Rotating disc type storage conveyor system

Abstract

Conventional automated fulfillment systems require complex techniques, such as robots and autonomous guided vehicles. Thus, an embodiment of a conveyor system is disclosed that can perform automated fulfillment with a simple conveyor technology. The conveyor system may include a plurality of concentric, circular, nested conveyors, or parallel linear conveyors, each including a plurality of segments. The conveyor system may also include a chute along a radial or orthogonal axis. Each conveyor is configured to move such that each section of the conveyor is movable into the chute. The chute mechanism may be configured to move articles into and / or out of the chute. Thus, for example, a control system may move items stacked on the conveyor into the chute and move all of these items out of the chute and away from the conveyor system by a single push-broom operation using the chute mechanism.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 330,458, filed on April 13, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth. In addition, this application is related to U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 578,108, filed on September 20, 2019, and U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 828,863, filed on March 24, 2020, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth. Background Art Field of the Invention

[0003] The embodiments described herein relate generally to automation, and more particularly to the coordination of multiple conveyors within an automation system.

[0004] Related technical notes

[0005] From the Stone Age to the modern era, human societies have used the same basic method of storing goods: carry, stack, pick and carry (CSPC). This method of storage has persisted because human behavior is remarkably versatile. The human arm and its coordinated grasping hand, extraordinary tactile perception and visual coordination, managed by a purposeful intelligent processor (the human brain), make CSPC efficient.

[0006] Refrigerators, freezers, cabinets, lockers, drawers and closets are common examples of CSPC systems and represent a subset of storage systems in every home. In small stores, supermarkets, pick-up centers and large fulfillment centers, the process is the same, but at different scales. The scale of CSPC systems ranges from clinical laboratory testing (where samples, reagents and reaction vessels are stacked and picked manually or automatically) to home storage, retail stores and supermarkets, to warehouses and large retail fulfillment centers. In all of these systems, the underlying model is exactly the same. It is characterized by the fact that in all of these systems, the storage is on fixed shelves.

[0007] For example, all fulfillment systems employ the same process. In large-scale fulfillment centers, there are hundreds of human stackers and pickers. During an average shift, stackers may travel up to 13 miles with their carts and stepladders to stack 160,000 instances of SKUs onto acres of shelves. To assemble and deliver shopping lists, hundreds of human pickers will also travel up to 13 miles per shift with their carts and stepladders, collecting customers' shopping lists into tote bins that go to a team of packers.

[0008] Similarly, in a traditional shopping trip, the customer makes a shopping list, drives to the store, locates, selects, picks items from fixed shelves, and places them in a shopping cart, proceeds to checkout, packages the items, moves the packaged items to the customer's car, loads the packaged items into the car, and drives home. In the past, stores were happy to let customers do all of this moving and picking work themselves. However, the rise of online shopping has forced a sea change due to the focus on customer convenience in the grocery and other consumer goods markets. Specifically, driven by the convenience of online shopping, physical stores now take on many of the tasks involved in traditional shopping trips.

[0009] According to the analysis, most of these tasks simply involve moving individual items for sale from one space to another, as well as recording the transfer of ownership and the associated fees. In most cases, this movement of items is still performed manually by store personnel or customers. While there is great potential for automation in CSPC, the current approach to automation in fulfillment systems is to employ automation to assist human stackers, pickers, and packers to increase their throughput rather than replace them. Many companies now manufacture automated mobile manipulators (AMRs), autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs), and vision-guided robots (VGRs). For example, Amazon TM A multi-billion dollar automation project is underway at the company. In about 50 of their 185 large fulfillment centers around the world, they employ 200,000 “Roomba”-type AMRs that pick items from 48” sections or stacks of storage racks and bring them to stackers and pickers to speed up their work by reducing walking time. This has resulted in more than doubling the throughput of items in a ten-hour shift, but has created tough working conditions for stackers and pickers, who must stay on the job to place or pick up to 300 items per hour from carts weighing up to 50 pounds stored high and low from the floor or stepladders to fixed racks. Other automation projects for order fulfillment are underway by other companies using similar robotic vehicles. All of these systems still require human stackers and pickers, as AMRs with grippers versatile enough to pick items of different sizes and shapes from stacks are still not available and are estimated to be several years away.

[0010] Furthermore, the vehicles used by these fulfillment systems require complex navigation. The vehicles must avoid collisions and dropped items during movement (e.g., rotation, acceleration, deceleration, etc.). In addition, the vehicles need to be recharged, repaired, and eventually scrapped. There are also safety issues. Many autonomous vehicles must operate in large open areas, and only special maintenance workers wearing special jackets that the autonomous vehicles can detect and avoid are allowed in the area.

[0011] On a micro scale, the same CSPC principles apply. For example, the same CSPC systems used in fulfillment systems are used in automated diagnostic instruments. Samples, reagents, and reaction vessels are stacked in automated instruments. In order to perform individual tests, carefully labeled items must be picked and transported in and out of the analysis station. Conventional diagnostic instruments use complex robots to move items internally. Such robots typically require multiple mechanical systems that often perform complex, highly controlled movements in three dimensions. In addition, items typically must be moved between different areas responsible for different processes within the automated system (e.g., by a robotic arm with a gripper). Therefore, the cost of building and maintaining such systems can be surprisingly expensive.

[0012] In summary, current automation approaches mimic the human CSPC approach, using robots for handling, fixed racks for stacking, and complex robotic arms with gripper 'hands' for picking. Therefore, a fundamental change in the CSPC automation approach is needed, which preferably does not rely on complex transport and mechanical robots currently employed by conventional automation systems. Summary of the invention

[0013] Thus, systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media are disclosed for providing and coordinating multiple conveyors within an automated system.

[0014] In an embodiment, a conveyor system includes: a plurality of nested conveyors, wherein each of the plurality of nested conveyors includes a disc concentric about a central axis, wherein the disc includes a plurality of segments, each of the plurality of segments being configured to hold at least one item on a top surface; a chute along at least one radial axis orthogonal to the central axis, wherein each of the plurality of nested conveyors is configured to rotate about the central axis so that each of the plurality of segments in the disc of the nested conveyors can be rotated into the chute; a chute mechanism, the chute mechanism being configured to radially move items along the radial axis through the top surfaces of all plurality of segments located in the chute; and at least one hardware processor, the at least one hardware processor being configured to: receive a list of one or more items stacked on the plurality of nested conveyors; for each item in the list, rotate the segment holding the item into the chute; and control the chute mechanism to move all items held by the segments in the chute out of the chute in a single operation.

[0015] The conveyor system may also include a stationary circumferential wall between each adjacent pair of the plurality of nested conveyors, wherein each circumferential wall includes a gap along a radial axis. For each of the plurality of segments in the disc of the nested conveyors, each of the plurality of nested conveyors may include a pair of fixed radial walls that limit the segment. In each pair of fixed radial walls, the radial walls may be parallel to each other. The radial walls of each of the plurality of segments in each of the plurality of nested conveyors may be spaced the same distance apart so that the radial walls of all segments within the chute are aligned with each other to form a pair of parallel walls that define the radial boundaries of the chute. Each of the plurality of segments of each of the plurality of nested conveyors may have the same width, and each gap may have the same width.

[0016] The at least one hardware processor may also be configured to: receive a list of one or more items held on a plurality of sections located in a chute; identify a location at which each of the one or more items held on the plurality of sections located in the chute is to be stowed; and rotate a section holding one of the one or more items held on the plurality of sections located in the chute away from the chute to the identified location of the one item.

[0017] The at least one hardware processor may also be configured to independently control each of the plurality of nested conveyors to rotate independently of each other. Each of the plurality of nested conveyors may be configured to rotate in two directions. The at least one hardware processor may also be configured to determine in which of the two directions to rotate each of the plurality of nested conveyors so as to minimize movement.

[0018] A top surface of each of the plurality of segments in each of the plurality of nested conveyors may be textured.

[0019] The at least one hardware processor may also be configured to maintain at least one empty segment in each of the plurality of nested conveyors that is capable of being rotated into the chute, such that the at least one hardware processor is always able to clear an obstruction for the chute by rotating at least one empty segment in all of the plurality of nested conveyors into the chute.

[0020] The conveyor system may further include a center member surrounded by the plurality of nested conveyors, wherein the center member includes a center section configured to retain at least one article on the top surface, and wherein the chute extends through an entire diameter of the plurality of nested conveyors and includes the center section.

[0021] In an embodiment, a coordination system includes at least one level, the at least one level including a plurality of conveyor systems arranged side by side so that the top surface of each of the plurality of sections in each of the plurality of conveyor systems is located in the same plane. At least one level may include a plurality of levels arranged along an axis orthogonal to the plane. The chute in each of the plurality of conveyor systems may be aligned with the chute in at least one adjacent conveyor system in the plurality of conveyor systems to form a composite chute extending through two or more of the plurality of conveyor systems in at least one level. The central component in each of the plurality of conveyor systems may be configured to rotate, and at least one hardware processor in each of the plurality of conveyor systems may be configured to rotate the central component in the conveyor system, thereby changing the direction of the chute in the conveyor system.

[0022] In an embodiment, an enclosure encloses the coordination system and a compound chute extends through all multiple conveyor systems in at least one level, and wherein the enclosure includes a port at one end of the compound chute. The enclosure may be part of a delivery vehicle.

[0023] In an embodiment, a method includes operating using at least one hardware processor within a conveyor system, the conveyor system comprising: a plurality of nested conveyors, each of the plurality of nested conveyors comprising a disc concentric about a central axis, the disc comprising a plurality of segments, the plurality of segments each being configured to hold at least one item on a top surface; a chute along at least one radial axis orthogonal to the central axis, each of the plurality of nested conveyors being configured to rotate about the central axis so that each of the plurality of segments in the disc of the nested conveyor can be rotated into the chute; and a chute mechanism, the chute mechanism being configured to radially move items along the radial axis through the top surfaces of all the plurality of segments located in the chute, the operation being used to: receive a list of one or more items stacked on the plurality of nested conveyors; for each item in the list, rotate the segment holding the item into the chute; and control the chute mechanism to move all items held by the segments in the chute out of the chute in a single operation.

[0024] In an embodiment, a conveyor system includes: a plurality of parallel linear conveyors, wherein each of the plurality of parallel linear conveyors includes a plurality of segments along a longitudinal axis of the parallel linear conveyors, and wherein each of the plurality of segments is configured to hold at least one item on a top surface; one or more chutes along an orthogonal axis orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of each of the plurality of parallel linear conveyors, wherein each of the plurality of parallel linear conveyors is configured to move along the corresponding longitudinal axis so that each of the plurality of segments of the parallel linear conveyors can move into at least one of the one or more chutes; a chute mechanism configured to move items orthogonally along the orthogonal axis through the top surfaces of all plurality of segments located in at least one chute; and at least one hardware processor configured to: receive a list of one or more items stacked on the plurality of parallel linear conveyors; for each item in the list, move the segment holding the item into the chute; and control the chute mechanism to move all items held by the segments in the chute out of the chute in a single operation.

[0025] In an embodiment, a conveyor system includes: a plurality of conveyors, wherein each of the plurality of conveyors includes a plurality of segments, and wherein each of the plurality of segments is configured to hold at least one item on a top surface; one or more chutes along at least one axis, wherein each of the plurality of conveyors is configured to move so that each of the plurality of segments of the conveyor can move into at least one of the one or more chutes; a chute mechanism, the chute mechanism being configured to move items along at least one axis through the top surfaces of all plurality of segments located in at least one chute; and at least one hardware processor, the at least one hardware processor being configured to: receive a list of one or more items stacked on the plurality of conveyors; for each item in the list, move the segment holding the item into the chute; and control the chute mechanism to move all items held by the segments in the chute out of the chute in a single operation.

