System and method for directing indicator-based sortation of shipments

• US 7,984,809 B1
• Filed: 10/23/2008
• Issued: 07/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gard, Eugene M., Ramey, Patrick W., Young, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Karmis; Stefanos
• Assistant Examiner(s): Martin; Brett C
• Application Number:
  US12/257,078
• Time in Patent Office: 1,006 Days
• Field of Search: 209/44.4, 209/546, 209/549, 209/583, 209/584, 209/702, 209/703, 209/900, 209/942, 198/347.1, 198/347.4, 198/370.01, 198/580, 414/266
• US Class Current: 209/546
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 7/02 Compartmented furniture, e.g. pigeon-holes B07C7/005 takes precedence; furniture per se A47B; storage racks B65G
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/137 with arrangements or automatic control means for selecting which articles are to be removed
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2209/04 Indication location means
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/942 Operator selects destination of item

Abstract

Various embodiments of a system and method for directing indicator-based sortation of shipments are described. In various embodiments, a control system may be configured to utilize indicators to direct the sortation of items in a materials handling facility, such as an order fulfillment center tasked with fulfilling customer orders for one or more items. For a given unsorted item, the control system may cause an indicator to indicate to which of multiple sorting slots the given item is to be placed, thereby sorting the item to its respective shipment assigned to the sorting slot. In various embodiments, the shipment sorting units may be serviced from a rebin side as well as a pack side. The control system may be configured to prioritize the processing of such shipments by utilizing indicators associated with respective shipment sorting slots on the pack side to indicate a priority for processing a given shipment.

Claims

1. A sorting system, comprising:

a shipment sorting unit comprising a plurality of shipment sorting slots for sorting items into respective shipments, and an indicator dedicated to each shipment sorting slot;

a control system configured to;

control the sorting system in a sorting mode, wherein during the sorting mode the control system is configured to, for a given item to be sorted, activate an indicator dedicated to a particular sorting slot of said plurality of shipment sorting slots assigned to the shipment to which the given item belongs, wherein activation of the indicator indicates the given item is to be placed in said particular sorting slot;

control the sorting system in a delivery mode, wherein during the delivery mode the control system is configured to, for each given shipment sorting slot that contains a completely sorted shipment, activate a respective indicator dedicated to the given shipment sorting slot, wherein activation of the indicator indicates the completely sorted shipment is to be delivered to a next processing stage;

in response to determining that a processing threshold has been met, switch the sorting system from the sorting mode to the delivery mode.

2. The sorting system of claim 1, wherein to determine that the processing threshold has been met, the control system is configured to determine that a particular amount of time has elapsed with respect to a reference time.

3. The sorting system of claim 2, wherein said reference time is a time at which said sorting system was previously placed in said delivery mode.

4. The sorting system of claim 1, wherein to determine that the processing threshold has been met, the control system is configured to determine that a particular quantity of shipments have been completely sorted within one or more of the plurality of the shipment sorting slots.

5. The sorting system of claim 1, wherein to determine that the processing threshold has been met, the control system is configured to determine that a particular quantity of shipments have been completely sorted within one or more of the plurality of shipment sorting slots of a particular slot size.

6. The sorting system of claim 1, wherein activating a given indicator comprises illuminating the given indicator.

7. A system, comprising:

a unit comprising a plurality of shipment slots each configured to hold items of a shipment, and an indicator dedicated to each shipment slot;

a control system configured to;

for each of said plurality of shipment slots, determine whether that shipment slot contains a complete shipment of items;

for each of said plurality of shipment slots, control the respective dedicated indicator to indicate one of a plurality of different processing priorities for processing a complete shipment;

for each given shipment slot determined to contain a complete shipment, select a particular priority of said plurality of processing priorities based on status information for the complete shipment, and activate the indicator dedicated to the given shipment sorting slot to indicate the selected priority.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the control system is further configured to:

determine that a particular shipment slot comprises a first complete shipment and a second complete shipment queued behind the first complete shipment in the particular shipment slot;

assign a different one of said plurality of processing priorities to the first complete shipment and the second complete shipment;

activate the indicator of the particular shipment slot to indicate the priority of the second complete shipment such that the first complete shipment is designated to be processed according to the priority of the second complete shipment.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the selected priority is a priority for removing the complete shipment from the respective shipment slot and packing the complete shipment in a shipping container.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein to activate a given indicator the control system is configured to illuminate the given indicator according to a particular color corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of processing priorities.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein to activate a given indicator the control system is configured to illuminate the given indicator to display a series of illuminations corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of processing priorities.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the status information indicates a time by which the complete shipment is scheduled to be shipped from the materials handling facility, wherein the selection of said particular priority is based on said time by which the complete shipment is scheduled to be shipped.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the status information indicates a specified amount of time to prepare the complete shipment for shipment from the materials handling facility, wherein the selection of said particular priority is based on said specified amount of time to prepare the complete shipment for shipment.

