Apparatus and method for reusing containers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11062276-B2
Application number	US-201715802361-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2017
Priority date	Nov 7, 2016
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

Abstract

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein for reusing containers. A system for container reuse comprises an order database storing a plurality of orders associated with an order fulfillment facility, a conveyor system, and a control circuit. The control circuit being configured to determine container capacity requirements of the plurality of orders in the order database based on dimensions of products in each order, predict container usage for fulfilling orders at the order fulfillment facility based at least on the container capacity requirements of the plurality of orders, determine whether a used container received at the conveyor system should be retained based on a container dimension of the used container and the container usage predicted for the order fulfillment facility, and cause the conveyor system to route the used container to a fulfillment area or a disposal area based on whether the used container should be retained.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for container reuse, comprising:
an order database storing a plurality of orders associated with an order fulfillment facility;
a conveyor system;
a sensor system configured to determine dimensions of used containers received at the conveyor system; and
a control circuit coupled to the order database, the control circuit being configured to:
determine container capacity requirements of the plurality of orders in the order database based on dimensions of products in each order;
predict container usage for fulfilling orders at the order fulfillment facility based at least on the container capacity requirements of the plurality of orders;
receive a used container at the conveyor system;
determine, with the sensor system, a container capacity dimension of the used container;
determine whether the used container received at the conveyor system should be retained based on the container capacity dimension of the used container determined based on the sensor system and the container usage predicted for the order fulfillment facility; and
cause the conveyor system to route the used container to a fulfillment area or a disposal area of the order fulfillment system based on whether the used container should be retained.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the container usage for the order fulfillment facility is predicted based on one or more of: the plurality of orders in the order database, a history of past orders, and predicted further orders.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein whether the used container should be retained is determined based on matching the used container to an order in the order database.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein whether the used container should be retained is determined based on past usage rates of containers with dimensions similar to the container capacity dimension of the used container.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein whether the used container should be retained is determined further based on one or more of: current container inventory in a storage of the order fulfillment facility and a current storage capacity of the order fulfillment facility.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fulfillment area comprises one or more of a container storage area, a container sorting area, and an order consolidation area.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to: assign at least some orders in the order database to at least one container routed to the fulfillment area; and determine a storage arrangement for a plurality of containers routed to the fulfillment area based on a fulfillment sequence of orders assigned to each of the plurality of containers.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to: determine a storage arrangement for a plurality of containers routed to the fulfillment area based on the dimensions of each of the plurality of containers.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to: select a storage location for the used container; and associate the storage location with a used container identifier associated with the used container in a used container database.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein used containers routed to the fulfillment area remains in an un-collapsed state and wherein used containers routed to the disposal area are broken down for recycling or landfill.

11. A method for container reuse, comprising:
determining, with a control circuit, container capacity requirements of a plurality of orders in an order database based on dimensions of products in each order, the order database storing orders associated with an order fulfillment facility;
predicting, with the control circuit, container usage for fulfilling orders at the order fulfillment facility based at least on the container capacity requirements of the plurality of orders;
receiving a used container at a conveyor system;
determining, with a sensor system configured to determine dimensions of used containers received at the conveyor system, a container capacity dimension of the used container;
determining, with the control circuit, whether the used container received at the conveyor system should be retained based on the container capacity dimension of the used container determined based on the sensor system and the container usage predicted for the order fulfillment facility; and
causing the conveyor system to route the used container to a fulfillment area or a disposal area of the order fulfillment system based on whether the used container should be retained.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the container usage for the order fulfillment facility is predicted based on one or more of: the plurality of orders in the order database, a history of past orders, and predicted further orders.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein whether the used container should be retained is determined based on matching the used container to an order in the order database.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein whether the used container should be retained is determined based on past usage rates of containers with dimensions similar to the container capacity dimension of the used container.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein whether the used container should be retained is determined further based on one or more of: current container inventory in a storage of the order fulfillment facility and a current storage capacity of the order fulfillment facility.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the fulfillment area comprises one or more of a container storage area, a container sorting area, and an order consolidation area.

17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: assigning at least some orders in the order database to at least one container routed to the fulfillment area; and determining a storage arrangement for a plurality of containers routed to the fulfillment area based on a fulfillment sequence of orders assigned to each of the plurality of containers.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: determining a storage arrangement for a plurality of containers routed to the fulfillment area based on the dimensions of each of the plurality of containers.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: selecting a storage location for the used container; and associating the storage location with a used container identifier associated with the used container in a used container database.

20. An apparatus for container reuse, comprising:
a non-transitory storage medium storing a set of computer readable instructions; and
a control circuit configured to execute the set of computer readable instructions which causes to the control circuit to:
determine container capacity requirements of a plurality of orders in an order database based on dimensions of products in each order, the order database storing orders associated with an order fulfillment facility;
predict container usage for fulfilling orders at the order fulfillment facility based at least on the container capacity requirements of the plurality of orders;
receive a used container at a conveyor system;
determine, with a sensor system configured to determine dimensions of used containers received at the conveyor system, a container capacity dimension of the used container;
determine whether the used container received at the conveyor system should be retained based on the container capacity dimension of the used container determined based on the sensor system and the container usage predicted for the order fulf

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Jones Nicholaus A
• Jones Matthew A

Classifications

• B65B43/62

  about an axis located at the filling position, e.g. the axis of the container or receptacle · CPC title

• G06T7/74

  involving reference images or patches · CPC title

• B65B57/12

  and operating to control, or stop, the feed of wrapping materials, containers, or packages · CPC title

• B67C7/0053

  using grippers (for supporting bottle necks during filling B67C3/242) · CPC title

• B65G1/1373

  for fulfilling orders in warehouses · CPC title