Granted Patent B2

US 12,358,723 · App. 18/617,107 · Granted Jul 15, 2025

Inventors: John Lert (Wakefield, MA); Stephen C Toebes (Chelmsford, MA); Robert Sullivan (Wilmington, MA); Foster Hinshaw (Cambridge, MA); Nathan Ulrich (Lee, NH)

Assignee: Symbotic LLC

B65G1/0492B65G1/065B65G1/1373B65G1/1378B65G1/045B65G1/10B65G1/127B65G1/137B65G1/1371B65G47/57G06Q10/087Y10S901/01

Abstract

Claims (22)

1. An autonomous transport vehicle for transporting case units to and from predefined storage areas in an automated case unit storage system, the automated case unit storage system including an array of storage racks with picking aisles and at least one input/output transfer station, the at least input/output transfer station having at least one shelf and being connected to the picking aisles by a transfer floor, the autonomous transport vehicle comprising:

a frame configured to traverse the picking aisles and an unconstrained transport surface of the transfer floor so as to pass along the storage racks and transfer floor for transporting case units between the predefined storage areas and the at least one input/output transfer station, where the picking aisles extend from the transfer floor, and the frame has wheels so that the frame is steerable along multiple axes, angled relative to each other, of the unconstrained transport surface so that the frame traverses freely the unconstrained transfer surface to each respective picking aisle;

an underpick case unit support coupled to the frame and arranged to engage an underside of a case unit and pick up the case unit therefrom effecting transfer of the case unit, from at least one of, each predefined storage area of the storage racks and each of the input/output transfer station, to the vehicle; and

a controller connected to the frame, the controller being configured to effect movement of the autonomous transport vehicle along the picking aisles for accessing each storage area of the array of storage racks and each shelf of the input/output transfer station.

2. The autonomous transport vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising an effector connected to the frame, the effector being configured to hold the case units and being configured to transfer the case units between the autonomous transport vehicle and each storage area and between the autonomous transport vehicle and the at least one input/output transfer station.

3. The autonomous transport vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the autonomous transport vehicle is configured to transport case units between each storage area of a respective level of the array of storage racks and the at least one input/output transfer station with one pick.

4. The autonomous transport vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the storage racks are multilevel storage racks.

5. The autonomous transport vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the at least one input/output transfer station includes at least one vertical lift.

6. The autonomous transport vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the underpick case unit support is moveable relative to the frame between extended and retracted positions, the underpick case unit support being extended for picking and placing the case unit on the storage racks and for picking and placing the case unit for transfer to the input/output transfer station.

7. The autonomous transport vehicle of claim 1 , wherein when the autonomous transport vehicle is configured to directly or indirectly transfer the case unit to or from the input/output transfer station, the array of storage racks further comprises an interface device configured for transferring the case unit between the input/output transfer station and the autonomous transport vehicle.

8. The autonomous transport vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the interface device includes fingers that form a slatted transfer shelf, the underpick case unit support of the autonomous transport vehicle comprising vehicle fingers configured to pass through the slatted transfer shelf for transferring the case unit to or from the interface device.

9. A method for transporting case units to and from predefined storage areas in an automated case unit storage system with an autonomous transport vehicle, the automated case unit storage system including an array of storage racks with picking aisles and at least one input/output transfer station, the at least input/output transfer station having at least one shelf and being connected to the picking aisles by a transfer floor, the method comprising:

providing a frame of the autonomous transport vehicle to traverse the picking aisles and an unconstrained transport surface of the transfer floor so as to pass along the storage racks and transfer floor for transporting case units between the predefined storage areas and the at least one input/output transfer station, where the picking aisles extend from the transfer floor, and the frame has wheels so that the frame is steerable along multiple axes, angled relative to each other, of the unconstrained transport surface so that the frame traverses freely the unconstrained transfer surface to each respective picking aisle;

providing an underpick case unit support coupled to the frame and arranged to engage an underside of a case unit and pick up the case unit therefrom effecting transfer of the case unit, from at least one of, each predefined storage area of the storage racks and each of the input/output transfer station, to the vehicle; and

effecting movement of the autonomous transport vehicle, with a controller connected to the frame, along the picking aisles for accessing each storage area of the array of storage racks and each shelf of the input/output transfer station.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising providing an effector connected to the frame, the effector holding the case units and transferring the case units between the autonomous transport vehicle and each storage area and between the autonomous transport vehicle and the at least one input/output transfer station.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising transporting case units between each storage area of a respective level of the array of storage racks and the at least one input/output transfer station with one pick.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the storage racks are multilevel storage racks.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the at least one input/output transfer station includes at least one vertical lift.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the underpick case unit support is moveable relative to the frame between extended and retracted positions, the method further comprising extending the underpick case unit support to pick and place the case unit on the storage racks and pick and place the case unit transferring the case unit to the input/output transfer station.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein when the autonomous transport vehicle directly or indirectly transfers the case unit to or from the input/output transfer station, the array of storage racks include an interface device that transfers the case unit between the input/output transfer station and the autonomous transport vehicle.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the interface device includes fingers that form a slatted transfer shelf, the underpick case unit support of the autonomous transport vehicle including vehicle fingers to pass through the slatted transfer shelf and transfer the case unit to or from the interface device.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (6)

References Cited (400)