Storing and taking-out system

Abstract

To provide an article storing and taking-out system that increases the speed of conveyance of an article to a different storage level and from the different storage level.SOLUTION: An automatic storing and taking-out system includes: at least one autonomous carrying vehicle 110; a conveyance deck which has a plurality of movement lanes and defines a non-deterministic carrying surface for the at least one autonomous carrying vehicle 110; at least one reciprocal lift 150B1, B2; and at least one pick -face delivery station TS which is connected to the conveyance deck so that a pick face is carried between the at least one reciprocal lift 150B1, B2 and the at least one autonomous carrying vehicle 110, and lets the at least one autonomous carrying vehicle 110 on the conveyance deck and the at least one reciprocal lift 150B1, B2 interact with each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

Technical Field

[0001] [Cross - Reference to Related Applications] This application is a non - provisional application of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 104,513, filed on January 16, 2015, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 104,552, filed on January 16, 2015, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 104,531, filed on January 16, 2015, claims the benefit of these applications, and the disclosure of these applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0002] [Technical Field] Exemplary embodiments generally relate to article handling systems, and more particularly to the conveyance and storage of articles within an article handling system.

Background Art

[0003] Multi - level storage and retrieval systems may be used in warehouses for the storage and retrieval of goods. Generally, the conveyance of goods into and out of the storage structure is performed by vehicles including lifts for transfer to vehicles on storage levels, vehicles that move up inclined paths to storage levels, or vehicles such as lifts that move along guide paths. Goods stored within the storage and retrieval system are generally stored in storage spaces on each storage level, and the transport vehicles disposed on that storage level have access to one level of the storage space. Generally, the lifts that transfer articles to and from storage spaces and carry vehicles between different storage levels are incorporated within the vehicle (such as by a gantry crane) or have a parter - nostel configuration where the loading shelves of the lift continuously circulate around the frame at a predetermined speed.

[0004] Generally, the sorting of products taken out from the storage area is performed by a dedicated sorter that classifies the products during the outbound flow after they have been transported by the vehicle that retrieves the products, or by a gantry crane or a pallet shuttle lift. Sorting the outbound products in this way can result in the execution of multiple lift strokes to retrieve the products required for the load out or additional sorting steps, and a reduction in the throughput of the storage and retrieval system.

Summary of the Invention

[0005] In a storage and retrieval system independent of the transfer vehicle that sends products to the storage space, it is advantageous to increase the speed of transferring products to and from different storage levels. It is also advantageous to increase the speed of transferring products to and from different storage levels in the storage and retrieval system when the products for the load out are sorted at the lift interface section, retrieved by a common lift stroke, and the order of the sorted products at the lift interface section is compatible with the common load, the lift interface section, and / or the lift.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0006] The foregoing aspects and other features of the disclosed embodiments will be described in the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings.

[0007]

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Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an automatic storage and retrieval system 100 according to an aspect of the disclosed embodiment. The aspects of the disclosed embodiment are described with reference to the drawings, but it should be understood that the aspects of the disclosed embodiment can be embodied in many forms. In addition, elements or materials of any suitable size, shape, or type can be used.

[0009] According to aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the automated storage and retrieval system 100 may operate in a retail distribution center or warehouse, for example, to fulfill an order for case units such as those described in U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,674, filed Dec. 15, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, received from a retail store. For example, a case unit may be a case or unit of merchandise that is not stored (e.g., contained) within a tray, tote, or on a pallet. In other examples, a case unit may be a case or unit of merchandise that is contained in any suitable manner, such as within a tray, tote, or on a pallet. In yet another example, a case unit may be a combination of non-contained items and contained items. Note that a case unit may include, for example, a unit of merchandise contained in a box (e.g., a case of soup cans, a box of cereal, etc.) or individual merchandise adapted to be picked from or placed on a pallet. According to aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a shipping case for a case unit (e.g., a carton, barrel, box, crate, jug, or any other device suitable for holding a case unit) may be of variable size, may be used to hold the case unit during shipping, and may be configured to be stackable on a pallet for shipping. For example, when a group or pallet of case units arrives at the storage and retrieval system, the contents of each pallet may be the same (e.g., each pallet holds a predetermined number of the same item - one pallet holds soup and another holds cereal), and when the pallet leaves the storage and retrieval system, the pallet may include a suitable number and combination of different case units sorted in an arrangement to form a mixed pallet, for example, being fed to a palletizer (e.g., a mixed pallet, where each mixed pallet holds different types of case units - one pallet holds a combination of soup and cereal).In an embodiment, the storage and retrieval system described in this specification may be applied to any environment where the case unit is stored and retrieved.

