Delivery reservation apparatus and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10423921-B2
Application number	US-201815861094-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 3, 2018
Priority date	Jan 3, 2017
Publication date	Sep 24, 2019
Grant date	Sep 24, 2019

Abstract

In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to manage reservations and deliveries for a docking station. More specifically, the various embodiments described herein track spaces on a docking station to determine whether one or more spaces are available when requested by a delivery device. Each space on the docking station has a corresponding capacity unit for each location on the docking station. The transactions for the capacity units are tracked in a ledger, with available capacity units indicating an open location on the docking station or contracted out capacity units indicating that either the location has a locker secured thereto or that the location is reserved for a future delivery.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A reservation system for locations on a locker docking station, the system comprising:
the locker docking station having a plurality of locations thereon configured to have a locker secured thereto, the plurality of locations having associated capacity units;
a plurality of securing mechanisms configured to selectively couple lockers to the locker docking station and wherein the locker docking station includes a support structure with the plurality of securing mechanisms mounted thereto;
one or more control circuits in communication with at least one of a plurality of locker docking stations including the locker docking station, at least one of the one or more control circuits configured to maintain a public ledger of the capacity units for the plurality of locker docking stations, the public ledger containing a record of available and reserved capacity units for the plurality of locker docking stations;
wherein at least one of the locker docking station and the one or more control circuits is configured to:
receive a request for a delivery reservation from a delivery device for delivery of a locker to one or more of the plurality of locations of the locker docking station;
analyze the public ledger of the locker docking station to determine whether sufficient capacity units are available for the locker;
execute a contract for the delivery reservation reserving the capacity units;
update the public ledger to reflect the delivery reservation reserving the capacity units;
communicate with the locker when the locker is brought into proximity with the locker docking station;
receive actual capacity units from the locker required for the locker to secure to the locker docking station;
compare the actual capacity units to the capacity units reserved in the delivery reservation; and
operate at least one of the plurality of securing mechanisms to secure the locker to the locker docking station in response to determining that the actual capacity units is equal to or less than the capacity units reserved in the delivery reservation.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the control circuits is configured to:
receive and authenticate a public key sent by the delivery device; and
send a hash associated with the capacity units to the delivery device for authentication of the locker.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the control circuits is configured to update the public ledger and the locker docking station is further configured to send the updated public ledger to a central server for auditing.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the locker docking station is configured to:
reject the locker in response to determining that the actual capacity units is greater than the capacity units reserved in the delivery reservation in combination with capacity units available in the public ledger; and
send a signal to the delivery device providing notification of the rejection.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the locker docking station is configured to operate the securing mechanism to decouple the locker therefrom in response to reception of a signal from the locker and/or the delivery device.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein upon decoupling of the locker, the locker docking station is configured to:
receive a signal from the locker to release the reserved capacity units; and
update the public ledger to reflect the released capacity units.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the contract for the delivery reservation includes a pick-up time for retrieval of the locker from the locker docking station; and the locker docking station is configured to send a notification signal to the delivery device in response to determining that the locker has not been retrieved by the pick-up time.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of locations of the locker docking station are each assigned to individual users; and the delivery request is a delivery request to reserve one or more of the plurality of locations associated with a user identified in an order for the locker.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the control circuits is configured to communicate with delivery devices from a plurality of delivery companies.

10. The system of claim 1 further comprising a central server that is in communication with the plurality of locker docking stations, the central server configured to audit one or more public ledgers for one or more docking stations.

11. A method for reserving locations on a locker docking station, the method comprising:
receiving a request at at least one of the locker docking station and one or more control circuits in communication with the locker docking station for a delivery reservation from a delivery device for securing a locker to one or more of a plurality of locations of the locker docking station;
selectively coupling lockers to the locker docking station via securing mechanisms of the locker docking station;
analyzing a public ledger of the locker docking station maintained by the one or more control circuits to determine whether sufficient capacity units associated with the plurality of locations are available for the locker, the public ledger containing a record of available and reserved capacity units for the locker docking station;
executing a contract for the delivery reservation reserving the capacity units;
updating the public ledger to reflect the delivery reservation reserving the capacity units;
communicating with the locker when the locker is brought into proximity with the locker docking station;
receiving actual capacity units at the locker docking station from the locker required for the locker to secure to the locker docking station; and
comparing the actual capacity units to the capacity units reserved in the delivery reservation; and
operating at least one of the securing mechanisms of the locker docking station to secure the locker to the locker docking station in response to determining that the actual capacity units is equal to or less than the capacity units reserved in the delivery reservation.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving and authenticating a public key sent by the delivery device; and
sending a hash associated with the capacity units to the delivery device for authentication of the locker.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein updating the public ledger further comprises sending the updated public ledger to a central server for auditing.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
rejecting the locker in response to determining that the actual capacity units is greater than the capacity units reserved in the delivery reservation in combination with capacity units available in the public ledger; and
sending a signal to the delivery device providing notification of the rejection.

15. A method for reserving locations on a locker docking station, the method comprising:
receiving a request at at least one of the locker docking station and one or more control circuits in communication with the locker docking station for a delivery reservation from a delivery device for securing a locker to one or more of a plurality of locations of the locker docking station;
selectively coupling lockers to the locker docking station via securing mechanisms of the locker docking station;
analyzing a public ledger of the locker docking station maintained by the one or more control circuits to determine whether sufficient capacity units associated with the plurality of locations are available for the locker, the public ledger containing a record of available and

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Wilkinson Bruce W
• Mattingly Todd D

Classifications

• G07C2009/0092

  for cargo, freight or shipping containers and applications therefore in general · CPC title

• G07C9/00896

  specially adapted for particular uses · CPC title

• G06Q20/4014

  Identity check for transactions · CPC title

• G06Q20/3829

  involving key management · CPC title

• G06Q20/3827

  Use of message hashing · CPC title