RANDOM-ACCESS ROBOTIC INVENTORY DISPENSARY: VARIABLE BIN HEIGHT

• US 20160325933A1
• Filed: 05/04/2015
• Published: 11/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BBY Solutions Incorporated (Best Buy Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: BBY Solutions Incorporated (Best Buy Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Stiernagle, Chad, Kraetsch, Glendon T., LaValle, Dean R., Sheikholeslami, Cameron P.
• Granted Patent: US 9,790,028 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/0457 with suspended load carriers
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/10 with relatively movable racks to facilitate insertion or removal of articles cabinets with means for moving compartments up and down A47B51/00; cabinet system, e.g. consisting of cabinets arranged in a row with means to open or close passages between adjacent cabinets A47B53/02

Abstract

The present invention is a robotic system for maintaining product inventory and dispensing products upon request from a customer or other user. Product items are stored in an inventory storage unit (ISU), one item per bin. Controller logic allows items to be stored in, and retrieved from, arbitrarily-assigned storage locations. The bins hang on rails within drawers. Configuration of the rails facilitates bins of variable height.

Claims

1-16. -16. (canceled)

17. A robotic inventory dispensary, comprising:

a storage unit to host a plurality of storage bins, the storage unit arranged into a plurality of storage columns, wherein the plurality of storage bins are adapted to store respective product items;

a plurality of storage drawers arranged in respective columns of the plurality of storage columns, the plurality of storage drawers in the respective columns defined by a plurality of rails extended along a depth of the storage unit, the rails arranged in horizontally-aligned pairs and vertically spaced along the respective columns, the horizontally-aligned pairs configured to hold respective storage bins when the respective storage bins are suspended from a respective horizontally-aligned pair of rails of the plurality of rails; and

robotics to receive commands from a computerized controller and to access storage locations in the storage unit for placement and removal of the respective storage bins among the plurality of storage drawers, wherein the robotics is configured to receive and place the plurality of storage bins having a plurality of heights among the plurality of storage drawers.

18. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 17, the plurality of rails comprising:

a first pair of rails in a first storage column in the storage unit; and

a second pair of rails in the first storage column, located below the first pair of rails;

wherein the first pair of rails is adapted to host a particular storage bin that, when the particular storage bin is suspended from the first pair of rails, a bottom of the particular storage bin is located below the second pair of rails.

19. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 18, wherein the first pair of rails and the second pair of rails in the first storage column are equally spaced vertically, separated by a distance D.

20. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 19, wherein a maximum height of any storage bin to be suspended from a pair of rails in a region of the storage unit is limited to be less than mD for some integer m greater than 1, but may exceed D.

21. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 20, wherein in is received by the computerized controller of the storage unit through an operator user interface.

22. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 20, wherein m is selected by logic of the computerized controller of the storage unit to reduce space in the storage unit not usable by the plurality of storage bins.

23. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 17, the plurality of rails comprising:

a first pair of rails in a first storage column in the storage unit, wherein the first pair of rails is moveable from a first position to a second position in the first storage column, based on an indication of a size of the respective storage bins to be stored in the first position on the first pair of rails.

24. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 17,

wherein the plurality of storage drawers are adapted to be height-adjustable based on movement of the plurality of rails within a first storage column in the storage unit, the plurality of rails including a first pair of rails, and

wherein in response to a command from the computerized controller, the first pair of rails are moved vertically on tracks from a first position to a second position in the first storage column.

25. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 24, wherein the computerized controller determines vertical positions of the first pair of rails, to reduce space in the storage unit not usable by the plurality of storage bins.

26. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 24, wherein a first set of storage bins in the plurality of storage bins each includes a pair of tabs, which extend laterally from respective bins of the first set of storage bins, from which the respective storage bins are suspended when the respective storage bins are placed upon the first pair of rails.

27. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 26,

wherein respective rails in the first pair of rails include holes that are equally-spaced, at a separation D, along at least a portion of the respective rails,

wherein the first set of storage bins are suspended from the first pair of rails, and

wherein each tab of each storage bin in the first set of storage bins includes a downward-extending pin into a respective hole in a first rail in the first pair of rails.

28. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 27, wherein the robotics uses a plurality of upward-extending pins on a particular storage bin of the first set of storage bins to couple to and lift the particular storage bin, wherein the plurality of upward-extending pins extend away from the first pair of rails.

29. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 28, wherein the plurality of upward-extending pins of the particular storage bin include a ferromagnetic material or are magnetize and wherein the robotics couples to the plurality of upward-extending pins using magnetism.

30. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 28, wherein the plurality of upward-extending pins of the particular storage bin each extend upward from a respective tab from which the particular storage bin is suspended in the storage unit.

31. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 27, wherein respective tabs of each storage bin in the first set of storage bins overlap a plurality of holes.

32. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 26, wherein a depth of each storage bin in the first set of storage bins is less than mD and greater than or equal to mD−

2 mm, for some positive integer m.

33. A robotic inventory dispensary, comprising:

a storage unit to host a plurality of storage bins, the storage unit arranged into a plurality of storage columns;

a computerized controller to select locations of the plurality of storage bins in the storage unit and track the locations of the plurality of storage bins in the storage unit; and

robotics to receive commands from the computerized controller, wherein the computerized controller is configured to select a particular location of a respective storage bin based on dimensions of the respective storage bin based on a distance between a first set of rails and a second set of rails in a first storage column, and operate the robotics to place the respective storage bin on the first set of rails, wherein the second set of rails is located below the first set of rails, and wherein the particular location is selected based on a height of the respective storage bin corresponding to the distance between the first set of rails and the second set of rails.

34. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 33,

wherein the computerized controller is further capable to adjust locations of the first set of rails, wherein in response to a command from the computerized controller, the first set of rails in a column move vertically on tracks, and

wherein a distance between the first set of rails and the second set of rails is selected by logic of the computerized controller to reduce wasted space in the storage unit.

35. The robotic inventory dispensary of claim 33, wherein the second set of rails located below the first set of rails is identified by the computerized controller to be unused for storage, in response to a height dimension of the respective storage bin exceeding a distance between the first set of rails and the second set of rails.

36. A method, comprising electronic operations performed by a robotic system within a robotic inventory dispensary, the robotic inventory dispensary comprising a storage unit arranged into a plurality of storage columns, a plurality of storage drawers located in the plurality of storage columns, and robotics to operate on the storage unit, and the electronic operations of the method including:

determining a dimension of a respective storage bin for a respective inventory item to store in the robotic inventory dispensary, the respective storage bin selected from a plurality of storage bins having a fixed width and a variable height;

select a location of a respective storage drawer for the respective storage bin in a respective storage column, the location selected by a computerized controller based on a height associated with the respective storage bin; and

storing the respective storage bin into the storage unit at the respective storage drawer, using the robotics, wherein the robotics is configured to select the respective storage drawer from a plurality of locations in the storage unit that fit or are resizable to host the dimension of the respective storage bin.

37. The method of claim 36, the electronic operations of the method including:

arranging the respective storage drawer of the plurality of storage drawers to resize an available height for storage of the respective storage bin;

wherein the respective storage drawer for the respective storage bin is provided from a corresponding pair of rails, the corresponding pair of rails moved from a first position to a second position within the respective storage column; and

wherein arranging the location of the respective storage drawer for the respective storage bin includes use of an electromechanical mechanism to move the corresponding pair of rails from the first position on a track to the second position on the track.

38. The method of claim 36, the electronic operations of the method including:

suspending, by the robotics, a first storage bin onto a pair of rails in the respective storage column, the respective storage column including a plurality of rails arranged in vertically-aligned pairs and equally-spaced in a vertical direction by a distance H, the rails in each pair mutually-aligned horizontally; and

suspending, by the robotics, a second storage bin from the pair of rails, wherein the height of the first storage bin is less than H and the height of the second storage bin is greater than H.