Package management system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12380401-B2
Application number	US-202318173619-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 23, 2023
Priority date	Feb 23, 2023
Publication date	Aug 5, 2025
Grant date	Aug 5, 2025

Abstract

A delivery vehicle is described. The vehicle may include a holding mechanism configured to hold a plurality of containers within the delivery vehicle. The plurality of containers may be configured to store a plurality of packages. The vehicle may further include a memory configured to store a first information including package attributes of each package and a mapping of each package with a container of the plurality of containers. The vehicle may further include a processor configured to obtain the first information from the memory. The processor may be further configured to determine a target location to load a target package or a target container in the delivery vehicle based on the first information. The processor may further activate a vehicle interior visual or audio component to indicate the target location in the delivery vehicle to load the target package or the target container.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. A delivery vehicle comprising:
a holding mechanism configured to hold a plurality of containers within the delivery vehicle, wherein the plurality of containers is configured to store a plurality of packages, wherein the holding mechanism is a sliding base plate mounted on a sidewall of the delivery vehicle and the plurality of containers are configured to be removably attached to the sliding base plate;
at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions, wherein the at least one memory further stores a first information comprising package attributes of each package and a mapping of each package with a container of the plurality of containers, and
at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to at least:
obtain the first information from the at least one memory;
determine a target location to load a target package or a target container in the delivery vehicle based on the first information; and
activate a vehicle interior visual or audio component to indicate the target location in the delivery vehicle to load the target package or the target container.

2. The delivery vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the package attributes comprise at least one of: a desired package temperature, a package destination location, a package delivery schedule, a package weight, package dimensions and package content information.

3. The delivery vehicle of claim 1 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
determine whether the delivery vehicle has reached a target package destination location; and
activate the vehicle interior visual or audio component to indicate the target location in the delivery vehicle to unload the target package when the delivery vehicle reaches the target package destination location.

4. The delivery vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
activate a vehicle camera to capture a target package image in the target location; and
determine whether a user has picked the target package based on the target package image.

5. The delivery vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to generate a first confirmation notification when the user picks the target package.

6. The delivery vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to generate a second notification when the user does not pick the target package.

7. The delivery vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle interior visual or audio component comprises a vehicle projector.

8. The delivery vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle interior visual or audio component comprises a vehicle audio component.

9. The delivery vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle interior visual or audio component comprises a vehicle lighting component.

10. The delivery vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle interior visual or audio component comprises a vehicle display component.

11. The delivery vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the holding mechanism is connected to a power supply to control temperature of at least one container.

12. A method for managing a plurality of packages in a delivery vehicle, the method comprising:
obtaining, by a processor, a first information from a vehicle memory,
wherein the first information comprises package attributes of each package and a mapping of each package with a container of a plurality of containers,
wherein each of the plurality of containers is configured to store one or more of the plurality of packages, and
wherein the delivery vehicle comprises a holding mechanism configured to removably hold the plurality of containers within the delivery vehicle, wherein the holding mechanism is a sliding base plate mounted on delivery vehicle sidewalls and the first information further comprises a mapping between each of the plurality of containers and a location on the sliding base plate;

determining, by the processor, a target location to load a target package or a target container in the delivery vehicle based on the first information; and
activating, by the processor, a vehicle interior visual or audio component to indicate the target location in the delivery vehicle to load the target package or the target container.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the package attributes comprise at least one of: a desired package temperature, a package destination location, a package delivery schedule, a package weight, package dimensions and package content information.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising:
determining whether the delivery vehicle has reached a target package destination location; and
activating the vehicle interior visual or audio component to indicate the target location in the delivery vehicle to unload the target package when the delivery vehicle reaches the target package destination location.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:
activating a vehicle camera to capture a target package image in the target location; and
determining whether a user has picked the target package based on the target package image.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising generating a first confirmation notification when the user picks the target package.

17. The method of claim 15 further comprising generating a second notification when the user does not pick the target package.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in a distributed computing system, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
obtain a first information from a vehicle memory of a delivery vehicle,
wherein the first information comprises package attributes of each package of a plurality of packages and a mapping of each package with a container of a plurality of containers,
wherein the plurality of containers is configured to store the plurality of packages, and
wherein the delivery vehicle comprises a holding mechanism configured to hold the plurality of containers within the delivery vehicle, wherein the holding mechanism is a sliding base plate mounted on delivery vehicle sidewalls;
determine a target location to load a target package or a target container in the delivery vehicle based on the first information; and
activate a vehicle interior visual or audio component to indicate the target location in the delivery vehicle to load the target package or the target container.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Salter Stuart C
• Diamond Brendan
• Buttolo Pietro
• Van Wiemeersch John Robert
• Galvez Christina
• Wagh Arnav

Classifications

• G06Q10/0833 Primary

  Tracking · CPC title

• B60P3/007

  for delivery of small articles, e.g. milk, frozen articles · CPC title

• G06Q10/087 Primary

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• G06Q10/083

  Shipping · CPC title

• B60Q3/80

  Circuits; Control arrangements (for dashboards B60Q3/16; for mass transit vehicles B60Q3/47) · CPC title