Mobile delivery system and smart carousel dispenser

A mobile delivery apparatus comprising:

• a carousel configured to rotate a plurality of storage bins about a vertical axis, the storage bins being configured to hold a plurality of parcels;
• and
• a vehicle-mounted controller configured to:
• (a) receive parcel information and bin information associated with the storage bins and parcels of the carousel,
• (b) assign each parcel a bin location on the carousel based on the parcel information and the bin information,
• (c) receive a delivery location associated with each parcel,
• (d) receive a delivery route,
• (e) rotate the carousel,
• (f) determine the bin location of a specified parcel along the delivery route, and
• (g) stop rotation of the carousel and position one of the storage bins holding the specified parcel at a retrieval position based on the bin location prior to arriving at the delivery location of the specified parcel;
• and
• a warehouse depot controller and a delivery person-held PDA, both communicating with the vehicle-mounted controller.

A mobile delivery apparatus comprising:

• storage bins configured to hold articles;
• an upper track configured to support a top portion of the storage bins;
• a lower track configured to support a bottom portion of the storage bins;
• a DC drive motor configured to rotate the storage bins between the tracks;
• a frame to which the tracks are coupled;
• a first set of dampeners positioned on an upper portion of the frame;
• a second set of dampeners positioned on a lower portion of the frame;
• the storage bins comprise a plurality of adjustable shelves;
• a first vertically elongated scanner located adjacent to a vehicular door, scanning parcel indicia of the articles as the storage bins rotate;
• a second scanner operably scanning bin indicia;
• and
• a vehicle-mounted controller receiving the scanned article indicia and the scanned bin indicia which the controller then uses to cause the bins to rotate to a desired article retrieval position aligned with a vehicular access door.

A software program, stored in a non-transient computer memory, comprising a module for identifying parcels on a carousel for delivery at a delivery location, the module configured to execute instructions comprising:

• a set of instructions receiving an indicia input signal from a sensor, the indicia input signal comprising parcel indicia associated with each parcel;
• a set of instructions associating the parcel indicia with a carousel location;
• a set of instructions receiving a delivery route based on the delivery location associated with each parcel from an external source;
• a set of instructions identifying the carousel location of a parcel to be delivered along the delivery route;
• and
• a set of instructions activating a driving motor of the carousel to position the parcel to be delivered in a retrieval position prior to arriving at the delivery location.

A method comprising:

• loading parcels into a plurality of storage bins of a rotatable carousel configured to be positioned in a delivery vehicle;
• reading bin identification information associated with each storage bin as the carousel rotates;
• reading parcel information associated with each parcel loaded into the storage bins as the carousel rotates;
• associating the parcel information with the bin identification information;
• assigning a bin location on the carousel to each parcel;
• identifying the bin location of a parcel to be delivered along a delivery route;
• and
• rotating the carousel to position the parcel to be delivered in front of a retrieval door prior to the delivery vehicle arriving at the parcel's delivery location.