The Mechanics & Operation

With the Hanel Lean-Lift® an operator places item(s) on a shelf that is positioned at the workstation inside the storage tower. A chain drive mechanism then pulls the shelf from the workstation and into the center of the storage tower and onto the “extractor”.

As the shelf is pulled onto the extractor, sensors read the height of the materials stored on the shelf and a controller uses this information to determine how many slots will be required to store the shelf in the tower and at the same time locates an opening inside the tower where the shelf will fit.

Then, similar to an elevator, the extractor takes the shelf up or down the shaft of the tower to the available opening for that shelf and the chain drive pushes the shelf onto guides that will hold the shelf until it is needed again.

Shelves are stored at both the front and back of the tower and the controller keeps track of the storage location of all shelves, the items on every shelf, and the bin location of every item on every shelf. When an item or shelf is required, the controller sends the extractor to bring the shelf to the operator at the workstation, who is able to pick the item at a comfortable and ergonomic height. 

Users can request stored items or specific shelves directly from the Controller. Transactions or orders can also be sent from a host system to the network processing at the machine controller. The controller locates the requested items and seamlessly delivers the required shelf to the workstation for operator processing.