Palletizer-depalletizer system for distribution facilities

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11498784-B2
Application number	US-202117319779-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 13, 2021
Priority date	Feb 10, 2017
Publication date	Nov 15, 2022
Grant date	Nov 15, 2022

Abstract

An automated storage and retrieval system includes a storage array of storage locations for case units. An in-out case conveyor is capable of bi-directionally transporting case units to and from the storage array, and an in-out loaded pallet conveyor is capable of bi-directionally transporting loaded pallets towards and away from the storage array. A palletizer-depalletizer cell includes a bi-directional pallet transport system with more than one independently driven pallet transports, each with a different pallet holder independently movable relative to a cell frame. Placement of case units commissioning a pallet layer loading a pallet, and removal of case units decommissioning a pallet layer unloading another pallet are both effected at the common pallet layer interface at a predetermined level of the cell frame. The pallet transports independently index a first and a second of the different pallet holders, each independently holding the pallet loading at the common pallet layer interface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
providing a storage array of storage locations for case units, each storage location of which is arranged for storage of at least one case unit at each storage location;
bi-directionally transporting the case units, with an in-out case conveyor that is in communication with the storage array, to and from the storage array effecting infeed of the case units into the storage array and output of case units from the storage array;
bi-directionally transporting loaded pallets, with an in-out loaded pallet conveyor that is connected to the storage array, in an input direction towards the storage array, and in a different output direction away from the storage array; and
providing a palletizer-depalletizer cell connected to and disposed between the in-out case conveyor and the in-out loaded pallet conveyor, the palletizer-depalletizer cell having a cell frame and a bi-directional pallet transport system with more than one independently driven pallet transports each with a different pallet holder independently movable relative to the cell frame, wherein the cell frame defines a common pallet layer interface arranged so that placement of case units commissioning a pallet layer loading a pallet, and removal of case units decommissioning a pallet layer unloading another pallet are both effected at the common pallet layer interface at a predetermined level of the cell frame defining a layer commission-decommission level respectively of the pallet layer loading and of the other pallet layer unloading.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising independently indexing, with each different pallet transport of the pallet transports, the different pallet holders that correspond to each different pallet transport, each independently holding the pallet layer loading at the common pallet layer interface so that the pallet layer loading is held, at the common layer interface independently, by each corresponding pallet holder independent of each other.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein each of the corresponding pallet holders independently hold the other pallet layer unloading at the common pallet layer interface so that the pallet layer unloading is held by each of the different corresponding pallet holder independent of each other, and each of the different corresponding pallet holders are indexed in a common direction relative to the cell frame so that the respective layer commission-decommission level is substantially constant, for both the pallet layer loading and the pallet layer unloading.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a controller communicatively coupled to the more than one independently driven pallet transports and configured to control movement thereof so that the different corresponding pallet holders are indexed in the common direction with the respective layer commission-decommission level substantially constant so that layer commissioning and decommissioning are respectively substantially continuous.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the more than one independently driven pallet transports include a first lift defining the first pallet holder, and a second lift defining the second pallet holder, the method further comprising bi-directionally indexing the first and second pallet holders independent of each other.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the different corresponding pallet holders are arranged so that the pallet layer loading, held by each of the different corresponding pallet holders at the common pallet layer interface with the layer commissioning level substantially constant, is transferred between the each different corresponding pallet holder.

7. The method of claim 6 , the pallet layer loading transfer between each different corresponding pallet holder is effected with the pallet layer loading held static at the respective commission-decommission level.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the different corresponding pallet holders are arranged so that the pallet layer unloading, held by each of the different corresponding pallet holders at the common pallet layer interface with the layer decommissioning level substantially constant, is transferred between each different corresponding pallet holder.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the different corresponding holders is indexed with respect to the other of the of the different corresponding pallet holder effecting pallet transfer therebetween.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the pallet layer unloading transfer between each different corresponding pallet holder is effected with the pallet layer unloading held static at the respective commission-decommission level.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein each different corresponding pallet holder are indexed in opposite directions with respect to the cell frame effecting pallet transfer.

12. The method of claim 4 , wherein the palletizer-depalletizer cell defines an automation augmented manual palletizer-depalletizer cell of the automated storage and retrieval system, and the automated storage and retrieval system further comprises at least one automatic palletizer cell, and at least automatic depalletizer cell, coupled to the storage array, respectively defining an output path and an input path of case units from pallets to the storage array, the method further comprising identifying, with the controller, a predetermined condition that renders one of the at least one automatic palletizer cell or the at least one automatic depalletizer cell incompatible for respectively automatic palletizing or automatic depalletizing and in response to such identification generating a bypass path, bypassing the output or input path with the incompatible automatic palletizer cell or automatic depalletizer cell via the augmented manual palletizer-depalletizer cell.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the predetermined condition identified by controller affecting incompatibility of the at least one automatic depalletizer includes one or more of an unstable inbound pallet, damaged inbound pallet wrap, case units in pallet layer being unsuitable for automatic depalletizing, inoperability of the at least one automatic depalletizer cell, inoperability of a depalletizer component and inoperability of the in-out case conveyor in an infeed direction.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the predetermined condition identified by controller affecting incompatibility of the at least one automatic palletizer includes one or more of a determined mixed case pallet solution being identified as potentially unstable, the case units being unsuitable for automatic palletizing, inoperability of the at least one automatic palletizer cell, inoperability of a palletizer component and inoperability of the in-out case conveyor in an out-feed direction.

15. The method of claim 4 , further comprising effecting loading and unloading case units, with an operator platform of the cell frame of the palletizer-depalletizer cell that is positioned proximate the common pallet layer interface and disposed for operator access, respectively commissioning and decommissioning pallet layers from the corresponding pallet layer loading and pallet layer unloading at the layer commission-decommission level.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the palletizer-depalletizer cell has at least one bi-directional empty pallet storage lift connected to frame, where the at least one bi-directional empty pallet storage lift is communicably connected with the common pallet layer interface by an empty pallet transport.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cell frame define

Assignees

• Symbotic Llc

Inventors

• Sullivan Robert
• Thronson Gregory
• Kiley Christopher
• Kepple Todd E
• Ploss Jared

Classifications

• B66F9/24

  Electrical devices or systems · CPC title

• B65G57/035

  with a stepwise downward movement of the stack · CPC title

• B65G59/026

  with a stepwise upward movement of the stack · CPC title

• B66F9/02

  Stationary loaders or unloaders, e.g. for sacks · CPC title

• B66F9/148

  Whole unit including fork support moves sideways · CPC title