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AmazonGranted patentRobots & automationInterest 6/10

Amazon patents robots to move boxes between warehouse floors

This patent describes a system where robots move storage pods to pick stations, and if an item belongs to a different floor, it is placed in a tote. A vertical conveyor then scans and moves that tote to a robotic station on the correct floor, where a robot places it on a new storage pod for further transport.

Why it mattersIt improves warehouse efficiency by automating the sorting and moving of items between different levels of a facility without manual intervention.

In the filing’s own words

Systems and methods for robotic re-stowing of relocated inventory are described. In some examples, a determination may be made that a first tote located in a first zone of a processing facility includes a first item bound for a second zone of the processing facility. The first tote may be scanned by a first scanner of a first conveyance system to determine that the first tote is bound for the second zone. The first conveyance system may transport the first tote from the first zone to the second zone. The first tote may be robotically stowed on a first storage pod in the second zone. A first laden robotic drive unit may transport the first storage pod to a first pick station in the second zone.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method comprising: transporting, by a laden robotic drive unit, a first storage pod comprising a plurality of items to a first pick station, wherein the first pick station is associated with a first zone of a processing facility; receiving a first item from the first storage pod at the first pick station; determining that the first item is associated with a second zone of the processing facility located on a different level than the first zone; placing the first item in a first tote associated with the second zone; placing the first tote on a vertical conveyor system; determining that the first tote is associated with the second zone by scanning a fiducial on the first tote using a barcode reader associated with the vertical conveyor system; transporting, by the vertical conveyor system, the first tote to a first robotic stow station in the second zone; placing, by a robotic arm of the first robotic stow station, the first tote on a human-accessible storage pod; and transporting, by a second laden robotic drive unit, the human-accessible storage pod to a second pick station in the second zone.

Facts

Company
Amazon (Amazon Technologies, Inc.)
Official title
Robotic re-stowing of relocated inventory
Patent number
US12729064B1
Application number
18535867
Filed
Dec 11, 2023
Granted
Sep 8, 2026
Inventors
5
Claims
20

Classified under

B65G 1/1378 Operations & transportB25J 9/1679 Operations & transportB65G 1/0492 Operations & transportB65G 1/1375 Operations & transportG05B 19/41895 Physics & computingG06Q 10/08 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.