Automated container storage and delivery system

Abstract

A material storage and delivery system includes an individual container storage and delivery system (ICSDS). A palletizer is provided for placing containers from the ICSDS on a pallet. A layer storage and delivery system (LSDS) places full layers of containers on a pallet. A robotic container delivery system (RCDS) places individual containers on a pallet. A conveyor system conveys containers and pallets between at least two of the ICSDS, the palletizer, the LSDS and the RCDS. A method for storing and delivering containers is also disclosed.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 370,548, filed Feb. 20, 2003, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 098,160, filed on Mar. 13, 2002, the entirety of which are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates generally to material handling systems, and more particularly to automated container storage and delivery systems. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Manufacturers, retailers, and distributors must store and deliver great quantities of goods at a time. Many such users have hundreds if not thousands of products. Orders are received from customers and material handling systems must locate inventory and then route inventory necessary to fill the orders to an appropriate location for shipping or delivery. Through-put is a concern as sometimes many thousands of containers per hour must be processed through a single facility. Intelligent co...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010] A control system is provided for delivering containers and pallets bearing containers between the ICSDS, the palletizer, the LSDS, the RCDS, and shipping or delivery. The control system can receive inventory data and order data. The inventory data preferably comprises container position data in the ICSDS. The control system can determine pallet configurations from the order data. The pallet configurations can comprise the number of full layers of containers having homogeneous SKU's and whether such layers can be provided by the LSDS. The cont

Problems solved by technology

Automation is a solution for reducing the amount of manual labor necessary to fill such orders, as manual labor tends to reduce reliability and through-put, and increases costs.

Such systems, however, can require a great deal of floor space and can be costly to install and use.

It is a time consuming process to deliver individual containers to the palletizer, and to place these containers onto the pallet, even in a fully automated system.

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