Storage Retrieval Lift Interface for Single-Stroke Item Sequencing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing storage and retrieval systems in warehouses face inefficiencies in item transfer rates and sorting processes, leading to decreased throughput due to multiple lift strokes and additional sorting steps required to match items with load-out orders.
Innovation Solution
An automated storage and retrieval system that includes autonomous transport vehicles and lift modules to sort and sequence items at a lift interface, allowing for simultaneous handling and sorting of multiple items in a single lift stroke, and optimizing the order of items to match load streams.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If items are sorted by vehicles or dedicated sorters during outbound flow, then items can be organized according to load-out orders, but multiple lift strokes and additional sorting steps are required which decrease throughput
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary sorting and sequencing of items at the lift interface before items are transported to storage levels. Items are arranged in the desired load-out sequence during the lift stroke, eliminating the need for subsequent sorting operations at destination points. This preliminary action resolves the contradiction by achieving accurate sorting (improving manufacturing precision) while completing all sorting operations during the lift stroke itself (maintaining productivity).
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the sorting function with the lift stroke operation by equipping lifts with sortation mechanisms. Instead of separate sorting operations after transport, the system combines item selection, sequencing, and vertical transport into a single integrated operation. This merging eliminates multiple lift strokes and additional sorting steps, simultaneously achieving accurate item organization and high throughput rates.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple lift strokes are used to pick items needed for load-out, then items can be selectively retrieved from storage spaces, but the transfer rate and throughput of the system decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous item retrieval by enabling lifts to pick multiple items destined for different load-out sequences in a single uninterrupted lift stroke. Items are selected from storage spaces and positioned in the desired sequence during continuous vertical motion, eliminating the need for multiple discrete lift strokes. This continuous operation maintains item selection flexibility while maximizing the transfer rate by keeping the lift system constantly productive.
Solution Approach 2:
The lift system performs preliminary selection and sequencing of multiple items during the ascent, identifying and positioning all required items for various load-outs in their final sequences before reaching the top. This preliminary action allows the single lift stroke to fulfill multiple retrieval requests simultaneously, maintaining adaptability in item selection while dramatically improving the overall transfer rate by eliminating repeated vertical trips.
3Productivity
If items are sorted at a lift interface with simultaneous handling in a single lift stroke, then throughput increases, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lift system is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a vertical transport mechanism and as a sortation station. The lift interface incorporates sortation mechanisms that enable items to be selected, sequenced, and positioned during the lift stroke itself. This universal design achieves high throughput through simultaneous handling in single lift strokes while avoiding the need for separate dedicated sortation systems, thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the sortation function with the lift mechanism by integrating item selection and sequencing capabilities directly into the lift system. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate sorting equipment and multiple handling steps, achieving high throughput through efficient simultaneous operations while actually reducing overall system complexity by eliminating redundant components and processes.
Data Source
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AI summary
An automated storage and retrieval system (100) including at least one autonomous transport vehicle (110), a transfer deck (130) that defines an undeterministic transport surface for the at least one autonomous transport vehicle, the transfer deck having multiple travel lanes, at least one reciprocating lift (150), and at least one pickface handoff station connected to the transfer deck and interfacing between the at least one autonomous transport vehicle on the transfer deck and the at least one reciprocating lift so that a pickface is transferred between the at least one reciprocating and the at least one autonomous transport vehicle.