Storage compartment vehicles
AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.
InventorsWicksell Metellus, Kristopher William Bell, Julius Chen, Wesley Scott Lauka, Ryan Scott Russell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure is directed toward a storage compartment vehicle (“SCV”) for use in the transport of items for delivery to one or more customers and/or retrieval of items from one or more customers. The SCV may include a plurality of storage compartments that are individually accessible, each of which can contain one or more items. The SCV may navigate to a delivery location and customers may retrieve ordered items from the storage compartments of the SCV. Likewise, customers may return items into storage compartments of the SCV.
Claims20
An apparatus, comprising:
- a storage compartment component including a plurality of storage compartments;
- a motor;
- a propulsion mechanism;
- a gear assembly coupled to the motor and operable to at least selectively drive the propulsion mechanism or selectively drive a primary propulsion mechanism, the gear assembly including:
- a first gear operable to selectively engage with and drive the propulsion mechanism;
- a second gear operable to selectively engage with and drive the primary propulsion mechanism when the primary propulsion mechanism is engaged with the apparatus;
- and
- an adapter plate that is extendable from the gear assembly and operable to engage with the primary propulsion mechanism;
- one or more processors;
- and
- a memory storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least:
- cause engagement of adapter plate with the primary propulsion mechanism;
- and
- cause engagement of the second gear with the primary propulsion mechanism such that the motor can drive, via the second gear, the primary propulsion mechanism to propel the apparatus along a terrain.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a storage compartment component including a plurality of storage compartments;
- a propulsion mechanism;
- an assembly operable to at least selectively drive the propulsion mechanism or a primary propulsion mechanism, the assembly including:
- a first drive mechanism operable to selectively engage with and drive the propulsion mechanism;
- a second drive mechanism operable to selectively engage with and drive a primary propulsion mechanism, when the primary propulsion mechanism is engaged with the apparatus;
- and
- an adapter plate that is extendable from the assembly and operable to engage with the primary propulsion mechanism;
- a control system configured to at least:
- send a first instruction to the assembly to engage the first drive mechanism with and drive the propulsion mechanism and cause the apparatus to navigate from a first location to a second location;
- send a second instruction to the assembly to extend the adapter plate and engage a primary propulsion mechanism when the apparatus is at the second location;
- and
- send a third instruction to the assembly to engage the first drive mechanism with and drive the primary propulsion mechanism and cause the apparatus to navigate toward a delivery location.
A method for transporting a plurality of items, comprising:
- storing a first item in a first storage compartment of a storage compartment component of a storage compartment vehicle;
- storing a second item in a second storage compartment of a storage compartment component of a storage compartment vehicle;
- causing a gear assembly of the storage compartment vehicle to extend an adapter plate such that the adapter plate engages with a primary propulsion mechanism, wherein the primary propulsion mechanism may be selectively engaged or disengaged from the storage compartment vehicle;
- and
- causing the gear assembly to drive the primary propulsion mechanism and navigate the storage compartment vehicle along a navigation path between a source location and a delivery location.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.