Modular Storage Shaft Base for Rapid Cleaning in Order-Picking Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current order-picking devices for pharmaceutical packs face significant downtime due to the time-consuming process of cleaning, which involves removing and replacing entire shelves or cleaning the storage shafts, leading to inefficiencies and increased contamination risks.
Innovation Solution
The order-picking device features a design where storage shaft bases can be quickly and easily replaced without dismantling shelves, using a support device that allows new, clean shaft bases to be pushed underneath soiled ones, along with a holding mechanism to prevent slipping, and optional sensors for contamination detection to optimize cleaning schedules.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If entire shelves or storage shafts are cleaned by removing and replacing components, then cleaning effectiveness is improved, but downtime and operational disruption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The shelf is segmented into modular components: the shelf body, individual storage shafts, and shaft bases. This segmentation allows cleaning to be performed on only the contaminated shaft bases while leaving the rest of the shelf and storage shafts in place, thereby reducing downtime while maintaining cleaning effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The shaft base is extracted as a separate removable component from the storage shaft. This extraction enables the shaft base to be removed, cleaned, and replaced independently without requiring removal of the entire shelf or disruption of storage operations, thus resolving the contradiction between thorough cleaning and minimal downtime.
2Ease of operation
If storage shafts are emptied before cleaning, then cleaning accessibility is improved, but productivity and operational efficiency decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft base is extracted as a separate removable component that can be cleaned independently. This allows cleaning to proceed without emptying the storage shafts, as the contamine ed portion (shaft base) can be accessed and cleaned while goods remain in the storage shafts above it, thereby maintaining productivity while ensuring cleaning accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The storage shaft is segmented into the shaft base and the storage shaft proper. This segmentation allows the shaft base to be removed and cleaned separately while the storage shaft remains in place with its contents, eliminating the need to empty storage shafts before cleaning and thus maintaining operational efficiency.
3Stability of the object's composition
If shaft bases are made firmly connected to support devices, then structural stability is improved, but ease of replacement for cleaning deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The connection between the shaft base and support device is made dynamic rather than static. The shaft base can be firmly connected during normal operation to ensure stability, but can be easily disconnected and removed when cleaning is required. This dynamic connection capability resolves the contradiction between structural stability and ease of replacement.
Solution Approach 2:
The shaft base is designed as a separate modular component with standardized support devices that enable easy attachment and detachment. This segmentation allows the shaft base to be firmly connected when in use for structural stability, yet easily removed for cleaning by simply detaching from the support device, thus resolving the contradiction between stability and ease of replacement.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a picking device for unit loads in which rapid cleaning of shelves is possible. The picking device comprises at least one rack (10) with a plurality of shelves (100) arranged one above the other, each with a plurality of storage chutes (150), and at least one retrieval device (40) through which unit loads can be retrieved. According to the invention, a shelf (100) comprises a frame structure (110), a plurality of chute dividers (120), a plurality of chute bottoms (130), and a plurality of locking devices (140) coupled to a control unit (60).Each of two shaft partition walls (120) and one shaft floor (130) defines an elongated storage shaft (150), wherein each shaft floor (130) is associated with a support device (160) on which the shaft floor (130) rests and which is designed such that a further shaft floor (130') can be pushed between the resting shaft floor (130) and the support device (160), and wherein each shaft floor (130) is associated with a retaining element (131, 143) which prevents the shaft floor (130) from slipping in the longitudinal direction (x) of the storage shaft (150) when the shaft floor (130) rests on the support device (160).