US 11,948,120 B2
Systems and methods of merging retail products between containers to optimize storing capacity of retail storage facilities
Vivek Tomar, Cincinnati, OH (US); Rei E. Siew Hew Sam, New York, NY (US); Sunada S N Chakravarthy, Metuchen, NJ (US); and Kaiwen Luo, Atlanta, GA (US)
Assigned to Walmart Apollo, LLC, Bentonville, AR (US)
Filed by Walmart Apollo, LLC, Bentonville, AR (US)
Filed on Jan. 25, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/101,493.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/304,908, filed on Jan. 31, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0245034 A1, Aug. 3, 2023
Int. Cl. G06Q 10/08 (2023.01); B65G 1/137 (2006.01)
CPC G06Q 10/08 (2013.01) [B65G 1/1373 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An automated storage and retrieval system for managing storage of inventory at a retail facility, the system comprising:
a storage structure including a plurality of storage locations configured to store a plurality of containers, each of the containers containing a plurality of products;
a container transport system including at least one conveyor configured to transport the containers between the storage locations and at least one picking station, where one or more products are removed from one or more of the containers;
a control unit operatively coupled to the container transport system and configured to control movement of the at least one conveyor of the container transport system; and
a control circuit communicatively coupled to the control unit, the control circuit being configured to:
analyze at least one business rule governing product merging between the containers being transported toward the at least one picking station by the container transport system to identify two adjacent containers that are eligible for the product merging therebetween; and
in response to receipt of a signal from at least one sensor positioned adjacent the at least one picking station, the signal indicating that the at least one sensor detected that the two adjacent containers identified as being eligible for the product merging arrived at the at least one picking station, transmit a first signal to the control unit to cause the control unit to stop movement of the at least one conveyor of the container transport system to keep the two adjacent containers that are eligible for the product merging at the at least one picking station until all of the products stored in a first one of the two adjacent containers are removed from the first one of the two adjacent containers and merged with the products stored in a second one of the two adjacent containers.