Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G1/00—Storing articles, individually or in orderly arrangement, in warehouses or magazines
  • B65G1/02—Storage devices
  • B65G1/04—Storage devices mechanical
  • B65G1/0485—Check-in, check-out devices
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G1/00—Storing articles, individually or in orderly arrangement, in warehouses or magazines
  • B65G1/02—Storage devices
  • B65G1/04—Storage devices mechanical
  • B65G1/137—Storage devices mechanical with arrangements or automatic control means for selecting which articles are to be removed
  • B65G1/1373—Storage devices mechanical with arrangements or automatic control means for selecting which articles are to be removed for fulfilling orders in warehouses
  • B65G1/1376—Storage devices mechanical with arrangements or automatic control means for selecting which articles are to be removed for fulfilling orders in warehouses the orders being assembled on a commissioning conveyor
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G39/00—Rollers, e.g. drive rollers, or arrangements thereof incorporated in roller-ways or other types of mechanical conveyors 
  • B65G39/02—Adaptations of individual rollers and supports therefor
  • B65G39/025—Adaptations of individual rollers and supports therefor having spherical roller elements
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
  • B65G47/52—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices
  • B65G47/53—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices between conveyors which cross one another
  • B65G47/54—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices between conveyors which cross one another at least one of which is a roller-way
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60P—VEHICLES ADAPTED FOR LOAD TRANSPORTATION OR TO TRANSPORT, TO CARRY, OR TO COMPRISE SPECIAL LOADS OR OBJECTS
  • B60P3/00—Vehicles adapted to transport, to carry or to comprise special loads or objects
  • B60P3/007—Vehicles adapted to transport, to carry or to comprise special loads or objects for delivery of small articles, e.g. milk, frozen articles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G35/00—Mechanical conveyors not otherwise provided for

Definitions

• AS/RS automated storage and retrieval systems
• Some systems maximize density by stacking products or totes vertically, which maximizes storage density, but has potentially lower efficiency when retrieving products or totes that are buried lower in the stacks.
• a gantry services a range of totes that are stacked on the floor, which minimizes infrastructure but ultimately has a limit on performance based on a limited number of gantry arms overlapping the same workspace.
• the system stacks totes vertically within a raised structure. Retrieval robots lift the totes from the top one-by-one. This results in a limit on performance to retrieve totes that are lower in the stack with each lift taking a longer amount of time proportional to the height of the tote stack or product being lifted.
• the embodiments described herein provide the capability for a highly dense storage solution while also providing a high level of performance, thereby improving both density and speed of retrieval over prior art systems.
• the totes are arranged in horizontal layers of rows within a passive supporting structure.
• the totes are mechanically coupled to allow for a row of horizontally connected totes to be pulled and/or pushed together as a unit by pulling or pushing one or more totes on the end of a row, which will also pull or push all other totes within that same row that are connected to each other.
• This arrangement allows any totes within a row to be retrieved by repeatedly pulling and decoupling the outer tote or totes from the row until the right tote is retrieved. It also allows for the easy storage of totes.
• a tote could be stored in this AS/RS system simply by pushing a tote into a row that has an empty spot. As that tote is pushed into that row, it will automatically couple itself longitudinally when it comes into contact with the totes that are already in that row.
• This efficient storage approach could also be used to store totes that were removed from a row to access a tote-of-interest initially located on the interior of a row for retrieval.
• the described embodiments store totes within a layered support structure.
• Totes are pulled from or pushed into a row by a robotic carrier that can move from row-to-row within a single layer.
• the carrier may be multiple rows in width and may be capable of pulling a tote from a row and shifting it to another row without vertical movement of the carrier.
• Carriers may work in pairs, with the carriers in the pair aligned at opposite ends of the rows, such that a tote expelled from a row by virtue of pushing a tote into the opposite end of the row is pushed onto a carrier and shifted on the carrier to another row, where it is pushed into the row.
• the storage structure is deployed in a building, for example, a warehouse from which goods are shipped to end-users.
• This embodiment is referred to herein as a stationary storage structure.
• the described storage structure may be deployed in a mobile container.
• the storage structure may be deployed in the trailer portion of a tractor-trailer, a railway car, a ship, an aircraft, a spacecraft, a shipping container, a delivery van, or any other mobile vehicle or structure.
• This embodiment is referred to herein as a mobile storage structure.
• the mobile storage structure may optimize the arrangement of totes within the structure while mobile such that the totes required for the next delivery are able to be easily accessed, for example, by moving the totes required for the next delivery to the rear of a tractor-trailer, near the back door.
