Support Loading Layout for Flat-Top Article Stacking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing article shipment systems fail to efficiently load articles onto supports to facilitate stable stacking of additional supports, particularly when the specified number of articles exceeds or falls short of the initial loading capacity, leading to inefficiencies in transportation.
Innovation Solution
An article shipment system that includes a warehouse, unloading and loading devices, and transporters to manage article layers on supports, ensuring a flat upper surface for easy stacking by adjusting the number of articles on each support based on specified requirements, using a control system to optimize the loading process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If articles are loaded onto a support one by one to form an article group, then the support can be prepared for stacking another support, but the process becomes time-consuming and inefficient when the specified number of articles varies
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-loads supports with a predetermined number of articles (first loading number) in the warehouse before shipment. This preliminary action eliminates the need to load articles one by one during the shipment process, significantly reducing the time required to prepare supports for stacking while maintaining efficient article loading throughout the year.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the loading parameter from variable (loading articles one by one based on specific orders) to fixed (pre-loading with a predetermined first loading number). This parameter change allows the support to be prepared in advance with a standard configuration, enabling rapid stacking and shipment without time-consuming individual article loading.
2Ease of operation
If the specified number of articles is exactly matched by pre-loading, then the loading process is simplified, but the upper surface of the article layer becomes uneven when the specified number differs from the pre-loaded amount
Solution Approach 1:
The system loads a predetermined first loading number of articles onto the support, which is greater than or equal to the specified number of articles for shipment. This partial action (loading more than needed) ensures that the upper surface remains flat and level, providing a stable base for stacking. The excess articles remain on the support and do not affect the flatness of the upper surface, maintaining ease of operation while ensuring proper shape for stacking.
3Stability of the object's composition
If supports are loaded with multiple articles to facilitate stacking, then stacking stability is improved, but the complexity of managing variable specified numbers increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the article loading process into two distinct phases: (1) pre-loading supports with a predetermined first loading number of articles in the warehouse, and (2) loading additional articles during the shipment process if the specified number exceeds the first loading number. This segmentation simplifies the overall system complexity by establishing a standard pre-loading procedure while allowing for flexible adjustments during shipment, thereby maintaining stacking stability without excessive system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An article shipment system includes a warehouse that stores a support, an unloading device that unloads an article from the support, and a loading device that loads an article onto the support. In response to a specified number being greater than or equal to a set number and less than a first loading number, the article shipment system unloads a remaining number of articles from a first support with the unloading device while leaving a flat-upper-surface number of articles on the first support, loads, with the loading device, a first remaining loading number of articles among the remaining number of articles onto a shipping support, and ships the first support and the shipping support. The remaining number is obtained by subtracting the flat-upper-surface number from the first loading number.