Vehicle vending machine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10472843-B2
Application number	US-201816153046-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 5, 2018
Priority date	Aug 31, 2016
Publication date	Nov 12, 2019
Grant date	Nov 12, 2019

Abstract

Systems, methods, non-transitory processor-readable storage media, and devices of the various embodiments enable a vehicle vending machine to retrieve a vehicle from a storage location and deliver the vehicle to a delivery bay for delivery to a customer. Various embodiments may include a vehicle vending machine including a tower, a robotic carrier, a corridor extending from the tower, a plurality of delivery bays positioned along the corridor, a customer interaction kiosk, and a video system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle vending machine, comprising:
a tower comprising a series of storage locations on different vertically arranged levels;
a delivery bay;
a corridor extending between the tower and the delivery bay, wherein at least a portion of the series of storage locations are on at least one of the different vertically arranged levels of the tower that is vertically offset from the delivery bay and the corridor; and
a robotic carrier configured to move a vehicle pallet between the tower and the delivery bay horizontally along the corridor, wherein the vehicle pallet is configured to carry a vehicle thereon, wherein a portion of a floor of the delivery bay is configured to move from a first position to a second position to allow the vehicle pallet to enter the delivery bay and return to the first position with the vehicle pallet secured in the delivery bay.

2. The vehicle vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the robotic carrier moves on wheels.

3. The vehicle vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the robotic carrier moves on a track.

4. The vehicle vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the robotic carrier includes a telescoping system used to move the vehicle pallet into the delivery bay.

5. The vehicle vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the robotic carrier includes a rotating system used to orient the vehicle pallet with the delivery bay.

6. The vehicle vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the series of storage locations are each configured to store and display a vehicle.

7. The vehicle vending machine of claim 1 , further comprising an interior door between the corridor and the delivery bay.

8. The vehicle vending machine of claim 7 , wherein the movement by the portion of the floor includes a lifting movement.

9. The vehicle vending machine of claim 8 , wherein the portion of the floor comprises two sections that split and lift up to allow the vehicle pallet to enter the delivery bay.

10. A method for operating a vehicle vending machine, comprising:
retrieving a vehicle positioned on a vehicle pallet from a storage location within a tower of the vehicle vending machine;
navigating a robotic carrier through a corridor of the vehicle vending machine to an appropriate one of a plurality of delivery bays of the vehicle vending machine while the robotic carrier carries the vehicle positioned on the vehicle pallet; and
delivering the vehicle positioned on the vehicle pallet to the appropriate delivery bay, wherein a portion of a floor of the appropriate delivery bay moves from a first position to a second position, to allow the vehicle pallet to enter the appropriate delivery bay, and returns to the first position with the vehicle pallet secured in the delivery bay.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving, via an exterior door of the tower, a vehicle for storage in the storage location within the tower, the vehicle being positioned on a vehicle pallet;
lifting the vehicle positioned on the vehicle pallet to an appropriate level of the tower with a lift-able shuttle of the tower;
rotating the vehicle pallet to an appropriate orientation; and
placing the vehicle positioned on the vehicle pallet in the storage location.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein retrieving a vehicle positioned on a vehicle pallet from a storage location within a tower of the vehicle vending machine comprises:
retrieving the vehicle positioned on the vehicle pallet from the storage location with a lift-able shuttle;
rotating the vehicle pallet to an appropriate orientation; and
positioning, via an opening of the tower, the vehicle positioned on the vehicle pallet onto the robotic carrier.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the storage location is vertically offset from the plurality of delivery bays and the corridor.

Assignees

• Carvana Llc

Inventors

• Garcia Iii Ernest C
• Sassenberg Bret
• Huston Benjamin E

Classifications

• E04H6/36

  characterised by use of freely-movable dollies · CPC title

• E04H6/22

  characterised by use of movable platforms for horizontal transport {, i.e. cars being permanently parked on palettes} · CPC title

• B65G2201/0294

  Vehicle bodies · CPC title

• G07F17/0057

  for the hiring or rent of vehicles, e.g. cars, bicycles or wheelchairs (car rental G07B15/00) · CPC title

• G07F17/0014

  for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00 (meter-controlled dispensing of liquid, gas or electricity G07F15/00) · CPC title