[0026] It should be understood that any of the features described above may be implemented individually or in any combination with any subset of the other features. Therefore, to the extent that the appended claims indicate specific dependencies between features, the disclosed embodiments are not limited to these specific dependencies. Instead, any feature described herein may be combined with any other feature described herein, or implemented in any combination of any features without any one or more of the other features described herein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] The details of the invention, both as to its structure and operation, may be gleaned in part by a study of the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:

[0028] Figure 1 shows a top-down view of a carousel conveyor system according to an embodiment;

[0029] FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C shows a top-down view during operation of a carousel conveyor system according to an embodiment;

[0030] Figure 3 shows a section of a carousel conveyor system according to an embodiment;

[0031] FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C shows a coordination system of a carousel conveyor system according to an embodiment;

[0032] Figure 5A and Figure 5B shows a coordinated system of a stack with a carousel conveyor system according to an embodiment;

[0033] Figure 6 A process for coordinating movement in a carousel conveyor system to unload one or more items is shown according to an embodiment;

[0034] Figure 7 A process for coordinating movement in a carousel conveyor system to load one or more items is shown according to an embodiment;

[0035] Figure 8 An example processing system that may perform one or more of the processes described herein is shown according to an embodiment;

[0036] Fig. 9 An enclosure with a coordination system according to an embodiment is shown;

[0037] Fig. 10A and Fig. 10B shows a top-down view of a conveyor system having parallel linear conveyors according to an embodiment; and

[0038] Fig.11 Shown is a section of a conveyor system having parallel linear conveyors according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] After reading this description, those skilled in the art will understand how to implement the present invention in various alternative embodiments and alternative applications. However, although various embodiments of the present invention will be described herein, it should be understood that these embodiments are presented only by way of example and illustration, and are not restrictive. Thus, this detailed description of various embodiments should not be construed as limiting the scope or breadth of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

[0040] In an embodiment, systems and methods for providing and using a coordinated carousel conveyor system within an automated system are disclosed. The disclosed conveyor technology is highly scalable and can be used in macro-scale environments (e.g., warehouses or retail fulfillment), meso-scale environments (e.g., automated pantries, home or commercial freezers, and office storage), micro-scale environments (e.g., automated diagnostic instruments), and any environment in between and beyond them.

[0041] Figure 1 A top-down view of a carousel conveyor system 100 according to an embodiment is shown. The conveyor system 100 includes a center member 110 and a plurality of nested conveyors 120. In the example shown, the conveyor system 100 is comprised of three conveyors 120A, 120B, and 120C. However, it should be understood that the conveyor system 100 may include or be comprised of any number of conveyors 120, including one conveyor 120, two conveyors 120, four conveyors 120, five conveyors 120, etc. In alternative embodiments, the center member 110 may be omitted such that the conveyor system 100 includes an open aperture in its center.

[0042] Each conveyor 120 is concentric with each other conveyor 120 and the center member 110. Each conveyor 120 except the outermost conveyor 120 (e.g., 120C in the illustrated embodiment) is nested within the outer conveyors 120. For example, conveyor 120A is a disk with an open center aperture sized to surround the center member 110, conveyor 120B is a disk with an open center aperture sized to surround conveyor 120A, and conveyor 120C is a disk with an open center aperture sized to surround conveyor 120B. It should be understood that any number of conveyors 120 may be nested in this manner about a central Z axis (i.e., through the center of the center member 110).

[0043] Each conveyor 120 includes a plurality of segments 122. For example, conveyor 120A includes segments 122A1-122A8, conveyor 120B includes segments 122B1-122B16, and conveyor 120C includes segments 122C1-122C32. Each segment 122 is configured to hold at least one article 130 on a top surface of the segment 122. For example, segment 122A8 holds article 130A, segment 122B3 holds article 130B, and segment 122C14 holds article 130C. Although only three articles 130 are shown, it should be understood that the carousel conveyor system 100 may hold any number of articles 130 on any number of segments 122. Additionally, although only one article 130 is shown per segment 122, a single segment 122 may be configured to hold multiple articles 130. The top surface of each segment 122 in each conveyor 120 in a given conveyor system 100 may lie in the same XY plane.

[0044] Adjacent sections 122 around the same conveyor 120 may be separated from each other by spaces 124, which may be wedge-shaped. For example, conveyor 120A includes wedge-shaped spaces 124A between each section 122A1-122A8, conveyor 120B includes wedge-shaped spaces 124B between each section 122B1-122B16, and conveyor 120C includes wedge-shaped spaces 124C between each section 122C1-122C32. The wedge-shaped spaces 124 provide parallel boundaries extending around each section 122 through the corresponding conveyor 120, so that the shape of each section 122 is substantially rectangular. However, it should be understood that the radial inner and outer boundaries may be slightly curved because they are chords of a circle. In an alternative embodiment, the section 122 may be wedge-shaped, and the space 124 may have parallel boundaries extending around each section 122 through the corresponding conveyor 120. In another alternative embodiment, section 122 may be wedge-shaped and space 124 may be omitted.

[0045] Each segment 122 may be configured to hold only a single article 130 or a plurality of articles 130. In an embodiment, each segment 122 has the same width W within the same conveyor 120, and optionally across the entire conveyor system 100. Alternatively, some segments 122 may have different dimensions (e.g., shape and / or size) than other segments 122 within the same conveyor 120 and / or across different conveyors 120. For example, all segments 122 within the same conveyor may have the same dimensions, but segments 122 of one conveyor 120 may have different dimensions than segments 122 of another conveyor 120. For example, within the same conveyor system 100, a radially inner conveyor 120 may have smaller dimensions than a radially outer conveyor 120. Thus, some segments 122 may be configured to hold more articles 130 than other segments 122 on the same conveyor 120 and / or different conveyors 120.

[0046] Each conveyor 120 may be configured to rotate in one or two directions (e.g., clockwise and / or counterclockwise in a top-down view) about a central Z axis. Preferably, each conveyor 120 is configured to rotate in two directions. The rotation of each conveyor 120 may be independent of the rotation of any other conveyor 120. For example, each of conveyors 120A, 120B, and 120C may be configured to rotate in two directions independently of the other conveyors 120A, 120B, and 120C.

[0047] Each conveyor 120 can be configured to stop rotating at only one of a plurality of indexing positions. Each indexing position represents a fixed arc amount around the central Z axis. If a control signal indicating that the rotation of the conveyor 120 is to be stopped is received, the conveyor 120 can continue to rotate until it reaches the nearest indexing position, and only when it reaches the nearest indexing position will it stop. In other words, the conveyor 120 will continue to rotate in the current direction to reach the minimum amount required for the next indexing position. The number of indexing positions at which the conveyor 120 can stop can be the same as the number of sections 122 in the conveyor 120. For example, a conveyor 120A having eight sections 122A1-122A8 can have eight indexing positions, a conveyor 120B having sixteen sections 122B1-122B16 can have sixteen indexing positions, and a conveyor 120C having thirty-two sections 122C1-122C32 can have thirty-two indexing positions.

[0048] In an embodiment, in each indexed position of each conveyor 120, one segment 122 is centrally located within the chute 140. In the example shown, segments 122A1 and 122A5 of conveyor 120A, segments 122B1 and 122B9 of conveyor 120B, and segments 122C1 and 122C17 of conveyor 120C are all located within the chute 140. The chute 140 represents both an entry path to the carousel conveyor system 100 and an exit path from the carousel conveyor system 100. Specifically, articles 130 stacked on the segments 122 within the chute 140 can be pushed or pulled radially away from the carousel conveyor system 100 into the external environment. Similarly, articles 130 not currently stacked on the carousel conveyor system 100 can be pushed or pulled radially from the external environment onto the segments 122 within the chute 140. In this manner, all of the articles 130 located on the section 122 within the chute 140 may be swept away in a single push or pull operation.

[0049] As described herein, whenever an item 130 is pulled, such pulling may be performed by a robotic picker (e.g., a robotic arm having a gripper or other pulling mechanism), and whenever an item 130 is pushed, such pushing may be performed by a robotic pusher (e.g., a robotic arm having a push block or other pushing mechanism). It is generally believed that pushing may be preferred because pushing an item 130 generally requires less mechanical complexity. In embodiments where the segment 122 is wedge-shaped, the robotic pusher in the chute 140 may include a push paddle surface that expands in width (e.g., via a spring) and contracts (e.g., via wheels or other elements that contact radial walls of the chute 140) as it traverses the chute 140. After each operation, the chute mechanism, whether it is a robotic picker or a robotic pusher, may be reset to a starting position for the next push sweep of the chute 140.

[0050] In the example shown, the chute 140 consists of the following: from one side of the conveyor system 100 to the opposite side, the segment 122C1 in the conveyor 120C, the segment 122B1 in the conveyor 120B, the segment 122A1 in the conveyor 120A, the center segment 112 in the center member 110, the segment 122A5 in the conveyor 120A, the segment 122B9 in the conveyor 120B, and the segment 122C17 in the conveyor 120C. In this embodiment, the chute 140 extends from one side through the entire conveyor system 100 to the opposite side. However, in alternative embodiments, the chute 140 may extend only through half of the conveyor system 100 between one side and the edge of the center member 110. For example, in the example shown, the chute 140 may instead consist of the following: starting from the outside of the conveyor system 100, the segment 122C1 in conveyor 120C, the segment 122B1 in conveyor 120B, and the segment 122A1 in conveyor 120A, or alternatively, the segment 122C17 in conveyor 120C, the segment 122B9 in conveyor 120B, and the segment 122A5 in conveyor 120A. In this case, the center segment 112 may be omitted, for example, replaced by a center chute mechanism (e.g., a robotic pusher and / or a picker).

[0051] In an embodiment, the conveyor system 100 may consist of only a single diameter chute 140. In this case, in embodiments where the chute 140 extends through the entire carousel conveyor system 100, the center member 110 may be fixed or stationary such that the center section 112 always remains in the same orientation (i.e., aligned with the chute 140). Alternatively, the conveyor system 100 may include multiple potential chutes 140. For example, in addition to the chute 140, the carousel conveyor system 100 can be configured to have one or more additional chutes consisting of the following: segments 122C9, 122B5, 122A3, 112, 122A7, 122B13 and 122C25; segments 122C5, 122B3, 122A2, 112, 122A6, 122B11 and 122C21; and / or segments 122C29, 122B15, 122A8, 112, 122A4, 122B7 and 122C13. In this case, the center member 110 can be configured to rotate about the central Z axis so that the center segment 112 can be oriented in a plurality of indexed positions, such as orthogonal to the X axis, at a 45 degree angle relative to the X axis, at one or more other angles relative to the X axis, etc., to align with the desired direction of the chute 140. In alternative embodiments where the chute 140 does not extend through the entire carousel conveyor system 100, possible chute 140 may include: sections 122C1, 122B1, and 122A1; sections 122A5, 122B9, and 122C17; sections 122C9, 122B5, and 122A3; sections 122A7, 122B13, and 122C25; sections 122C5, 122B3, and 122A2; sections 122A6, 122B11, and 122C21; sections 122C29, 122B15, and 122A8; and / or sections 122A4, 122B7, and 122C13. In each case, the chute 140 is aligned with a radial axis that is orthogonal to the central Z axis.

[0052] It should be understood that the above reference to the section 122 within the chute 140 is based solely on Figure 1 140. During operation, any segment 122 may be rotated into the chute 140. Specifically, each of the plurality of nested conveyors 120 is configured to rotate about a central Z axis such that each of the plurality of segments 122 in the disc of the nested conveyors 120 may be rotated into the chute 140. Furthermore, by independently rotating each conveyor 120, any segment 122 on one conveyor 120 may be aligned within the chute 140 with any segment 122 on another conveyor 120.

[0053] FIG. 2A to FIG. 2CA top-down view during operation of the carousel conveyor system 100 according to an embodiment is shown. In the example shown, it is assumed that the articles 130A, 130B, and 130C are to be aligned in the chute 140. For example, the control system may determine that the articles 130A, 130B, and 130C are to be unloaded from the conveyor system 100 together as a group (e.g., for packaging, delivery, as an order or part of an order, etc.). Therefore, the control system may determine the optimal rotation direction of each conveyor 120 to place each article 130 into the chute 140. It should be understood that the optimal direction may be the direction that requires the least amount of rotation (e.g., traversing the least indexing position) and / or meets one or more other criteria.

[0054] like Figure 2A As shown, the control system identifies the segment 122 that is stowed with each desired item 130, and determines the rotation of each conveyor 120 involved. In this example, item 130A is stowed on segment 122A8, item 130B is stowed on segment 122B3, and item 130C is stowed on segment 122C14. The control system determines that the best movement is to rotate conveyor 120A clockwise by one position, conveyor 120B counterclockwise by two positions, and conveyor 120C counterclockwise by thirteen positions.

[0055] Then, if Figure 2B As shown, the control system rotates each conveyor 120 according to the optimal movement to place the identified segments 122 within the chute 140. Specifically, segments 122A8, 122B3, and 122C14 are all rotated to align in the chute 140. As a result, articles 130A, 130B, and 130C are aligned in the chute 140.

