Restocking of open shelving with a hand held device

• US 20040193316A1
• Filed: 04/07/2004
• Published: 09/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omnicell Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Gregory Hart, Manoj Wangu, Payal Lal, Richard Lunak
• Inventors: Wangu, Manoj, Lal, Payal, Lunak, Richard, Hart, Gregory
• Granted Patent: US 7,568,627 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/243
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/12 with separate article supports or holders movable in a closed circuit to facilitate insertion or removal of articles the articles being books, documents, forms or the like
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/127 the circuit being confined in a vertical plane
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/42 the articles being delivered by motor-driven means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/54 about vertical axes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

A carousel used in a restocking system is comprised of a drive track. A plurality of bins are arranged into rows, with the rows being driven by said drive track. A drive mechanism, e.g. an electric motor, drives the drive track. A sensor is provided to sense the position of the rows of bins. A processor is responsive to the sensor and data representative of a plurality of picks for more than one order for controlling the drive mechanism. By combining picks from different orders into a batch, the time spent driving the rows and time between picks is minimized. The carousel may be divided into a plurality of columns, each with its own drive track, drive mechanism, and sensor, to enable several rows to be brought into a pick position simultaneously. Various methods and forms of restocking packages are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a plurality of open shelves containing bins for carrying items, said items having indicia associated therewith;

a handheld device programmed to;

read the indicia associated with an item for which a restock is desired;

receive quantity information associated with the read indicia; and

transfer the information associated with the read indicia and the quantity information to enable a restocking package to be prepared.

2. The system of claim 1 additionally comprising a cradle for receiving said handheld device, and wherein said transferring step includes the step of downloading to a central database when the handheld device is stored in said cradle.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said indicia associated with an item includes one of indicia associated with a bin, indicia on a package containing the item, and indicia on the item.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said indicia includes a barcode.