Shuffling inventory holders

• US 9,248,973 B1
• Filed: 07/15/2015
• Issued: 02/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Brazeau, Jeremiah David
• Primary Examiner(s): Cumbess, Yolonda
• Application Number:
  US14/800,138
• Time in Patent Office: 202 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 43/00 Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

An inventory system has mobile drive units that freely and independently move about a facility to transport inventory holders. The mobile drive units may operate through communications with other drive units, or under a more centralized control of a management module. For various operating scenarios, the mobile drive units are directed to shuffle the inventory holders in a manner that minimizes travel of the mobile drive units, thereby improving overall system efficiency. One or more single mobile drive units may be used to transport inventory holders to and from a region, and one or more other mobile drive units may be used to reposition or slide each of the inventory holders back and forth within the region to efficiently place inventory holders before an operator on an as-needed basis.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

positioning multiple inventory holders at corresponding multiple locations of a pick station of an inventory system, the multiple locations including multiple pick locations and multiple staging locations;

shuffling the multiple inventory holders among the multiple pick locations and the multiple staging locations of the pick station using multiple mobile drive units, the shuffling comprising;

repositioning, using a first mobile drive unit, a first inventory holder from a first pick location of the multiple pick locations to a first staging location of the multiple staging locations;

repositioning, using a second mobile drive unit, a second inventory holder from a second staging location of the multiple staging locations to the first pick location;

repositioning, using a third mobile drive unit, a third inventory holder from a second pick location of the multiple pick locations to the second staging location;

repositioning, using a fourth mobile drive unit, a fourth inventory holder from a third staging location of the multiple staging locations to the second pick location;

removing the first inventory holder and the third inventory holder from the pick station; and

retrieving a fifth inventory holder and depositing the fifth inventory holder in one of the first or second staging locations.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

moving the fourth mobile drive unit back to the third staging location;

moving the second mobile drive unit from the first pick location back to the second staging location; and

moving the first mobile drive unit from the first staging location back to the first pick location.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the removing of the first inventory holder and the third inventory holder is performed by one or more additional mobile drive units that are different than the first, second, third, and fourth mobile drive units.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second pick locations are closest to a picker and the first and second staging locations are farther from the picker than the first and second pick locations;

wherein the first staging location is adjacent to one of the first pick location and the second pick location; and

wherein the second staging location is adjacent to the other of the first pick location and the second pick location.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving a sixth inventory holder and depositing the sixth inventory holder in the other of the first or second staging locations.

6. A method comprising:

positioning a first inventory holder at a first location;

positioning a second inventory holder at a second location adjacent to the first location;

repositioning, using a first mobile drive unit, the first inventory holder from the first location to a third location proximate the first location; and

repositioning, using a second mobile drive unit, the second inventory holder from the second location to the first location; and

moving the second mobile drive unit from the first location back to the second location; and

moving the first mobile drive unit from the third location back to the first location;

wherein the first location, second location, and third location comprise a pick station.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

moving the second mobile drive unit to the third location; and

transferring, using a third mobile drive unit, a third inventory holder to the second location.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

transporting, with the third mobile drive unit, the first inventory holder from the third location to a fourth location that is outside the pick station;

repositioning, using the first mobile drive unit, the second inventory holder from the first location to the third location; and

repositioning, using the second mobile drive unit, the third inventory holder from the second location to the first location.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

transporting, using a third mobile drive unit, the first inventory holder to a fourth location that is outside the pick station.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

moving the second mobile drive unit to the third location; and

transferring, using a fourth mobile drive unit, a fourth inventory holder to the second location.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

moving the fourth mobile drive unit to a fifth location that is outside the pick station; and

repositioning the second mobile drive unit from the third location to the second location.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the first mobile drive unit and the second mobile drive unit are moving at the same time at least part of the time required to move the second mobile drive unit from the first location back to the second location and the first mobile drive unit from the third location back to the first location.

13. The method of claim 6, wherein the second mobile drive unit completes moving from the first location to the second location prior to the first mobile drive unit moving from the third location to the first location.

14. An inventory system comprising:

a plurality of mobile drive units that is remotely controllable to move inventory holders about a warehouse;

a region within the warehouse comprising at least a first pick location, a first staging location, and a second staging location; and

a management module configured to direct movement of the plurality of mobile drive units to move the inventory holders throughout the warehouse, the management module being further configured to direct at least first and second mobile drive units of the plurality of mobile drive units to perform a shuffle process within the region of the warehouse, the shuffle process comprising;

directing the first mobile drive unit to reposition a first inventory holder from the first pick location, where items are placed into or removed from the first inventory holder, to the first staging location proximate the first pick location;

directing the second mobile drive unit to reposition a second inventory holder from the second staging location to the first pick location;

returning the second mobile drive unit from the first pick location to the second staging location; and

returning the first mobile drive unit from the first staging location to the first pick location.

15. The inventory system of claim 14, wherein the management module is further configured to direct a third mobile drive unit to remove the first inventory holder from the region of the warehouse.

16. The inventory system of claim 15, wherein the management module is further configured to direct a fourth mobile drive unit to deliver a third inventory holder to the first staging location.

17. The inventory system of claim 14, wherein the management module is further configured to:

direct the second mobile drive unit to reposition from the second staging location to the first staging location; and

direct a third mobile drive unit to deliver a third inventory holder to the second staging location.

18. The inventory system of claim 14 wherein the management module is further configured to:

direct the second mobile drive unit to reposition from the second staging location to the first staging location;

direct the first mobile drive unit to reposition the second inventory holder from the first pick location to the second staging location; and

direct the second mobile drive unit to move the first inventory holder to the first pick location.

19. The inventory system of claim 18 wherein the management module is further configured to:

direct the first mobile drive unit to reposition from the second staging location to the first staging location; and

direct a third mobile drive unit to remove the second inventory holder from the region of the warehouse.

20. The inventory system of claim 14 wherein the management module is further configured to:

direct a third mobile drive unit to deliver a third inventory holder to an area proximate the second staging location; and

direct the second mobile drive unit to reposition the third inventory holder from the area proximate the second staging location to the second staging location.