Determining pallet case configurations for placement by a robot

• US 20040074823A1
• Filed: 10/17/2002
• Published: 04/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: System Logistics Corporation
• Original Assignee: Vertique Incorporated
• Inventors: Stingel, Jeffrey W., Stingel, Frederick John III, Brust, David, Robertson, Angela I.
• Granted Patent: US 6,871,116 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 209/586
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 5/10 measured by light-responsive means sorting according to colour B07C5/342

Abstract

A method of determining pallet layers for placement by a material handling system robot can include identifying cases for inclusion in a pallet and identifying case dimension information for the cases. Using the case dimension information, the cases can be classified into at least one group, wherein each group is defined by a height range such that cases classified within a group have a height within the height range associated with that group. Cases of one of the groups can be assigned to locations within a pallet layer, wherein the pallet layer has an area within a predefined area range.

Claims

1. A method of determining pallet layers for placement by a material handling system robot comprising:

identifying cases for inclusion in a pallet;

identifying case dimension information for the cases;

using the case dimension information, classifying the cases into at least one group, wherein each group is defined by a height range such that cases classified within a group have a height within the height range associated with that group; and

assigning cases of one of the groups to locations within a same pallet layer, wherein the pallet layer has an area within a predefined area range.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

building the pallet as specified by the assigned case locations using an automated material handling system configured with a robot.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

marking cases assigned to a pallet layer as being unavailable; and

for cases which are available, performing said classifying step and said assigning step to form additional pallet layers, wherein said assigning step assigns cases to each layer such that no column of more than a predetermined number of cases in height is formed in the pallet layers to be placed by the robot.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

building the pallet as specified by the assigned case locations using an automated material handling system configured with the robot.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein an area of one of the layers is less than or equal to an area of another layer immediately beneath.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein an area of one of the layers is greater than an area of another layer immediately beneath.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

combining case splits into a single virtual case for treatment as a single case for said classifying and assigning steps.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

identifying the virtual case after assigning the virtual case to a location within a pallet and separating the virtual case into constituent case splits.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sorting cases of the groups according to height, wherein said assigning step further comprises assigning taller cases of a group to corner locations of the pallet layer.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing cases of at least one group with at least one pallet layer template specifying an arrangement of cases forming a pallet layer, wherein said assigning step assigns cases of at least one of the groups to a layer of the pallet according to a matched pallet layer template.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

building the pallet as specified by the assigned case locations using an automated material handling system configured with the robot.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

marking cases assigned to a pallet layer as being unavailable; and

for cases which are available, performing said classifying step and said assigning step to form additional pallet layers, wherein said assigning step assigns cases to each layer such that no column of more than a predetermined number of cases in height is formed in the pallet layers to be placed by the robot.

13. The method of claim 10, said comparing step further comprising:

if the pallet has been assigned at least one layer of cases which are to be secured, comparing cases of each group with pallet layer templates designated for pallets having secured layers of cases.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

assigning cases of at least one of the groups to a different layer of the pallet according to a matched pallet layer template; and

orienting the different layer so that the orientation of the different layer is substantially perpendicular to the orientation of a layer beneath the different layer.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

building the pallet as specified by the assigned case locations using an automated material handling system configured with the robot.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

assigning cases of at least one of the groups to a different layer of the pallet according to a different matched pallet layer template such that cases of both layers interlock with one another.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

building the pallet as specified by the assigned case locations using an automated material handling system configured with the robot.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

combining case splits into a single virtual case for treatment as a single case for said comparing and assigning steps.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

identifying the virtual case after assigning the virtual case to a location within a pallet and separating the virtual case into constituent case splits.

20. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

adjusting the spacing between each case of the layer to accommodate a robotic case grasping mechanism.

21. The method of claim 10, said assigning step comprising:

matching cases of a group to a pallet layer template specifying a case arrangement for a higher number of cases before matching cases of the group to a pallet layer template specifying a case arrangement for a smaller number of cases.

22. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

if the cases of a group match more than one pallet layer template, selecting a pallet layer template specifying a largest number of cases.

23. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying at least one exception case within the cases;

assigning the at least one exception case to an exception layer; and

adding at least one of an additional exception case or a non-exception case to the exception layer as specified by an exception pallet layer template.

24. The method of claim 10, wherein the layer determined in said assigning step has a perimeter not substantially exceeding a perimeter of a pallet base.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the perimeter of the layer is less than the perimeter of the pallet base.

26. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

sorting cases of the groups according to height, wherein said assigning step further comprises assigning taller cases of a group to corner locations of the pallet layer.

27. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

if the cases of a group match more than one pallet layer template, selecting the pallet layer template which produces a pallet layer having the largest area.

