Utility distribution infrastructure

• US 10,044,196 B1
• Filed: 12/11/2015
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Worley, III, William Spencer, Legrand, III, Louis Leroi
• Primary Examiner(s): Deberadinis, Robert
• Application Number:
  US14/967,098
• Time in Patent Office: 970 Days
• Field of Search: 307104
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 5/0043 Show shelves shelves in general A47B96/02; brackets or similar shelf-supporting means A47B96/06; advertising or price indication G09F
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 38/14 Inductive couplings for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using inductive coupling H02J50/10
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer

Abstract

Described herein are systems and devices for providing a utility distribution infrastructure for one or more moveable pieces of active furniture. The utility distribution infrastructure is configured to provide one or more utilities such as electrical power, heating, cooling, fluid, gas, communications, and so forth, to one or more pieces of active furniture, which may be repositioned within the infrastructure.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

one or more pieces of active furniture comprising;

one or more shelves configured to hold one or more retail items; and

one or more active systems configured to use electrical power;

a floor supporting the one or more pieces of active furniture, the floor comprising a plurality of inductive wireless power coupling units configured to transmit electrical power to the one or more pieces of active furniture; and

a utility management system configured to;

determine a location of the one or more pieces of active furniture; and

based at least in part on the location, control an electrical distribution unit coupled to the plurality of inductive wireless power coupling units to energize at least one of the plurality of inductive wireless power coupling units proximate to the location for transmission of electrical power.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the utility management system is further configured to:

determine power transfer indicative of inductive coupling between the at least one of the plurality of wireless power coupling units and a corresponding active furniture inductive wireless power coupling unit; and

deactivate one or more of the plurality of inductive wireless power coupling units which are not transferring power to the corresponding active furniture inductive wireless power coupling unit.

3. The system of claim 1, the floor further comprising:

a plurality of interconnected utility segments, each of the plurality of interconnected utility segments having one or more inductive wireless power coupling units and configured with one or more electrical conductors configured to provide electrical power to one or more adjacent utility segments.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more active systems comprise a computing device coupled to a display and one or more input devices, the computing device configured to provide an interactive user interface including a user interface on the display comprising additional information about the one or more retail items and responsive to one or more user inputs at the one or more input devices.

5. A system comprising:

a plurality of utility couplings distributed across a floor, wherein the plurality of utility couplings are configured to couple to one or more pieces of active furniture;

a utility management system configured to control provisioning of one or more utilities to the plurality of utility couplings; and

a communication system configured to send data to and receive data from the one or more pieces of active furniture.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more utilities comprises electricity and the plurality of utility couplings comprising a plurality of electrically conductive elements configured to physically contact two or more electrical conductors of the one or more pieces of active furniture.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more utilities comprise electricity and the plurality of utility couplings comprising a plurality of wireless power couplings configured to transfer power to the one or more pieces of active furniture without a conductor using resonant inductive coupling.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more utilities comprise one or more of thermal energy, fluid, gas, heating ventilation and air conditioning air, or safety data signals.

9. The system of claim 5, wherein the communication system is configured to transfer the data using one or more of the plurality of utility couplings.

10. The system of claim 5, wherein the utility management system is further configured to discontinue delivery of the one or more utilities to one or more of the plurality of utility couplings which are not coupled to the one or more pieces of active furniture.

11. The system of claim 5, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of utility couplings are embedded within the floor.

12. The system of claim 5, further comprising:

a mechanical locking mechanism configured to engage at least a portion of the one or more pieces of active furniture to restrain the one or more pieces of active furniture.

13. The system of claim 5, further comprising:

a magnetic locking mechanism configured to engage at least a portion of the one or more pieces of active furniture with one or more magnetic fields configured to restrain the one or more pieces of active furniture.

14. The system of claim 5, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of utility couplings comprise one or more structures attached to an upper surface of the floor.

15. The system of claim 5, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of utility couplings are arranged within a receptacle at least partially within the floor.

16. A piece of active furniture comprising:

a moveable chassis supporting a payload, the payload comprising one or more items for sale;

one or more utility couplings configured to couple to one or more of a plurality of utility couplings distributed across a floor; and

one or more active systems configured to use one or more utilities provided by the one or more of the plurality of utility couplings.

17. The piece of active furniture of claim 16, wherein the plurality of utility couplings comprise one or more of wireless power coupling units, electrically conductive contacts, optical light guides, connectors configured to carry a fluid or a gas, or passages for material transport.

18. The piece of active furniture of claim 16, wherein the plurality of utility couplings comprise one or more wheels configured to conduct an electrical current.

19. The piece of active furniture of claim 16, wherein the one or more active systems further comprising:

a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, a communication interface coupled to the processor, and a display coupled to the processor; and

wherein the one or more active systems are configured to;

retrieve information associated with the one or more items from an external device accessible with the communication interface; and

present the information on the display.

20. The piece of active furniture of claim 16, the one or more active systems further comprising:

a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, a communication interface coupled to the processor, a user input device coupled to the processor, and a display coupled to the processor; and

wherein the one or more active systems are configured to;

present a user interface on the display, wherein the user interface comprises information associated with the one or more items;

receive user input with the user input device; and

update the user interface responsive to the user input.

21. A system comprising:

a plurality of utility couplings distributed across a floor, wherein the plurality of utility couplings are configured to couple to one or more pieces of active furniture; and

a utility management system to control provisioning of one or more utilities to the plurality of utility couplings.

22. A system comprising:

a plurality of utility couplings distributed across a floor, wherein the plurality of utility couplings are configured to couple to one or more pieces of active furniture and the plurality of utility couplings comprising at least one electrical utility coupling and at least one non-electrical utility coupling.