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US 12,365,279 B2Granted
Conveyor system for delivery using autonomous vehicles
AssigneeGM Cruise Holdings LLC
InventorsTimothy Jon Meador, Alexis De Stasio
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An autonomous vehicle (AV) includes a conveyor system arranged within its main cabin. The conveyor system includes attachment points for attaching transport bags to the conveyor system, and a motor to move the transport bags to different positions along the conveyor system. The AV includes a door that can open and close to provide access to the transport bags. The AV further includes a conveyor system controller that identifies a transport bag associated with a user and issues an instruction to the motor to move the transport bags along the conveyor system.
Claims20
A vehicle comprising:
- an interior compartment comprising a conveyor system arranged therein, the conveyor system to move an item along the conveyor system to different locations within the interior compartment;
- a door that, when opened, provides an opening to the interior compartment;
- a door controller to open the door to the interior compartment, wherein, in response to a determination that a user cannot access the item, the door controller is to further open the door to a greater width;
- and
- a shield over a portion of the opening to the interior compartment, the shield having a window therein, the window aligned with the conveyor system to provide access to the item.
2 more elements
A vehicle comprising:
- an interior compartment comprising a conveyor system arranged therein, the conveyor system to move an item along the conveyor system to different locations within the interior compartment, the item having an item width;
- at least one door to provide access to the interior compartment, the at least one door having a maximum opening width, the maximum opening width greater than the item width,
- wherein, during delivery of the item, the vehicle is to open the at least one door to a second width that is greater than the item width and less than the maximum opening width;
- and
- a door controller to open the at least one door to the second width, wherein in response to a determination that a user cannot access the item, the door controller is to open the at least one door to a third width that is greater than the second width.
2 more elements
A vehicle comprising:
- an interior compartment comprising a conveyor system arranged therein, the conveyor system to move a set of items along the conveyor system to different locations within the interior compartment, each item having an associated item width;
- at least one door to provide access to the interior compartment, the at least one door having a maximum opening width, the maximum opening width greater than each width associated with each item in the set of items;
- a conveyor system controller configured to identify a transport bag associated with a user and issue an instruction to a motor to move a plurality of transport bags along the conveyer system such that the identified transport bag is accessible to an outside of the vehicle via the at least one door, wherein each of the transport bags in the plurality of transport bags includes at least one item in the set of items;
- a door controller to open the at least one door to provide an opening to the interior compartment, the opening having a second width, the second width greater than the item width and less than the maximum opening width, wherein the door controller is to open the at least one door to the second width, wherein, in response to a determination that the user cannot access the item, the door controller is to open the at least one door to a third width that is greater than the second width;
- and
- a shield over a portion of the opening to the interior compartment.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.