Vehicle Insert With Sloped Roller Shelves For Efficient Loading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Light-duty and medium-duty transport vehicles face challenges in efficiently organizing and securing a mix of large and small products during delivery, as existing methods are time-consuming and inefficient, especially in busy areas where large trucks cannot be used.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle insert system with a removable frame and shelves that allows for optimized loading and unloading, featuring temperature control zones, automated loading and unloading capabilities, and tracking systems to manage diverse product sizes and temperature requirements, enabling efficient use of space and minimizing human interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If products are organized and secured manually in a light-duty vehicle, then delivery can be completed, but the process is time-consuming and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The frame is pre-loaded with storage units (bins, totes, cases, trays, or product boxes) organized by delivery location or product type before being loaded into the light-duty vehicle. This preliminary organization eliminates the need for manual product arrangement during delivery, significantly reducing loading and unloading time while maintaining high productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle interior is segmented into multiple shelving units with storage bins, totes, cases, trays, or product boxes, each defining a specific delivery portion. This segmentation allows for systematic organization of products and enables rapid identification and retrieval of specific items during delivery, improving both efficiency and time management
2Adaptability or versatility
If a light-duty vehicle is used for delivery, then access to busy or residential streets is enabled, but the limited space makes it difficult to accommodate both large and small products
Solution Approach 1:
The frame structure with multiple shelving units and storage containers provides a dynamic and reconfigurable interior space. Different combinations of bins, totes, cases, trays, or product boxes can be arranged on shelves to accommodate various product sizes and shapes, allowing the limited vehicle volume to be adaptively optimized for different delivery requirements
Solution Approach 2:
Smaller storage units such as bins, totes, and trays are nested within or alongside larger containers like cases and product boxes. This nesting arrangement maximizes the utilization of available vehicle interior space, enabling accommodation of both large and small products simultaneously in the limited volume of light-duty vehicles
3Extent of automation
If automated loading and unloading is implemented, then human interaction is minimized, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Optical markers are placed on the frame and storage units, creating visual copies or identifiers that computer vision systems can detect and track. This allows automated identification and tracking of the frame and its contents during loading and unloading operations, enabling automation with relatively simple optical recognition technology rather than complex mechanical or sensor systems
Solution Approach 2:
Manual mechanical tracking and identification methods are replaced with computer vision systems that use optical markers for detection. This substitution enables automated loading and unloading operations by allowing machines to visually identify and track the frame and storage units, reducing human interaction while maintaining manageable system complexity through optical rather than mechanical means
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 system enables fast, efficient loading and unloading of vehicles, optimizes space use, ensures secure transport of products, and facilitates accurate delivery while minimizing time and space requirements, allowing for the transport of various product sizes and temperature-sensitive items in a single vehicle.
Implementation Method 1
The cooling system provides cooled air flow to chambers in the insert
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle insert with refrigerated and non refrigerated sections for facilitating product distribution is described which uses a pair of frames defining a vertical member and one or more horizontal members. Several shelves with rollers are attached to the frames. The shelves define a sloped area wherein the lowest point on the shelves is located at a product retrieval point and wherein said insert is wheeled into a vehicle already loaded with product to be delivered.