Automated Storage Rack with Segmented Compartments and Vertical Manipulator
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated product stocking and output systems are limited in capacity, adaptability, and handling of diverse product sizes, often damaging cuboid products like CDs, DVDs, and books due to inadequate gripper systems, and require significant space for operation.
Innovation Solution
The system features a storage rack with separate compartments for each product and a handling device with a movable manipulator that can insert and retract to retrieve products safely, using drive units and position-sensing means for precise operation, and includes features like elastic coatings and perforated plates for protection and efficient product handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If a gripper system is used to pick up products, then products can be automatically handled, but products with different outside dimensions are handled inadequately and may be damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system is divided into individual compartments for each product, allowing the handling device to access and retrieve products without needing to grip them. The manipulator operates independently within each compartment, eliminating the need for complex gripper systems that must accommodate various product dimensions.
Solution Approach 2:
The manipulator is extracted from the handling device and inserted directly into the storage compartment to retrieve the product. This separation allows the manipulator to work within the confined space of the compartment without requiring the handling device to position itself around the product, thus avoiding damage to products with different dimensions.
2Extent of automation
If a complex gripper system is used for picking up products, then products can be handled automatically, but the space requirements around stocked products increase enormously
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the storage system into discrete compartments and using a manipulator that operates within each compartment, the system eliminates the need for large clearance zones around products. The manipulator's flat free end can access products in tight spaces without requiring the extensive maneuvering room needed by gripper systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The manipulator approaches products from above by inserting vertically into compartments, rather than requiring horizontal approach space that gripper systems need. This vertical access method dramatically reduces the lateral space requirements around stocked products.
3Extent of automation
If suction cups are used to handle products, then automatic handling is achieved, but cuboid products wrapped in plastic or cellophane film are easily damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The manipulator extracts the product from the compartment by pulling it horizontally onto the shelf, avoiding any contact that could damage wrapped surfaces. This extraction method replaces suction cup attachment and release cycles with a simple pull action that does not concentrate force on small contact points.
Solution Approach 2:
The handling mechanism changes from point-contact suction to distributed-contact pulling. The manipulator's flat free end distributes force across the top surface of the product during retrieval, preventing the concentrated stress that causes damage to plastic and cellophane wrapped products.
4Quantity of substance
If storage racks are designed with conventional handling access, then products can be stocked densely, but every individual product is not accessible to the handling device and great effort must be exerted for suitable sorting
Solution Approach 1:
The storage rack is segmented into individual compartments, each accessible to the manipulator. This segmentation allows dense packing of products while maintaining independent access to each item, eliminating the need for complex sorting operations to reach specific products.
Solution Approach 2:
Each compartment is designed to be independently accessible, allowing the handling device to retrieve any product directly without needing to move or sort other products first. The compartment design serves itself by providing inherent accessibility to each stored item.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to an apparatus for storing and fully automatic output of a multiplicity of different products having substantially cuboid geometry, such as packaged CDs, DVDs, printer cartridges, books, etc., comprising at least one permanently installed storage rack for stocking the multiplicity of products, at least one selection station for selecting, from the multiplicity of stocked products, one product to be output by the apparatus at a product output point, at least one handling device that is movable relative to the at least one storage rack for retrieval of a selected product from the at least one storage rack and for transport of the product in question to a product output point of the apparatus, and at least one computer-assisted control unit for controlling the apparatus and its components.