Patent Application
20080226437
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of container storage and more particularly to a system storage and retrieval of objects that efficiently utilizes space.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many storage systems have been devised to store and retrieve goods, usually in container or on palettes or objects such as vehicles, drums, etc. The simplest of such systems consists of storage bins, one deep, situated along aisle ways that are wide enough for a fork lift to maneuver and access objects such as containers or palettes located in the bins. Even if a forklift is capable of turning within its own radius, the forklift requires room to maneuver as well as sufficient space for its own ingress and egress. Because the fork lift must turn to access and remove the container/palette, the aisle must be wider than the container/palette is deep. Therefore, in this configuration, more floor space is consumed by aisle ways than by storage bins. Some improvement to this storage system's efficiency can be derived from having more than one level of storage, but this is limited to the height of access for a fork lift.
One improvement to this lack of efficiency is proposed in U.S. Pat. Application No. 2004/0165974 to Gironi, et al. In this, a three dimensional array of storage bins are accessible by a “trans-elevator” that traverses aisle between stacked storage locations. Although this device permits a greater number of stacked cartons, it still has the inefficiency of aisles.
Another solution is proposed in U.S. Pat. Application No. 2004/0146380 to Baker, et al. In this, a system of conveyors pass through aisles formed between storage locations. Although this device permits a greater number of storage locations, it still has the inefficiency of aisles.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,358 to Oji has a random storage system that uses an overhead crane to shuffle containers until the desired container is accessible. This system requires extra storage space for all containers that need be moved while accessing the container below, spacing between the containers for crane access and headroom for the overhead crane system and therefore doesn't utilize space efficiently.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,622,020 to Sarvary has a mechanized palette storage system that uses elevators and trucks. This system has aisle ways and therefore doesn't utilize space efficiently.
What is needed is a system that will store objects in a space-efficient manner while providing random access to any such objects.
In one embodiment, an efficient storage system is disclosed including a plurality of objects moveably organized within a building that organized as a grid of storage positions in rows and columns, each storage position size to hold at least one of the objects. At least one empty storage position within the grid allows for shifting of the objects within the grid. At least one access location is provided to access the objects and a mechanism is provided for moving the objects within the grid.
In another embodiment, a method of efficiently storing objects is disclosed. The objects are held in or on frames. The method includes organizing the frames within a building on a grid. The frames are movable from one storage location within the grid to a neighboring storage location within the grid and there is at least one empty storage location within the grid. A target frame is selected (e.g., the frame containing an object of which access is desired) and the frames within the grid are sequentially shifted until the target frame reaches an access location.
In another embodiment, an efficient storage system is disclosed including a plurality of storage objects organized in a grid of equal sized positions. The grid is organized in rows and columns; each position of the grid is sized to hold one of the storage objects. There is at least one more position than storage objects, allowing for shifting of the storage objects. At least one access location is provided for loading and unloading the storage objects. The storage objects are mechanically moved within the grid.
The invention can be best understood by those having ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements in all figures. The term container represents any storage unit that holds goods or other materials (e.g., nuclear rods, Petri dishes, etc). The container can be of any size depending upon the types of goods being stored. One example of such a container is the moving containers that some companies deliver to a customer's site for loading, and then retrieve them after loaded. Another example is the cargo containers used for shipping between countries, whereby the container is roughly the size of a tractor trailer and can be stacked onboard a ship for overseas shipment, then lifted off the ship and placed upon a flatbed truck for final delivery to a destination. Containers don't have to be large. Small containers are more practical for assembly components such as screws, washers, electronic components, etc. In all of the following, for simplicity, the description will refer to containers, though, palettes, frames or any other monolithic storage unit is fully interchangeable with container. For example, the present invention is useful for storing soda cans, whereby each can is one unit of storage and is manipulated just as a container is manipulated. The frames are any open storage conveyor that is moved within the grid. The frames are any open storage conveyor that is moved within the grid. For example, in one embodiment, the frames are flat structures with two or three sides for supporting subsequent frames while in another embodiment, the frames (or pans) are flat structures with no sides capable of supporting objects, objects on palettes or stacks of objects on palettes. In all embodiments, the frames, pans, flats, containers, etc., include provisions, as needed, for traveling within the grid such as wheels, pins, registration holes, channels, rails, etc.
