US 12,441,560 B2
Material handling system with palletization re-planning
Kirill Pankratov, Wilmington, MA (US); Ilya Erokhin, Wilmington, MA (US); Oleksandr Muzychko, Wilmington, MA (US); and Rick Youping Huang, Wilmington, MA (US)
Assigned to Symbotic LLC, Wilmington, MA (US)
Filed by Symbotic LLC, Wilmington, MA (US)
Filed on Jul. 17, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/353,551.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/368,710, filed on Jul. 18, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2024/0017941 A1, Jan. 18, 2024
Int. Cl. B65G 57/24 (2006.01); B65G 1/16 (2006.01); B65G 43/08 (2006.01)
CPC B65G 57/24 (2013.01) [B65G 1/16 (2013.01); B65G 43/08 (2013.01); B65G 2201/0267 (2013.01)] 36 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A material handling system for handling and placing packages onto pallets destined for an order store, the material handling system comprising:
a storage array with storage spaces for holding packages therein;
an automated package transport system communicably connected to the storage array for storing packages within the storage spaces of the storage array and retrieving packages from the storage spaces of the storage array;
an automated palletizer for placing mixed packages onto a pallet to form a pallet load of mixed packages, the automated palletizer is communicably connected to the automated package transport system which provides individual packages from the storage array to the automated palletizer for forming the pallet load of mixed packages, the pallet load of mixed packages including more than one composite layers of mixed packages; and
a controller operably connected to the automated palletizer, the controller being programmed with a pallet load generator with an initial pallet load plan for forming, completely and stably, the pallet load of mixed packages in mixed package layers in an initial planned pallet load distribution;
wherein:
the controller is communicably connected so as to register from at least one of the storage array and the automated package transport system at least one scratch package, wherein the pallet load generator is arranged to identify a corresponding pallet layer, of the scratch package, in the initial pallet load plan, and determine a corresponding void, formed by the scratch package, in the corresponding pallet layer; and
the pallet load generator is configured to determine a measure of stability resultant from the corresponding void in the corresponding pallet layer and heuristically resolve the corresponding void, based on optimization of the measure of stability to equal or exceed a predetermined threshold, from at least one of:
repose, relative to the corresponding void, at least one adjacent package adjacent the corresponding void in the initial pallet load plan, and
swapping, at least another package of the initial pallet load plan into the corresponding void for the scratch package; and
the pallet load generator is configured to generate a pallet load re-plan for the automated palletizer as defined by resolution of each corresponding void for each scratch packages in the initial pallet load plan.