• the mobile storage structure may interface with a storage structure deployed in a warehouse to automatically transfer totes from the mobile storage structure to the stationary storage structure.
• FIG. 1 is an illustration showing an exemplary configuration of the storage system of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 shows more detail of a portion of the storage system shown in FIG. 1.
• FIGS. 3(a-l) are schematic illustrations of the process by which totes are shifted from a source row in the storage structure to a destination row in the storage structure.
• FIG. 4 is a transparent illustration of a tote in accordance with the present invention.
• FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of a tote coupling mechanism.
• FIG. 6 is an illustration of one embodiment of the carrier.
• FIG. 8 is an illustration of a second exemplary embodiment of the primary invention wherein the storage structure is deployed in a delivery van.
• FIG. 9 is an illustration of a carrier showing multiple ways of loading and unloading a tote for intake into or output from the storage system or for transfer to another robotic carrier.
• the term “storage structure” refers to a structure for storing totes and facilitating the placement and retrieval of totes within the storage structure by a carrier.
• the storage structure may be either stationary or mobile.
• a "row" is defined as a portion of a storage structure capable of storing a plurality of totes aligned longitudinally with each other and able to move in the longitudinal direction of the row.
• a row may be horizontal, vertical, or any orientation within the storage structure, but horizontal orientation is the preferred embodiment, because the force to pull a row of totes in the horizontal direction is significantly less than the force needed to lift the coupled totes in vertical direction.
• the embodiments described herein utilize multiple carriers that work in unison to manipulate totes or other stored product from a storage structure, to efficiently retrieve a particular tote or to store a tote.
• the process utilizes a system of coupled totes that allow for force to be shared within a row of totes in a direction aligned with the longitudinal axis of the row (in either positive or negative direction) but also allows for the totes to be decoupled by moving them in a direction orthogonal to the direction of the longitudinal axis of the row (either positive or negative direction).
• the novel technology can manipulate the totes or other products in both directions to move a target tote (and as a result, all totes coupled to the target tote) toward an end of the row where it may be decoupled from the row.
• FIG. 2 shows a portion of storage structure 100.
• the portion shows two rows 102 containing only ten totes 400 per row.
• the length of each row 102, and therefore the number of totes 400 that may be stored in a row 102 may be limited only by the ability of the drives to provide the pushing or pulling force necessary to move the entire row of totes, including the weight of the goods contained in each tote.
• Carriers 106, disposed at either end of the rows 102 may move along carrier servicing area 104 such as to align with rows in the structure 100.
• Carriers 106 have the ability to provide a pulling motion to a tote 400 at the end of a row 102 such as to move all of the totes in the row toward carrier 106. Carrier 106 may then shift the tote 400 at the end of row 102, which is now positioned on carrier 106, to a different position on carrier 106 aligned with a different row. The process of shifting the tote from a first position aligned with the source row to a second position aligned with the destination row automatically decouples the tote from the end of row 102. Carrier 106 also has the ability to push the tote into a destination row such as to cause it to couple with the tote at the end of the destination row.
• FIGS. 3(a-l) are schematic illustrations of the process by which totes are shifted from one row (i.e., a source row) to another row (i.e., destination row) in the storage structure.
• the box labeled 106 in FIG. 3(a) represents carrier 106 in all of FIGS 3(a-l) and the lines between the totes represent rows 102.
• the series of illustrations will show the movement of totes labeled "A" and "B" from the source row on the left to the destination row on the right.
• FIG. 3(a) shows carrier 106 in position at the end of two rows of storage structure 102 and aligned with both the source and destination rose.
• FIG. 3(c) shows tote "A" clear of storage structure 102 and completely on the carrier. Once the tote is clear of the storage structure 102 the tote is free to be shifted from the source row to the destination row. Carrier 106 exerts a shifting force on the tote to align the tote with the destination row.
• tote "A” has begun its shift from the source row to the destination row.
• the process of shifting in a direction orthogonal to the row automatically decouples tote "A” from the source row, as will be discussed later.
• FIG. 3(e) shows tote "A” at the halfway point between the source row and the destination row.
• tote "A” is completely aligned with the destination row and carrier 106 exerts a pushing force on tote "A", causing tote "A” to couple to tote "2" in the destination row.
• tote "A” is diagonal motion of tote "A" as it moves from the source row to the destination row on the carrier 106.
• tote "B” is almost out of the source row and positioned on carrier 106.
• tote "B” enters the left side of carrier 106 as tote "A” is exiting carrier 106 and being moved into the destination row.