[0056] like Figure 2C As shown, the articles 130 may be pushed off the conveyor system 100 via the chute 140. Specifically, the chute 140 forms a chute path 142 along its longitudinal axis. Thus, for example, a robotic pusher may slide a push block or paddle across the top surface of the segments 112 within the chute 140 along the chute path 142 to push the articles 130 as a single group or unit off the conveyor system 100 in a single operation. Alternatively, the robotic picker may pull the articles 130 off the carousel conveyor system 100 in a single operation or in multiple operations. It should be understood that the number of articles 130 that can be removed from the conveyor system 100 at one time within the chute 140 may be determined by the number of conveyors 120, whether the chute 140 extends through the entire conveyor system 100 or only extends through half of the conveyor system 100, the number of articles 130 stacked on each segment 122, etc.

[0057] It should be understood that the chute 140 may include articles 130 on every segment 122 of the conveyor 120 within the chute 140, or only on a subset of the segments 122 within the chute 140. For example, referring to Figure 2B , sections 122A4, 122B11, and 122C30 may also hold articles 130. In this case, all of the articles (e.g., six articles 130 in this example) may be moved out of the chute 140 at once (e.g., by pushing and sweeping the articles 130 from one side of the conveyor system 100 to the opposite side of the conveyor system 100). Alternatively, the articles 130 on sections 122A8, 122B3, and 122C14 may move along the chute path 142 (e.g., by pushing and sweeping the articles 130 radially outward from the center member 110), and the articles 130 on sections 122A4, 122B11, and 122C30 may move along the chute path in the opposite direction of the chute path 142 (e.g., by pushing and sweeping the articles 130 radially outward from the center member 110).

[0058] Articles 130 may be stowed on the conveyor system 100 in a similar manner. Specifically, the articles 130 may be pulled or pushed onto respective segments 122 within the chute 140. Just as multiple articles 130 may be removed from the conveyor system 100 in a single operation, multiple articles 130 may be moved onto the conveyor system 100 as a single group or unit in a single operation. Alternatively, the articles 130 may be moved onto the conveyor system 100 one at a time. Once an article 130 has been moved onto a segment 122 in the chute 140, the segment 122 may be rotated away from the chute 140 to another indexed position, thereby stowing the article 130 for a later operation and / or moving another segment 122 into the chute 140.

[0059] The chute 140 may also be used to move an article 130 from one conveyor 120 to another conveyor 120. For example, assume that an article 130A is to be moved from conveyor 120A to conveyor 120C. In this case, the section 122A8 in conveyor 120A that is stacked with the article 130A is rotated into the chute 140, and the destination section 122 in conveyor 120C to which the article 130A is to be moved is rotated into the chute 140. In addition, the empty section 122 in conveyor 120B is rotated into the chute 140. The article 130A is then pushed or pulled radially from conveyor 120A through conveyor 120B to conveyor 120C within the chute 140. After this movement, conveyor 120C may be rotated to position the destination section 122 in conveyor 120C, which now has the article 130A stacked thereon, at the destination location. In this manner, the articles 130 may be sorted within the conveyor system 100 via a combination of rotation and pushing.

[0060] Figure 3 A segment 122 of a carousel conveyor system 100 is shown according to an embodiment. It should be understood that only a portion of a single conveyor 120 is shown in order to provide a closer view of the segment 122. Each segment 122 within a conveyor 120 and / or on multiple conveyors 120 may be similar or identical.

[0061] Each conveyor 120 may be connected to the circumferential wall 310 on the inner circumference and the outer circumference. For example, the inner circumference of the conveyor 120 surrounds the inner circumferential wall 310A, and the outer circumference of the conveyor 120 is surrounded by the outer circumferential wall 310B. It should be understood that the inner circumferential wall 310A of the first conveyor 120 can be the outer circumferential wall 310B of the second radially inner conveyor 120, and / or the outer circumferential wall 310B of the first conveyor 120 can be the inner circumferential wall 310A of the second radially outer conveyor 120. Each circumferential wall 310 can be stationary relative to the movement of the conveyor 120. For example, each circumferential wall 310 can be fixed to the base of the conveyor system 100 so that the circumferential wall 310 does not move with the rotation of the conveyor 120.

[0062] Each circumferential wall 310 may have a gap 315 where the circumferential wall 310 intersects the chute 140. For example, the inner circumferential wall 310A has a gap 315A, and the outer circumferential wall 310B has a gap 315B. Each gap 315 may have a width W substantially equal to the width W of each segment 122. The top surface of each gap 315 is recessed from the top surface of each circumferential wall 310 along the Z axis. In addition, the top surface of each gap 315 may be flush with the top surface of each segment 122, so that the article 130 can easily slide from the first segment 122 of the first conveyor 120 in the chute 140 through the gap 315 to the second segment 122 of the second conveyor 120 in the chute 140. It should be understood that the top surface of each section 122 within the chute 140 will be flush with the top surface of each gap 315 within the chute 140, so that the article 130 can be slid from one end of the chute 140 over the top surfaces of the sections 122 and the gaps 315 to the other end of the chute 140 by pushing or pulling.

[0063] Each segment 122 may be joined on two radial sides by a pair of radial walls 320. It should be understood that, as used herein, the term "radial" does not necessarily mean completely radial with respect to the central Z-axis of the carousel conveyor system 100. Rather, the term "radial" may refer to any line or direction that intersects both the inner circumference and the outer circumference of the conveyor 120. Thus, depending on the specific design, the radial walls 320 may or may not intersect the central Z-axis of the carousel conveyor system 100. Each pair of radial walls 320 joined to a given segment 112 may be parallel to each other. Unlike the circumferential walls 310, the radial walls 320 are fixed to the conveyor 120 so that they rotate with the conveyor 120.

[0064] In general, when the segments 122 are positioned with the chute 140, the top surface of the segments 122 and the pair of radial walls 320 form a channel to guide the articles 130 along the chute 140 through the gap 315 and through the conveyor 120. Notably, the radial walls 320 of the segments 122 within the chute 140 are aligned with each other to form a pair of parallel substantially continuous walls that define the longitudinal boundaries of the chute 140. In other words, the radial walls 320 of each of the plurality of segments 122 in each of the plurality of conveyors 120 may be spaced apart by the same distance (e.g., width W) such that the radial walls 320 of all of the segments 122 within the chute 140 are aligned with each other to form a pair of parallel walls that define the radial boundaries of the chute 140. This enables the chute mechanism to safely sweep all of the articles 130 within the chute 140 radially to an external environment (e.g., another chute 140, a shipping container, a tote, etc.).

[0065] In an alternative embodiment where the radial wall 320 extends along the actual radius of the conveyor system 100, the area of ​​the segment 122 will gradually increase from the innermost conveyor 120 to the outermost conveyor 120. In this case, the articles 130 stacked on the inner conveyors 120 may generally be smaller than the articles 130 stacked on the larger conveyors 120. In addition, the chute 140 may gradually widen from the innermost conveyor 120 to the outermost conveyor 120. Therefore, the robotic pusher may include a paddle that expands to fill each gap 315 along the chute 140.

[0066] When the segment 122 is not positioned in the chute 140, the inner circumferential wall 310A and the outer circumferential wall 310B prevent the article 130 on the segment 122 from radially sliding out of the segment 122. Regardless of whether the segment 122 is positioned in the chute 140 or outside the chute 140, the pair of radial walls 320 connected to the segment 122 prevents the article 130 from circumferentially sliding out of the segment 122 into the surrounding space 124 and / or another segment 122.

[0067] The top surface of each conveyor 120 may be textured to provide an appropriate amount of friction for the items 130. Specifically, the friction should be sufficient to prevent the items 130 from sliding during the rotation of the conveyor 120, but allow the items 130 to slide when the force of the chute mechanism (e.g., a robotic pusher or picker) is applied. If the chute mechanism is a robotic pusher, the pusher arm should press lightly on the items 130, which has enough force to overcome the friction, but not enough force to give the items 130 their own momentum. The applied force can be detected by a pressure sensor in the pusher arm. The top surface of the conveyor 120 can have different friction properties at different radial locations. For example, the top surface can have greater friction at the radial center of each section 122 to hold the items 130 during rotation, but have less friction at the radial inner and outer edges of each section 122 to allow the items 130 to easily slide in and out of the conveyor 120 after the items 130 are removed from the radial center. Additionally, the rotation of the conveyor 120 (including acceleration and deceleration) should be suitably smooth relative to the friction of the top surface to prevent the articles 130 from sliding along the top surface during rotation.

[0068] In embodiments having one or more of the above-described features in order to prevent the article 130 from sliding during rotation, the circumferential wall 310 and / or the radial wall 320 may be omitted. Conversely, embodiments having the circumferential wall 310 and / or the radial wall 320 may omit the above-described features because the article 130 may be constrained to its corresponding segment 122 by the set of circumferential walls 310 and radial walls 320.

[0069] FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C A coordinated system 400 of a carousel conveyor system 100 according to an embodiment is shown. As shown, the coordinated system 400 may include a plurality of conveyor systems 100 arranged in an XY plane. Although the coordinated system 400 is shown as including conveyor systems 100 in a grid, the conveyor systems 100 may also be configured in other arrangements. Each conveyor system 100 within the coordinated system 400 may be identical, or one or more conveyor systems 100 may be different from one or more other conveyor systems 100 in the same coordinated system 400 (e.g., in size, number of conveyors 120, number of sections 122, etc.).

[0070] Each conveyor system 100 may be adjacent to and in contact with at least one other conveyor system 100 such that a segment 122 in an outermost conveyor 120 of a conveyor system 100 is aligned with a segment 122 in an outermost conveyor 120 of an adjacent conveyor system 100. Thus, any segment 122 in an outermost conveyor 120 of a conveyor system 100 may be rotated to align with any segment 122 in an outermost conveyor 120 of an adjacent conveyor system 100. A conveyor system 100 may be adjacent to one, two, three, four, or more other conveyor systems 100, depending on the specific implementation of the coordination system 400.

[0071] The chute 140 in each conveyor system 100 may be aligned with the chute 140 in at least one adjacent conveyor system 100, so that a composite chute 440 may be formed across multiple conveyor systems 100. Figure 4A As shown, a plurality of compound chutes 440A, 440B, ..., 440N may be formed along the X-axis. Articles 130 may move through a portion or the entire compound chute 440, including moving from one side of the coordination system 400 to the opposite side of the coordination system 400, moving from one side of the coordination system 400 to the interior of the coordination system 400, moving from the interior of the coordination system 400 to the side of the coordination system 400, and moving from one section 122 in the interior of the coordination system 400 to another section in the interior of the coordination system 400.

[0072] For example, the article 130 may be moved from a first side of the chute 140 of the conveyor system 100A to an opposite second side of the chute 140 of the conveyor system 100A, from the second side of the chute 140 of the conveyor system 100A to the first side of the chute 140 of the conveyor system 100B, from the first side of the chute 140 of the conveyor system 100B to the second side of the chute 140 of the conveyor system 100B, from the second side of the chute 140 of the conveyor system 100B to the first side of the chute 140 of the conveyor system 100C, and from the first side of the chute 140 of the conveyor system 100C to the second side of the chute 140 of the conveyor system 100C, thereby moving the article 130 across the entire X-axis line of the coordination system 400.

[0073] As another example, items 130 stacked on conveyor system 100B may be rotated into the chute 140 of conveyor system 100B, moved from the chute 140 of conveyor system 100B into the chute 140 of conveyor system 100A, and then moved out of the chute 140 of conveyor system 100A to the external environment or rotated away from the chute 140 and rotated into a stacking position on conveyor system 100A.

[0074] As yet another example, an item may be moved from the external environment of conveyor system 100A into the chute 140 of conveyor system 100A, moved from the chute 140 of conveyor system 100A into the chute 140 of conveyor system 100B, and then moved out of the chute 140 of conveyor system 100B to another adjacent conveyor system 100 or rotated away from the chute 140 and rotated into a stacking position on conveyor system 100B.

[0075] In embodiments where the central member 110 is rotatable, such that the central section 112 can be rotated in one or more conveyor systems 100, the direction of the chute 140 can be changed. This means that the direction of the compound chute 440 can also be changed. For example, Figure 4B As shown, the central component 110 of each of the series of conveyor systems 100 along the Y axis can be rotated to align its central section 112 along the Y axis. Therefore, a compound chute 440C is formed along the Y axis. It is worth noting that the compound chute 440C is orthogonal to Figure 4A Compound chutes 440A, 440B and 440N are shown.