[0010] Referring also to FIG. 1C, for example, when a group or pallet of case units coming in (e.g., from a manufacturer or wholesaler) arrives at the storage and retrieval system for replenishment of the automated storage and retrieval system 100, the contents of each pallet may be the same (e.g., each pallet holds a predetermined number of the same items - one pallet holds soup and another holds cereal). As can be understood, such cases of pallet loads may be substantially similar, in other words, of the same type (e.g., similar dimensions) and may have the same SKU (alternatively, as described above, the pallet may be a "rainbow" pallet having layers formed of cases of the same type). When the case has fulfilled the replenishment order and the pallet PAL leaves the storage and retrieval system 100 during removal, the pallet PAL may contain any suitable number and combination of different case units CU (e.g., each pallet may hold different types of case units - one pallet holds a combination of canned soup, cereal, beverage packs, cosmetics and household detergents). The cases combined on a single pallet may have different dimensions and / or different SKUs. In one aspect of an exemplary embodiment, referring also to FIG. 1E, the storage and retrieval system 100 may generally be configured to include a loading section (including one or more loading stations 160IN), a storage and sorting section 100SS (in one aspect, storage of items is optional, and in one aspect, the storage and sorting section 100SS includes a multi-level case storage 170, a horizontal case conveyor 171, a case buffer and a vertical case conveyor 173), and an unloading section 100US (including one or more unloading stations 160UT), as will be described in further detail below.In other embodiments, one or more of case buffer 172 and vertical case conveyor 173 are included in the outbound section 100US, while in yet other embodiments, case buffer 172 and vertical case conveyor 173 are common to both the storage and sorting section 100SS and the outbound section 100US. As can be appreciated, in one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, for example, system 100 operating as a retail distribution center receives cases of a single pallet load and disassembles the palletized merchandise into individual case units that are individually manipulated by the system from the single pallet load, or separates the cases, retrieves the different cases required by each order and classifies them into corresponding groups, conveys the corresponding groups of cases, and may function to assemble them into what may be referred to as a mixed case pallet load MPL. As can be appreciated, as shown in FIG. 21, in one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, for example, system 100 operating as a retail distribution center receives cases of a single pallet load and disassembles the palletized merchandise into individual case units that are individually manipulated by the system from the single pallet load, or separates the cases, retrieves the different cases required by each order and classifies them into corresponding groups, conveys the corresponding groups of cases, and may function to order the corresponding groups of cases (in the manner described herein) at operator station 160EP, and articles removed from different case units CU and / or different case units CU themselves are placed into one or more bags, totes or other suitable containers TOT by operator 1500 or any suitable automation according to a predetermined order sequence of the articles being removed, for example, according to an instruction to fulfill the orders of one or more customers, where case unit CU is ordered at operator station 160EP according to a predetermined order sequence of the articles being removed, and it is noted that the ordering of case unit CU described herein results in the ordering at operator station 160EP.