14. The system of claim 7, wherein the status information indicates the complete shipment has been associated with an expedited shipping status, wherein the selection of said particular priority is based on said expedited shipping status.

15. A sorting system, comprising:

a shipment sorting unit comprising a plurality of shipment sorting slots for sorting items into respective shipments, wherein each shipment sorting slot comprises a sort portion and a pack portion;

for each sort portion of each shipment sorting slot and each pack portion of each shipment sorting slot, an indicator dedicated to the respective portion of the shipment sorting slot;

a control system configured to;

control the sorting system in a sorting mode, wherein during the sorting mode the control system is configured to direct the sorting of items via the indicators dedicated to the sorting portions of the shipment sorting slots;

control the sorting system in a delivery mode, wherein during the delivery mode the control system is configured to indicate, via the indicators dedicated to the sort portions of the shipment sorting slots, that each of one or more completely sorted shipments are to be delivered to the pack portion of the shipment sorting slot in which that completely sorted shipment resides;

for each given pack portion determined to contain a given completely sorted shipment, select a particular priority of a plurality of processing priorities based on status information for the completely sorted shipment of that pack portion, and activate the indicator dedicated to that pack portion to indicate the selected priority.

16. The sorting system of claim 15, wherein the control system is further configured to:

determine that a particular shipment sorting slot comprises a first completely sorted shipment and a second completely sorted shipment queued behind the first completely sorted shipment in the particular shipment slot;

assign a different one of said plurality of processing priorities to the first completely sorted shipment and the second completely sorted shipment;

activate the indicator of the particular shipment slot to indicate the priority of the second completely sorted shipment such that the first completely sorted shipment is designated to be processed according to the priority of the second completely sorted shipment.

17. The sorting system of claim 15, wherein the selected priority is a priority for removing the completely sorted shipment from the respective shipment slot and packing the completely sorted shipment in a shipping container.

18. The sorting system of claim 15, wherein to activate a given indicator the control system is configured to illuminate the given indicator according to a particular color corresponding to a respective one of said plurality of processing entities.

19. The sorting system of claim 15, wherein to activate a given indicator the control system is configured to illuminate the given indicator to display a series of illuminations corresponding to a respective one of said plurality of processing entities.

20. The sorting system of claim 15, wherein the status information indicates a time by which the completely sorted shipment is scheduled to be shipped from the materials handling facility, wherein the selection of the particular priority is based on said time by which the completely sorted shipment is scheduled to be shipped.

21. The sorting system of claim 15, wherein the status information indicates a specified amount of time to prepare the given completely sorted shipment for shipment from the materials handling facility, wherein the selection of the particular priority is based on said specified amount of time to prepare the given completely sorted shipment.

22. The sorting system of claim 15, wherein the status information indicates the given completely sorted shipment has been associated with an expedited shipping status, wherein the selection of the particular priority is based on said expedited shipping status.

23. The sorting system of claim 15, wherein the control system is configured to, in response to determining that a processing threshold has been met, switch the sorting system from the sorting mode to the delivery mode.

24. A computer-implemented method for controlling a sorting system that includes a shipment sorting unit including a plurality of shipment sorting slots for sorting items into respective shipments, and an indicator dedicated to each shipment sorting slot, the method comprising:

controlling the sorting system in a sorting mode, wherein controlling the sorting system in the sorting mode comprises, for a given item to be sorted, activating an indicator dedicated to a particular sorting slot of said plurality of shipment sorting slots assigned to the shipment to which the given item belongs, wherein activation of the indicator indicates the given item is to be placed in said particular sorting slot; and

in response to determining that a processing threshold has been met;

stopping the sorting mode, and

controlling the sorting system in a delivery mode, wherein controlling the sorting system in the delivery mode comprises, for each given shipment sorting slot that contains a completely sorted shipment, activate a respective indicator dedicated to the given shipment sorting slot, wherein activation of the indicator indicates the completely sorted shipment is to be delivered to a next processing stage.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein determining that the processing threshold has been met comprises determining that a particular amount of time has elapsed with respect to a reference time.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein said reference time is a time at which said sorting system was previously placed in said delivery mode.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein determining that the processing threshold has been met comprises determining that a particular quantity of shipments have been completely sorted within one or more of the plurality of the shipment sorting slots.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein determining that the processing threshold has been met comprises determining that a particular quantity of shipments have been completely sorted within one or more of the plurality of shipment sorting slots of a particular slot size.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein activating a given indicator comprises illuminating the given indicator.

30. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

for each of a plurality of shipment slots configured to hold items of a shipment, determining whether that shipment slot contains a complete shipment of items, wherein each given shipment slot of said plurality of shipment slots is associated with an indicator dedicated to the given shipment slot;

for each of said plurality of shipment slots, controlling the respective dedicated indicator to indicate one of a plurality of different processing priorities for processing a complete shipment;

for each given shipment slot determined to contain a complete shipment, selecting a particular priority of said plurality of processing priorities based on status information for the complete shipment, and activating the indicator dedicated to the given shipment sorting slot to indicate the selected priority.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

determining that a particular shipment slot comprises a first complete shipment and a second complete shipment queued behind the first complete shipment in the particular shipment slot;

assigning a different one of said plurality of processing priorities to the first complete shipment and the second complete shipment;

activating the indicator of the particular shipment slot to indicate the priority of the second complete shipment such that the first complete shipment is designated to be processed according to the priority of the second complete shipment.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the selected priority is a priority for removing the complete shipment from the respective shipment slot and packing the complete shipment in a shipping container.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein activating a given indicator comprises illuminating the given indicator according to a particular color corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of processing priorities.

34. The method of claim 30, wherein activating a given indicator comprises illuminating the given indicator to display a series of illuminations corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of processing priorities.

35. The method of claim 30, wherein the status information indicates a time by which the complete shipment is scheduled to be shipped from the materials handling facility, wherein selecting said particular priority comprises selecting said particular priority based on said time by which the complete shipment is scheduled to be shipped.

36. The method of claim 30, wherein the status information indicates a specified amount of time to prepare the complete shipment for shipment from the materials handling facility, wherein selecting said particular priority comprises selecting said particular priority based on said specified amount of time to prepare the complete shipment for shipment.

37. A computer-readable storage medium, storing program instructions computer-executable to implement a control system configured to:

control a sorting system that includes a shipment sorting unit including a plurality of shipment sorting slots for sorting items into respective shipments, and an indicator dedicated to each shipment sorting slot;

control the sorting system in a sorting mode, wherein during the sorting mode the control system is configured to, for a given item to be sorted, activate an indicator dedicated to a particular sorting slot of said plurality of shipment sorting slots assigned to the shipment to which the given item belongs, wherein activation of the indicator indicates the given item is to be placed in said particular sorting slot; and

control the sorting system in a delivery mode, wherein during the delivery mode the control system is configured to, for each given shipment sorting slot that contains a completely sorted shipment, activate a respective indicator dedicated to the given shipment sorting slot, wherein activation of the indicator indicates the completely sorted shipment is to be delivered to a next processing stage;

in response to determining that a processing threshold has been met, switch the sorting system from the sorting mode to the delivery mode.

38. The medium of claim 37, wherein to determine that the processing threshold has been met, the control system is configured to determine that a particular amount of time has elapsed with respect to a reference time.

39. The medium of claim 38, wherein said reference time is a time at which said sorting system was previously placed in said delivery mode.

40. The medium of claim 37, wherein to determine that the processing threshold has been met, the control system is configured to determine that a particular quantity of shipments have been completely sorted within one or more of the plurality of the shipment sorting slots.

41. The medium of claim 37, wherein to determine that the processing threshold has been met, the control system is configured to determine that a particular quantity of shipments have been completely sorted within one or more of the plurality of shipment sorting slots of a particular slot size.

42. The medium of claim 37, wherein to activate a given indicator the control system is configured to illuminate the given indicator.

43. A computer-readable storage medium, storing program instructions computer-executable to:

for each of a plurality of shipment slots configured to hold items of a shipment, determine whether that shipment slot contains a complete shipment of items, wherein each given shipment slot of said plurality of shipment slots is associated with an indicator dedicated to the given shipment slot;

for each of said plurality of shipment slots, control the respective dedicated indicator to indicate one of a plurality of different processing priorities for processing a complete shipment;

for each given shipment slot determined to contain a complete shipment, select a particular priority of said plurality of processing priorities based on status information for the complete shipment, and activate the indicator dedicated to the given shipment sorting slot to indicate the selected priority.

44. The medium of claim 43, wherein the program instructions are further configured to:

determine that a particular shipment slot comprises a first complete shipment and a second complete shipment queued behind the first complete shipment in the particular shipment slot;

assign a different one of said plurality of processing priorities to the first complete shipment and the second complete shipment;

activate the indicator of the particular shipment slot to indicate the priority of the second complete shipment such that the first complete shipment is designated to be processed according to the priority of the second complete shipment.

45. The medium of claim 43, wherein the selected priority is a priority for removing the complete shipment from the respective shipment slot and packing the complete shipment in a shipping container.

46. The medium of claim 43, wherein to activate a given indicator the program instructions are further configured to illuminate the given indicator according to a particular color corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of processing priorities.

47. The medium of claim 43, wherein to activate a given indicator the program instructions are further configured to illuminate the given indicator to display a series of illuminations corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of processing priorities.

48. The medium of claim 43, wherein the status information indicates a time by which the complete shipment is scheduled to be shipped from the materials handling facility, wherein to select said particular priority the program instructions are configured to select said particular priority based on said time by which the complete shipment is scheduled to be shipped.

49. The medium of claim 43, wherein the status information indicates a specified amount of time to prepare the complete shipment for shipment from the materials handling facility, wherein to select said particular priority the program instructions are configured to select said particular priority based on said specified amount of time to prepare the complete shipment for shipment.