Storage Shelf Sensor Rail Design for Automated Inventory Surveillance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for managing large and diverse inventories in warehouses are slow, labor-intensive, and require many resources due to decentralized processing, making precise and efficient inventory surveillance challenging.
Innovation Solution
A storage insert with a plane storage body and a sensor rail system that includes optically transparent sections and sensor elements, allowing for precise and automatic surveillance of inventory levels without disturbing the storage space, enabling error-free operation without specialized knowledge.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional decentralized methods are used for inventory management, then local control is possible, but the system becomes slow, labor-intensive, and resource-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The storage shelf autonomously monitors its own inventory status through integrated sensors and transparent sections, automatically detecting when stock levels need replenishment without requiring manual intervention or decentralized human control
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor elements continuously monitor the storage compartments through the optically transparent sections and provide real-time feedback about inventory levels to the control system, enabling automatic inventory management decisions
2Measurement precision
If manual inventory surveillance is implemented, then detailed tracking is possible, but the process becomes time-consuming and labor-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical inventory checking with an automated optical sensing system that uses sensor elements and light transmission through transparent sections to automatically detect and measure inventory levels with high precision
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor elements continuously monitor inventory levels through the optically transparent sections without interruption, providing constant tracking of stock status rather than periodic manual checks, eliminating time loss while maintaining precise measurement
3Measurement precision
If automated sensor systems are installed on storage shelves, then inventory surveillance precision is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses optically transparent sections that can be integrated into the storage shelf structure, allowing sensor elements to detect inventory levels through thin transparent materials without adding significant structural complexity to the overall system
Solution Approach 2:
The optically transparent sections serve dual functions: they allow light transmission for sensor operation while also forming part of the storage shelf structure itself, reducing the need for separate sensor housing components and simplifying the overall device design
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a fully automatic and error-robust inventory surveillance system that can manage large and diverse inventories efficiently, allowing for precise tracking of stock levels and automatic reordering based on sensor signals.
Implementation Method 1
having at least one optically transparent section (116) between the receiving region and the top side, and the sensor rail (114) having at least one sensor element (162) in the region of the at least one optically transparent section (116)
Data Source
AI summary
A storage insert for inserting in a storage device, having a storage body with an upper side for receiving storage goods, a lower side with receiving structures in a receiving region for receiving a sensor rail, and at least one optically transparent section between the receiving region and the upper side, and having the sensor rail, which is configured to be received in the receiving region by the receiving structures, and which has at least one sensor element in the region of the at least one optically transparent section is illustrated and described. The storage body is formed as a punched and bent storage sheet.