[0011] The loading section may be capable of disassembling a single pallet load into individual cases and transporting the cases by appropriate conveyance for loading into the storage and sorting section. One aspect of the storage and sorting section receives individual cases, stores them within a storage area, and individually retrieves the required cases in response to a command generated in response to an order entered into a warehouse management system, such as warehouse management system 2500, for conveyance to the unloading section 100US. In one aspect, the conveyance to the unloading section 100US is an ordered conveyance. In other aspects, the storage and sorting section receives individual cases, sorts the individual cases (e.g., using a buffer and interface station generally referred to herein as a holding station), and transports the individual cases to the unloading section in response to an order entered into the warehouse management system. Classification and grouping of cases according to an order (e.g., an order or load unloading sequence) may be performed in whole or in part at the boundary between the classification and grouping, which may be performed in various ways, by either or both of the storage and retrieval section 100SS (also referred to herein as the storage and sorting section) or the unloading section 100US, for the sake of convenience of explanation. For example, as described above, case buffer 172 and vertical case conveyor 173 are shown included in the storage and sorting section 100SS in FIG. 1E, but in other aspects, one or more of case buffer 172 and vertical case conveyor 173 are included in the unloading section 100US and / or are common to both the storage and sorting section 100SS and the unloading section 100US.As an intended result, in one aspect, the staging section constructs an appropriate group of ordered cases, which may differ in SKU, dimensions, etc., within a pallet load of mixed cases in a manner described in the specification of U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 654,293, filed Oct. 17, 2012 (now U.S. Patent No. 8,965,559), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In other aspects, the staging section constructs an appropriate group of ordered cases, which may differ in SKU, dimensions, etc., within a bag, tote, or other appropriate container in accordance with a predetermined order sequence of items removed at an operator station (such as to fulfill a customer order).

[0012] In one aspect of the exemplary embodiment, the outfeed section 100US may be referred to as a structured configuration of mixed cases and generates a pallet load. In one aspect, the structured configuration of the pallet loads described herein is representative, and in other aspects the pallet loads may have any other suitable configuration. For example, the structured configuration may be any suitable predetermined configuration, such as a load in a truck bin, other suitable container, or a frame of a load container that holds a structural load. In one aspect, the structured configuration of the pallet load may be characterized as having several layers L121-L125, L12T of flat cases, at least one of which is formed from a stack of non-intersecting, self-standing and stable mixed cases. The stack of mixed cases in a given layer has a substantially the same height to form a given layer of upper and lower surfaces that can be recognized as being substantially flat, and may be a sufficient number to cover the pallet area or a desired portion of the pallet area. The layer placed on top may be oriented such that the cases of the corresponding layer span between the stacks of the support layer. Thus, the stack is stabilized and, accordingly, the boundary layer of the pallet load is stabilized. When defining the pallet load into a structured layer configuration, the connected 3-D pallet load solution is decomposed into two separately storable parts, namely, a vertical (1-D) part that decomposes the load into layers, and a horizontal (2-D) part that efficiently distributes stacks of equal height to fill the pallet height of each layer. In other aspects, the mixed case load fill may be configured in any other suitable order sequence, for example, on or within any suitable conveyor device such as one or more bags, totes, shopping carts, trucks, or other suitable containers filled without a pallet load.As described below, the storage and retrieval system removes the case units to the unloading section such that two parts of the 3-D pallet load solution are disassembled. In other embodiments, the storage and retrieval system removes the case units to the unloading section according to a sequence to fulfill the retrieval sequence order of non-palletized products at the operator station 160EP. In one embodiment, a predetermined configuration of the mixed pallet load determines the order of the case units and determines whether the case units provided to the load building system by the sorting and unloading sections (which may be automated or manual loading) are the pick face of a single case unit or the pick face of combined case units.

