Systems and methods for loading and unloading bins containing items

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025058984-A1
Application number	US-202318451246-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 17, 2023
Priority date	Aug 17, 2023
Publication date	Feb 20, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system including a conveyor lane, a transceiver and a processor is disclosed. The conveyor lane may be configured to move a bin from a first location to a second location. The second location may be in proximity to a motorized tile disposed in a vehicle interior portion. The motorized tile may be configured to receive the bin from the conveyor lane and move the bin to a predefined position in the vehicle interior portion. The transceiver may be configured to receive a wheel speed associated with the motorized tile. The processor may be configured to obtain a trigger signal, and obtain the wheel speed from the transceiver responsive to obtaining the trigger signal. The processor may be further configured to activate the conveyor lane to cause bin movement from the first location to the second location at a predefined speed responsive to obtaining the wheel speed.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1 . A system comprising:
a first conveyor lane configured to move a first bin from a first location to a second location, wherein the second location is in proximity to a first motorized tile disposed in an interior portion of a vehicle, and wherein the first motorized tile is configured to receive the first bin from the first conveyor lane and move the first bin to a predefined position in the interior portion; a transceiver configured to receive a wheel speed associated with the first motorized tile; and a processor communicatively coupled with the first conveyor lane and the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to:
obtain a trigger signal;
obtain the wheel speed from the transceiver responsive to obtaining the trigger signal; and
activate the first conveyor lane to cause movement of the first bin from the first location to the second location at a first speed responsive to obtaining the wheel speed, wherein the first speed is based on the wheel speed.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver receives the wheel speed from the vehicle or a server.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first speed is less than or equivalent to the wheel speed.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first bin is configured to store a delivery package, and wherein the first location is a bin packing area at which the delivery package is placed in the first bin.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
obtain information associated with the first bin and the delivery package from a server; and transmit the information to the vehicle.

6 . The system of claim 1 further comprising a sensor configured to detect a first bin presence in proximity to the second location.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the sensor is disposed on the first conveyor lane in proximity to the second location.

8 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
obtain inputs from the sensor; determine the first bin presence in proximity to the second location based on the inputs; and transmit a command signal to the vehicle to cause activation of the first motorized tile, responsive to determining the first bin presence.

9 . The system of claim 1 further comprising a second conveyor lane configured to move a second bin from the second location to the first location at a second speed, wherein the second speed is greater than or equivalent to the wheel speed.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first location is a bin staging area configured to store the first bin to be loaded in the vehicle, and wherein the bin staging area comprises a second motorized tile.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the bin staging area is disposed in proximity to the second location.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the first conveyor lane comprises a third motorized tile.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the second motorized tile is configured to transport the first bin from the bin staging area to the third motorized tile, and wherein the third motorized tile is configured to receive the first bin from the second motorized tile and transport the first bin to the second location.

14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor obtains the trigger signal when the vehicle is disposed in proximity to the first conveyor lane.

15 . A method to facilitate loading and unloading of bins, the method comprising:
obtaining, by a processor, a trigger signal; obtaining, by the processor, a wheel speed associated with a first motorized tile disposed in an interior portion of a vehicle, wherein:
the first motorized tile is configured to receive a first bin from a first conveyor lane and move the first bin to a predefined position in the interior portion,
the first conveyor lane is configured to move the first bin from a first location to a second location, and
the second location is in proximity to the first motorized tile; and
activating, by the processor, the first conveyor lane to cause movement of the first bin from the first location to the second location at a first speed responsive to obtaining the wheel speed, wherein the first speed is based on the wheel speed.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the first speed is less than or equivalent to the wheel speed.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the first bin is configured to store a delivery package, and wherein the first location is a bin packing area at which the delivery package is placed in the first bin.

18 . The method of claim 15 further comprising activating a second conveyor lane responsive to obtaining the wheel speed, wherein the second conveyor lane is configured to move a second bin from the second location to the first location at a second speed, and wherein the second speed is greater than or equivalent to the wheel speed.

19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein obtaining the trigger signal comprises obtaining the trigger signal when the vehicle is disposed in proximity to the first conveyor lane.

20 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
obtain a trigger signal; obtain a wheel speed associated with a first motorized tile disposed in an interior portion of a vehicle, wherein:
the first motorized tile is configured to receive a first bin from a first conveyor lane and move the first bin to a predefined position in the interior portion,
the first conveyor lane is configured to move the first bin from a first location to a second location, and
the second location is in proximity to the first motorized tile; and
activate the first conveyor lane to cause movement of the first bin from the first location to the second location at a first speed responsive to obtaining the wheel speed, wherein the first speed is based on the wheel speed.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Lundeen Kurt Michael
• Vincent John Randolf
• Hoff Sam
• Feldkamp Timothy Mark
• Chen Yifan

Classifications

• B60P1/36 Primary

  using endless chains or belts thereon · CPC title

• B65G67/08 Primary

  using endless conveyors · CPC title

• B65G43/00

  Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting · CPC title

• B65G67/20 Primary

  Loading covered vehicles · CPC title

• B65G2203/0291

  Speed of the load carrier · CPC title