Lifting assembly

A container lifting assembly for raising and/or lowering containers stacked in stacks in a grid storage structure, the lifting assembly comprising:

• a gripping device configured to releasably grip a container;
• a raising and lowering mechanism configured to raise and lower the gripping device, the raising and lowering mechanism including a gearing mechanism configured to wind and/or unwind at least one tether;
• a motor configured to actuate the gearing mechanism to wind and/or unwind the at least one tether, wherein the gearing mechanism includes:
• a lifting pulley configured to pull the at least one tether up and/or lower the at least one tether down;
• and
• a winding pulley for spooling and/or unspooling the at least one tether;
• wherein the at least one tether extends from the winding pulley to the lifting pulley before extending and connecting to the gripping device.

A container lifting assembly for raising and/or lowering containers stacked in stacks in a grid storage structure, the container lifting assembly comprising:

• a gripping device configured to releasably grip a container;
• a raising and lowering mechanism configured to raise and lower the gripping device the raising and lowering mechanism including a gearing mechanism configured to wind and/or unwind at least one tether;
• a motor configured to actuate the gearing mechanism to wind and/or unwind the at least one tether the gearing mechanism, including:
• a lifting pulley configured to pull the at least one tether up and/or lower the at least one tether down, wherein the lifting assembly includes:
• a collecting holder for collecting the at least one tether being wound to lift the gripping device.

A method of raising and/or lowering a container from a stack of containers with container lifting assembly and a load handling device, the container lifting assembly including:

• a gripping device configured to releasably grip a container;
• a raising and lowering mechanism configured to raise and lower the gripping device the raising and lowering mechanism including a gearing mechanism configured to wind and/or unwind at least one tether;
• a motor configured to actuate the gearing mechanism to wind and/or unwind the at least one tether, wherein the gearing mechanism includes:
• a lifting pulley configured to pull the at least one tether up and/or lower the at least one tether down;
• and
• a winding pulley for spooling and/or unspooling the at least one tether;
• wherein the at least one tether extends from the winding pulley to the lifting pulley before extending and connecting to the gripping device;
• and
• wherein the load handling device includes a body housing a driving mechanism operatively arranged for moving the load handling device on the grid;
• and
• wherein the container lifting assembly is configured to raise and lower the gripping device relative to the body and for raising and lowering containers stacked in stacks;
• the method comprising:
• actuating the gearing mechanism so as to unwind the at least one tether and lower the gripping device relative to the body;
• actuating the gripping device to grip a container;
• and
• actuating the gearing mechanism so as to wind the tethers and raise the gripping device relative to the body.