US 9,389,609 B1Granted

Container holder utilization and selection

AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.

InventorsMichael Cordell Mountz, Peter R. Wurman, John Joseph Enright, Jeremiah David Brazeau, Michael Harrison Decker, Gavin Cotter, Ishan Mukherjee

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Abstract

An inventory system includes inventory holders, container holders, containers carried by the container holders, mobile drive units, stations, and a management module. The management module instructs the mobile drive units to move the inventory holders and container holders to stations. Container holders are loaded with containers of inbound inventory items at a first station. Inbound inventory items are transferred from containers to inventory holders at a second station. Outbound inventory items are transferred from inventory holders to containers at a third station. Containers of outbound inventory items are removed from container holders at a fourth station.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An inventory system comprising:

a workspace within a facility;
a plurality of inventory holders configured to store inventory items within the workspace;
a plurality of container holders configured to move inventory items within the workspace;
a plurality of containers that are each i) configured to be carried by, and removable from, at least one of the container holders;
and ii) configured for receiving one or more inventory items;
a plurality of stations within the workspace, each station in the plurality of stations configured to receive at least one of an inventory holder or a container holder, each of the plurality of stations configured as one of an induct station, a stow station, a pick station, or a discharge station;
a plurality of unmanned mobile drive units, at least some of the unmanned mobile drive units configured for moving the inventory holders to and from the stations, and at least some of the unmanned mobile drive units configured for moving the container holders to and from the stations;
and
a management module configured to:
instruct at least one of the unmanned mobile drive units to move a container holder to the induct station;
instruct, at the induct station, loading the container holder with a first container containing an inbound inventory item;
instruct at least one of the unmanned mobile drive units to move the container holder, including the first container, to the pick station;
instruct, at the pick station, transferring an outbound inventory item from an inventory holder to a second container of the container holder;
instruct at least one of the unmanned mobile drive units to move the container holder, including the first and second containers, to the discharge station;
and
instruct, at the discharge station, unloading the second container containing the outbound inventory item from the container holder.

13 more elements

A method of managing inventory comprising:

instructing, by a management module, an unmanned mobile drive unit to move a container holder to an induct station of a workspace within a facility, wherein the container holder is configured to removably receive a plurality of containers, each of the plurality of containers configured for receiving one or more inventory items;
instructing, by the management module, loading of the container holder with a first container containing an inbound inventory item at the induct station;
instructing, by the management module, an unmanned mobile drive unit to move the container holder, including the first container, to a pick station of the workspace;
and
instructing, by the management module, transfer of an outbound inventory item from an inventory holder to a second container of the container holder at the pick station, wherein the inventory holder is configured to store inventory items within the workspace;
wherein the inbound inventory item contained in the first container of the container holder is received into the workspace, and the outbound inventory item contained in the second container of the container holder is designated for transfer out of the workspace.

3 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon,

wherein the instructions, when executed, cause a computer system having at least one computer processor to perform a method comprising:
instructing an unmanned mobile drive unit to move a container holder to an induct station of a workspace within a facility, wherein the container holder is configured to removably receive a plurality of containers, each of the plurality of containers configured for receiving one or more inventory items;
instructing loading of the container holder with an inbound container containing an inbound inventory item at the induct station;
instructing an unmanned mobile drive unit to move the container holder, including the inbound container, to a pick station of the workspace;
and
instructing transfer of an outbound inventory item from an inventory holder to an outbound container of the container holder at the pick station, wherein the inventory holder is configured to store inventory items within the workspace.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.