Energy recovery in stocking vehicles
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsChun Cheng LIU, Guancyun LI, Ching-Jung CHANG, Yi-Ching LO
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A stocking vehicle is provided. The stocking vehicle is configured to perform a stocking operation to transfer a first product unit from a first location to a second location. The stocking vehicle includes a stocking component. The stocking vehicle includes a motor coupled to the stocking component to facilitate performance of the stocking operation by the stocking component. The stocking vehicle includes an energy storage device configured to supply first energy to the motor during a first state of the motor and store second energy of the motor during a second state of the motor.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- a stocking vehicle, comprising:
- an arm;
- a motor coupled to the arm;
- and
- an energy storage device configured to:
- supply first energy to the motor during a first state of the motor;
- and
- store second energy of the motor during a second state of the motor;
- and
- a stocking area, wherein:
- an input port protrudes from an outer surface of a wall of the stocking area,
- an opening through which a first product unit is transferred into the stocking area is defined in the wall of the stocking area, and
- the stocking vehicle is configured to obtain, using the arm, the first product unit disposed on the input port and move, using the motor when the motor is in the first state, the first product unit through the opening toward an inner surface of the wall and to a location disposed within the stocking area.
A stocking vehicle, comprising:
- a stocking component;
- a motor coupled to the stocking component;
- an energy storage device;
- and
- a controller configured to set a speed of the motor based upon an urgency score associated with a first product unit to be transferred using the stocking component, wherein the controller is configured to:
- cause the energy storage device to supply first energy to the motor according to the speed set for the motor during a first state of the motor;
- and
- cause the motor to supply second energy to the energy storage device during a second state of the motor to harvest the second energy for storage in the energy storage device.
A method of operating a stocking vehicle comprising a stocking component, a motor coupled to the stocking component, and an energy storage device, the method comprising:
- performing a stocking operation to transfer a first product unit using the stocking component;
- during a first state of the motor, while performing the stocking operation, supplying first energy to the motor using the energy storage device;
- and
- during a second state of the motor, while performing the stocking operation, storing second energy of the motor in the energy storage device;
- and
- during a third state of the motor, controlling a switch coupled between the motor and the energy storage device to be in an open state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.