IP Library › Patent Application 19668989

Patent Application

App. No. 19/668,989

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ORDER FULFILLMENT

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App. No.: 19/668,989

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Abstract

An order fulfillment system is described herein. The system includes an inventory database identifying inventoried items, an assembly line system configured to deliver items to at least one workstation, at least one camera configured to scan items being transported by the assembly line system in real-time, and a computing system. The computing system is programmed to execute the steps of: receiving an order notification for an order, identifying items in the order, prioritizing the order based on a prescribed rule, receiving a scanned image from the at least one camera, mapping the scanned image to a corresponding inventoried item, ascertaining a location of the corresponding inventoried item, and operating the line assembly line system to: sort the identified items in the order, and send the identified items to a destination, such that movement of those identified items can be controlled and re-routed as necessary.

Claims (75)

1 . An item-handling system comprising:

at least one database identifying at least one inventoried item;

at least one conveyor defining at least one conveyor path along which at least one item is configured to move, wherein the at least one of the conveyor is configured to control a movement speed of the at least one item through at least one conveyor path, wherein at least one destination location of at least one conveyor comprises a workstation;

at least one sensor system disposed in a handling area and configured to generate a sensor output indicating at least one of a presence, an identity, or a location of the at least one item along the at least one conveyor path and a corresponding time-stamp of the sensor output, wherein the at least one sensor system comprises a plurality of sensor units, and wherein the plurality of sensor units comprises at least one sensor unit disposed along an item transport route of the at least one conveyor path at locations selected to track the at least one item and to generate at least one confirmation event of the at least one item at the handling area, and wherein each of the at least one sensor unit selected from the group consisting of:

(A) a weight sensor configured to output weight data of the at least one item,

(B) at least one image or optical sensor configured to output image or optical data depicting the at least one item,

(D) an optical recognition sensor configured to output optical recognition data corresponding to the at least one item,

(E) an infrared sensor configured to output temperature data of the at least one item,

(F) a proximity sensor configured to output proximity data indicative of a presence or position of the at least one item, and

(G) a code reader configured to read a machine-readable identifier associated with the at least one item, the machine-readable identifier comprising at least one of a barcode, a two-dimensional code, or a radio-frequency identifier;

at least one actuation device configured to adjust a position of the at least one item relative to the handling area, wherein the at least one actuation device comprises recognition technology configured to generate identifying information for the at least one item based on the sensor output and the corresponding time-stamp of the sensor output; and

at least one computing system comprising one or more computing units programmed to execute the steps of:

receiving the generated sensor output and the corresponding time-stamp for the at least one item;

generating or storing the sensor output and the corresponding time-stamp associated with the identifying information for the at least one item;

determining an item identifier for the at least one item using the recognition technology and based on the at least one of the sensor output and the corresponding time-stamp of the sensor output, wherein determining the item identifier comprises at least one of:

(A) determining the item identifier from the machine-readable identifier obtained by the code reader,

(B) determining the item identifier from at least one of weight data, image data, dimension data, optical data, temperature data, or proximity data,

(D) selecting item identifiers associated with movement of the at least one item based on the sensor output and the corresponding time-stamp of the sensor output;

storing, in association with the item identifier, a timestamp corresponding to receipt of the identifying information for the at least one item;

analyzing at least one characteristic of the identified at least one item in the sensor output to determine an association of the at least one item with the at least one inventoried item;

mapping the item identifier to a record associated with the identified at least one item from the at least one database;

determining a real-time position of the identified at least one item within the handling area using the timestamp corresponding to receipt of the identifying information or the corresponding time-stamp of the sensor output, and providing time-stamped position information for the identified item to at least one computing system or actuation device;

signaling a corresponding actuation device of the at least one actuation device to retrieve a corresponding identified item of the identified at least one item;

generating at least one actuation instruction for the corresponding actuation device; and

transmitting the at least one actuation to the at least one computing system to cause the at least one actuation device to route the at least one item toward the destination location.

2 . The item-handling system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one characteristic comprises at least one of a bar code, SKU, shape, dimensions, material, weight, imagery, or another identifier.

3 . The item-handling system of claim 1 , further comprising an artificially intelligent control unit configured to perform one or more of:

identify patterns in the at least one database;

classify items in the at least one database; and

transfer data to an employee, manager, or vendor.

4 . The item-handling system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one computing system comprises a supercomputer or a quantum computer, which may be included in a network.

5 . The item-handling system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one computing system comprises a control unit comprising one or more of a chip, a chip set, and a GPU.

6 . The item-handling system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one computing system is further configured to calculate a delivery time of an order.

7 . The item-handling system of claim 1 , further comprising an artificially intelligent control unit configured to control a speed of transfer mechanisms in the at least one conveyor.

8 . The item-handling system of claim 1 , further comprising a workstation comprising a display, a workstation scanning device, and an assembling area for assembling orders.

9 . The item-handling system of claim 8 , wherein the workstation further comprises at least one of a computerized sacker, a robotic arm, or a humanoid robot configured to pick or place items at or adjacent to the workstation.

10 . The item-handling system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one computing system is further programmed to display a notification message on the display indicating an item is adjacent to the workstation.

11 . A method of operating an order fulfillment system comprising:

providing at least one database identifying inventoried items;

providing at least one conveyor defining at least one conveyor path along which at least one item is configured to move, wherein the at least one conveyor is configured to control a movement speed of the at least one item through at least one conveyor path, wherein at least one destination location of the at least one conveyor comprises a workstation;

providing at least one sensor system disposed in a handling area and configured to generate a sensor output indicating at least one of a presence, an identity, or a location of the at least one item along the at least one conveyor path and a corresponding time-stamp of the sensor output, wherein the at least one sensor system comprises a plurality of sensor units, and wherein the plurality of sensor units comprises at least one sensor unit disposed along an item transport route of the at least one conveyor path at locations selected to track the at least one item and to generate at least one confirmation event of the at least one item at the handling area, and wherein each of the at least one sensor unit selected from the group consisting of:

(A) a weight sensor configured to output weight data of the at least one item,

(B) at least one image or optical sensor configured to output image or optical data depicting the at least one item,

(D) an optical recognition sensor configured to output optical recognition data corresponding to the at least one item,

(E) an infrared sensor configured to output temperature data of the at least one item,

(F) a proximity sensor configured to output proximity data indicative of a presence or position of the at least one item, and

providing at least one actuation device configured to adjust a position of the at least one item relative to the handling area, wherein the at least one actuation device comprises recognition technology configured to generate identifying information for the at least one item based on the sensor output and the corresponding time-stamp of the sensor output;