US 12,420,403 B1
Backstop to facilitate container engagement by robotic manipulator
John Timothy Foreman, Framingham, MA (US); and Matthew Budnick, Rutland, MA (US)
Assigned to Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US)
Filed by Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US)
Filed on Jun. 26, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/214,370.
Int. Cl. B25J 9/00 (2006.01); B25J 9/02 (2006.01); B65G 13/02 (2006.01); B65G 43/00 (2006.01); B65G 47/53 (2006.01)
CPC B25J 9/0096 (2013.01) [B25J 9/0093 (2013.01); B25J 9/026 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of tote engagement, the method comprising:
moving a tote on a first set of rollers in a first direction towards a second set of rollers, the second set of rollers positioned lower than the first set of rollers so as to define a stepped interface;
moving the tote, from the first set of rollers to the second set of rollers, over a pivotable backstop that is situated in a first position and is located along the stepped interface;
pushing a leading side of the tote by a robotic end effector in a second direction opposite to the first direction so as to move a trailing side of the tote toward the stepped interface and toward the first set of rollers;
engaging a trailing side of the tote with a flange edge of the pivotable backstop so as to resist movement of the tote in the second direction; and
engaging, as a result of the robotic end effector pushing against the tote in the second direction, the leading side of the tote with the robotic end effector as the flange edge of the pivotable backstop prevents the tote from being pushed past the pivotable backstop in the second direction and enables the robotic end effector to engage with the leading side; and
pivoting the pivotable backstop to a second position in response to the robotic end effector exerting on the tote a force exceeding a predetermined threshold.