Robotic smart locker load system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023245049-A1
Application number	US-202318154381-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 13, 2023
Priority date	Jan 31, 2022
Publication date	Aug 3, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system for and method of providing a package for retrieval are presented. The disclosed techniques include receiving a package for retrieval by a recipient; placing the package in a customer inaccessible smart staging area; determining, using a sensor, a size of the package; retrieving, by a robot, the package; conveying, by the robot, the package through a first side of the customer accessible repository to a customer accessible repository selected according to the size of the package, where the package is retrievable by a customer through a second side of the customer accessible repository; electronically storing an identification of the customer accessible repository in association with package identification information; receiving, at an electronic customer interface located at the delivery facility, the package identification information; and unlocking the customer accessible repository, such that the package is retrievable from the second side of the customer accessible repository by the recipient.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of providing a package for retrieval, the method comprising:
receiving, at a delivery facility, a package for retrieval by a recipient; placing the package in a customer inaccessible smart staging area; determining, using a sensor, a size of the package; retrieving, by a robot, the package from the smart staging area; conveying, by the robot, the package to a customer accessible repository selected according to the size of the package, wherein the conveying comprises conveying the package through a first side of the customer accessible repository, and wherein the package is retrievable by a customer through a second side of the customer accessible repository different from the first side of the customer accessible repository; electronically storing an identification of the customer accessible repository in association with package identification information; receiving, at an electronic customer interface located at the delivery facility, and from the recipient, the package identification information; and unlocking the customer accessible repository, wherein the package is retrievable from the second side of the customer accessible repository by the recipient.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the smart staging area comprises a plurality of locations for a plurality of package sizes, and wherein the determining the size of the package is based on a location of the package in the smart staging area.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a scanner, and wherein the determining the size of the package comprises scanning a code affixed to the package and retrieving package size information from a backend system based on the scanning.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the scanner is attached to the robot and the scanning is performed by the robot.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the scanner is attached to a fixture of the smart staging area.

6 . The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the placing the package in the smart staging area comprising placing the package in a bin at the smart staging area, and wherein the determining the size of the package is based on the bin.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the sensor comprises a scanner, and wherein the determining the size of the package is based on scanning, by the scanner attached to at least one of the robot or a fixture in the smart staging area, a code affixed to the bin.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the conveying comprises inserting the bin, containing the package, into the customer accessible repository, wherein the bin lacks a wall corresponding to the second side of the customer accessible repository.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the size of the package is based on an output from the sensor, wherein the sensor is attached to at least one of the smart staging area or the robot.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the customer accessible repository is one of a plurality of customer accessible repositories of a plurality of sizes, the method further comprising, prior to the conveying, determining that the customer accessible repository is unoccupied.

11 . A system for providing a package for retrieval, the system comprising:
a smart staging area located at a delivery facility that receives a package for retrieval by a recipient, the smart staging area comprising a sensor, wherein the system determines a size of the package based on an output from the sensor; a robot disposed to retrieve the package from the smart staging area and convey the package to a customer accessible repository, selected according to the size of the package, through a first side of the customer accessible repository, wherein the package is retrievable by a customer through a second side of the customer accessible repository different from the first side of the customer accessible repository; a backend computer system that electronically stores an identification of the customer accessible repository in association with package identification information; and an electronic customer interface located at the delivery facility, wherein the electronic customer interface is communicatively coupled to the backend computer system, wherein the backend computer system unlocks the customer accessible repository and the package is retrievable from the second side of the customer accessible repository by the recipient in response to the electronic customer interface receiving the package identification information from the recipient.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the smart staging area comprises a plurality of locations for a plurality of package sizes, and wherein the system determines the size of the package based on a location of the package in the smart staging area as detected by the sensor.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the sensor comprises a scanner, and wherein the system determines the size of the package based on the sensor scanning a code affixed to the package and retrieving package size information from the backend computer system.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the scanner is attached to the robot and the scanning is performed by the robot.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the scanner is attached to a fixture of the smart staging area.

16 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising a bin configured to accept the package in the smart staging area,
wherein the system determines the size of the package based on the bin.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the sensor comprises a scanner, and wherein the system determines the size of the package based on scanning, by the scanner attached to at least one of the robot or a fixture in the smart staging area, a code affixed to the bin.

18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the bin lacks a wall corresponding to the second side of the customer accessible repository and wherein the bin containing the package is insertable into the customer accessible repository.

19 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the sensor is attached to at least one of the smart staging area or the robot.

20 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the customer accessible repository is one of a plurality of customer accessible repositories of a plurality of sizes, wherein the backend computer system determines that the customer accessible repository is unoccupied.

Assignees

• United States Postal Service

Inventors

• Tartal William A

Classifications

• G06Q10/0836 Primary

  Recipient pick-ups · CPC title

• G06Q10/083

  Shipping · CPC title