Systems and methods for receiving retail products

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11235694-B2
Application number	US-201916573019-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 17, 2019
Priority date	Nov 30, 2017
Publication date	Feb 1, 2022
Grant date	Feb 1, 2022

Abstract

In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to receiving retail products. In some embodiments, there is provided a system for receiving retail products including: a temperature controlled storage container and comprising: one or more chambers having corresponding chamber temperatures that are each individually maintained and adjustable based on a particular temperature assigned by a server to each of the one or more chambers; one or more temperature sensors; a locking system; and a storage container control circuit configured to: receive the particular temperature; and maintain each one of the corresponding chamber temperatures.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for receiving retail products to be delivered at a customer site comprising:
a temperature controlled storage container at the customer site and comprising:
one or more chambers having corresponding chamber temperatures that are each individually maintained and adjustable based on a particular temperature assigned by a server to each of the one or more chambers;
one or more temperature sensors coupled to the one or more chambers and configured to provide the corresponding chamber temperatures, wherein each of the corresponding chamber temperatures is a temperature read by at least one of the one or more temperature sensors associated with each of the one or more chambers;
a locking system configured to: receive a lock signal to disable access to at least one of the one or more chambers; and receive an unlock signal to enable access to the at least one of the one or more chambers;
a storage container control circuit operatively coupled to the one or more temperature sensors and the locking system, the storage container control circuit configured to:
receive the particular temperature assigned by the server to each of the one or more chambers; and
maintain each one of the corresponding chamber temperatures based on the particular temperature assigned to each of the one or more chambers and the temperature read by the at least one of the one or more temperature sensors;

one or more additional sensors configured to provide data corresponding to living beings approaching the temperature controlled storage container, wherein the storage container control circuit is further configured to:
determine whether a first trigger signal is received from one of the one or more additional sensors;
determine whether a second trigger signal is available from the server; and
provide the unlock signal to the locking system based on the determination that the first trigger signal is received and that the second trigger signal is available to enable access to the at least one of the one or more chambers.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the temperature controlled storage container further comprises:
a cooling system cooperatively coupled to the storage container control circuit configured to selectively decrease at least one of the corresponding chamber temperatures based on a corresponding one of the particular temperature assigned to each of the one or more chambers; and
a heating system cooperatively coupled with the cooling system and storage container control circuit, the heating system configured to selectively increase the at least one of the corresponding chamber temperatures based on a corresponding one of the particular temperature assigned to each of the one or more chambers, wherein the storage container control circuit maintains each one of the corresponding chamber temperatures by cooperatively initiating operations of the cooling system and the heating system.

3. The system of claim 2 , further comprising a power over ethernet (POE) system configured to provide POE power to the temperature controlled storage container, wherein the POE power is down converted to one or more operational powers used by the storage container control circuit, the cooling system, and the heating system.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein, in providing the unlock signal to the locking system, the storage container control circuit is further configured to:
stop providing the one or more operational powers to at least one of: the cooling system and the heating system; and
allow a particular operational power that is based on the POE power to couple with the locking system, wherein the locking system is configured to enable access to the at least one of the one or more chambers in response to the coupling with the particular operational power.

5. The system of claim 3 , further comprising a battery configured to initiate backup power to the temperature controlled storage container when the POE power is not provided to the temperature controlled storage container.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the storage container control circuit is further configured to:
communicatively couple to a cellular network when the temperature controlled storage container determines a loss of connection to a home-enabled internet network; and
provide a message indicating status of at least one of: one or more retail products to be delivered and stored in the one or more chambers, the one or more additional sensors, the one or more temperature sensors, location data of the temperature controlled storage container when the storage container control circuit detects unauthorized relocation of the temperature controlled storage container, and failure of components affecting quality of the one or more retail products to a customer associated with the temperature controlled storage container via the cellular network instead of the home-enabled internet network.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more inside sensors coupled to the storage container control circuit, wherein at least one of the one or more inside sensors is configured to provide at least one of: motion data, sound data, and infrared data inside the one or more chambers, wherein the storage container control circuit is further configured to:
determine whether at least one of: a human and an animal is inside the one or more chambers based on the at least one of: motion data, sound data, and infrared data received by the storage container control circuit over a period of time; and
in response to the determination that the at least one of: the human and the animal is inside the one or more chambers, provide the unlock signal to the locking system to allow the at least one of: the human and the animal to exit out of the one or more chambers.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the temperature controlled storage container further comprises at least one channel system on at least a portion of a perimeter surface of the temperature controlled storage container, the at least one channel system is configured to receive one or more interchangeable skin panels secured by grooves of the at least one channel system to add a customizable surface on the at least a portion of the perimeter surface of the temperature controlled storage container.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the temperature controlled storage container is configured to only be communicatively coupled to a user via one or more remote connections to the storage container control circuit.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
the server remote from and communicatively coupled to the temperature controlled storage container, the server configured to:
provide the particular temperature assigned to each of the one or more chambers based on an external temperature outside of the temperature controlled storage container, one or more retail products to be delivered and stored in the one or more chambers, and an estimated delivery time of the one or more retail products;
selectively assign each of the one or more retail products to one of the one or more chambers based on at least one of: a product temperature associated with each retail product of the one or more retail products and the particular temperature assigned to each of the one or more chambers; and
provide the second trigger signal based on at least one of: the estimated delivery time of the one or more retail products, an authorization to access from a customer associated with the temperature controlled storage container, and an authentication signal received from the customer.

11. A method for receiving retail products to be delivered at a customer site comprising:
receiving, at a storage container cont

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Letson Eric A
• Wilkinson Bruce W

Classifications

• G06Q10/0832 Primary

  Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods · CPC title

• B60P3/20 Primary

  Refrigerated goods vehicles (air treatment of goods space B60H; {air-conditioning means for freight cars, isothermic wagons B61D27/0027; superstructures for refrigerated goods vehicles B62D33/048}) · CPC title

• F25D11/003

  Transport containers · CPC title

• F25D2700/08

  Sensors using Radio Frequency Identification [RFID] · CPC title

• F25D2700/16

  Sensors measuring the temperature of products · CPC title