore, at least one shuttle, designed to move in both the longitudinal and transverse aisles of the racking system, and at least two load handling vehicles, which can be picked up on the shuttle simultaneously, are provided. A shuttle according to the invention for a racking system has a frame, a chassis, and a receiving area, wherein the shuttle is designed to move in both the longitudinal and transverse aisles of the racking system, and wherein the receiving area can accommodate at least two load handling vehicles simultaneously.A load handling vehicle according to the invention for being carried on a shuttle of a racking system and for moving within the racking system has an elongated frame with a chassis and a drive unit arranged thereon for moving the load handling vehicle in the longitudinal direction, at least one load handling section arranged on the frame for receiving a loading aid and/or a load and at least one lifting device for raising and lowering the load handling section, wherein the load handling vehicle is elongated and at least twice as long as it is wide.