Automated store for selling articles

• US 9,111,313 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2013
• Issued: 08/18/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xlink LLC
• Original Assignee: Munroe Chirnomas
• Inventors: Chirnomas, Munroe
• Primary Examiner(s): CUMBESS, YOLANDA RENEE
• Application Number:
  US13/949,064
• Publication Number:
  US 20150058178A1
• Time in Patent Office: 756 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/1373 for fulfilling orders in warehouses
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/1376 the orders being assembled on a commissioning conveyor
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/26 Endless bands
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/42 the articles being delivered by motor-driven means

Abstract

An automated store for storing and then distributing articles, including a housing for receiving closed shipping containers for storage, and for distributing articles retrieved from inside the shipping containers to an output of the housing. The housing further including entry means for controlling entry into the housing of closed shipping containers. Automated forming means form an opening in each of the plurality of the shipping containers, storing means for storing the opened shipping containers, computer controlled retrieving means for entering into selected ones of tee opened shipping containers via the formed opening to retrieve an article and moving means for moving the retrieved articles to an output are further included in the housing.

Claims

1. An automated store for selling articles contained within cardboard boxes, the automated store comprising, a) a computer control system to control the automated store b) a user interface which communicates customer order information to the computer control system thereby enabling a customer to order a plurality of articles which are being stored inside a plurality of cardboard boxes c) a payment system for receiving a payment from customer for the ordered articles d) a secure housing which prevents people from gaining access to the inside of the housing e) the secure housing including a secure loading portal to enable the transfer into the housing of sealed cardboard boxes placed adjacent to the secure loading portal by a delivery person who is outside the secure housing, thereby restricting the delivery person from gaining access to the inside of the housing, f) a computerized identification system for automatically identifying the boxes being loaded and thereby determining the types of articles stored inside the boxes, g) a cutting device for automatically cutting open at least some of the cardboard boxes thereby creating an opening into the cardboard boxes, h) a conveyance apparatus for moving the cardboard boxes from the secure loading portal to a box storage area inside the housing i) said box storage area inside the housing for storing a plurality of the cardboard boxes containing articles, j) at least one article retrieving apparatus for retrieving articles from the cardboard boxes in response to a customer order, k) a computer vision system for facilitating the guidance of said retrieval apparatus when retrieving articles from a given cardboard box, said vision system enabled to determine the location and physical orientation of a given article contained within a given cardboard box, thereby facilitating the control system in determining how the article retrieval apparatus should attempt to remove the given article inside the cardboard box l) one of the at least one said article retrieval apparatus for entering through the opening created in a first one of the cardboard boxes and moving into the interior portion of said first cardboard box and furthermore for grasping and removing an article from the first cardboard box in accordance with the customer order, m) conveyance apparatus for moving the retrieved article from the said first cardboard box to a delivery container n) one of the at least one said article retrieval apparatus for entering through the opening created in a second one of the cardboard boxes and moving into the interior portion of said second cardboard box and furthermore for grasping and removing an article from the second cardboard box in accordance with the customer order, o) conveyance apparatus for moving the retrieved article from the said second cardboard box to a delivery container p) conveyance apparatus for conveying delivery containers containing the ordered articles to a secure delivery portal, and q) said secure delivery portal allowing the delivery containers containing articles to pass through the secure delivery portal enabling the delivery of the articles ordered by the user while restricting people from gaining access into the housing.

2. An automated store in accordance with claim 1, further comprising an automatic repositioning apparatus for detecting the position of a given box being loaded into the store and enabling the repositioning of said given box in order to facilitate the opening or identification of the box.

3. An automated store in accordance with claim 1, further comprising an automatic manipulation device for automatically repositioning a given box described in claim 1 in order to facilitate the identifying or cutting of a given cardboard box.

4. An automated store in accordance with claim 1, wherein said storage area for storing cardboard boxes are delivered by a plurality of different delivery people.

5. An automated store in accordance with claim 1, wherein the delivery container receiving the article retrieved from the first cardboard box is the same delivery container which receives the article from the second cardboard box, whereby combining the two separate articles that had previously been stored in the first and second cardboard boxes into the same delivery container.

6. An automated store in accordance with claim 1, wherein the article retrieval apparatus removing the article from the first of said boxes and the article retrieval apparatus removing the article from the second of said boxes are the same article retrieval apparatus.

7. An automated store in accordance with claim 6, wherein the conveyance apparatus and the article retrieval apparatus are the same apparatus.

8. An automated store in accordance with claim 1, wherein the conveyance apparatus moving the first and second said articles are the same apparatus.

9. An automated store in accordance with claim 8, wherein the conveyance apparatus and the article retrieval apparatus are the same apparatus.

10. An automated store in accordance with claim 1, wherein the conveyance apparatus and the article retrieval apparatus are the same apparatus.

11. An automated store in accordance with claim 1, where the retrieval of one of the articles from a cardboard box occurs at the storage location where the box has been previously stored, thereby eliminating the need to move the box to a second location before removing articles stored therein.

12. An automated store in accordance with claim 1, wherein the retrieval of one of the articles from a cardboard box occurs adjacent to the storage location where the box has been previously stored, thereby reducing distance needed to move a partially filled box to a second location before removing articles from the box.

13. An automated store in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a remote video monitoring system enabling a person at a remote location to take control of the computer system and machinery located at the store remotely and thereby attempt to rectify a problem with the system.