Overhead Load Handler With Single-Grid Footprint for Dense Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing storage systems face inefficiencies in storage density and accessibility, particularly in handling multiple product lines, as they require significant space and are not well-suited for selecting single containers from multi-product stacks, especially in enclosed spaces like warehouses.
Innovation Solution
A load handling device with a reduced footprint that occupies only a single grid space in a storage system, featuring a container-receiving space and a lifting device, allowing lateral movement and efficient access to containers stacked in a grid pattern, thereby enabling more devices to operate without obstructing each other.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If traditional load handling devices with large footprints are used, then they can access containers in stacks, but they occupy multiple grid spaces and obstruct each other's movement
Solution Approach 1:
The load handling device is divided into functionally independent modules: a base unit for lateral movement on rails and a vertically extendable lifting mechanism. This segmentation allows the device to have a small footprint when moving laterally while providing full stacking capability when needed, resolving the contradiction between compact size and operational capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The device transitions from a two-dimensional lateral movement mode on rails to a three-dimensional operation mode by vertically extending the lifting mechanism. This dimensional transition allows the device to access containers at any height without increasing its horizontal footprint, enabling multiple devices to operate in the same grid space without obstruction.
2Ease of operation
If aisle space is provided for product retrieval, then products are accessible, but storage density decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical aisle-based retrieval system with an automated robotic load handling device that travels on overhead rails. This substitution eliminates the need for ground-level aisles, allowing containers to be stacked directly on the floor space while robots access them from above, thereby maximizing storage density without sacrificing accessibility.
3Area of stationary object
If containers are stacked in multi-product stacks, then storage density increases, but selecting a single container becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The load handling device incorporates sensors and control systems that provide feedback about container positions, product types, and stack configurations. This feedback enables the automated device to identify and select specific containers within multi-product stacks based on order requirements, making container selection as easy as the system configuration allows while maintaining high storage density.
Data Source
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Figure 3(a)~3(c)
AI summary
A load handling device (100) for lifting and moving containers (10) stacked in a storage system comprising a plurality of rails or tracks (229, 226) arranged in a grid pattern (14) above the stacks (12) 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 (114) 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.