28. A machine-readable storage, having stored thereon a computer program having a plurality of code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the steps of:

identifying cases for inclusion in a pallet;

identifying case dimension information for the cases;

using the case dimension information, classifying the cases into at least one group, wherein each group is defined by a height range such that cases classified within a group have a height within the height range associated with that group; and

assigning cases of one of the groups to locations within a same pallet layer, wherein the pallet layer has an area within a predefined area range.

29. The machine-readable storage of claim 28, further comprising:

building the pallet as specified by the assigned case locations using an automated material handling system configured with a robot.

30. The machine-readable storage of claim 28, further comprising:

marking cases assigned to a pallet layer as being unavailable; and

for cases which are available, performing said classifying step and said assigning step to form additional pallet layers, wherein said assigning step assigns cases to each layer such that no column of more than a predetermined number of cases in height is formed in the pallet layers to be placed by the robot.

31. The machine-readable storage of claim 30, further comprising:

building the pallet as specified by the assigned case locations using an automated material handling system configured with the robot.

32. The machine-readable storage of claim 30, wherein an area of one of the layers is less than or equal to an area of another layer immediately beneath.

33. The machine-readable storage of claim 30, wherein an area of one of the layers is greater than an area of another layer immediately beneath.

34. The machine-readable storage of claim 28, further comprising:

combining case splits into a single virtual case for treatment as a single case for said classifying and assigning steps.

35. The machine-readable storage of claim 34, further comprising:

identifying the virtual case after assigning the virtual case to a location within a pallet and separating the virtual case into constituent case splits.

36. The machine-readable storage of claim 28, further comprising:

sorting cases of the groups according to height, wherein said assigning step further comprises assigning taller cases of a group to corner locations of the pallet layer.

37. The machine-readable storage of claim 28, further comprising:

comparing cases of at least one group with at least one pallet layer template specifying an arrangement of cases forming a pallet layer, wherein said assigning step assigns cases of at least one of the groups to a layer of the pallet according to a matched pallet layer template.

38. The machine-readable storage of claim 37, further comprising:

building the pallet as specified by the assigned case locations using an automated material handling system configured with the robot.

39. The machine-readable storage of claim 28, further comprising:

marking cases assigned to a pallet layer as being unavailable; and

for cases which are available, performing said classifying step and said assigning step to form additional pallet layers, wherein said assigning step assigns cases to each layer such that no column of more than a predetermined number of cases in height is formed in the pallet layers to be placed by the robot.

40. The machine-readable storage of claim 37, said comparing step further comprising:

if the pallet has been assigned at least one layer of cases which are to be secured, comparing cases of each group with pallet layer templates designated for pallets having secured layers of cases.

41. The machine-readable storage of claim 37, further comprising:

assigning cases of at least one of the groups to a different layer of the pallet according to a matched pallet layer template; and

orienting the different layer so that the orientation of the different layer is substantially perpendicular to the orientation of a layer beneath the different layer.

42. The machine-readable storage of claim 41, further comprising:

building the pallet as specified by the assigned case locations using an automated material handling system configured with the robot.

43. The machine-readable storage of claim 37, further comprising:

assigning cases of at least one of the groups to a different layer of the pallet according to a different matched pallet layer template such that cases of both layers interlock with one another.

44. The machine-readable storage of claim 43, further comprising:

building the pallet as specified by the assigned case locations using an automated material handling system configured with the robot.

45. The machine-readable storage of claim 37, further comprising:

combining case splits into a single virtual case for treatment as a single case for said comparing and assigning steps.

46. The machine-readable storage of claim 45, further comprising:

identifying the virtual case after assigning the virtual case to a location within a pallet and separating the virtual case into constituent case splits.

47. The machine-readable storage of claim 37, further comprising:

adjusting the spacing between each case of the layer to accommodate a robotic case grasping mechanism.

48. The machine-readable storage of claim 37, said assigning step comprising:

matching cases of a group to a pallet layer template specifying a case arrangement for a higher number of cases before matching cases of the group to a pallet layer template specifying a case arrangement for a smaller number of cases.

49. The machine-readable storage of claim 37, further comprising:

if the cases of a group match more than one pallet layer template, selecting a pallet layer template specifying a largest number of cases.

50. The machine-readable storage of claim 37, further comprising:

identifying at least one exception case within the cases;

assigning the at least one exception case to an exception layer; and

adding at least one of an additional exception case or a non-exception case to the exception layer as specified by an exception pallet layer template.

51. The machine-readable storage of claim 37, wherein the layer determined in said assigning step has a perimeter not substantially exceeding a perimeter of a pallet base.

52. The machine-readable storage of claim 51, wherein the perimeter of the layer is less than the perimeter of the pallet base.

53. The machine-readable storage of claim 37, further comprising:

sorting cases of the groups according to height, wherein said assigning step further comprises assigning taller cases of a group to corner locations of the pallet layer.

54. The machine-readable storage of claim 37, further comprising:

if the cases of a group match more than one pallet layer template, selecting the pallet layer template which produces a pallet layer having the largest area.