• FIGS. 3(h-k) show the same processes as described above for moving tote "B" into the destination row.
• totes 400 A first embodiment of the tote is shown in FIG. 4, wherein the tote embodies a container structure 400 for accepting goods for storage.
• tote 400 may be configured as a flat platform which can accept goods or containers for goods stacked thereon.
• tote 400 is configured with a series of wheels 402 on opposite sides thereof to allow movement of the tote along a longitudinal axis of each row 102.
• wheels 402 are mounted above the bottom surface of tote 400 and engage parallel tracks disposed on either side of each row 102.
• the tracks may be "C-shaped" at support the wheels 402 in both the up and down directions.
• wheels 402 may be disposed near the top surface of tote 400 and would engage the parallel tracks such that tote 400 would hang from the track.
• the tote may be configured as, for example, a flat carrier having a mechanism to engage hanging goods such as clothing.
• the wheels may be disposed not on the totes, but in the rows of storage structure 100, wherein the totes ride on the wheel in the rows.
• other means may be employed to minimize frictional between the totes and storage structure 100.
• totes 400 are configured with a coupling mechanism 500 that automatically engages as totes 400 are moved together.
• FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of the coupling mechanism.
• a first portion of the coupling mechanism 500 comprises a spring-loaded latch 502 having an angled surface that pushes up when the spring-loaded latch 502 encounters a hook mechanism 510, shown in FIG. 4.
• coupling mechanism 500 is securely attached to the body of tote 400 via a mounting plate 506 which is securely attached to support structure 504 which in turn is attached to the body of tote 400.
• Coupling mechanism 500 may include a dust cover 508 and the spacing may be adjusted utilizing a spacer 512 to reinforce the tote wall.
• the entire coupling mechanism support structure could be part of the molded plastic from which the tote is constructed.
• De-coupling of totes 400 occurs when one tote is moved in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal line of the row 102, that is, tote 400 is moved towards another row 102 in storage structure 100.
• the edges of hook mechanism 510 are not closed (like the edge portion) such that movement of the tote in either direction indicated by the arrow "Z" will cause hook mechanism 510 to disengage from spring- loaded latch 502, thus decoupling the totes.
• the tote moves from one row to another row, as shown in FIGS. 3(d-e)
• the tote is automatically decoupled from the adjacent tote in the row.
• the tote is completely decoupled from the adjacent tote.
• the totes may be configured with a coupling mechanism 500 and a hook mechanism 510 on each side of the tote, such that the totes may be bidirectionally inserted into and removed from rows 102.
• carrier 106 is two rows wide, with one side spaced such as to receive a tote 400 from one row 102 and the other side spaced such as to deposit the tote 400 in an adjacent row 102.
• the carriers may be multiple rows wide, with each row configured as shown in FIG. 6.
• carrier 106 may be configured to cover the entire length of the edge of storage structure 100.
• carriers 106 may be configured to transfer a tote 400 from one carrier 106 to an adjacent carrier 106.
• carrier 106 may be provided with a carrier drive 608 capable of moving carrier 106 within carrier servicing area 104 to align carrier 106 with different rows 102 of storage structure 100.
• the carrier 106 may be limited to movement within one layer of storage structure 100.
• the carrier 106 may be configured with a drive mechanism capable of moving carrier 106 between layers of storage structure 100.
• Carrier 106 may be provided, in various embodiments, with a plurality of sensors both for providing an identification of a tote 400 via, for example, a barcode mounted on the tote 400, and for sensing the position of a tote 400 on carrier 106.
• the intake/output structure 108 may be located at any position on the end of or within the storage structure 100.
• a storage structure is deployed in a mobile container.
• the storage structure may be storage structure 100 previously described herein and shown in FIGS. 1-6, or the storage structure may be of any other design.
• the primary invention will be explained in terms of an exemplary embodiment which is shown in FIGS. 7(a-b), in which a storage structure is deployed in the trailer portion 700 of a tractor-trailer combo.
• the storage structure may be deployed in any mobile container, for example, a railway car, a ship, a submersible vehicle, an aircraft, a spacecraft, a shipping container, a delivery van, or any other mobile vehicle or structure.
• the mobile container may be temperature controlled.
• a typical trailer 700 is shown having storage structure 100 deployed therein.
• storage structure 100 may comprise 7 layers having 6 rows per layer and 25 totes per row, for a total capacity of 1050 totes.
