INVENTORY SYSTEM WITH EFFICIENT OPERATOR HANDLING OF INVENTORY ITEMS
First Claim
1. An inventory management system, comprising:
- a plurality of mobile drive units configured to traverse a plurality of floors, the plurality of floors disposed vertically relative to each other, each floor comprising a plurality of inventory items and a pick station, and each floor configured to operate substantially independently of other floors;
a check-in station configured to receive receipt receptacles of inventory items for each of the plurality of floors;
a ship station configured to receive order receptacles of inventory items from each of the plurality of floors; and
a management module configured to;
assign an order for a set of inventory items to one of the plurality of floors based at least in part on a relative match between the plurality of inventory items of each floor and the set of inventory items of the order;
identify an item from the set of inventory items that is not available on the assigned floor but is available on another floor; and
instruct a mobile drive unit to move the item to the assigned floor from the other floor to be picked at the pick station on the assigned floor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An inventory system can include multiple floors. The system can assign operations involving inventory items to a floor based on information about the floor, other floors, the operations, and/or the inventory items. In one example, the system may assign an order to be assembled on a floor based on the floor containing items for the order. Items may be moved to the floor from other floors to complete the order. In another example, a receipt receptacle received from a shipping vehicle can be moved to a rack without separating inventory items from the receipt vehicle. A mobile drive unit can move the rack to a floor based on information known about the inventory items matching criteria about the floor.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An inventory management system, comprising:
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a plurality of mobile drive units configured to traverse a plurality of floors, the plurality of floors disposed vertically relative to each other, each floor comprising a plurality of inventory items and a pick station, and each floor configured to operate substantially independently of other floors; a check-in station configured to receive receipt receptacles of inventory items for each of the plurality of floors; a ship station configured to receive order receptacles of inventory items from each of the plurality of floors; and a management module configured to; assign an order for a set of inventory items to one of the plurality of floors based at least in part on a relative match between the plurality of inventory items of each floor and the set of inventory items of the order; identify an item from the set of inventory items that is not available on the assigned floor but is available on another floor; and instruct a mobile drive unit to move the item to the assigned floor from the other floor to be picked at the pick station on the assigned floor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. 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 movement of a plurality of receipt receptacles from a shipping vehicle to a plurality of case shuttles without separating or sorting inventory items contained in the receipt receptacles; for each receipt receptacle of the plurality of receipt receptacles, obtaining information regarding inventory items contained in the receipt receptacle; assigning a particular receipt receptacle to a floor of an inventory system based at least in part on information about the floor of the inventory system and the obtained information regarding inventory items contained in the particular receipt receptacle, the inventory system comprising a plurality of floors disposed vertically relative to each other, and each floor configured to operate substantially independently of other floors; and instructing movement, using a mobile drive unit, of the case shuttle bearing the particular receipt receptacle to a storage location on the floor to which the particular receipt receptacle is assigned. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An inventory management system, comprising:
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a plurality of mobile drive units configured to traverse a plurality of floors, the plurality of floors disposed vertically relative to each other, each floor comprising a plurality of inventory items, and each floor configured to operate substantially independently of other floors; and a management module configured to instruct a mobile drive unit to move at least one inventory item of a first type to a first floor from another floor so as to balance a supply of inventory items of the first type among the plurality of floors. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification