Article Sorting Facility With Multiple Transport Vehicles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional article sorting facilities face efficiency issues when conveyor systems stop due to prolonged transfer work in one area, leading to interruptions and reduced productivity in other work areas, as all article collecting containers are transported sequentially, including those not needed, which decreases the efficiency of transfer work.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of multiple article transport vehicles traveling in a line along a preset travel lane, allowing for continuous operation even if one vehicle stops, with support members on board to transfer articles, and the use of branch and completed lanes to optimize vehicle routing and reduce idle vehicles, thereby increasing the ratio of active to inactive transport vehicles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single conveyor transports all article collecting containers sequentially, then the system structure is simple, but transfer work efficiency decreases when one area stops
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the transport system into multiple independent conveyors (first conveyor and second conveyor) that operate separately. Each conveyor handles specific article collecting containers, allowing independent operation. When one conveyor stops for transfer work, others continue operating, preventing system-wide interruptions and improving overall transfer work efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple conveyors to work together on the same travel lane, creating a coordinated system where the first conveyor and second conveyor both transport article collecting containers along the same path. This merging allows flexible assignment of containers to different conveyors based on work area needs, optimizing transfer efficiency without requiring a completely complex new system.
2Productivity
If all article collecting containers are transported one after another along the entire conveyor, then the transport path is simple, but transport efficiency decreases due to unnecessary movements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent assigns different transport paths and stopping points to different article collecting containers based on their specific needs. Containers for work areas further down the lane are transported by the first conveyor to later stopping points, while containers for nearer work areas use the second conveyor to stop earlier. This local optimization eliminates unnecessary long-distance transport of containers that don't need to travel the full length, reducing idle transport time and improving efficiency.
3Productivity
If the conveyor stops when transfer work takes too long in one area, then work quality is maintained, but overall productivity decreases due to interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the transport and transfer operations into independent units (first conveyor, second conveyor, multiple work areas). When transfer work takes too long in one specific work area, only the affected conveyor or work area is impacted, not the entire system. This segmentation maintains reliability of individual work areas while preserving overall productivity through continued operation of unaffected segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables continuous transfer work across multiple work areas by having multiple conveyors operate simultaneously. While one conveyor may pause for extended transfer work, other conveyors continue transporting containers and enabling transfer work in their respective areas. This continuity of useful action across parallel operations maintains overall work efficiency even when individual areas experience delays.
Data Source
AI summary
An article sorting facility includes a plurality of storage members each configured to store one or more articles, a plurality of article transport vehicles each capable of traveling in at least a portion of a preset travel lane with one or more support members on board, each support member being configured to support one or more articles; a plurality of work areas each configured to allow work to be performed to transfer articles between one or more storage members and at least one of the one or more support members on board an article transport vehicle in the travel lane, wherein each of the work areas is located adjacent to one or more storage members and to the travel lane, wherein the plurality of work areas are arranged one adjacent to another along the travel lane, and wherein two or more article transport vehicles are in the travel lane simultaneously to travel in a line.