[0013] According to an aspect of the disclosed embodiment, referring to FIG. 1 again, the automated storage and retrieval system 100 includes an incoming station 160IN (including a depalletizer 160PA, an operator station 160EP, and / or a conveyor 160CA for transporting articles to the lift module for entry into the storage unit), an outgoing station 160UT (including a palletizer 160PB and / or a conveyor 160CB for transporting case units from the lift module for removal from the storage unit), incoming and outgoing vertical lift modules 150A, 150B (generally referred to as lift module 150. Although incoming and outgoing lift modules are illustrated, a single lift module may be used for both the entry of case units into the storage structure and the removal of case units from the storage structure), a storage structure 130, and a number of unmanned rovers or transport vehicles 110 (referred to as "bots" herein). As used herein, at least the lift module 150, the storage structure 130, and the bot 110 may be collectively referred to herein as the storage and sorting section described above. It should also be noted that the depalletizer 160PA may be configured to remove case units from a pallet so that the incoming station 160IN can transport the articles to the lift module 150 for entry into the storage structure 130. The palletizer 160PB may be configured to place the articles removed from the storage structure 130 onto a pallet PAL (FIG. 1C) for delivery.

[0014] Referring also to FIG. 2A, the storage structure 130 may include a plurality of storage rack modules RM composed of a high-density three-dimensional rack array RMA that is accessible from a storage or deck level 130L. Each storage level 130L includes a pick face storage / transfer space 130S (referred to herein as the storage space 130S) formed by the rack module RM. The rack module extends linearly, for example, through the rack module array RMA and is arranged along a storage or retrieval passage 130A that provides access to the storage space 130S and the transfer deck 130B (connected to the transfer deck 130B). The bot 110 moves across the retrieval passage 130A and the transfer deck 130B on each respective storage level 130L to transfer the case unit between any one of the storage spaces 130S (e.g., on the level where the bot 110 is located) of the storage structure 130 and any one of the lift modules 150 (e.g., the bot 110 has access to each storage space 130S on each respective level and each lift module 150 on each respective storage level 130L). The transfer deck 130B is arranged / arrayed at different levels, for example, as described in U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,674, filed on December 15, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, and defines a multi-level deck (corresponding to each level 130L of the storage and retrieval system) that may be stacked vertically or horizontally offset, such as having one transfer deck 130B at one end or side RMAE1 of the storage rack array RMA, or having one transfer deck 130B at several ends or sides RMAE1, RMAE2 of the storage rack array RMA.

[0015] The transfer deck 130B is substantially open and is configured for the non-deterministic movement of the bot 110 across and along the transfer deck 130B. As can be understood, the (one or more) transfer decks 130B at each storage level 130L communicate with respective ones of the retrieval passages 130A on each storage level 130L. The bot 110 travels bidirectionally between the (one or more) transfer decks 130B and the retrieval passages 130A on each storage level 130L to access the storage spaces 130S arranged in the rack shelves alongside respective ones of the retrieval passages 130A (for example, when the bot 110 travels to and from each retrieval passage 130A, the bot 110 may access the storage spaces 130S distributed on both sides of each passage, as may have different orientations, such as a drive wheel leading in the direction of movement or a drive wheel following the direction of movement, as shown in FIG. 6 for example). As described above, the (one or more) transfer decks 130B also provide access by the bot 110 to respective ones of the lifts 150 on each storage level 130L, the lift 150 supplies case units to and / or removes from each storage level 130L, and the bot 110 effects the transfer of case units between the lift 150 and the storage spaces 130S. As described above, also referring to FIG. 2A, in one aspect, the storage structure 130 includes a plurality of storage rack modules RM, the storage rack module RM is configured in a three-dimensional rack array RMA in which the racks are arranged in the passage 130A, and the passage 130A is configured for the movement of the bot 110 within the passage 130A. The transfer deck 130B has a non-deterministic transport surface on which the bot 100 moves, and the non-deterministic transport surface 130BS has two or more parallel movement lanes (for example, high-speed bot movement paths HSTP) connecting between the retrieval passages 130A. As can be understood, the parallel movement lanes are juxtaposed along a common non-deterministic transport surface 130BS between the opposing side portions 130BD1, 130BD2 of the transfer deck 130B.As shown in FIG. 2A, in one aspect, the passageway 130A is joined to the transfer deck 130B on one side portion 130BD2 of the transfer deck 130B, but in other aspects, the passageway is joined to two or more side portions 130BD1, 130BD2 of the transfer deck 130B in a manner substantially similar to that described in U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,674, filed Dec. 15, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. As will be described in more detail below, the other side portion 130BD1 of the transfer deck 130B includes deck storage racks (such as interface station TS and buffer station BS) distributed along the other side portion 130BD1 of the transfer deck 130B such that at least a portion of the transfer deck is interposed between the deck storage rack and the passageway 130A. The deck storage rack is arranged along the other side portion 130BD1 of the transfer deck 130B so as to communicate with the bots 110 from the transfer deck 130B and the lift module 150 (e.g., the pick face is accessed by the bots 110 from the transfer deck 130B and the lift 150 for removing and placing the pick face so that the pick face is transferred between the bots 110 and the deck storage rack and between the deck storage rack and the lift 150, and thus between the bots 110 and the lift 150).