[0076] In embodiments where the central member 110 is rotatable, conveyor systems 100 of different sizes may be used to form additional compound chutes 440. For example, Figure 4C As shown, the smaller conveyor system 100G is inserted into the space formed by the larger conveyor systems 100A, 100B, 100D and 100F. The chute 140 of the conveyor system 100G can be aligned with the chute 140 of the conveyor systems 100A and 100D to form a compound chute 440D along the diagonal of the XY plane. As shown, the compound chute 440D can extend along the diagonal from one corner of the coordinated system 400 (e.g., represented by the conveyor system 100A) to the opposite corner of the coordinated system 400 (e.g., represented by the conveyor system 100N).

[0077] It should be understood that any number of compound chutes 440 may be formed in the manner described above, such that compound chutes 440 may be formed simultaneously or at different times along multiple axes across and / or within the coordination system 400. It should also be understood that the compound chute 440 need not traverse the entire dimension of the coordination system 400. Rather, the compound chute 440 may be comprised of as few as two adjacent conveyor systems 100. Thus, for example, the compound chute 440 may be formed by the chutes 140 of conveyor systems 100B and 100D without incorporating the chutes 140 of other conveyor systems 100 along the same axis (e.g., excluding the chute 140 of conveyor system 100E), which may be oriented in orthogonal or other non-aligned directions. Thus, the article 130 may move along any path within and through the coordination system 400, including non-straight paths. For example, the article 130 may move from conveyor system 100A to conveyor system 100B (as in Figure 4A ), the conveyor systems 100B and 100D may then be rotated to form a compound chute 440C (as in Figure 4B ), article 130 may then be moved from conveyor system 100B to conveyor system 100C along compound chute 440C, and conveyor systems 100D and 100N may then be rotated to form compound chute 440D (as in Figure 4C ), and article 130 may then move from conveyor system 100D to conveyor system 100N along compound chute 440D.

[0078] As discussed above, the coordination system 400 may include multiple cooperating conveyor systems 100. In an embodiment, each conveyor 120 or each conveyor system 100 may include at least one empty segment 122, and preferably includes a pair of empty segments 122 on opposite sides of each conveyor 120 (e.g., for Figure 1 In the embodiment of the present invention, the empty sections 122A1 and 122A5, 122A2 and 122A6, 122A3 and 122A7, or 122A5 and 122A8 are used to rotate the empty sections 122 of each conveyor 120 in the conveyor system 100 into the chute 140, so that an open chute 140 can always be formed in the conveyor system 100. Therefore, the control system of the coordination system 400 can simultaneously rotate multiple conveyors 120 in multiple conveyor systems 100 to open a composite chute 440 in any part of the coordination system 400 at any time.

[0079] Figure 5A and Figure 5BA coordination system 400 having a stacked configuration of carousel conveyor systems 100 is shown according to an embodiment. As shown, multiple conveyor systems 100 may be stacked along the Z axis. It should be understood that any number of conveyor systems 100 may be stacked in this manner and is generally limited only by the height of the coordination system 400 and the spacing between conveyor systems 100 required to accommodate articles 130 on respective holding surfaces. The conveyor systems 100 may be equally spaced from one another along the Z axis, or the distances along the Z axis between the conveyor systems 100 may vary.

[0080] In addition to stacking, the conveyor system 100 can also be arranged side by side, such as in FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C Thus, the coordinated system 400 may include multiple conveyor systems 100 arranged in one dimension (i.e., along the X-axis, the Y-axis, or the Z-axis), two dimensions (e.g., along the X-axis and the Y-axis, along the X-axis and the Z-axis, or along the Y-axis and the Z-axis), or three dimensions (e.g., along all three of the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis). Any number of conveyor systems 100 may be arranged in any dimension to form a coordinated system 400 that enables any article 130 (whether near the edge of the coordinated system 400 or near the center of the coordinated system 400) to be stowed and retrieved via simple mechanical operations.

[0081] In an embodiment of a coordinated system 400 including a plurality of conveyor systems 100 stacked along a Z axis, the chute 140 of at least one conveyor system 100 in each level of the stack may be associated with a down chute 500. For example, Figure 5BAs shown, the chute 140A of the conveyor system 140A on the first level of the stacked structure may be slightly higher than the down chute 500A along the Z axis, the chute 140B of the conveyor system 140B on the second level of the stacked structure may be slightly higher than the down chute 500B along the Z axis, and the chute 140N of the conveyor system 140N on the Nth level of the stacked structure may be slightly higher than the down chute 500N along the Z axis. Thus, the article 130A on the first level of the stacked structure may be moved (e.g., pushed or pulled) onto the down chute 500A, the article 130B on the second level of the stacked structure may be moved onto the down chute 500B, and the article 130N on the Nth level of the stacked structure may be moved onto the down chute 500N. In each case, when moved onto the down chute 500, the article 130 may slide to the end of the down chute 500 under the action of gravity and slide onto the destination surface (e.g., another conveyor system, a shipping container, etc.). In the illustrated embodiment, each level of the stacking structure has a down chute 500. However, in alternative embodiments, a single down chute 500 may be movable along the Z axis to change the origin and / or destination of the path to serve each level of the stacking structure. Alternatively, instead of a down chute 500, the articles 130 may be moved directly out of the chute 140 onto a destination surface (e.g., another conveyor system).

[0082] In an embodiment, the coordination system 400 may include an elevator system designed to move articles 130 to different levels of the stacking structure along the Z axis. The elevator system may be provided in addition to or in place of the descending chute 500. The elevator system may include an elevator surface aligned with the top surface of the compound chute 440 at each level of the stacking structure. Thus, the elevator system may move articles 130 to a particular level of the stacking structure, and then may move (e.g., push or pull) the articles 130 into the compound chute 440 for stacking in the carousel conveyor system 100 at that level of the stacking structure. Alternatively, an elevator system may be provided to replace the segments 122 in at least one chute 140 (e.g., replace the segments 122 in the chute 140). Figure 11 (a) and (b) in the coordinating system 400. In this case, each conveyor 120 of the elevator system along the Z axis may include holes in place of the sections 122 so that the elevator surface can move up and down through the holes. When the elevator surface is located at a given level of the stacking structure, the items 130 in the chute 140 at that level of the stacking structure can be moved (e.g., pushed or pulled) onto the elevator surface, and the elevator surface can then be moved along the Z axis to transport the items 130 to a different level of the stacking structure, where the items 130 can be moved into the chute 140 at that level of the stacking structure. In any case, the items 130 can be deposited into the coordinating system 400, the items 130 can be retrieved from the coordinating system 400, and / or the items 130 can be moved between different levels of the stacking structure of the conveyor system 100 in the coordinating system 400 via the elevator system.

[0083] Figure 6 A process 600 for coordinating movement in a carousel conveyor system 100 to unload one or more articles 130 is shown according to an embodiment. First, in a subprocess 610, a list of one or more transferred-out articles 130 may be received. For example, the list of articles 130 may be received from an automated system that automatically generates the list based on an order, a sorting algorithm, etc. Alternatively, the list of articles 130 may be manually generated by a customer, an operator, or other user. The list of articles 130 may be implemented as any type of data structure, and portions of the list (e.g., individual articles 130 or groups of articles 130) may be received in any form, simultaneously, or at different times. In addition, the list of articles 130 may include a subset of a larger list of articles 130, such as a subset of articles 130 that are all stacked on different conveyors 120 in the conveyor system 100, so that the subset of articles 130 can all be rotated into the chute 140 at the same time.

[0084] Then, process 600 iterates through subprocesses 630 and 640 for each item 130 in the list received in subprocess 610. It should be understood that the iterations can be performed serially or in parallel, and preferably in parallel as much as possible. If there are still items 130 to be considered (i.e., "yes" in subprocess 620), then iterations of subprocesses 630 and 640 are performed for the item 130. Otherwise, if there are no items 130 to be considered (i.e., "no" in subprocess 620), process 600 continues to subprocess 650.

[0085] In subprocess 630, the location of the segment 122 in which the current item 130 under consideration is stowed is identified. In an embodiment, each item 130 stowed in the conveyor system 100 is associated with a place-time identifier (PTID), as described in greater detail in the related applications. Each PTID identifies the location of the associated item 130 relative to one or more reference points, and the time at which the associated item 130 was located at the location (e.g., a timestamp indicating when the associated item 130 arrived at the location and / or a timestamp indicating when the associated item 130 left the location). For example, each PTID may include: a C vector indicating the conveyor 120 on which the article 130 is stacked; an S vector indicating the location (e.g., segment 122) on the conveyor 120 on which the article 130 is stacked; a G vector indicating the location (e.g., coordinates) of the article 130 relative to a fixed reference point (e.g., on the ground); a T vector indicating the time (e.g., a timestamp) at which the article 130 was stacked at its current location; and / or a W vector representing attributes of the article 130, the location of the article, the conveyor 120 and / or segment 122 on which the article is stacked, etc. The PTID enables the article 130 to be tracked in multiple dimensions (including location and time) throughout the conveyor system 100 and the overall coordination system 400. In subprocess 630, the PTID associated with the current article 130 under consideration may be retrieved, and the segment 122 on which the current article 130 under consideration is stacked may be readily identified from the PTID (e.g., from the C vector and the S vector). The PTID may be retrieved by using the identifier of the current item 130 under consideration as an index into a relational database that associates items 130 with PTIDs.

[0086] In subprocess 640, one or more components of the conveyor system 100 are controlled to move the segment 122 stacked with the current item 130 under consideration from the position identified in subprocess 630 into the chute 140. For example, the control system may determine whether to rotate the conveyor 120 including the segment 122 in a clockwise direction or in a counterclockwise direction (e.g., based on which direction requires the least amount of rotation). The control system may then drive the motor of the conveyor 120 to rotate the conveyor 120 in the determined direction until the segment 122 is positioned within the chute 140 (e.g., in an indexed position).

[0087] Over one or more iterations, all of the items 130 in the stow list are rotated into the chute 140 by rotating their corresponding segments 122 into the chute 140. In subprocess 650, if necessary, one or more components of the conveyor system 100 may be controlled to move the empty segments 122 into the chute 140. Although subprocess 650 is shown as occurring after all iterations of process 640 have been executed, subprocess 650 may be executed before or in parallel with any iteration of subprocess 640. In a preferred embodiment, all of the conveyors 120 may be rotated in parallel in subprocesses 640 and 650 to simultaneously move their corresponding segments 122 into the chute 140.

[0088] In an embodiment, at least one empty section 122 may be maintained in each conveyor 120 of the conveyor system 100, and preferably a pair of empty sections 122 are maintained on opposite sides of each conveyor 120 as the chute 140 extends through the entire conveyor system 100. These empty sections 122 enable any number of articles 130 to be simultaneously moved into and out of the chute 140, depending on the total number of conveyors 120. For example, if the carousel conveyor system 100 is composed of five conveyors 120, one, two, three, four, or five articles 130 may be moved into or out of the chute 140 at one time. In this case, if fewer than five items 130 are to be moved into the chute 140, the remainder of the conveyor 120 (i.e., the conveyor 120 not stacked with items to be moved into the chute 140) may rotate the empty section 122 into the chute 140 so that the items 130 within the chute 140 may be moved as a single group without having to avoid items 130 that are not part of the group.

[0089] As an example, assume that the list of items 130 received in subprocess 610 is Figure 1 In this case, conveyor 120B may rotate in an iteration of subprocess 640 to move segment 122B3 into chute 140. Concurrently or contemporaneously, conveyor 120C may rotate in another iteration of subprocess 640 to move segment 122C14 into chute 140. Concurrently or contemporaneously, conveyor 120A may rotate in an iteration of subprocess 650 to move empty segment 122 into chute 140.

[0090] It should be understood that subprocess 650 may be skipped if there are already any empty segments (e.g., 122A1) in the chute 140. In addition, subprocess 650 may be skipped if no empty segments are required (e.g., the inventory includes items 130 from each conveyor 120).

[0091] In subprocess 660, all of the items 130 in the chute 140 may be moved out of the chute 140 in a single push-swipe or other operation. For example, a robotic pusher may push the items 130 out of the chute 140 from the interior of the centerpiece 110. Alternatively, a robotic picker may pull the items 130 out of the chute 140 from the exterior of the system 100. In embodiments utilizing PTIDs, the PTIDs of all of the items 130 in the chute 140 may be updated once after all of the items 130 have been moved out of the chute 140, rather than having to process the PTID of each item 130 as it moves through the conveyor 120 in the chute 140.

