| CPC B65G 1/1378 (2013.01) [B65G 1/0492 (2013.01); B66F 9/063 (2013.01); B66F 9/183 (2013.01); G05B 19/41895 (2013.01); G06Q 10/06315 (2013.01); G06Q 10/08 (2013.01); G06Q 10/087 (2013.01); B60P 3/007 (2013.01)] | 34 Claims |
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1. A method for storing and picking article carriers that contain articles and are stackable in an order fulfillment facility, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a plurality of autonomously moveable, driverless transport vehicles, each of the autonomously moveable, driverless transport vehicles having a chassis with a drive unit and a loading platform arranged on the chassis for receiving a mobile transport loading aid,
providing article carrier stacks of multiple article carriers arranged on top of one another in a delivery zone of the order fulfillment facility,
providing mobile transport loading aids, each of the mobile transport loading aids being configured for receiving and stabilizing a position of at least one of the article carrier stacks, wherein the mobile transport loading aids comprise a plurality of empty transport loading aids,
transporting empty transport loading aids of the plurality of empty transport loading aids using autonomously moveable, driverless transport vehicles of the plurality of autonomously movable, driverless transport vehicles to a loading station and providing at least one of the empty transport loading aids at an automatically operated first loading device or on a buffer surface close to the automatically operated first loading device,
loading the at least one empty transport loading aid provided at the automatically operated first loading device with at least one of the article carrier stacks from the delivery zone using the automatically operated first loading device in order to provide at least one loaded transport aid,
transporting the at least one loaded transport loading aid containing the at least one article carrier stack from the loading station to a storage zone using an autonomously moveable, driverless transport vehicle of the autonomously moveable, driverless transport vehicles,
placing the at least one loaded transport loading aid containing the at least one article carrier stack on a storage surface in the storage zone,
storing the at least one loaded transport loading aid containing the at least one article carrier stack, and
processing a picking order comprising the steps of:
transporting the at least one loaded transport loading aid containing the article carriers required for the picking order from the storage zone to an unloading station and providing the at least one loaded transport loading aid at an automatically operated unloading device or on a buffer surface close to the automatically operated unloading device using an autonomously moveable, driverless transport vehicle of the autonomously moveable, driverless transport vehicles,
unloading the at least one loaded transport loading aid provided at the automatically operated unloading device by removing the article carriers required for processing the picking order, and
assembling the article carriers on at least one target loading aid for the picking order in an order processing zone of the order fulfillment facility.
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25. An order fulfillment facility for storing and picking article carriers which contain articles and are stackable, the order fulfillment facility comprising:
an order-processing computer for acquiring a picking order and for determining articles which are required for the picking order,
a delivery zone for providing article carrier stacks of multiple article carriers arranged on top of one another,
a plurality of mobile transport loading aids, each of the mobile transport loading aids of the plurality of mobile transport loading aids being configured for receiving and stabilizing a position of at least one of the article carrier stacks, wherein the plurality of mobile transport loading aids comprise a plurality of empty transport loading aids,
a loading station having at least one automatically operated first loading device or at least one automatically operated first loading devices and a buffer surface close to the automatically operated first loading device, wherein the automatically operated first loading device is configured for loading one of the empty transport loading aids with at least one article carrier stack in order to provide at least one loaded transport loading aid, wherein the empty transport loading aid is provided for loading at the automatically operated first loading device,
a storage zone for storing the at least one loaded transport loading aid containing the at least one article carrier stack,
an unloading station with at least one automatically operated unloading device for unloading at least one of the loaded transport loading aids by removing the article carriers required for processing a picking order, wherein the loaded transport loading aids are provided for unloading at the automatically operated unloading device,
a plurality of autonomously moveable, driverless transport vehicles, each of the autonomously moveable, driverless transport vehicles having a chassis with a drive unit and a loading platform arranged on the chassis for receiving a mobile transport loading aid, wherein the plurality of autonomously moveable, driverless transport vehicles are controlled by a control system to transport empty transport loading aids to the loading station and to provide one of the empty transport loading aids at the automatically operated first loading device or on the buffer surface close to the automatically operated first loading device, to transport the at least one loaded transport loading aid containing the at least one article carrier stack from the loading station to a storage zone, and to transport the at least one loaded transport loading aid containing the article carriers required for the picking order from the storage zone to an unloading station and to provide the at least one loaded transport loading aid at the automatically operated unloading device or on a buffer surface close to the automatically operated unloading device, and
a reloading station for assembling the article carriers for the picking order.
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