[0016] Each storage level 130L may include a charging station 130C for charging the on-board power supply of the bots 110 on that storage level 130L, as described, for example, in U.S. Patent Application No. 14 / 209,086, filed Mar. 13, 2014, and U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,823 (now U.S. Patent No. 9,082,112), filed Dec. 15, 2011, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

[0017] Bot 110 may be any suitable independently operable autonomous transport vehicle that grips / holds and transfers case units / pick faces throughout storage and retrieval system 100. In one aspect, bot 110 is an automated, independent (e.g., free-riding) autonomous transport vehicle. Suitable examples of bots can be found in U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,674, filed December 15, 2011; U.S. Patent Application No. 12 / 757,312 (now U.S. Patent No. 8,425,173), filed April 9, 2010; U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,423, filed December 15, 2011; U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,447 (now U.S. Patent No. 8,965,619), filed December 15, 2011; U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,505 (now U.S. Patent No. 8,696,010), filed December 15, 2011; U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 327,040 (now U.S. Patent No. 9,187,244), filed December 15, 2011; U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,952, filed December 15, 2011; U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,993, filed December 15, 2011; U.S. Patent Application No. 14 / 486,008, filed September 15, 2014; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 107,135, filed January 23, 2015, for purposes of illustration only, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. (To be described in further detail below) Bot 110 may be configured to place case units, such as the retail merchandise described above, into the retrieval storage of one or more levels of storage structure 130 and then selectively retrieve the ordered case units.

[0018] The bot 110, lift module 150, and other suitable features of the storage and retrieval system 100 are controlled in any suitable manner, such as by one or more central system control computers (e.g., a control server) 120, for example, through any suitable network 180. In one aspect, the network 180 is a wired network, a wireless network, or a combination of wired and wireless networks using any suitable type and / or suitable number of communication protocols. In one aspect, the control server 120 includes a collection of programs (e.g., system management software) that execute substantially simultaneously for substantially automatic control of the automated storage and retrieval system 100. For example, the collection of programs configured to manage the storage and retrieval system 100, for illustrative purposes only, includes controlling, scheduling, and monitoring all active system components, managing inventory (e.g., which case units have been loaded and removed, the order in which case units have been removed, the locations where case units are stored), and pick faces (e.g., one or more case units that move as a unit and are operated as a unit by components of the storage and retrieval system), as well as connecting to a warehouse management system 2500. The control server 120 may, in one aspect, be configured to control the features of the storage and retrieval system in the manner described herein. For simplicity and ease of explanation, the term "case unit" is generally used herein to refer to both individual case units and pick faces (pick faces are formed from one or more cases that are moved as a unit). In one aspect, as described herein, the control server 120 is connected to the lift module 150 to control the lift module 150 as described herein.In one aspect, the lift module 150 includes a lift control device LCM connected to the control server 120, and one or more of the lift control device LCM and the control server 120 control the lift module as described herein. In one aspect, one or more of the lift control device LCM and the control server 120 are configured to control the lift module 150 to effect the retrieval of two or more pick faces using a common load support platform and the on-the-fly sorting of two or more pick faces using the common load support platform as described herein. In one aspect, one or more of the lift control device LCM and the control server 120 are configured to control the lift module 150 to effect the retrieval of two or more pick faces in order sequence using a common load support platform and the placement of one or more pick faces in order sequence at the outbound pick face holding position using the common load support platform as described herein. In one aspect, one or more of the lift control device LCM and the control server 120 are configured to control the lift module 150 to effect the on-the-fly sorting of two or more pick faces, and the common load support platform traverses the stacked pick face holding positions in a common direction as described herein. In one aspect, one or more of the lift control device LCM and the control server 120 are configured to control the lift module 150 to effect the placement of two or more pick faces at the outbound pick face holding position in a single unloading step, and the two or more pick faces have a sorted placement in unloading as described herein.