[0092] Figure 7 A process 700 for coordinating movement in a carousel conveyor system 100 to load one or more items 130 is shown according to an embodiment. First, in a subprocess 710, a list of one or more incoming items 130 may be received. For example, the list of items 130 may be received from an automated system that automatically generates the list based on stacking decisions, sorting algorithms, etc. Alternatively, the list of items 130 may be manually generated by a customer, operator, or other user. The list of items 130 may be implemented as any type of data structure, and portions of the list (e.g., individual items 130 or groups of items 130) may be received in any form, simultaneously, or at different times.

[0093] Then, process 700 iterates through subprocesses 730 and 740 for each item 130 in the list received in subprocess 710. It should be understood that the iterations can be performed serially or in parallel, and preferably in parallel as much as possible. If there are still items 130 to be considered (i.e., "yes" in subprocess 720), then iterations of subprocesses 730 and 740 are performed for the item 130. Otherwise, if there are no items 130 to be considered (i.e., "no" in subprocess 720), process 700 continues to subprocess 750.

[0094] In subprocess 730, the location of the segment 122 where the current item 130 under consideration is to be stowed is identified. In an embodiment, the control system of the conveyor system 100 may determine which segment 122 of which conveyor 120 each item 130 is to be stored on. Alternatively, the control system of the coordination system 400 may determine which segment 122 of which conveyor 120 in which conveyor system 100 each item 130 is to be stored on. In embodiments where only a single item 130 is to be stored on each segment 122, the identified segment 122 may be empty or emptied prior to stowing the current item 130 under consideration. In alternative embodiments where multiple items 130 may be stored on a single segment 120, the identified segment 122 may not necessarily be empty. For example, the items 130 may be interchangeable, and the identified segment 122 may include other instances of the same interchangeable item 130.

[0095] In subprocess 740, one or more components of the conveyor system 100 are controlled to move the segment 122 to be stowed with the current item 130 under consideration from the location identified in subprocess 730 to the chute 140. Subprocess 740 may be the same or similar to subprocess 640. Therefore, any description of subprocess 640 is equally applicable to subprocess 740, and therefore, will not be mentioned in detail herein.

[0096] After one or more iterations, the segments 122 that will be used to stow the items 130 in the list received in the subprocess 710 are all rotated into the chute 140. In the subprocess 750, if necessary, one or more components of the carousel conveyor system 100 can be controlled to move the empty segments 122 into the chute 140. Although the subprocess 750 is shown as occurring after all iterations of the process 740 are executed, the subprocess 750 can be executed before any iteration of the subprocess 740 or in parallel with any iteration of the subprocess. In a preferred embodiment, all conveyors 120 can be rotated in parallel in the subprocesses 740 and 750 to move their corresponding segments 122 into the chute 140. The subprocess 750 can be the same or similar to the subprocess 650. Therefore, any description of the subprocess 650 is also applicable to the subprocess 750, and therefore, it will not be mentioned in detail herein.

[0097] In subprocess 760, all of the items 130 may be moved from the external environment into the chute 140 in a single push-swipe or other operation. For example, a robotic pusher may push the items 130 into the chute 140 from the external environment. Alternatively, a robotic picker may pull the items 130 into the chute 140 from the interior of the centerpiece 110. It should be understood that the external environment may include the chute 140 of an adjacent conveyor system 100 in the coordination system 400. Alternatively, the external environment may include another system or environment. For example, a customer, operator, or other user may manually load the items 130 into the chute 140 in subprocess 760.

[0098] In subprocess 770, one or more components of the carousel conveyor system 100 are controlled to move the segments 122 within the chute 140 and onto which the articles 130 have been moved to their respective stowage locations. For example, the conveyor 120 onto which the articles 130 have been moved may be rotated so that the segments 122 onto which the articles 130 have been stowed are positioned away from the chute 140 to their determined stowage locations. In embodiments utilizing PTIDs, the PTID of each article 130 may also be updated to reflect the current time and new location.

[0099] Each of the processes 600 and 700 can be performed by the control system of each conveyor system 100 or the control system of the coordination system 400. The control system can be electrically connected to the motor of each conveyor 120 that independently drives the conveyor system 100. In an embodiment, each conveyor 120 can include a disc that rotates through a rack and pinion mechanism and is driven by a stepper motor, a servo motor, a Geneva drive, etc. The disc can be made of rubber (e.g., as a circular strip), polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, silicone, thermoplastics, metal, fabric, leather, and / or any other suitable material. This embodiment provides high system reliability because stepper motors and servo motors have a simple structure and are very strong, powerful, and reliable with few failures. Stepper motors and servo motors can also provide full control of linear motion (e.g., clockwise and counterclockwise rotation) and speed to allow the processor to accurately control the stopping, starting, and moving of the conveyor 120. In an alternative embodiment, electromagnetic propulsion can be used.

[0100] Each conveyor 120 may rotate on a fixed base and be driven by a separate or onboard motor or other drive system (e.g., on a track). As discussed elsewhere herein, each conveyor 120 may rotate independently of any other conveyor 120 in a conveyor system 100, and any conveyor system 100 may operate independently of any other conveyor system 100 in a coordination system 400. The control system of a conveyor system 100 may be programmed to coordinate the movement of the conveyors 120 in the conveyor system 100. Similarly, the control system of a coordination system 400 may be programmed to coordinate the operations in the conveyor system 100 to perform complex logistics tasks in a wide variety of applications.

[0101] Each conveyor 120 may be configured to hold any size, shape, and type of articles 130. In some implementations, the same conveyor 120 may be configured to hold different sizes, shapes, and / or types of articles 130. In other implementations, each conveyor 120 is configured to hold the same size, shape, and / or type of articles.

[0102] Figure 8 An example processing system 800 is shown that can perform one or more of the processes described herein according to an embodiment. For example, the control system of the conveyor system 100 or the control system of the coordination system 400 may include or consist of the processing system 800. Therefore, the system 800 may also be referred to as a "control system" herein. The system 800 may be a server, a conventional personal computer, or any other processor-enabled device. As will be clear to those skilled in the art, other computer systems and / or architectures may also be used.

[0103] The system 800 includes one or more processors 810. Additional processors may be provided, such as auxiliary processors for managing input / output, auxiliary processors for performing floating point math operations, special purpose microprocessors (e.g., digital signal processors) with an architecture suitable for fast execution of signal processing algorithms, slave processors (e.g., back end processors) subordinate to the main processing system, additional microprocessors or controllers for dual or multi-processor systems, and / or coprocessors. Such auxiliary processors may be discrete processors or may be integrated with the main processor 810. Examples of processors that may be used with the system 800 include, but are not limited to Processor, Core Processor and processors, all of which are available from Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, California.

[0104] The processor 810 is preferably connected to a communication bus 805. The communication bus 805 may include a data channel for facilitating information transfer between the storage device and other peripheral components of the system 800. In addition, the communication bus 805 may provide a set of signals for communicating with the processor 810, including a data bus, an address bus, and / or a control bus (not shown). The communication bus 805 may include any standard or non-standard bus architecture, such as, for example, a bus architecture that conforms to the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), the Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA), the Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) local bus, a standard promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), including the IEEE 488 General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB), IEEE 696 / S-100, etc.

[0105] The system 800 may include a main memory 815. The main memory 815 provides storage of instructions and data for programs executed on the processor 810, such as one or more of the functions and / or modules discussed herein. It should be understood that the programs stored in the memory and executed by the processor 810 may be written and / or compiled according to any suitable language, including but not limited to C / C++, Java, JavaScript, Perl, Visual Basic, .NET, etc. The main memory 815 is typically a semiconductor-based memory, such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or a static random access memory (SRAM). Other semiconductor-based memory types include, for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), Rambus dynamic random access memory (RDRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), etc., including read-only memory (ROM).

[0106] The system 800 may include a secondary storage 820. The secondary storage 820 may optionally include internal media 825 and / or removable media 830. The removable media 830 is read from and / or written to in any well-known manner. The removable storage medium 830 may be, for example, a tape drive, a compact disk (CD) drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD) drive, other optical drives, a flash drive, etc.

[0107] The secondary memory 820 is a non-transitory computer-readable medium on which computer executable code (e.g., disclosed software) and / or other data is stored. The computer software or data stored on the secondary memory 820 is read into the main memory 815 for execution by the processor 810. In this specification, the term "non-transitory computer-readable medium" is used to refer to any non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for providing computer executable code and / or other data to the system 800 or within the system. Examples of such media include the main memory 815, the secondary memory 820 (including the internal memory 825 and / or the removable medium 830), and any peripheral devices communicatively coupled to the system 800. These non-transitory computer-readable media are devices for providing executable code, programming instructions, software, and / or other data to the system 800.

[0108] The system 800 may include an input / output (I / O) interface 835. The I / O interface 835 provides an interface between one or more components of the system 800 and one or more input and / or output devices. Example input devices include, but are not limited to, sensors, keyboards, touch screens or other touch-sensitive devices, biometric sensing devices, computer mice, trackballs, pen-based pointing devices, and the like. Examples of output devices include, but are not limited to, other processing devices, cathode ray tubes (CRTs), plasma displays, light emitting diode (LED) displays, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), printers, vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs), surface conduction electron emitter displays (SEDs), field emission displays (FEDs), and the like. In some cases, input and output devices may be combined, such as in the case of a touch panel display (e.g., in a smartphone, tablet computer, or other mobile device).

[0109] The system 800 may provide a graphical user interface via the I / O interface 835. The graphical user interface may include one or more screens generated, for example, in a hypertext markup language (HTML) or other language. These screens may be served in a wizard format, in which case two or more screens may be served in a sequential manner, and one or more of the sequential screens may depend on the user's interaction with one or more previous screens. These screens may include a combination of content and elements, such as text, images, videos, animations, references (e.g., hyperlinks), frames, inputs (e.g., text boxes, text areas, check boxes, radio buttons, drop-down menus, buttons, forms, etc.), scripts (e.g., JavaScript), etc., including elements containing or derived from data stored in a memory locally accessible to the system 800 (e.g., primary memory 815 and / or secondary memory 820) and / or a remotely accessible memory.

[0110] The system 800 may include a communication interface 840. The communication interface 840 may allow data and other software to be transferred between the system 800 and an external device (e.g., a printer), a network, or other information source. For example, executable code may be transferred from a network server (e.g., an external system 845) to the system 800 via the communication interface 840. Examples of the communication interface 840 include a built-in network adapter, a network interface card (NIC), a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) network card, a cardbus network adapter, a wireless network adapter, a universal serial bus (USB) network adapter, a modem, a wireless data card, a communication port, an infrared interface, an IEEE 1394 FireWire, and any other device that enables the system 800 to interface with a network or another computing device. The communication interface 840 preferably implements industry-promulgated protocol standards, such as Ethernet IEEE 802 standards, Fiber Channel, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), Frame Relay, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), Personal Communications Service (PCS), Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Serial Line Internet Protocol / Point-to-Point Protocol (SLIP / PPP), etc., but may also implement customized or non-standard interface protocols.

[0111] The software (including computer executable code and / or data) transmitted via the communication interface 840 is generally in the form of electrical communication signals 855. These signals 855 may be provided to the communication interface 840 via a communication channel 850. In an embodiment, the communication channel 850 may be a wired or wireless network, or any other various communication link. The communication channel 850 carries the signals 855 and may be implemented using various wired or wireless communication means, including wire or cable, optical fiber, conventional telephone line, cellular telephone link, wireless data communication link, radio frequency ("RF") link, or infrared link, to name a few.

[0112] Computer executable code (e.g., a computer program, including one or more software modules) is stored in the primary memory 815 and / or the secondary memory 820. Computer programs may also be received via the communication interface 840 and stored in the primary memory 815 and / or the secondary memory 820. Such computer programs, when executed by the processor 810, enable the system 800 to perform the various processes and functions described elsewhere herein.

[0113] System 800 may also include optional wireless communication components that facilitate wireless communication over a voice network and / or a data network. The wireless communication components include an antenna system 870, a radio system 865, and a baseband system 860. In system 800, radio frequency (RF) signals are transmitted and received over the air by antenna system 870 under the management of radio system 865. Baseband system 860 is communicatively coupled to processor 810, which may be a central processing unit (CPU).

[0114] In an embodiment, the antenna system 870 may include one or more antennas and one or more multiplexers (not shown) that perform switching functions to provide transmit and receive signal paths for the antenna system 870. In the receive path, the received RF signal may be coupled from the multiplexer to a low noise amplifier (not shown) that amplifies the received RF signal and sends the amplified signal to the radio system 865.