Although, in this description, the present invention is shown within a building structure, the present invention is anticipated to be integrated into other structures such as transportation structures like the storage hold of cargo ships, cruise liners, airplanes, trucks, etc., whereas it is desirable to efficiently utilize all (almost all) available space while providing for random access of objects stored within the space when the transportation structure makes intermediate stops. For example, in an airplane flying from New York to Los Angeles stopping in Chicago and Phoenix, it would not be necessary to load the Los Angeles luggage first, then the Phoenix Luggage, then the Chicago luggage.
Although shown as equal sized containers or frames, the present invention anticipates and includes embodiments having multiple container sizes. For example, a system can have 4′×12′×8′ containers mixed with 4′×6′×8′ containers, whereby two 4′×6′×8′ containers occupy the space of one 4′×12′×8′ container, etc.
Generally, there are locations in the world such as Japan, Florida and parts of California where the price of land or building floor space is very expensive. As a result, there have been attempts to efficiently utilize as much space as possible. For example, in Japan, parking lots have stacked parking spaces whereby a car elevator lifts the car to the second level.
For storage of containers, palettes or frames, it would be ideal to completely occupy the entire floor of a building with containers palettes or frames, thereby wasting little or no space. Furthermore, if a building is of open construction with a single floor, it would be ideal to utilize the maximum cubic space of that floor. If every container had the same content, this could be done, but most storage operations include containers of varying content. One example of such an operation is self-storage. In this, individuals are usually assigned a storage location and when they need to store or retrieve something from their storage location, they go to the location, open a door and access the contents. This system requires wide aisles between rows of storage locations for the customer to drive to their designated storage location. If, instead, the goods are stored in containers, the containers can be delivered to the customer when they require access, permitting more efficient storage of the containers. As described previously, prior attempts to provide container storage access all required aisles or wasted space. Such containers could not be stored by filling a building from the front to the back, because as soon as you fill the building, the customer with the storage container in the back will want access and all other containers in front of theirs will have to be relocated.
Referring to
The containers move parallel to the walls 12 of the building on balls 24 in sockets 25 (see
In the embodiment shown, scissor jacks 14 are positioned at the ends of every row and column to move the containers. For a three by three configuration as shown in
Referring to
Referring now to
Next, in
Another way to represent this sequence is shown in Table-1 below:
In this sequence, 9 shift operations are required to move the container, “b” from the A2 position to the C3 position. If container “a” was desired, instead, the additional shifts shown in Table-2 would be required:
This sequence requires four additional shifts for a total of 13 shifts, this being the longest sequence for a 3 by 3 matrix. A four by four matrix would require 25 shift operations to move the furthest container to the access door, while a five by five matrix would require 32 shift operations for the worst case.
Basically, to move a given container one position requires four shift operations. Therefore, if the matrix is three by five (A1 . . . C5), eight (2*4) shift operations are required to move from the A1 to the C1 position and sixteen (4*4) shift operations are required to move from the Cl position to the C5 position. This can be represented mathematically as:
4*(X−1)+4*(Y−1)−3,
where X is the number of positions in the X direction or columns and Y is the number of positions in the Y direction or rows. Three is subtracted because on the last shift operation, the designated container is in position on the first shift.
For a ten by ten matrix, 4*(10−1)+4*(10−1)−3 (69) shift operations are required to access the most distant container, while if you assume a random access pattern, the average number of shifts to access a random container 20 within this matrix would be one half of that, or approximately 34 shift operations. These calculations assume only one access position located at a corner. Further improvements are possible by having multiple access position and centrally located access position.