[0019] Referring also to FIGS. 1, 1A and 1B, the rack module array RMA of the storage structure 130 includes vertical support members 1212 and horizontal support members 1200 that define a high-density automated storage array as further detailed below. For example, in the retrieval passage or rack passage 130A, one or more rails 1200S may be attached to one or more of the vertical and horizontal support members 1212, 1200, and the rails 1200S may be configured such that the bot 110 rides along the rails 1200S through the retrieval passage 130A. At least one side of at least one retrieval passage 130A of at least one storage level 130L has a plurality of shelf levels 130LS1-130LS4 (any number of levels may be provided, and the retrieval passage may be divided into sections SECA, SECB each having a different number of levels or the same number of levels) between the storage or deck levels 130L defined by the transfer deck 130B (and the rails 1200S forming the passage deck) at different heights, and may have one or more storage shelves (e.g., formed by rails 1210, 1200 and slats 1210S). Thus, there are a plurality of rack shelf levels 130LS1-130LS4 corresponding to each storage level 130L that extend along one or more retrieval passages 130A communicating with the transfer deck 130B of each storage level 130L. As can be understood, the plurality of rack shelf levels 130LS1-130LS4 result in each storage level 130L having a stack of stored case units (or layers of cases) accessible from the common deck 1200S of each storage level 130L (e.g., the stack of stored cases is disposed between storage levels). In one aspect, referring to FIG. 1D, each storage level 130L includes a single-level storage shelf for storing a single level of case units (e.g., each storage level includes a single case unit support surface CUSP), and the bot 110 is configured to transfer case units to and from the storage shelves of each storage level 130L.