[0115] In an alternative embodiment, the radio system 865 may include one or more radios configured to communicate on various frequencies. In an embodiment, the radio system 865 may combine a demodulator (not shown) and a modulator (not shown) in one integrated circuit (IC). The demodulator and modulator may also be separate components. In the incoming path, the demodulator strips off the RF carrier signal, leaving behind a baseband receive audio signal, which is sent from the radio system 865 to the baseband system 860.

[0116] In an embodiment, the system 800 controls one or more motors that drive one or more conveyors 120. For example, the system 800 may drive an actuator of the motor to activate and deactivate the motor, change the direction of movement of the motor, change the speed of the motor, etc. The coordination system 400 may include a separate system 800 for each conveyor 120, for each conveyor system 100, and / or for the entire coordination system 400. In an automation system including multiple systems 800, the systems 800 may be arranged in a hierarchical manner, such as where one master control system 800 (e.g., controls the entire coordination system 400) manages the operation of two or more slave control systems 800 (e.g., controls multiple conveyor systems 100).

[0117] The system 800 may also communicate with one or more other systems outside the automated system. The system 800 may communicate with these external systems 845, for example, via an application programming interface (API) and / or through at least one network. The system 800 may receive instructions from the external system 845 and provide data to the external system 845. It should be understood that the delivery system 100 may be made compatible and / or interfaced with any external system 845 (e.g., via wired and / or wireless communications and APIs). Examples of such external systems 845 include, but are not limited to, ordering systems (e.g., web-based stores), laboratory information systems (LIS), remote operating systems, dashboard systems, quality control systems, alarm systems, inventory management systems (e.g., which manage items 130 and can perform automatic reordering), etc. For example, the control system 800 may communicate with an automated external system 845 that receives orders from customers or other users (e.g., via a graphical user interface).

[0118] The system 800 may manage one or more database tables (e.g., in secondary storage 820) that store information about each item 130 stowed in the conveyor system 100 or the coordination system 400 so that each item 130 may be picked by name, stock keeping unit (SKU), and / or other properties or characteristics. In addition, the system 800 may utilize one or more of these properties to determine how to stow, move, and / or otherwise manage the items 130. For example, the system 800 may use such information to make automatic determinations such as the brand or model of the requested item 130, select items 130 that are closer to being out of date or expired for picking, detect the most popular items 130, detect out-of-stock or low-stock items 130 (e.g., ration these items 120 as much as possible, and / or order more of these items 120), select replacements for out-of-stock items 130 (e.g., based on artificial intelligence, such as a machine learning algorithm), move expired or recalled items 130 to a destination outside of the coordination system 400 (e.g., a disposal container), etc.

[0119] The system 800 may store and execute one or more software modules (e.g., stored in the primary memory 815 and / or the secondary memory 820 and executed by the processor 810) that control the conveyor system 100 or the coordination system 400. Such control may include optimizing the timing of the conveyors 120 moving relative to each other and the operations being performed (e.g., minimizing dwell time and increasing throughput), achieving the lead time required for processing, selecting items 130 for processing (e.g., sorting), grouping collections of items 130 into chutes 140 (e.g., according to process 600), stacking in items 130 (e.g., according to process 700), moving items 130 through compound chutes 440, recording PTIDs of items 130, etc.

[0120] In an embodiment, the control software may utilize artificial intelligence to anticipate the intent of the external system 845 and / or human user. For example, a machine learning algorithm may be trained to predict the next action to be performed based on an observed series of events using an already observed and stored historical data set. The control software may then apply the trained machine learning algorithm to the observed events to select the next action in real time.

[0121] Notably, the coordination system 400 may use the same control software regardless of the size of the coordination system 400 and / or the conveyor system 100. Thus, the coordination system 400 may be scaled up or down as needed or desired for a particular application without having to develop new software. For example, the coordination system 400 may be produced in small, medium, and / or large versions. Regardless of the size of the coordination system 400, the software may optimize the operation of the coordination system 400 and analyze the data generated by the coordination system 400 in the same manner.

[0122] In an embodiment, the control software may also optimize operations for scheduled operations. For example, if multiple operations are scheduled at a given time, and each operation requires certain preparations before the operation can be initiated, the control software executed by the control system 800 may prioritize the preparations according to lead time. Thus, the preparations for the operation with the longest lead time may be given the highest priority and executed first, while the operation with the shortest lead time may be given the lowest priority and executed last.

[0123] The control software may also be sensitive to historical time-of-day loads. For example, the control software may store historical usage data for the coordination system 400 and use the historical usage data to estimate upcoming demand. If certain items 130 are regularly operated on at a certain time of day, the control software executed by the control system 800 may automatically begin preparations for such operations (e.g., moving and / or re-sorting items) with sufficient lead time so that the preparations will be completed at approximately the specific time of the specific day when the operations are regularly performed.

[0124] In an embodiment, the chute mechanism (whether a pusher or puller mechanism) used to radially move the articles 130 along the chute 140 can anticipate its next operation. When not in operation, the chute mechanism can be positioned along the chute 140 just above the seam between adjacent conveyors 120 (e.g., in the gap 315), positioned above the seam between adjacent conveyor systems 100, positioned within the center member 110, etc. Therefore, when the articles 130 are moving circumferentially on the conveyor 120, the chute mechanism does not hinder the rotation of these articles 130 through the chute 140.

[0125] Advantageously, the use of conveyors 120 eliminates the extremely sophisticated navigation patterns and collision avoidance required of robotic vehicles. All transfers along chutes 140 can be performed by simple pushing or pulling, and are independent of the size, weight, shape or other dimensions of the items 130, and do not require expensive smart camera systems to identify the items 130 being transferred. In addition, conveyors 120 are much safer than robotic vehicles because humans can work safely next to conveyors 120.

[0126] However, humans are no longer needed to pick items. This means that conveyor systems 100 can be stacked higher because they do not need to be accessible to humans, thereby reducing the required warehouse square footage by more than 50%. In addition, the motor driving the conveyor 120 does not have to be on the moving object, eliminating the need for any battery charging.

[0127] As discussed throughout, the movement of the conveyors 120 may be coordinated under the control of the control system 800. However, because the conveyors 120 are independently controllable, each conveyor 120 may also independently rotate in both directions and be stopped and started independently. This enables random access to any portion on any conveyor 120, including any item 130 or collection of adjacent items 130 that may be held by that portion. For example, in response to an instruction to identify an item 130 to be accessed (e.g., issued by another component or system, by an operator via a graphical user interface, etc.), the control system 800 may determine the location of the item 130 on the conveyor 120 (e.g., by mapping an identifier of the item 130 to a PTID, as discussed elsewhere herein), and move the conveyor 120 so that the section 122 stacked with the item 130 is located within the chute 140. As another example, in response to an instruction (e.g., issued by another component or system, by an operator via a graphical user interface, etc.) to identify a segment 122 of the conveyor 120 to be accessed, the control system 800 can determine the location of the segment 122 and move the conveyor 110 so that the segment 122 is located within the chute 140. In this manner, articles 130 can be stowed on or retrieved from the conveyor 120 and / or any segment 122 of the conveyor 120 can be accessed.

[0128] Advantageously, because the automated moves in each conveyor system 100 are short and direct, and are accomplished by the same mechanism (e.g., indexing and movement of the conveyor 120), the automated system can utilize a simple and inexpensive design. For example, all of the moves of the conveyor 120 can be performed by the same easily controllable mechanism (e.g., a drive that drives a rack and pinion system, an electromagnetic propulsion device, etc., which may include a stepper motor or servo motor, a grooved wheel drive device, etc.), and are generally direct, one-dimensional, fast, and short. This can eliminate the complex robotic mechanisms employed by current expensive systems while increasing throughput.

[0129] In an embodiment, one or more conveyors 120 may be temperature controlled. In such an embodiment, the temperature of the top surface of each section 122 or the entire conveyor 120 may be controlled using, for example, thermoelectric heating and / or cooling. Different sections 122 of the same conveyor 120 and / or different conveyors 120 of the same conveyor system 100 may be individually controlled to, for example, different temperatures from each other. Alternatively or additionally, portions of the enclosure around the conveyor 120 of the conveyor system 100 may be temperature controlled (e.g., ambient cold air or hot air in a tunnel). In such an embodiment, the control system 800 may move one or more sections 122 of one or more conveyors 120 into these temperature controlled portions to control the temperature of the items 130 stacked on these sections 122. In either case, the temperature of the temperature controlled section 122, the conveyor 120, or the enclosure may be adjusted under the control of the control system 800. For example, items 130 that need to be refrigerated or kept frozen may be stored in sections 122 or conveyors 120 that are cooled to an appropriate temperature. Similarly, items 120 that require heating may be stored in a section 122 or on a conveyor 120 that is heated to an appropriate temperature.

[0130] A coordinated system 400 including one or more conveyors 100 may be used for any number of different applications. The coordinated system 400 may have both a stowing function and a conveying function. Each chute 140 may represent a virtual tote that allows one or more items 130 to be collected into a single unit for stowage or conveying, but without the need for an actual labor-intensive human-pulled tote.

[0131] The coordination system 400 can autonomously sort the articles 130 loaded on multiple conveyor systems 100. Using the chutes 140 and / or compound chutes 440, the control system 800 of the coordination system 400 can autonomously move any article 130 from one segment 122 to any other segment 122 within the coordination system 400. This can involve moving the article 130 from a first segment 122 on a first conveyor 120 in a first conveyor system 100 to a second segment 122 on the same first conveyor 120 (e.g., using the chutes 140 of the first conveyor system 100), to a second segment 122 on a second conveyor 120 of the same first conveyor system 100 (e.g., using the chutes 140 of the first conveyor system 100), or to a second segment 122 on a second conveyor 120 of a second conveyor system 100 within the same coordination system 400 (e.g., using one or more compound chutes 440 between the first and second conveyor systems 100). For example, to move an item 130 from a first segment 122 to a second segment 122 on the same conveyor 120, the first segment 122 and an empty segment 122 on an adjacent conveyor 120 may be rotated into a chute 140, the item 130 may be pushed or pulled from the first segment 122 to the empty segment 122, the second segment may be rotated into the chute 140 (thereby rotating the first segment 122 away from the chute 140), and the item 130 may be pushed or pulled from the empty segment 122 to the second segment 122. The coordination system 400 may perform autonomous sorting of the items 130 in the background while performing other functions (e.g., stocking, order fulfillment, etc.) to optimize the stowage location of the items 130 for future pickup (e.g., for order fulfillment). This also keeps the inventory of items 130 organized and provides accurate, real-time inventory control.

[0132] The conveyor system 100 and the coordination system 400 can be constructed at any scale and at any scale appropriate for a given application. The sections 122 can be small and the chutes 140 can be narrow to accommodate small items 130, or the sections 122 can be large and the chutes 140 can be wide to accommodate large items 130 (e.g., pallets). The coordination system 400 can include conveyor systems 100 of different sizes to accommodate items 130 of different sizes. As discussed elsewhere herein, the conveyor systems 100 can be stacked into multiple levels in the coordination system 400 to form towers, which enables very dense storage of items 130. The coordination system 400 can scale from a small home pantry with one or more such towers to a large industrial warehouse with hundreds or thousands of such towers. However, even on a massive scale, the article 130 can be moved via rotation of the conveyor 120 and pushing and / or pulling operations through the compound chute 440 to one or any of a plurality of convenient destinations (e.g., ports), where the article can be picked up by a human and moved manually or automatically into a shipping container, moved into another conveying system, etc.

[0133] Fig. 9 An enclosure 900 containing a coordination system 400 is shown according to an embodiment. The enclosure 900 may be the back of a delivery truck or other vehicle, a trailer of a tractor-trailer, a shipping container, a storage compartment of an aircraft, a self-service brick-and-mortar store, etc. The coordination system 400 may be installed in the enclosure 900 such that a compound chute 440 may be formed along the longitudinal axis of the enclosure 900. Although three conveyor systems 100A, 100B, and 100C are shown, it should be understood that the enclosure 900 may contain any number of conveyor systems 100, including one or more towers having multiple levels of conveyor systems 100.

[0134] The enclosed space 900 may include an entry / exit port 950 aligned with the compound chute 440. A loader or other user may load articles 130 into the coordination system 400 by placing one or more articles 130 into the compound chute 440 (e.g., on the outer segment 122 of the outermost conveyor 120 of the conveyor system 100C) via the port 950. Automatically or in response to user operation, the control system 800 of the coordination system 400 may control one or more conveyors 120 and / or one or more chute mechanisms of one or more conveyor systems 100 according to the process 600 to move each article 130 from a portion of the compound chute 440 near the port 950 to a segment 122 within the interior of the coordination system 400. In addition, the control system 800 may associate each article 130 with a PTID that represents the stowage location of the article 130 within the coordination system 400.

