Single-Grid Load Handler Layout for Dense Container Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing storage systems face inefficiencies in storage density and accessibility, particularly for online retail businesses handling tens of thousands of different product lines, as they require large floor areas and complex retrieval mechanisms, limiting the use of single-product stacks and necessitating the development of more efficient multi-product stack systems.
Innovation Solution
A storage system with a load handling device that occupies a single grid space, allowing for efficient lateral movement and lifting of containers from stacks, reducing the footprint of the device and enabling faster retrieval of items from any level of a stack, including the bottom, by using a vehicle module with wheels and a crane mechanism that can engage with rails for movement and lifting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a load handling device with a large footprint (accommodating crane and container receiving space side-by-side) is used, then the device can accommodate all necessary components, but it occupies multiple grid spaces and obstructs lateral movement of other devices
Solution Approach 1:
The container receiving space is positioned directly beneath the crane mechanism, with the crane located above the receiving space. This vertical nesting arrangement allows both the crane and container receiving space to be accommodated within a single grid space footprint, eliminating lateral obstruction to other devices while maintaining full functionality.
2Productivity
If more load handling devices are deployed to increase retrieval speed, then system productivity improves, but the floor area and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
By nesting the container receiving space vertically beneath the crane within a single grid space, the system can deploy more load handling devices across the same floor area. This increases retrieval speed through parallel operations while minimizing the area consumed per device.
3Ease of operation
If single-product stacks are used to simplify retrieval operations, then ease of operation improves, but storage density decreases requiring large floor areas
Solution Approach 1:
The load handling device is designed to autonomously navigate to stacks, identify target containers, execute retrieval operations, and return to base. This self-service capability simplifies operation while enabling efficient utilization of multi-product stacks, thereby increasing storage density without compromising ease of use.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3(a)~3(c)
AI summary
A load handling device (100) for lifting and moving containers (106) stacked in a storage system comprising a plurality of rails or tracks arranged in a grid pattern above the stacks of containers. The grid pattern comprises a plurality of grid spaces and each stack being located within a footprint of only a single grid space, the load handling device being configured to move laterally on the rails or tracks above the stacks. The load-handling device comprises: a container-receiving space (120) located above the rails or tracks in use and a lifting device (104) arranged to lift a container from a stack into the container-receiving space; characterised in that the load handling device has a footprint that, in use, occupies substantially only a single grid space in the storage system.