In-vehicle package location identification at load and delivery times

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10192194-B2
Application number	US-201514944405-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2015
Priority date	Nov 18, 2015
Publication date	Jan 29, 2019
Grant date	Jan 29, 2019

Abstract

A shelving and package locating system for delivery vehicles includes one or more shelves for storing packages within a delivery vehicle during delivery. Each package is associated with both a geographic delivery address and an assigned location on a particular shelf within the delivery vehicle. A GPS unit determines the location of the delivery vehicle during delivery, and a computer provides the shelf location of a particular package when that package's delivery-location information substantially corresponds to vehicle location information. Several embodiments exist for registering the location of the package in the vehicle at load time, such as scanned location indicia, light sensors on shelves, pressure sensors on shelves, pressure sensors on the floor of the vehicle, and light spot. Several embodiments exist for locating the package in the vehicle at delivery time, such as a pick-to-light system that employs variable length lighting and a light pointer system that generates a light spot.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A delivery vehicle package locating system, the system comprising:
a pularity of shelves for storing a plurality of packages, including at least a first shelf and a second shelf adjacent to the first shelf, wherein:
each shelf comprises a plurality of indicator lights in a row;
the first shelf comprises a plurality of emitting lights in a row along a first edge of the first shelf; and
the second shelf comprises a plurality of light sensors in a row on a second edge of the second shelf, wherein each light sensor on the second edge of the second shelf corresponds to an emitting light on the first edge of the first shelf;

a shelf control system communicatively coupled, via a shelf communication interface, to the plurality of indicator lights, the plurality of emitting lights, and the plurality of light sensors, and comprising a shelf processor and a shelf memory storing program codes;
wherein the shelf control system is operable to:
determine a width and a shelf-location of a package loaded on the first shelf based upon light from a plurality of the emitting lights on the first edge of the first shelf being blocked from corresponding light sensors on the second edge of the second shelf by the package; and
send the width and the shelf-location information for the package to a computer system; and

the computer system, comprising:
a computer communication interface; and
a computer control system communicatively coupled to the computer communication interface, and comprising a computer processor and a computer memory storing program codes;
wherein the computer system is operable to:
receive delivery-location information for the package;
receive package identification information for the package;
receive the width and the shelf-location information for the package from the shelf control system;
correlate and store the delivery-location information, the package identification information, and the width and the shelf-location information for the package;
determine vehicle-location information based upon current location of the delivery vehicle; and
send the shelf-location information for the package to the shelf control system responsive to determining that the vehicle-location information corresponds with the delivery-location information for the package; and

wherein the shelf control system is further operable to:
receive the shelf-location information for the package from the computer system; and
activate the indicator lights corresponding to the width and shelf-location of the package responsive to receiving the shelf-location information for the package from the computer system.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer system is operable to:
receive the current location of the delivery vehicle from a GPS unit in communication with the computer system; and
receive the package identification information for the package from an indicia reader in communication with the computer system and operable for scanning an indicia on the package.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the indicator lights are light emitting diodes (LEDs).

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the emitting lights are infrared emitting LEDs.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the light sensors detect light from infrared LEDs.

6. The system of claim 2 , wherein activating the indicator lights comprises causing the indicator lights to blink.

7. The system of claim 2 , wherein activating the indicator lights comprises causing the indicator lights to light up.

8. A delivery vehicle package locating system, the system comprising:
one or more shelves for storing a plurality of packages, wherein each shelf comprises:
a plurality of indicator lights disposed in a row along each of the one or more shelves; and
pressure sensors associated with surface area locations of the one or more shelves;

a shelf control system communicatively coupled, via a shelf communication interface, to the plurality of indicator lights and the pressure sensors, and comprising a shelf processor and a shelf memory storing program codes;
wherein the shelf control system is operable to:
determine a width and a shelf-location of a package loaded on one of the shelves, wherein the width and the shelf location of the package is determined based upon weight of the package triggering a plurality of the pressure sensors of the one shelf; and
send the width and the shelf-location information for the package to a computer system; and

the computer system, comprising:
a computer communication interface; and
a computer control system communicatively coupled to the computer communication interface, and comprising a computer processor and a computer memory storing program codes;
wherein the computer system is operable to:
receive delivery-location information for the package;
receive package identification information for the package;
receive the width and the shelf-location information for the package from the shelf control system;
correlate and store the delivery-location information, the package identification information, and the width and the shelf-location information for the package;
determine vehicle-location information based upon current location of the delivery vehicle; and
send the shelf-location information for the package to the shelf control system responsive to determining that the vehicle-location information corresponds with the delivery-location information for the package; and

wherein the shelf control system is further operable to:
receive the shelf-location information for the package from the computer system; and
activate a plurality of the indicator lights corresponding to the width and shelf-location of the package responsive to receiving the shelf-location information for the package from the computer system.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computer system is operable to:
receive the current location of the delivery vehicle from a GPS unit associated with the computer system; and
receive the package identification information for the package from an indicia reader associated with the computer system and operable for scanning an indicia on the package.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the indicator lights are light emitting diodes (LEDs).

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein activating the indicator lights comprises causing the indicator lights to blink.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein activating the indicator lights comprises causing the indicator lights to light up.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more shelves comprise one or more floor areas of the delivery vehicle.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein:
the computer system is operable to receive a request for available shelf space in the delivery vehicle and send a request to the shelf control system for available shelf space on each of the one or more shelves;
the shelf control system is operable to, responsive to receiving the request from the computer system for available shelf space on each of the one or more shelves, determine the available shelf space on each of the one or more shelves based upon weight of packages triggering a plurality of pressure sensors on the one or more shelves, and send the determined shelf space to the computer system; and
the computer system is further operable to:
receive the available shelf space on each of the one or more shelves from the shelf control system;
aggregate the available shelf space on each of the one or more shelves to create the available shelf space in the delivery vehicle; and
report the available shelf space in the delivery vehicle to a dashboard.

Assignees

• Hand Held Prod Inc

Inventors

• Bernhardt Keith L
• Agrawal Sameer
• Poole Mark
• Gansen Sherri

Classifications

• B65G1/1371

  with data records · CPC title

• G06Q10/087 Primary

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• B65G2209/04

  Indication location means · CPC title

• B60P3/007

  for delivery of small articles, e.g. milk, frozen articles · CPC title

• G06Q50/28

  Physics · mapped topic