[0135] Additionally, a delivery person or other user may operate the coordination system 400 to extract one or more items 130 from the coordination system 400. For example, a user may specify a list of one or more items 130 via a user interface of the coordination system 400. In response, the control system 800 of the coordination system 400 may control one or more conveyors 120 and / or one or more chute mechanisms of one or more systems 100 according to the process 700 to move each item 130 from a section 122 within the interior of the coordination system 400 to a portion of the compound chute 440 near the port 950. The user may then pick up the items 130 through the port 950 for additional processing (e.g., delivery).

[0136] In an embodiment, the control system 800 of the coordination system 400 may be communicatively coupled to the route selection system or otherwise access information about the route that the delivery vehicle passes through, including the enclosed space 900 and the items 130 to be delivered at each stop on the route. The control system 800 may also receive real-time location information (e.g., geographic coordinates of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as a global positioning system (GPS)). In this case, the control system 800 may track the location of the delivery vehicle along the route and prepare the items 130 to be delivered at each stop by controlling the coordination system 400 to move the items 130 to the composite chute 440 near the port 950 before each stop (i.e., during the time between the previous stop and the next stop). Therefore, at each stop, the delivery person only needs to walk to the port 950, pick up the items 130 from the port 950, and deliver them to the recipient's door.

[0137] As an alternative to the port 950, the entire side or circumference of the outermost conveyor 120 of at least one conveyor system 100 may be open to the outside environment. In this case, a loader may simply place the items 130 to be stacked in the coordination system 400 on the open section 122 of this outermost conveyor 120. The items 130 may be scanned before or after being placed on the open section 122 to establish the PTID of the items 130. Similarly, a picker (e.g., a delivery person, a customer, etc.) may remove the items 130 from the section 122 of this outermost conveyor 120. The items 130 may be scanned before or after being removed from the section 122 to record the fact that the items 130 have been removed from the coordination system 400.

[0138] As another example, the enclosed space 900 may be an automated store. In this case, a customer or other user may place an order via a graphical user interface provided by the control system 800 of the coordination system 400. The user may place an order by selecting an item 130 from the inventory of all items 130 stacked in the coordination system 400 and then paying for the order via any suitable payment mechanism. The control system 800 may then implement the process 600 to move all items 130 in the order to the composite chute 440 near the port 950. The port 950 may initially be locked so that unauthorized users cannot enter and take the items 130. When the order is ready, and optionally in response to a user authentication mechanism, the port 950 may be unlocked so that the customer can pick up the items 130 in the order.

[0139] As another example, the enclosed space 900 may be a warehouse for order fulfillment. In this case, a customer or other user may place an order via an online marketplace. The user may place an order by selecting an item 130 from the items 130 sold via the online marketplace and then paying the order via any suitable payment mechanism. The online marketplace, as an external system 845, may send a list of items 130 representing an order to the control system 800 of the coordination system 400. For example, the online marketplace may push the order to the control system 800 via an API of the control system 800, or the control system 800 may pull the order from the online marketplace via an API of the online marketplace. The control system 800 may then implement the process 600 to mark all items 130 in the order and move all marked items 130 into the compound chute 440. The items 130 in the compound chute 440 may then be moved out (e.g., pushed out or pulled out) of the compound chute 440 (e.g., via the down chute 500) directly into a shipping container, into another conveyor system (e.g., an external transport conveyor) or other destination.

[0140] The disclosed embodiments of the conveyor system 100 are generally shown and described herein as having a circular conveyor 120. However, in alternative embodiments, the conveyor system 100 may include or consist of a plurality of parallel, non-nested, linear conveyors 120. In all other respects, the conveyor system 100 having parallel linear conveyors 120 may be the same or similar to the conveyor system 100 having nested circular conveyors 120. For example, the parallel linear conveyors 120 may be divided into sections 122 (e.g., but not requiring spaces 124), a PTID may be used to track the location of items 130, a chute 140 may extend orthogonally through the parallel linear conveyors 120, the parallel linear conveyors 120 may be configured to stop only at indexing positions, processes 600 and 700 may be used to control the conveyor system 100, the conveyor system 100 may be housed in an enclosed space 900, and the like. Thus, any description herein of a carousel conveyor system 100 may be equally applicable or adapted to a conveyor system 100 having parallel linear conveyors 120 .

[0141] Fig. 10A and Fig. 10B A top-down view of a conveyor system 100 with parallel linear conveyors 120 according to this alternative embodiment is shown. As shown, the conveyor system 100 may include a plurality of linear conveyors 120, shown as conveyors 120A, 120B, 120C, 120D, 120E, and 120F. Each conveyor 120 is parallel to each other conveyor 120 and abuts at least one other conveyor 120. Specifically, each outer conveyor 120A and 120F abuts a single conveyor (e.g., conveyors 120B and 120E, respectively), while each inner conveyor 120B, 120C, 120D, and 120E abuts two conveyors on both sides. Each conveyor 120 includes a plurality of segments 122 configured to hold at least one article 130 on a top surface.

[0142] The conveyor system 100 includes at least one chute 140 extending orthogonally through all of the conveyors 120. Each conveyor 120 can be configured to slide on a track (e.g., a ball race track). The track can be longer than the conveyor 120 so that each segment 122 from end to end of the conveyor 120 can slide into the chute 140. Although only a single chute 140 is shown, the conveyor system 100 can be composed of one or any multiple chute 140. Multiple chute 140 (e.g., three chute 140) can reduce the amount of floor space occupied by the track for each conveyor 120 because not as many tracks are needed to ensure that each segment 122 can move to at least one chute 140.

[0143] like Fig. 10B As shown, any group of articles 130 stacked on different conveyors 120 can be aligned in the chute 140 by moving the conveyors 120 so that the segments 122 holding each article 130 are located within the chute 140. As discussed elsewhere herein, all of the articles 130 in the chute 140 can be removed (e.g., pushed or pulled) from the chute 140 in a single operation.

[0144] As discussed elsewhere herein, multiple conveyor systems 100 may be stacked along the Z axis in a tower of coordinated systems 400. Additionally or alternatively, multiple conveyor systems 100 (possibly including a tower of conveyor systems 100) may be distributed in the XY plane. In this case, the chutes 140 of different conveyor systems 100 may be aligned along at least one axis so that a composite chute 440 may be formed across multiple adjacent conveyor systems 100.

[0145] Fig.11 A section 122 of a conveyor system 100 is shown according to an embodiment utilizing parallel linear conveyors 120. Each conveyor 120 may be joined to a longitudinal wall 1110 on both longitudinal sides thereof (i.e., extending along the X-axis). For example, one side of the conveyor 120 is joined to a longitudinal wall 1110A, while the opposite side of the conveyor 120 is joined to a longitudinal wall 1110B. It should be understood that adjacent conveyors 120 will share a longitudinal wall 1110. Each longitudinal wall 1110 may be stationary relative to the movement of the conveyor 120. For example, each longitudinal wall 1110 may be fixed to a base of the conveyor system 100 so that the longitudinal wall 1110 does not move with the movement of the conveyor 120.

[0146] Each longitudinal wall 1110 may have a gap 1115 where the longitudinal wall 1110 intersects the chute 140. For example, the longitudinal wall 1110A has a gap 1115A, and the longitudinal wall 1110B has a gap 1115B. Each gap 1115 may have a width W substantially equal to the width of each section 122. The top surface of each gap 1115 is recessed from the top surface of each longitudinal wall 1110 along the Z axis. In addition, the top surface of each gap 1115 may be flush with the top surface of each section 122, so that the article 130 can easily slide from the first section 122 of the first conveyor 120 within the chute 140 through the gap 1115 to the second section 122 of the second conveyor 120 within the chute 140. It should be understood that the top surface of each section 122 within the chute 140 will be flush with the top surface of each gap 1115 within the chute 140, so that the article 130 can be slid from one end of the chute 140 over the top surfaces of the sections 122 and the gaps 1115 to the other end of the chute 140 by pushing or pulling.

[0147] Each segment 122 may be joined on two orthogonal sides (i.e., extending along the Y axis) by a pair of orthogonal walls 1120. Each pair of orthogonal walls 1120 joined to a given segment 112 may be parallel to each other. It should be understood that the orthogonal walls 1120 are orthogonal to the longitudinal walls 1110. Unlike the longitudinal walls 1110, the orthogonal walls 1120 are fixed to the conveyor 120 so that they move with the conveyor 120.

[0148] In general, when the segments 122 are positioned with the chute 140, the top surface of the segments 122 and the pair of orthogonal walls 1120 form a channel to guide the articles 130 along the chute 140 through the gap 1115 and through the conveyor 120. Notably, the orthogonal walls 1120 of the segments 122 within the chute 140 are aligned with each other to form a pair of parallel, substantially continuous walls that define the longitudinal boundaries (i.e., along the Y axis) of the chute 140. In other words, the orthogonal walls 1120 of each of the plurality of segments 122 in each of the plurality of conveyors 120 may be spaced apart by the same distance (e.g., width W) such that the orthogonal walls 320 of all of the segments 122 within the chute 140 are aligned with each other to form a pair of parallel walls that define the radial boundaries of the chute 140. This enables the chute mechanism to safely sweep all of the articles 130 within the chute 140 radially to the outside environment (e.g., another chute 140, a shipping container, a tote, etc.).

[0149] When a segment 122 is not positioned within the chute 140, the longitudinal walls 310A and 310B prevent an article 130 on a segment 122 from sliding orthogonally (i.e., along the Y axis) out of the segment 122. Regardless of whether a segment 122 is positioned within or outside the chute 140, the pair of orthogonal walls 320 that interface with the segment 122 prevents an article 130 from sliding longitudinally (i.e., along the X axis) out of a segment 122 into another segment 122.

[0150] Conventional conveyor-based CSPC systems use plastic totes to hold items and transport them from one station to another on a unidirectional, constant-speed conveyor. Human pickers pick items from a series of totes to bring together a group of items representing an order into another tote. The totes containing the orders are transported to another station for manual packaging and labeling. The management of thousands of these totes, which are usually moved by hand-pulled wagons, is very labor-intensive.

[0151] In contrast, the conveyor system 100 creates a virtual tote by adding circumferential walls 310 and radial walls 320 to the segments 122 on the conveyor 120, thereby confining the items 130 within their respective segments 122. However, gaps 315 are provided in the circumferential walls 310 so that when the segments 122 are within the chute 140, there are no walls in the radial direction. This allows the items 130 to be pushed out of the virtual tote onto another segment 122. The segments 122 within the chute 140 can also be rotated away from the chute 140 to once again confine any items 130 held on the segments 122 with the circumferential walls 310 and radial walls 320. With this concept, plastic totes can be completely eliminated.

[0152] Furthermore, in conventional CSPC systems, items must typically be identified over and over again by sensing machine-readable indicia at various stations. In contrast, in embodiments of the conveyor system 100, items 130 are identified once at induction using PTIDs, and these PTIDs are retained throughout the stowage process based on the movement of items 130 within the conveyor system 100. Thus, there is no need to identify items 130 over and over again.

[0153] Example implementations include, but are not limited to:

[0154] Embodiment 1A: A conveyor system includes: a plurality of nested conveyors, wherein each of the plurality of nested conveyors includes a disc concentric about a central axis, wherein the disc includes a plurality of segments, each of the plurality of segments being configured to hold at least one item on a top surface; a chute along at least one radial axis orthogonal to the central axis, wherein each of the plurality of nested conveyors is configured to rotate about the central axis so that each of the plurality of segments in the disc of the nested conveyors can be rotated into the chute; a chute mechanism, the chute mechanism being configured to radially move items along the radial axis through the top surfaces of all plurality of segments located in the chute; and at least one hardware processor, the at least one hardware processor being configured to: receive a list of one or more items stacked on the plurality of nested conveyors; for each item in the list, rotate the segment holding the item into the chute; and control the chute mechanism to move all items held by the segments in the chute out of the chute in a single operation.

