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US 11,851,218 B1Granted
Material handling apparatus
AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.
InventorsBrian Stuart Hoffman, David L. Alspaugh, Paul Roy Raines, Timothy Alan Talda, Garett Ochs, Steven Todd Johnson, Seshachalamgupta Motamarri
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A material handling apparatus for reorienting and transferring inventory items to a packaging device includes a support member and a packaging conveyor. The support member receives an inventory item and reorients the item to a rejection orientation or a packaging orientation. The item is moved onto the packaging conveyor in the packaging orientation and is transported to the packaging device.
Claims20
A material handling apparatus comprising:
- an input conveyor operable to supply an item in a horizontal configuration in which a bottom surface of the item is in a substantially horizontal orientation;
- a packaging conveyor having an advanceable belt surface operable to receive the item in a vertical configuration in which the bottom surface of the item is in a substantially vertical orientation and supply the item to a packaging apparatus with the item in the vertical configuration;
- a backside vertical panel positioned along the packaging conveyor;
- a base;
- a support member having a first side pivotally coupled with the base to define a rotation axis positioned adjacent to a perimeter edge of the support member disposed closest to the packaging conveyor, the support member rotatable around the rotation axis between a receiving configuration, a rejection configuration, and a packaging configuration;
- the support member being configured to receive the item in the horizontal configuration from the input conveyor when in the receiving configuration, the support member being rotatable around the rotation axis from the receiving configuration to the rejection configuration such that the item is dropped from the support member in a rejection direction, and the support member being rotatable around the rotation axis from the receiving configuration to the packaging configuration to impart item movement such that (i) the item is reoriented toward the backside vertical panel in a motion that reorients the item away from the horizontal configuration and to the vertical configuration and (ii) the item is transferred in the vertical configuration directly onto the advanceable belt surface of the packaging conveyor and into a position along the backside vertical panel;
- and
- an actuator assembly drivingly coupled to the support member such that the support member is rotated around the rotation axis in response to operation of the actuator assembly (i) in a first mode between the receiving configuration and the rejection configuration and (ii) in a second mode between the receiving configuration and the packaging configuration.
5 more elements
A material handling apparatus comprising:
- a packaging conveyor positioned along a backside vertical panel and having an advanceable belt surface operable to receive an item in a vertical configuration in which a bottom surface of the item is in a substantially vertical orientation and supply the item to a packaging apparatus with the item in the vertical configuration;
- a support member having a first side coupled with a base to define a rotation axis positioned adjacent to a perimeter edge of the support member disposed closest to the packaging conveyor, the support member being rotatable around the rotation axis between a receiving configuration and a packaging configuration, the support member being configured to receive the item in a horizontal configuration from an input conveyor when in the receiving configuration, and wherein the support member is rotatable around the rotation axis from the receiving configuration to the packaging configuration to impart item movement such that (i) the item is reoriented toward the backside vertical panel in a motion that reorients the item away from the horizontal configuration and to the vertical configuration and (ii) the item is transferred in the vertical configuration directly onto the advanceable belt surface of the packaging conveyor and into a position along the backside vertical panel;
- and
- an actuator assembly drivingly coupled to the support member such that the support member is rotated around the rotation axis between the receiving configuration and the packaging configuration in response to operation of the actuator assembly.
1 more element
A method of supplying items to a packaging apparatus, the method comprising:
- receiving a first item (i) in a horizontal configuration in which a bottom surface of the first item is in a substantially horizontal orientation, (ii) from an input conveyor, and (iii) onto a support member in a receiving configuration;
- operating an actuator assembly coupled to the support member to rotate the support member around a rotation axis defined by a first side of the support member being coupled with a base, the rotation axis positioned adjacent to a perimeter edge of the support member disposed closest to a packaging conveyor, the support member being rotatable around the rotation axis from the receiving configuration to a packaging configuration to reorient the first item toward a backside vertical panel in a motion that reorients the first item away from the horizontal configuration and toward a vertical configuration in which the bottom surface of the first item is in a substantially vertical orientation, and further in response to the support member rotating around the rotation axis, transferring the first item in the vertical configuration from the support member directly onto an advanceable belt surface of the packaging conveyor and into a position along the backside vertical panel;
- and
- operating the packaging conveyor to advance the advanceable belt surface of the packaging conveyor to supply the first item in the vertical configuration to a packaging apparatus.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.