It can be seen that, given a configuration as previously described, having multiple access locations will improve access time because the average number of shifts from any random location to any of the multiple access locations will be less than the average number of shifts from any random location to a single access position. In this configuration, once the desired container 20 is positioned at one of the access locations, it can be accessed for loading and unloading, but if another user wants access to another container 20, they will have to wait until the first user is finished, in that an shifting to access the second user's container 20 will move the first user's container 20, unless, by luck, the second user's container 20 is already located at a second access locations This situation is addressed in embodiments having multiple empty positions such that the other containers 20 are rotated using the additional empty spaces while the first container 20 remains in its static position.
Being that shift operations may require a substantial amount of time, various alternate embodiments are anticipated. The simplest alternative is to schedule access to each container. For example, a customer can request access to their container at a specific time of day, either by making an appointment by phone or over the internet.
Another way to reduce the access time is to use more space for empty locations. For example, consider the configuration is
Therefore, the average number of shifts for accessing any randomly selected container would be 6 instead of 11. The extra spaces help significantly in larger grids. For example, in the 10 by 10 grid, normally the worst case number of shifts required is 69. In this configuration, 99 spaces are occupied by containers results in a 99% efficient storage area. By adding one extra empty space, the worst case access reduces to 44 while only reducing the storage efficiency by an additional 1% to 98%. By adding three extra spaces, the worst case access reduces to 22 with an average access of 11 shifts with a storage efficiency of 96%.
As discussed above, in some embodiments, multiple access locations permit more than one object 20 to be accessed. For instance, in the example of
Note that the above shifts require partial row/columns shifts and need mechanisms of the embodiments whereby a subset of the containers 20 of one row or one column can shift independently of other containers 20 in that row/column. For example, moving j,i left on column as above is done by mechanisms that shift the D2,D3 coordinates left one position without shifting the D4 position left, being that D4 contains the container 20 a being accessed by the first user.
It is anticipated that in some embodiments, an external door be provided at each access point to shield the users from coming into contact with the shifting containers 20.
Referring to
Also connected to the processor 110 is a system bus 130 for connecting to peripheral subsystems such as motor controls 140, sensor inputs 180, a graphics adapter 160 and a keyboard/mouse 170. The graphics adapter 160 receives commands and display information from the system bus 130 and generates a display image that is displayed on the display 165. The keyboard and mouse 170 are used to accept operator inputs for control of the system.
In general, the motor control 140 interfaces to the motor drive system 150. There are many known ways to control the motors that move the containers 20 around the grid, including servo motors and free running motors with feedback sensors. In many embodiments, sensors are positioned around the grid to sense, for example, the position of the containers 20 within the grid 16/18. The sensors 190 are connected to sensor input ports 180 and are any known type of sensor including electric eyes, micro-switches, proximity switches and the like.
The firmware 125 includes software algorithms that remember which container is in which position within the grid and, when requested, controls the motor system to shift the containers around the grid in order to move the target container to a target access location. In some embodiments, the firmware 125 keeps track of the location of each object (frame, container, etc.) as it moves from one position to the next. Additionally, in some embodiments, sensors are provided to determine the identity of any given object (frame, container, etc.) by reading a bar code, RFID or other device affixed to the object (frame, container, etc.).
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
Equivalent elements can be substituted for the ones set forth above such that they perform in substantially the same manner in substantially the same way for achieving substantially the same result.
It is believed that the system and method of the present invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description. It is also believed that it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form herein before described being merely exemplary and explanatory embodiment thereof. It is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes.
This application is a continuation of non-provisional application titled “SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SPACE-EFFICIENT CONTAINER STORAGE,” Ser. No. 11/615,257 filed Dec. 22, 2006. The entire contents of all the above application is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11615257 | Dec 2006 | US |
| Child | 12129116 | US |