[0155] Embodiment 1B: A conveyor system includes: a plurality of parallel linear conveyors, wherein each of the plurality of parallel linear conveyors includes a plurality of segments along a longitudinal axis of the parallel linear conveyors, and wherein each of the plurality of segments is configured to hold at least one item on a top surface; one or more chute along an orthogonal axis orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of each of the plurality of parallel linear conveyors, wherein each of the plurality of parallel linear conveyors is configured to move along the corresponding longitudinal axis so that each of the plurality of segments of the parallel linear conveyors can move into at least one of the one or more chute; a chute mechanism, the chute mechanism being configured to move items orthogonally along the orthogonal axis through the top surfaces of all the plurality of segments located in at least one chute; and at least one hardware processor, the at least one hardware processor being configured to: receive a list of one or more items stacked on the plurality of parallel linear conveyors; for each item in the list, move the segment holding the item into the chute; and control the chute mechanism to move all items held by the segments in the chute out of the chute in a single operation.

[0156] Embodiment 1C: A conveyor system comprises: a plurality of conveyors, wherein each of the plurality of conveyors comprises a plurality of segments, and wherein each of the plurality of segments is configured to hold at least one item on a top surface; one or more chutes along at least one axis, wherein each of the plurality of conveyors is configured to move so that each of the plurality of segments of the conveyor can move into at least one of the one or more chutes; a chute mechanism, wherein the chute mechanism is configured to move items along at least one axis through the top surfaces of all plurality of segments located in at least one chute; and at least one hardware processor, wherein the at least one hardware processor is configured to: receive a list of one or more items stacked on the plurality of conveyors; for each item in the list, move the segment holding the item into the chute; and control the chute mechanism to move all items held by the segments in the chute out of the chute in a single operation.

[0157] Embodiment 2: The conveyor system of any of Embodiments 1A, 1B, or 1C, further comprising a stationary wall between each pair of adjacent conveyors, wherein each stationary wall comprises a gap along a radial axis or an orthogonal axis.

[0158] Embodiment 3: The conveyor system of Embodiment 2, wherein, for each of the plurality of sections, each of the plurality of conveyors includes a pair of fixed walls that bound the section.

[0159] Embodiment 4: The conveyor system of Embodiment 3, wherein in each pair of fixed walls, the walls are parallel to each other.

[0160] Embodiment 5: A conveyor system as described in Embodiment 4, wherein the fixed walls of each of the multiple sections in each of the multiple conveyors are spaced apart the same distance so that the fixed walls of all sections within the chute are aligned with each other to form a pair of parallel walls that define the boundaries of the chute.

[0161] Embodiment 6: The conveyor system of Embodiment 2, wherein each of the plurality of sections of each of the plurality of conveyors has the same width, and wherein each gap has the same width.

[0162] Embodiment 7: A conveyor system as described in any of the preceding embodiments, wherein at least one hardware processor is further configured to: receive a list of one or more items held on multiple sections located in a chute; identify a location at which each of the one or more items held on multiple sections located in the chute is to be stacked; and move a section holding one of the one or more items held on multiple sections located in the chute out of the chute to the identified location of the one item.

[0163] Embodiment 8: The conveyor system of any preceding embodiment, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to independently control each of the plurality of conveyors to move independently of one another.

[0164] Embodiment 9: A conveyor system as described in Embodiment 8, wherein each of the plurality of conveyors is configured to move in two directions.

[0165] Embodiment 10: The conveyor system of Embodiment 9, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to determine in which of two directions to move each of the plurality of conveyors in order to minimize movement.

[0166] Embodiment 11: The conveyor system of any preceding embodiment, wherein a top surface of each of the plurality of segments in each of the plurality of conveyors is textured.

[0167] Embodiment 12: A conveyor system as described in any of the preceding embodiments, wherein at least one hardware processor is further configured to maintain at least one empty section in each of a plurality of conveyors that can be moved into the chute, so that at least one hardware processor is always able to clear obstacles for the chute by moving at least one empty section in all of the plurality of conveyors into the chute.

[0168] Embodiment 13: A conveyor system as described in any of the preceding embodiments in combination with Embodiment 1A or 1C, further comprising a center member surrounded by a plurality of conveyors, wherein the center member includes a center section configured to hold at least one item on a top surface, and wherein the chute extends through the entire diameter of the plurality of conveyors and includes the center section.

[0169] Embodiment 14: A coordinated system comprises at least one level, the at least one level comprising a plurality of conveyor systems as described in any of the preceding embodiments arranged side by side such that a top surface of each of a plurality of segments in each of the plurality of conveyor systems lies in a same plane.

[0170] Embodiment 15: The coordination system of Embodiment 14, wherein at least one level comprises a plurality of levels arranged along an axis orthogonal to the plane.

[0171] Embodiment 16: A coordinated system as described in Embodiment 14 or 15, wherein the chute in each of the multiple conveyor systems is aligned with the chute in at least one adjacent conveyor system in the multiple conveyor systems to form a composite chute extending through two or more of the multiple conveyor systems in at least one level.

[0172] Embodiment 17: A coordination system as described in Embodiment 16 in combination with Embodiment 1A or 1C and Embodiment 13, wherein the central component in each of the plurality of conveyor systems is configured to rotate, and wherein at least one hardware processor in each of the plurality of conveyor systems is configured to rotate the central component in the conveyor system, thereby changing the direction of the chute in the conveyor system.

[0173] Embodiment 18: An enclosed space encloses a coordinated system as described in any of Embodiments 14 to 17, wherein a compound chute extends through all multiple conveyor systems in at least one level, and wherein the enclosed space includes a port at one end of the compound chute.

[0174] Embodiment 19: An enclosed space as described in Embodiment 18, wherein the enclosed space is part of a delivery vehicle.

[0175] Embodiment 20: A method includes: using at least one hardware processor within a conveyor system as described in any of the preceding embodiments to: receive a list of one or more items stacked on multiple conveyors; for each item in the list, move a segment holding the item into a chute; and control the chute mechanism to move all items held by the segments in the chute out of the chute in a single operation.

[0176] The above description of the disclosed embodiments is provided so that any person skilled in the art can make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles described herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, it should be understood that the description and drawings presented herein represent the current preferred embodiments of the present invention, and therefore represent the subject matter broadly contemplated by the present invention. It should also be understood that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments that may become apparent to those skilled in the art, and the scope of the present invention is accordingly not limited thereto.

[0177] The combinations described herein, such as "at least one of A, B, or C", "one or more of A, B, or C", "at least one of A, B and C", "one or more of A, B, and C", and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof", include any combination of A, B, and / or C, and may include multiple A, multiple B, or multiple C. Specifically, combinations, such as "at least one of A, B, or C", "one or more of A, B, or C", "at least one of A, B, and C", "one or more of A, B, and C", and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof", may be only A, only B, only C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A, B, and C, and any such combination may contain one or more members of its constituent elements A, B, and / or C. For example, the combination of A and B may include one A and multiple Bs, multiple A and one B, or multiple A and multiple Bs.

Claims

1. A conveyor system comprising: a plurality of nested conveyors, wherein each of the plurality of nested conveyors comprises a disk concentric about a central axis, wherein the disk comprises a plurality of segments, the plurality of segments each being configured to retain at least one article on a top surface; a chute along at least one radial axis orthogonal to the central axis, wherein each of the plurality of nested conveyors is configured to rotate about the central axis such that each of the plurality of segments in the disc of the nested conveyors can rotate into the chute; a chute mechanism configured to radially move articles along the radial axis through the top surface of all of the plurality of segments located in the chute; as well as at least one hardware processor, the at least one hardware processor being configured to, receiving a list of one or more articles stacked on the plurality of nested conveyors, for each item in the inventory, rotating the segment holding the item into the chute, and The chute mechanism is controlled to move all articles held by a segment in the chute out of the chute in a single operation.

2. The conveyor system of claim 1 further comprising a stationary circumferential wall between each adjacent pair of the plurality of nested conveyors, wherein each circumferential wall includes a gap along the radial axis.

3. The conveyor system of claim 2, wherein for each of said plurality of segments in said disc of said nested conveyors, each of said plurality of nested conveyors includes a pair of fixed radial walls that bound said segment.

4. The conveyor system of claim 3, wherein in each pair of fixed radial walls, the radial walls are parallel to each other.

5. A conveyor system as described in claim 4, wherein the radial walls of each of the multiple segments in each of the multiple nested conveyors are spaced apart by the same distance so that the radial walls of all segments within the chute are aligned with each other to form a pair of parallel walls that define the radial boundaries of the chute.

6. The conveyor system of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of sections of each of the plurality of nested conveyors has a same width, and wherein each gap has the same width.

7. The conveyor system of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to: receiving an inventory of one or more items held on the plurality of sections located in the chute; identifying a location to stow each of the one or more articles held on the plurality of sections located in the chute; and Rotating a segment holding one of the one or more items held on the plurality of segments located in the chute away from the chute to the identified position of the one item.

8. The conveyor system of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to independently control each of the plurality of nested conveyors to rotate independently of one another.

9. The conveyor system of claim 8, wherein each of the plurality of nested conveyors is configured to rotate in two directions.

10. The conveyor system of claim 9, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to determine in which of the two directions to rotate each of the plurality of nested conveyors so as to minimize movement.

11. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the top surface of each of the plurality of segments in each of the plurality of nested conveyors is textured.

12. A conveyor system as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is also configured to maintain at least one empty segment in each of the multiple nested conveyors that can be rotated into the chute, so that the at least one hardware processor is always able to clear obstacles for the chute by rotating the at least one empty segment in all of the multiple nested conveyors into the chute.

13. The conveyor system of claim 1 further comprising a center member surrounded by the plurality of nested conveyors, wherein the center member includes a center section configured to hold at least one article on a top surface, and wherein the chute extends through an entire diameter of the plurality of nested conveyors and includes the center section.

14. A coordinated system comprising at least one level, said at least one level comprising a plurality of conveyor systems as claimed in claim 13 arranged side by side such that said top surface of each of said plurality of sections in each of said plurality of conveyor systems lies in a same plane.

15. The coordination system of claim 14, wherein the at least one level comprises a plurality of levels arranged along an axis orthogonal to the plane.

16. A coordination system as described in claim 14, wherein the chute in each of the multiple conveyor systems is aligned with the chute in at least one adjacent conveyor system among the multiple conveyor systems to form a composite chute extending through two or more of the multiple conveyor systems in at least one level.

17. A coordination system as described in claim 16, wherein the central component in each of the multiple conveyor systems is configured to rotate, and wherein the at least one hardware processor in each of the multiple conveyor systems is configured to rotate the central component in the conveyor system, thereby changing the direction of the chute in the conveyor system.

18. An enclosed space enclosing the coordinated system of claim 16, wherein the compound chute extends through all of the plurality of conveyor systems in the at least one level, and wherein the enclosed space includes a port at one end of the compound chute.

19. An enclosure as described in claim 18, wherein the enclosure is part of a delivery vehicle.

20. A method comprising operating using at least one hardware processor within a conveyor system, the conveyor system comprising: a plurality of nested conveyors, each of the plurality of nested conveyors comprising a disk concentric about a central axis, the disk comprising a plurality of segments, the plurality of segments each configured to retain at least one article on a top surface; a chute along at least one radial axis orthogonal to the central axis, each of the plurality of nested conveyors being configured to rotate about the central axis such that each of the plurality of segments in the disk of the nested conveyors can rotate into the chute; and a chute mechanism configured to radially move articles along the radial axis through the top surfaces of all of the plurality of segments located in the chute, the operation being to: receiving a list of one or more articles stacked on the plurality of nested conveyors; for each item in the inventory, rotating the segment holding the item into the chute; as well as The chute mechanism is controlled to move all articles held by a segment in the chute out of the chute in a single operation.

21. A conveyor system comprising: a plurality of parallel linear conveyors, wherein each of the plurality of parallel linear conveyors comprises a plurality of segments along a longitudinal axis of the parallel linear conveyors, and wherein each of the plurality of segments is configured to hold at least one article on a top surface; one or more chutes along an orthogonal axis orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of each of the plurality of parallel linear conveyors, wherein each of the plurality of parallel linear conveyors is configured to move along a respective longitudinal axis such that each of the plurality of segments of the parallel linear conveyors can move into at least one of the one or more chutes; a chute mechanism configured to move articles orthogonally along the orthogonal axis through the top surface of all of the plurality of sections located in the at least one chute; as well as at least one hardware processor, the at least one hardware processor being configured to, receiving a list of one or more articles stacked on the plurality of parallel linear conveyors, for each item in the inventory, moving the segment holding the item into the chute, and The chute mechanism is controlled to move all articles held by a segment in the chute out of the chute in a single operation.

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