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:
Jun. 15, 2021
Filed:
Jul. 12, 2019
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US);
Navid Shiee, Seattle, WA (US);
Michel Leonard Goldstein, Seattle, WA (US);
Ramanathan Palaniappan, Issaquah, WA (US);
Gopi Prashanth Gopal, Redmond, WA (US);
Xiaofeng Ren, Yarrow Point, WA (US);
Ohil Krishnamurthy Manyam, Bellevue, WA (US);
Christopher Robert Towers, Seattle, WA (US);
Yasser Baseer Asmi, Redmond, WA (US);
AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Seattle, WA (US);
Abstract
An item stowed at an inventory location may rest or be supported by a surface, such as a shelf, that includes an optical sensor array. The optical sensor array comprises a plurality of optical sensors that detect light intensity values. When a light source illuminates the item resting on the surface, a footprint or shadow is cast by the item onto the surface. Such a shadow is detected by the light intensity values at the optical sensors in the optical sensor array. Once the shadow is detected, information about the area, shape, and perimeter of the shadow can be determined and saved as footprint data for a single item. Such a process can be performed at intake of the item to the facility and later accessed to determine a quantity of the item on a shelf of a facility.