[0020] As can be understood, the bot 110 that travels to and from the extraction passage 130A at the corresponding storage level 130L has access to each storage space 130S available on each shelf level 130LS1 - 130LS4 (for example, to take out and place case units), and each shelf level 130LS1 - 130LS4 is arranged between storage levels 130L on one or more sides PAS1, PAS2 of the extraction passage 130A (see, for example, FIG. 2A). As described above, each of the storage shelf levels 130LS1 - 130LS4 is accessible by the bot 110 from the rail 1200S (for example, from a common extraction passage deck 1200S corresponding to the transfer deck 130B on each storage level 130L). As can be seen in FIGS. 1A and 1B, there is one or more shelf rails 1210 spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction (for example, in the Z direction) to form a plurality of stacked storage spaces 130S, each of which is accessible by the bot 110 from a common rail 1200S. As can be understood, the horizontal support member 1200 also forms a shelf rail on which the case unit is arranged (in addition to the shelf rail 1210). Here, the bot 110 includes a transfer arm 110PA having a vertical drive shaft configured to transfer case units from the common extraction passage deck to each of the shelf levels 130LS1 - 130LS2. In other embodiments, each storage level 130L includes a single-level storage shelf as shown in FIG. 1B, and a bot 110 such as bot 110' (substantially the same as bot 110) is not provided with sufficient Z movement of the transfer arm 110PA to place case units on a plurality of storage shelf levels 130LS1 - 130LS2 (for example, accessible from a common rail 1200S) as described above. Here, the transfer arm drive unit of the bot 110' includes sufficient Z movement to lift the case unit from the case unit support surface CUSP of the single-level storage shelf to transfer the case unit to and from the loading area 110PL and to transfer the case unit between the transfer arm 110PA and the loading bed 110PB of the loading area 110PL.A suitable example of the bot 110’ can be found, for example, in U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,993, filed Dec. 15, 2011 (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012 / 0185082), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0021] For each stacked shelf level 130LS1 - 130LS4 (and / or each single shelf level as described below) of the corresponding storage level 130L, it defines an open, indeterminate two-dimensional storage surface (such as having the support surface CUSP of the case unit as shown in FIG. 1B) that facilitates the dynamic allocation of pick faces in both the longitudinal direction (i.e., along the length of the aisle or coinciding with the bot movement path defined by the retrieval aisle) and the lateral direction (i.e., intersecting the aisle or bot movement path with respect to the depth of the rack). The dynamic allocation of pick faces and the case units that make up the pick faces is brought about, for example, by the method described in U.S. Patent No. 8,594,835, issued Nov. 26, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Thus, the pick faces of case units (or totes) of variable length and width are arranged at their respective two-dimensional storage positions (generally referred to herein as holding positions) on the storage shelves (e.g., on each storage shelf level 130LS1 - 130LS4) such that the gap G between adjacent stored case units / storage spaces is minimized (e.g., resulting in the removal / placement of a case unit that does not contact other case units stored on the shelf, see FIG. 1A). In one aspect, the storage space 130S defined by the storage shelf levels 130LS1 - 130LS4 between the storage or deck levels 130L accommodates case units of different heights, lengths, widths, and / or weights at different shelf levels 130LS1 - 130LS2, as described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 091,162, filed Dec. 12, 2014, titled "Storage retrieval system", Attorney Docket No. 1127P015163-US(-#1), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0022] In one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, the vertical pitch between rack shelf levels 130LS1 - 130LS4 (corresponding to each storage level 130L) is changed to be different rather than the heights Z1A - Z1E between the shelves being equal. In other aspects, the vertical pitch between at least some of the rack shelves is the same such that the heights Z1A - Z1E between at least some of the shelves are equal, but the vertical pitch between other shelves is different. In yet another aspect, the pitch of the rack shelf levels 130LS1 - 130LS4 on one storage level is a constant pitch (e.g., the rack shelf levels are substantially equally spaced in the Z direction), but the pitch of the rack shelf levels 130LS1 - 130LS4 on different storage levels is a different constant pitch.

[0023] In one aspect, the storage space 130S defined by the storage shelf levels 130LS1 - 130LS4 between storage or deck levels 130L accommodates case units of different heights, lengths, widths and / or weights at different shelf levels 130LS1 - 130LS4, as described, for example, in U.S. Non - Provisional Patent Application No. 14 / 966,978, filed on December 11, 2015, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 091,162, filed on December 12, 2014, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. For example, still referring to FIG. 1A, the storage level 130L includes a storage section having at least one intermediate shelf 1210. In the illustrated example, one storage section includes one intermediate shelf 1210 while another storage section includes two intermediate shelves 1210 to form the shelf levels 130LS1 - 130LS4. In one aspect, the pitch Z1 between the storage levels 130L may be any suitable pitch, such as, for example, from about 32 inches to about 34 inches. In other aspects, the pitch may be greater than about 34 inches and / or less than about 32 inches. Any suitable number of shelves may be provided between the decks 1200S of the storage levels 130L stacked vertically adjacent to each other, and the shelves may have the same or different pitches between the shelves.

