WAREHOUSING SCALABLE STORAGE STRUCTURE

• US 20120195720A1
• Filed: 12/15/2011
• Published: 08/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Symbotic, Llc
• Original Assignee: Casepick Systems, LLC
• Inventors: Sullivan, Robert, Lert, John
• Granted Patent: US 10,822,168 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 414/277
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/04 mechanical
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/0492 with cars adapted to travel in storage aisles

Abstract

A storage and retrieval system is provided and includes a transfer deck having a longitudinal axis, a first storage section and a second storage section. The first storage section and second storage section are located on opposite sides of the transfer deck and are substantially symmetrically opposed to one another about the longitudinal axis, where each of the first and second storage sections includes storage aisles that are in communication with the transfer deck.

Claims

1. A storage and retrieval system comprising:

a transfer deck having a longitudinal axis; and

a first storage section and a second storage section, the first storage section and second storage section are located on opposite sides of the transfer deck and are substantially symmetrically opposed to one another about the longitudinal axis, where each of the first and second storage sections includes storage aisles that are in communication with the transfer deck.

2. The storage and retrieval system of claim 1, wherein the transfer deck includes a first end and a second end, the storage and retrieval system further comprising at least one multilevel vertical conveyor at one or more of the first and second end of the transfer deck.

3. The storage and retrieval system of claim 2, wherein the at least one multilevel vertical conveyor includes at least two multilevel vertical conveyors, one of the at least two multilevel vertical conveyors being located on a first side of the transfer deck and another of the at least two multilevel vertical conveyors being located on a second side of the transfer deck in a substantially symmetrically opposed configuration with the one of the at least two multilevel vertical conveyors.

4. The storage and retrieval system of claim 2, wherein each of the at least one multilevel vertical conveyor is connected to the transfer deck through a vestibule configured to allow access to a respective multilevel vertical conveyor without substantially disrupting a flow of objects along the transfer deck.

5. The storage and retrieval system of claim 1, wherein the transfer deck provides access to each of the storage aisles.

6. The storage and retrieval system of claim 1, further comprising at least one multilevel vertical conveyor connected to the transfer deck and at least one autonomous transport vehicle configured to traverse the transfer deck and storage aisles for transferring items between storage locations of the storage sections and the at least one multilevel vertical conveyor.

7. The storage and retrieval system of claim 1, wherein each storage section comprises multiple levels of storage locations where each level is vertically stacked one above the other and the transfer deck comprises multiple vertically stacked levels corresponding to the levels of each of the storage sections.

8. The storage and retrieval system of claim 1, wherein each storage section comprises multiple levels of storage locations where each level is vertically stacked one above the other and the storage aisles comprise multiple vertically stacked levels where at least one storage aisle level is common to more than one level of storage locations.

9. The storage and retrieval system of claim 8, further comprising at least one autonomous transport vehicle configured to traverse the transfer deck and the storage aisles, the at least one autonomous transport vehicle being configured to access the more than one level of storage locations from the storage aisle level common to the more than one level of storage locations.

10. The storage and retrieval system of claim 1, wherein each storage section comprises multiple levels of storage locations where each level is vertically stacked one above the other and the transfer deck comprises multiple vertically stacked levels where each transfer deck level is configured to provide access to more than one level of storage locations.

11. A warehouse storage structure comprising:

a transfer deck having a longitudinal axis; and

at least one pair of storage sections where each of the at least one pair of storage sections includes a first storage section and a second storage section, the first storage section and second storage section of each of the at least one pair of storage sections having a substantially symmetrical opposed configuration relative to the longitudinal axis of the transfer deck, where each of the first and second storage sections includes storage aisles that are in communication with the transfer deck.

12. The warehouse storage structure of claim 11, further comprising at least one multilevel vertical conveyor connected to the transfer deck.

13. The warehouse storage structure of claim 12, wherein each of the at least one multilevel vertical conveyor is connected to the transfer deck through a vestibule configured to allow access to a respective multilevel vertical conveyor without substantially disrupting a flow of objects along the transfer deck.

14. The warehouse storage structure of claim 12, wherein the transfer deck includes a first end and a second end and the at least one multilevel vertical conveyor is connected to the transfer deck at one or more of the first and second end.

15. The warehouse storage structure of claim 12, wherein the at least one pair of storage sections includes at least two pairs of storage sections, and the at least one multilevel vertical conveyor is connected to the transfer deck between the at least two pairs of storage sections.

16. The warehouse storage structure of claim 11, wherein the transfer deck includes a lateral axis and the at least one pair of storage sections includes at least two pairs of storage sections disposed along the transfer deck in a substantially symmetrical configuration relative to the lateral axis.

17. The warehouse storage structure of claim 11, wherein each storage section in the at least one pair of storage sections includes storage aisles connected to the transfer deck and the transfer deck includes transfer paths, the warehouse storage structure further including shunts connecting the transfer paths where each shunt is substantially in line with a respective storage aisle.

18. The storage and retrieval system of claim 11, wherein each storage section comprises multiple levels of storage locations where each level is vertically stacked one above the other and the storage aisles comprise multiple vertically stacked levels where at least one storage aisle level is common to more than one level of storage locations.

19. The storage and retrieval system of claim 18, further comprising at least one autonomous transport vehicle configured to traverse the transfer deck and the storage aisles, the at least one autonomous transport vehicle being configured to access the more than one level of storage locations from the storage aisle level common to the more than one level of storage locations.