The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 18, 2020
Filed:
Sep. 28, 2018
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US);
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US);
Abstract
In one embodiment, a sortation system has a conveyor system and mobile drive units. The conveyor system has a conveyor surface that carries payloads along a direction that extends from a first conveyor end to a second conveyor end. The conveyor system has support structure that supports the conveyor surface above a floor so as to define a space between the conveyor surface and the floor. The space is sized so that the mobile drive units can drive under the conveyor surface towards the second conveyor end. The conveyor system has sensors supported that are positioned to detect positions of the mobile drive units under the conveyor surface. The conveyor system moves at least a portion of the conveyor surface based on the sensors detecting the presence of each mobile drive unit so as to synchronize movement of the payloads from the conveyor surface to the mobile drive units.