Affordance for use on an item in a container

摘要

A lifting strap (termed an affordance) 300 for an item to be tightly packed in a container such that an easier grasp can be made to remove the item from the container, comprises a support 301 for at least a portion of the item and a grasping portion 302 arranged to be grasped by a human hand or a robot. The grasping portion 302 may be folded for efficient packing, and the support 301 may have a cut-out to receive the grasping portion of another item stacked above it during packing. The strap may be used when packing items in International Fruit Containers, IFCO. Also disclosed is using at least one strap 300 when packing and unpacking containers using a prior art storage system which stacks items in a uniform grid, (as shown in Figure 14), using at least one robotic handling unit (30) which can grasp the grasping portion 302.