Method of controlling conveyer and electronic apparatus therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11045839-B1
Application number	US-202017016255-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 9, 2020
Priority date	Feb 5, 2020
Publication date	Jun 29, 2021
Grant date	Jun 29, 2021

Abstract

Provided is a method of controlling a conveyor for item transportation and an electronic apparatus therefor, the method including acquiring information associated with a plurality of destinations, identifying a weight for each of the plurality of destinations based on the acquired information, determining, in response to an item being identified, a destination among the plurality of destinations based on the identified weight, wherein the item is placed in the determined destination, and controlling the conveyor to transport the item to the determined destination.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of controlling a conveyor for item transportation, wherein the conveyor is configured to transport a plurality of items to a plurality of destinations, the method comprising:
providing, by an electronic apparatus, a user interface to acquire information associated with the plurality of destinations;
acquiring, via the user interface of the electronic apparatus, the information associated with the plurality of destinations;
identifying, by the electronic apparatus, a weight for each of the plurality of destinations based on the information associated with the plurality of destinations;
determining, by the electronic apparatus, in response to an item being identified, a destination for the item among the plurality of destinations based on the weight for each of the plurality of destinations;
based on determining the destination for the item, generating, by the electronic apparatus, a control signal for transporting the item to the destination; and
transmitting, by the electronic apparatus, the control signal to the conveyor, wherein the control signal causes the conveyor to transport the item to the destination.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a placement space for placing the item is allocated to each of the plurality of destinations, and
wherein the information associated with the plurality of destinations comprises one or more of:
a number of operators allocated to each of the plurality of destinations,
a size of a particular placement space of each of the plurality of destinations,
a distance between a particular destination and the particular placement space for each of the plurality of destinations, or
a location of each of the plurality of destinations.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the weight comprises:
identifying a number of operators allocated to each of the plurality of destinations based on the information associated with the plurality of destinations; and
determining the weight for each of the plurality of destinations based on the number of operators allocated to each of the plurality of destinations.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the weight comprises:
identifying a size of a placement space of each of the plurality of destinations based on the information associated with the plurality of destinations; and
determining the weight for each of the plurality of destinations based on the size of the placement space.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the weight comprises:
identifying a location of each of the plurality of destinations based on the information associated with the plurality of destinations; and
determining the weight for each of the plurality of destinations based on a distance between the location and a reception location of the item or a distance between the location and a shipping location of the item.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a placement space for placing the item is allocated to each of the plurality of destinations, and
wherein identifying the weight comprises:
identifying a distance from the placement space for each of the plurality of destinations based on the information associated with the plurality of destinations; and
determining the weight in inverse proportion to the distance.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the destination comprises:
determining the destination having a highest weight among the plurality of destinations to be the destination to receive the item.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first weight for the destination is changed in response to the item being transported to the destination.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an input, the input comprising a selection of a zone from a plurality of zones in which placement of the item is available; and
identifying, in response to receiving the input, the plurality of destinations included in the zone.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the item comprises a plurality of sub-items, wherein the plurality of sub-items comprises a first subset of the plurality of sub-items associated with a first item type and a second subset of the plurality of sub-items associated with a second item type.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
acquiring information regarding the item,
wherein identifying a particular weight for a particular destination of the plurality of destinations comprises:
determining the particular destination is related to the item based on one or more of the information associated with the plurality of destinations or the information regarding the item, and
identifying the particular weight for the particular destination.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the information regarding the item comprises information regarding a size of the item, and
wherein determining the particular destination is related to the item comprises determining the particular destination comprises a placement space larger than the size of the item.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the destination comprises determining, based on a counter value and the weight for each of the plurality of destinations, the destination to receive the item, and
wherein a particular counter value for a particular destination increases in response to a confirmation that a particular item is transported to the particular destination.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining the destination comprises determining the destination to receive the item, based on a result of comparison between weights for each of the plurality of destinations and a result of comparison between the weight and the counter value for each of the plurality of destinations.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining the destination comprises determining the destination is related to a highest weight among a subset of the plurality of destinations, wherein the subset of the plurality of destinations have weights greater than counter values.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining the destination comprises:
determining a first destination of the plurality of destinations based on a first weight for the first destination;
determining a first counter value for the first destination is equal to the first weight for the first destination;
identifying a second destination based on a second weight for the second destination; and
determining the second destination to be the destination based on the second weight for the second destination exceeding a second counter value for the second destination.

17. An electronic apparatus for controlling a conveyor for item transportation, wherein the conveyor is configured to transport a plurality of items to a plurality of destinations, the electronic apparatus comprising:
a memory storing at least one instruction; and
a hardware processor coupled to the memory, wherein the hardware processor is configured to execute the at least one instruction to:
provide a user interface to acquire information associated with the plurality of destinations;
acquire, via the user interface of the electronic apparatus, the information associated with the plurality of destinations;
identify a weight for each of the plurality of destinations based on the information associated with the plurality of destinations;
determine, in response to an item being identified, a destination for the item among the plurality of destinations based on the weight for each of the plurality of destinations;
based on determining the destination, generate a control signal for transporting the item to the destination; and
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Assignees

• Coupang Corp

Inventors

• Kim Jae Hyun
• Lee Gyung Seok
• Jung Hyun Yop
• Park Woo Jung

Classifications

• Y02P90/02

  Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] · CPC title

• G05B2219/50393

  Floor conveyor, AGV automatic guided vehicle · CPC title

• G05B2219/45054

  Handling, conveyor · CPC title

• G05B19/4189

  characterised by the transport system · CPC title

• G05B19/41865

  characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow · CPC title