Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Emily Dunne

Samuel Gardner Garrett

Unnikrishnan Vadakkanmaruveedu

Akshay Rajendra Tilekar

Andrew Stubbs

Timothy Alan Talda

Ennio Claretti

Jon Stuart Battles

Aaron Joseph Parness

Jacqueline T Underberg

Benjamin Bedard

Don Frank Ruffatto

Felipe De Arruda Camargo Polido

Vinay Balan

Emanuel Moshouris

Suvesha Chandrasekaran

Rachel Lynn Muhlbauer

Nikhil Bole

Mike Hector

Item consolidation tools are described. In one example, an item consolidator includes first and second bay doors, a door displacement system, and a controller. The door displacement system includes first and second drive systems secured to the undersides of the first and second bay doors. The drive systems provide angular and a lateral degrees of freedom, to move the first and second bay doors. The controller is configured to direct the door displacement system to form a bay door vertex between leading edges of the bay doors. Items can be placed on the doors and will rest at the vertex between the doors. The controller can also determine drop locations for the items. The controller can then direct the door displacement system to reposition the bay door vertex based on the drop locations and drop the items by opening or retracting the doors.

Item consolidator

Tray flipper automation tools are described. In one example, a tray flipper includes a flip arm positioned along a conveyor, a tamper arm, a drive system, and a controller. The controller is configured to detect alignment of a tray on the conveyor with the flip arm, direct the drive system to rotate the tamper arm to a position over the tray, and actuate a tamper plate of the tamper arm to secure contents in the tray. The controller is also configured to rotate the tamper arm and the flip arm, with the tray secured between them, to an inverted position off of the conveyor. Items positioned within the tray can be flipped over when the tamper arm and the flip arm rotate away from the conveyor. The flip arm and tray can then be rotated back, leaving the items resting on the tamper plate for inspection and materials handling steps.

Tray flipper

Embodiments herein describe a pick or stow system that uses a mechanical system to stow an item into a container, retrieve an item from the container, or both. In one embodiment, the mechanical system includes a gantry or a robotic arm that permits various sensors, tools, or end effectors to interact with a plurality of containers. For example, the plurality of containers may be supported by a rack where each container may have any number of types of items. The gantry or robotic arm can move the sensors, tools, or end effectors to a particular container to either stow an item into the container or pick an item from the container.

Interacting with and inspecting of movable inventory systems

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for robotic picking assemblies with different concurrent flow rates. In one embodiment, an example system may include a picking assembly coupled to a vacuum system. The picking assembly may include a first suction cup assembly having a first flow rate, the first suction cup assembly including a first suction cup and a first mesh filter disposed in the first suction cup, a second suction cup assembly having a second flow rate, the second suction cup assembly including a second suction cup and a second mesh filter disposed in the second suction cup, and a third suction cup assembly having the second flow rate, the third suction cup assembly including a third suction cup and a third mesh filter disposed in the third suction cup. The picking assembly may grasp items based on the first flow rate and the second flow rate.

Robotic picking assemblies with different concurrent flow rates

In one embodiment, a shelving unit has first and second sides, a frame, and a barrier. The frame defines a storage bay between the first and second sides, a first opening at the first side, and a second opening at the second side. The second opening receives a storage bin therethrough and into the storage bay. The first opening receives inventory items therethrough and into the storage bin when the storage bin is disposed in the storage bay. The barrier moves between (i) an open position, where the first opening is open to the storage bay so as to allow inventory items to be passed therethrough and into the storage bin, and (ii) a closed position, where the barrier at least partially obstructs at least one of the first and second openings so as to impede a human from reaching through the storage bay when the storage bin is removed.

Inventory shelving with movable barrier to obstruct pathway to high-energy equipment

A bin for a sorting rack includes induction and outlet endwalls each elongated along a lateral direction and opposite each other along a perpendicular longitudinal direction. A pair of opposed sidewalls extends from the induction to the outlet endwall. Each sidewall defines a top edge. A pair of opposed mounting flanges extends outwardly from respective external surfaces of the sidewalls. Each mounting flange defines a longitudinal flange axis oriented along the longitudinal direction. A floor extends from the induction to the outlet endwall with respect to the longitudinal direction and between the sidewalls with respect to the lateral direction. The floor and top edges of the sidewalls are each declined toward the outlet endwall at an angle in a range of about 6 and 14 degrees with respect to the longitudinal flange axis. A height of the induction endwall is no more than 70% of each sidewall height.

Bin design and configuration for increased sort destination density

Sortation systems and methods are described, in which the sortation systems may include a cylindrical sortation tower. The cylindrical sortation tower may include a plurality of sortation levels, and each of the sortation levels may include a plurality of sortation positions arranged around a periphery of the level. Each sortation position may include a sortation container. The cylindrical sortation tower may also include one or more horizontal tracks and vertical tracks, and each of the sortation levels may further include a circumferential track. Shuttles may traverse the horizontal, vertical, and circumferential tracks to transport items to desired sortation containers. Further, robotic arms may remove completed sortation containers from and add empty sortation containers to the cylindrical sortation tower.

Cylindrical sortation systems and methods

A conveyor for use in an inventory management system includes a body, one or more displacement elements connected with the body for interfacing with and moving the conveyor along rails, and a sorting mechanism for selectively depositing items from the conveyor to either side of the conveyor. A sorting mechanism includes first and second hinge release assemblies for connecting with, and selectively releasing, a panel that supports the item at either of respective first and second panel ends to allow the panel to fully disconnect at one of the ends and swing open in the first or second direction.

Dual sided gravity sorting conveyer

In one embodiment, a conveyor system reorients objects from a side-by-side orientation to a sequential orientation. The system has an upper conveyor level and a subsequent conveyor level disposed below the upper level. The upper level has an upper conveyor segment that has an upstream end, a downstream end opposite the upstream end along a flow direction, a pair of lateral sides, a top side, and a bottom side. The upper conveyor segment defines an conveying surface that is between the pair of lateral sides and that carries objects aligned therewith along the flow direction. The upper conveyor segment also defines a discharge opening that is between the conveying surface and one of the lateral sides. The discharge opening extends through the upper conveyor segment along a vertical direction so as to discharge objects onto the subsequent conveyor level that are aligned with the discharge opening.

Multi-level conveyor system that reorients objects into a sequential orientation

In one embodiment, a conveyor system has a conveyor segment and a knock-down device. The conveyor segment has an upstream end, and a downstream end opposite the upstream end. The conveyor segment defines a conveying surface that carries objects along a flow direction that extends from the upstream end to the downstream end. The knock-down device has a knock-down body that is spaced entirely from the conveying surface along a vertical direction by at least a clearance height. The knock-down body has an upstream body end, a downstream body end offset from the upstream body end with respect to the flow direction, and a ramped surface that extends between the upstream body end and the downstream body end. The ramped surface is ramped away from the conveying surface as the ramped surface extends along the flow direction, and knocks down objects that are stacked on top of one another.

Growing community of inventors

Seattle, WA, United States of America

Emily Dunne