US 12,454,412 B2
Order fulfillment system
David Shlomo Gabrieli, Ramat Yishai (IL); Shay Gabrieli, Ramat Yishai (IL); and Joseph Zvi Porat, Highland Beach, FL (US)
Assigned to Aquabot Ltd., Afula (IL)
Appl. No. 17/626,811
Filed by Aquabot Ltd., Afula (IL)
PCT Filed Jul. 8, 2020, PCT No. PCT/IL2020/050763
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 12, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/009746, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 21, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/889,626, filed on Aug. 21, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/873,914, filed on Jul. 14, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. PCT/IL2020/050328 (WO), filed on Mar. 19, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0297941 A1, Sep. 22, 2022
Int. Cl. B65G 1/137 (2006.01); B65G 1/04 (2006.01); B66C 13/48 (2006.01); B66C 19/00 (2006.01); G06Q 10/087 (2023.01)
CPC B65G 1/1373 (2013.01) [B65G 1/0457 (2013.01); B65G 1/0464 (2013.01); B66C 13/48 (2013.01); B66C 19/00 (2013.01); G06Q 10/087 (2013.01)] 4 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An order fulfillment system comprising:
a plurality of stock locations, each stock location for storing one or a plurality of items;
one or a plurality of movable collection containers that are each configured to hold one or more of the items;
a network of tracks along which each of the collection containers is configured to move in a single direction, and including a plurality of junctions where at least two of the tracks intersect, each of the collection containers controllable at a junction of the plurality of junctions to continue travelling along one of said at least two of the tracks, the network of tracks configured to enable each of the collection containers to move to the plurality of stock locations; and
a controller configured to receive a list of ordered items, to determine a selected stock location of the plurality of stock locations at which each of the ordered items is stored, to calculate a route along the network of tracks to bring a collection container of said one or a plurality of movable collection containers to each selected stock location, and to control movement of that collection container along the calculated route to said each selected stock location,
wherein the network of tracks comprises overhead tracks,
wherein a collection container of said one or a plurality of movable collection containers is suspended by a suspension connector from a container mover that is configured to move along the overhead tracks,
wherein the suspension connector has a variable length, and
wherein the controller is configured to cause the suspension connector to be shortened to raise the suspended collection container when that collection container is being moved along an overhead track of the overhead tracks, and to cause the suspension connector to be lengthened to lower that suspended collection container when that collection container has been moved to one of the selected stock locations.