Granted Patent B2

US 12,304,678 · App. 18/393,302 · Granted May 20, 2025

Inventors: John G. Lert, Jr. (Wakefield, MA); William J. Fosnight (Windham, NH)

Assignee: Symbotic LLC

B65B5/10B25J9/0096B65B5/00B65B5/08B65G1/1373B65G1/1378B66F9/063G05B19/41895G06Q10/06315G06Q10/08G06Q10/0832G06Q10/0833G06Q10/087

Abstract

Claims (27)

1. An order fulfillment system for distribution centers supplying goods to physical store locations, the order fulfillment system comprising:

a decanting station for receiving a plurality of types of goods into a distribution center, the decanting station configured to transfer one type of good into a plurality of sub-totes that are configured to fit within one or more product containers;

a picking workstation configured to transfer one or more of the plurality of sub-totes from the one or more product containers to one or more order containers, the one or more of the plurality of sub-totes being selected based on an inventory requirement for the one type of good at a physical store location; and

a delivery section for transferring the one or more order containers to a shipping vehicle for shipment to the physical store location.

2. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , further comprising a storage section configured to store the one or more product containers after the one type of good is loaded into the one or more product containers and before the one or more product containers are transferred to the picking workstation.

3. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , further comprising a decanting robot for automatically loading the one type of good into the plurality of sub-totes at the decanting station.

4. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , wherein the one type of good is manually decanted at the decanting station.

5. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , further comprising a picking robot configured to automatically grip sub-totes of differing sizes and transferring the one or more of the plurality of sub-totes having the one type of good as a whole from the one or more product containers to the one or more order containers.

6. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , wherein sub-totes are manually transferred as a whole from product containers to order containers.

7. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sub-totes comprise differing sizes of sub-totes.

8. The order fulfillment system of claim 7 , wherein a combination of two or more sub-totes of differing sizes corresponds to the inventory requirement for the one type of good at the physical store location.

9. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of mobile robots configured to transfer product containers from the decanting station, configured to transfer product containers to the picking workstation, and configured to transfer empty product containers away from the picking workstation.

10. The order fulfillment system of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of mobile robots are further configured to transfer order containers to the picking workstation, configured to transfer order containers from the picking workstation, and configured to transfer order containers to the delivery section.

11. A method of order fulfillment for distribution centers supplying goods to physical store locations, the method comprising:

at a decanting station, receiving a plurality of types of goods into a distribution center;

at the decanting station, transferring one type of good into a plurality of sub-totes and fitting the plurality of sub-totes into one or more product containers;

at a picking workstation, transferring one or more of the plurality of sub-totes from the one or more product containers to one or more order containers and selecting the one or more of the plurality of sub-totes being based on an inventory requirement for the one type of good at a physical store location; and

at a delivery section, transferring the one or more order containers to a shipping vehicle for shipment to the physical store location.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising storing the one or more product containers at a storage section after the one type of good is loaded into the one or more product containers and before the one or more product containers are transferred to the picking workstation.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising, by a decanting robot, automatically loading the one type of good into the plurality of sub-totes at the decanting station.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising manually decanting the one type of good at the decanting station.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising, by a picking robot, automatically gripping sub-totes of differing sizes and transferring the one or more of the plurality of sub-totes having the one type of good as a whole from the one or more product containers to the one or more order containers.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising manually transferred sub-totes as a whole from product containers to order containers.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of sub-totes comprise differing sizes of sub-totes.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein a combination of two or more sub-totes of differing sizes corresponds to the inventory requirement for the one type of good at the physical store location.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising, by a plurality of mobile robots, transferring product containers from the decanting station, transferring product containers to the picking workstation, and transferring empty product containers away from the picking workstation.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising, by the plurality of mobile robots, transferring order containers to the picking workstation, transferring order containers from the picking workstation, and transferring order containers to the delivery section.

Assignments (7)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (400)