• the number of totes accommodated in the mobile vehicle in this exemplary arrangement is dependent on the size of the totes. Other embodiments having varying tote sizes are possible and would change the number of totes that can be accommodated in the mobile vehicle. In other types of vehicles, other configurations of storage system 100 will be used having varying numbers of rows, layers and a varying number of totes per layer.
• area 702 of trailer 700 is left open to accommodate one or more robotic carriers 106 as previously described for shuffling totes within storage structure 100.
• area 704 of trailer 700 may be left open for the deployment of one or more carriers 106 in any configuration as described with respect to area 702. Carriers 106 deployed in area 704 will pair with carriers 106 deployed in area 702 to provide optimized shuffling of totes as described previously with respect to the stationary storage structure. In other embodiments, area 704 may be eliminated, in which case storage structure 100 may be expanded to the end of trailer 700 to accommodate more totes and may interface with a stationary storage structure or otherwise utilize carriers 106 which are deployed at a delivery location, as discussed below.
• Trailer 700 may arrive at a destination where goods contained in the totes are to be delivered.
• mobile storage system 100 may be programmed to deliver the required totes to the open end of trailer 700 after arriving at the destination such that they may be offloaded either automatically or manually. This mode of operation in the likely scenario when no carriers are deployed in are 704.
• the totes contained within storage structure 100 may be shuffled while the mobile container is enroute to the next destination such that the totes required at the next destination are located nearest an open end of trailer 700.
• totes may be offloaded from trailer 700 or delivered to the open end of 700 where goods contained in the totes can be removed, in which case the totes may thereafter be returned to storage structure 100.
• one or more carriers 106 may be deployed within area 704.
• totes required at the destination are moved onto the carriers 106 deployed in area 704.
• the totes may be manually removed from trailer 700 or may stop on the carrier 106 temporarily as goods are removed from the tote, after which the tote is returned to storage structure 100.
• totes may be automatically removed from trailer 700. This may be accomplished by moving the totes on to carriers 106 deployed in area 704 after which they are transferred to carriers at the destination using a carrier-to-carrier transfer.
• the totes may be unloaded from carriers 106 directly onto a conveyor associated with et stationary storage structure. The carriers at the destination may or may not thereafter interface with a stationary storage structure.
• totes may be transferred from carriers 106 deployed in area 704 to an intake/output portion 108 of a stationary storage structure, for example to a conveyer belt via a gravity feed ramp.
• area 704 is eliminated from the open end of trailer 700 and storage structure 100 is extended to the open end of trailer 700.
• carriers deployed at the destination will interface with storage structure 100 deployed in trailer 700 and will pair with carriers 106 deployed in area 702 to deliver totes required destination to the open end of trailer 700.
• all or just a portion of the totes contained in storage structure 100 may be delivered at any particular destination. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, it may not be possible to shuffle totes while trailer 700 is enroute to the next destination, as carriers 106 are only deployed on one end of storage structure 100, in area 702.
• FIGS. 8 (a-b) show an exemplary deployment in a delivery van 800.
• storage structure 100 may comprise, for example, 7 layers having 6 rows per layer and 6 totes per row, for a total of 252 totes. Areas 802 and 804 reserved for the deployment of one or more carriers 106.
• totes required for the next delivery are delivered to an opening within delivery van 800 while en route to the next destination, and the packages to be delivered can be manually unloaded from the tote by the delivery person.
• storage structures may be nested.
• a container ship may use a storage structure deployed on the ship to shuffle shipping containers (in lieu of totes) for delivery at the next port, while each shipping container may contain a storage structure 100
• FIG. 9 shows a carrier 106 having the capability of moving totes off the carrier in any of directions "A", "B” or “C".
• This type of care 106 may be particularly useful when deployed in area 704 or 804 of tractor-trailer 700 or delivery van 800 respectively.
• This arrangement may be particularly useful when the carrier is used as an interface between a mobile storage structure and a stationary storage structure because it allows totes to be off-loaded from carrier 106 in direction "C", to enable the automatic transfer of the totes to a second carrier which is part of the stationary storage structure.
• the primary invention a mobile storage structure
• a mobile storage structure has been described using an exemplary storage structure 100 of the type disclosed herein, however, as would be realized by one of skill in the art, any design of a storage structure capable of delivering totes from the storage structure to an open-end of the mobile container are contemplated to be within the scope of the invention

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Warehouses Or Storage Devices (AREA)

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• 2023
  • 2023-11-16 WO PCT/US2023/080091 patent/WO2024112566A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2023-11-16 EP EP23895264.2A patent/EP4622902A1/de active Pending

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