Automated Storage Retrieval System Mixed Pallet Sorting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current material handling systems face inefficiencies in transferring items between storage levels, particularly in mixed pallet loads where different case units with varying dimensions and SKUs need to be sorted and assembled efficiently.
Innovation Solution
An automated storage and retrieval system that includes autonomous transport vehicles, lift modules, and a structured architecture for pallet loading, enabling the breakdown of uniform pallets into individual case units, sorting, and reassembly into mixed pallet loads with optimized storage and retrieval processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional lifts and vehicles are used for transferring goods between storage levels, then the system structure is simple, but the rate of item transfer is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the transfer function into two independent components: autonomous vehicles that travel between storage levels and stationary interface stations that perform loading/unloading. This segmentation allows vehicles to move independently while interface stations handle item transfer, increasing overall transfer rate without proportionally increasing system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
Autonomous vehicles are equipped with onboard storage and can independently navigate to storage locations, interface with interface stations, and perform self-loading/unloading operations. This self-service capability eliminates the need for complex centralized control mechanisms while improving transfer efficiency
2Adaptability or versatility
If uniform pallets are stored, then storage is simple, but mixed pallet loads with varying case units cannot be efficiently sorted and assembled
Solution Approach 1:
Interface stations serve as intermediary points between storage locations and autonomous vehicles. These stations provide dedicated spaces for sorting and assembling mixed pallet loads, separating the complexity of case unit manipulation from the vehicle transport function. The interface stations act as mediators that handle the sorting and assembly operations while vehicles simply provide transport
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary sorting and assembly of case units at interface stations before loading onto autonomous vehicles. This preliminary action allows mixed pallet loads to be prepared in advance, enabling efficient handling of varied case units without requiring complex real-time sorting mechanisms on the vehicles themselves
Data Source
AI summary
An automated storage and retrieval system including at least one autonomous transport vehicle, a transfer deck that defines an undeterministic transport surface for the at least one autonomous transport vehicle, the transfer deck having multiple travel lanes, at least one vertically reciprocating lift, 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 vertically reciprocating lift so that a pickface is transferred between the at least one vertically reciprocating and the at least one autonomous transport vehicle.