Auto-facing unit with sensors
AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.
InventorsBenjamin Jozef Gyori, Ismael Medrano, Alexander Michael Frenkel, Punit Narendra Java
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Inventory locations in a materials handling facility may be used to store items of various shapes and sizes. Described is an auto-facing unit designed to stow and arrange items against a front of the unit in a uniform fashion. The auto-facing unit may include one or more sensors to generate sensor data. The sensor data may be used to determine a quantity of items remaining in the auto-facing unit. The auto-facing unit and associated structures may be readily reconfigured to accommodate changes in store layout, product presentation, and so forth.
Claims20
An auto-facing unit comprising:
- a base, the base having a front and a back and including:
- two or more rails,
- a back clip at the back of the base,
- a front clip at the front of the base,
- one or more back engagement features extending from the back of the base,
- one or more front indexing features extending downwards perpendicularly from the front of the base,
- a fixed magnet arranged proximate to an underside of the front of the base, and
- a position sensor to detect a position target;
- a data cable extending from the underside of the front of the base;
- and
- a moveable sled retained with respect to the base by the two or more rails, the movable sled comprising:
- a sled base including rail engagement features that mechanically engage the two or more rails such that the sled base moves in a linear fashion along the base,
- a pushplate mounted perpendicularly with respect to the sled base, and
- a spring coupled to the sled base and having an end of the spring coupled to the front of the base to provide tension;
- and
- wherein the position target is detectable by the position sensor.
An auto-facing apparatus comprising:
- a base having a front and a back, the base including:
- a first magnet affixed proximate to the front of the base, and
- a position sensor;
- a data cable extending from an underside of the base;
- and
- a sled that is linearly moveable with respect to the base, the sled comprising:
- a pushplate,
- an actuator coupled to the pushplate, and
- a position target detectable by the position sensor.
A system comprising:
- a base having a front and a back;
- a sled that is linearly moveable with respect to the base, the sled including a pushplate;
- a position sensor that generates data indicative of a relative position of the sled with respect to the base;
- and
- a data cable exiting from an underside of the base proximate to the front of the base and terminated in a plug.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.