Receiving items into inventory

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9663294-B2
Application number	US-201514591077-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 7, 2015
Priority date	Sep 10, 2009
Publication date	May 30, 2017
Grant date	May 30, 2017

Abstract

The present disclosure involves the receipt of inventory items in a materials handling facility. In one embodiment, a listing of inventory items associated with an inventory is maintained in a memory accessible to a computing device. An attempt is made to identify a match between a first image of a receivable item and a second image of one of the inventory items. If a match is successfully identified, an identifier associated with the one of the inventory items is rendered, where the identifier is to be associated with the receivable item.

First claim

Therefore, the following is claimed:

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying at least one program executable in at least one computing device, the at least one program having instructions that perform operations comprising:
detecting a failed attempt to recognize a predefined identifier associated with a receivable item;
accessing a listing of inventory items associated with an inventory;
obtaining corroborating information associated with the receivable item;
identifying a subset of the inventory items from the listing that is associated with the corroborating information;
attempting to identify a match between a first image of the receivable item and a second image of one of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items; and
facilitating a rendering of an item identifier associated with the one of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items to be associated with the receivable item if the match is successfully identified.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the corroborating information comprises an order number for a shipment in which the receivable item was received, a vendor name, an advance shipment notification generated by a vendor, a quantity of items within a container making up the shipment, a purchase order associated with a delivery vehicle within which the shipment arrived, or a barcode identifier.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , the operations further comprising detecting that the item identifier is missing from the receivable item and implementing a rendering of a replacement item identifier to be physically associated with the receivable item if the match is successfully identified.

4. A system, comprising:
a listing of inventory items that is maintained in a memory accessible to at least one computing device;
an image capture device that captures a first image of a receivable item; and
the at least one computing device configured to perform:
obtaining, by the at least one computing device, corroborating information associated with the receivable item;
determining, by the at least one computing device, a subset of the inventory items that is associated with at least the corroborating information;
attempting, by the at least one computing device, to identify a match between the first image of the receivable item and a second image of one of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items; and
rendering, by the at least one computing device, an indication that the receivable item was positively correlated to the one of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items if the match is successfully identified.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the corroborating information comprises an order number for a shipment, a vendor name, an advance shipment notification generated by a vendor, a quantity of items within a container making up the shipment, a purchase order associated with a delivery vehicle within which the shipment arrived, or a barcode identifier.

6. The system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one computing device further comprises at least one input device that facilitates an input of at least one corroborating item of information associated with the receivable item.

7. The system of claim 4 , wherein a plurality of subsets of inventory items is associated with the corroborating information, the at least one computing device being further configured to select the subset of inventory items which contains a smallest number of members for which the match is attempted to be identified.

8. The system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to determine that the subset of the inventory items is associated with the corroborating information and an additional common characteristic shared with the receivable item.

9. The system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to detect that a portion of an item identifier is missing from the receivable item and to implement a rendering of a replacement item identifier to be physically associated with the receivable item if the match is successfully identified.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the corroborating information comprises a partial item identifier obtained from a portion of the item identifier that is not missing from the receivable item.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to implement a rendering of a placeholder item identifier to be physically associated with the receivable item if the match is not successfully identified.

12. A method, comprising:
storing a listing of a plurality of inventory items in a memory accessible by at least one computing device, the listing of the plurality of inventory items including first images of inventory items;
capturing a second image of a receivable item;
obtaining corroborating information associated with the receivable item;
determining, by the at least one computing device, a subset of the inventory items that is associated with at least the corroborating information;
attempting, by the at least one computing device, to correlate the second image of the receivable item to one of the first images of the subset of the inventory items; and
rendering, by the at least one computing device, an indication that the receivable item was positively correlated to one of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items if the second image is successfully correlated with a first image of the one of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising rendering a replacement item identifier associated with the one of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items to be associated with the receivable item if the second image is successfully correlated with the first image of the one of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
obtaining a weight associated with the one of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items that corresponds to the first image of the one of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items;
weighing the receivable item; and
verifying that the second image correlates to the first image of the one of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items by determining whether a measured weight of the receivable item comports with the weight associated with the one of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising rendering a placeholder item identifier to be physically associated with the receivable item if the second image is not successfully correlated to one of the first images of the inventory items in the subset of the inventory items.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising designating the receivable item within an inventory as non-shippable when the receivable item cannot be correlated with one of the inventory items.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the corroborating information comprises an order number for a shipment, a vendor name, an advance shipment notification generated by a vendor, a quantity of items within a container making up the shipment, a purchase order associated with a delivery vehicle within which the shipment arrived, or a barcode identifier.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the subset of the inventory items is determined to be associated with the corroborating information and an additional common characteristic shared with t

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Young Eric C
• Krishnan Sriram M

Classifications

• B07C3/14 Primary

  using light-responsive detecting means {(for information carriers G06K7/14)} · CPC title

• G06Q10/087

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

• G05B15/02

  electric · CPC title

• B65G1/137 Primary

  with arrangements or automatic control means for selecting which articles are to be removed · CPC title

• G06Q10/083

  Shipping · CPC title