[0024] In one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, the storage or deck level 130L (e.g., the surface on which the bot 110 moves) is arranged at any suitable predetermined pitch Z1, for example, which is not an integer multiple of the pitches Z1A to Z1E of the intermediate shelves. In other aspects, the pitch Z1 may be an integer multiple of the pitch of the intermediate shelves. For example, the pitch of the shelves may be substantially equal to the pitch Z1 such that the corresponding storage space has a height substantially equal to the pitch Z1. As can be understood, the pitches Z1A to Z1E of the shelves are substantially decoupled from the pitch Z1 of the storage level 130L and correspond to the height of a general case unit as shown in FIG. 1A. In one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, case units of different heights are dynamically assigned or distributed along each aisle within the storage space 130S having a shelf height corresponding to the height of the case unit. The remaining space between the storage levels 130L can be freely used for dynamic allocation for aisles (e.g., in the X direction) and along the case units to be stored, corresponding to the length of the aisle that matches the case unit to be stored. As can be understood, dynamically assigning case units of different heights onto shelves with different pitches results in layers of stored cases of different heights between the storage levels 130L on both sides of each retrieval aisle 130A, and each case unit is dynamically distributed along a common retrieval aisle 130A such that each case unit within each layer of stored cases is independently accessible by the bot of the common aisle (e.g., for retrieval / placement). The length of each aisle may include a plurality of case units of different heights, and each rack shelf at each shelf level may be filled by dynamic allocation / distribution (e.g., to provide a high-density storage array, to fill the space of a three-dimensional rack module array RMA in terms of length, width, and height). Thus, this arrangement / assignment of case units and the arrangement of storage shelves result in the maximum efficiency of the use of storage space / quantity between the storage levels 130L by the optimized distribution of case unit SKUs, and thus, the maximum efficiency of the rack module array RMA.

[0025] In one aspect, referring to FIGS. 1D and 6A, each of the storage levels 130L includes a single-level storage shelf for storing a single-level case unit (e.g., each storage level includes a single case unit support surface CUSP), and the bots 110 are configured to transfer case units to and from the storage shelves of the respective storage levels 130L. For example, the bot 110' shown in FIG. 6A is substantially the same as the bot 110 described above, but the bot 110' lacks sufficient Z movement of the transfer arm 110PA for placing case units on a plurality of storage shelf levels 130LS1 - 130LS4 (e.g., accessible from a common rail 1200S) as described above. Here, the transfer arm drive 250 (which may be substantially the same as one or more of the drives 250A, 250B) includes sufficient Z movement to lift a case unit from the case unit support surface CUSP of a single-level storage shelf to transfer the case unit to and from the loading area 110PL and to transfer the case unit between the fingers 273 of the transfer arm 110PA and the loading bed 110PB. A suitable example of the bot 110' can be found, for example, in U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,993, filed Dec. 15, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0026] In one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, also referring to FIG. 2A, along each extraction passage 130A, to form sections of the rack shelves that are ordered or adapted, the rack shelves 1210 (including the rack shelves formed by the rails 1200) are divided into SECA and SECB in the longitudinal direction (e.g., in the X direction along the length of the extraction passage 130A with respect to the reference coordinate system RFE2 of the storage structure). The shelf sections SECA and SECB of the passage come and go in the passage in a common path and are ordered / adapted relative to each other based on the extraction order of the bot 110 that extracts case units specified by a common order handling (e.g., based on the order shipping sequence). In other words, the bot 110 creates a single or common path (e.g., a back-and-forth in a single direction) down a single or common extraction passage while extracting one or more case units from the shelf sections SECA and SECB of the passage on a common side of the extraction passage 130A to build a pick face on the bot 110, and the pick face includes case units arranged on the bot according to an order filling / order shipping sequence as further detailed below. The rack sections SECA and SECB of the passage each include intermediate shelves in the manner described above. In other aspects, some of the shelves in the passage do not include intermediate shelves, while some do include intermediate shelves.

[0027] In one aspect, the rack sections SECA, SECB of the ordered aisles include different shelf pitches between the sections SECA, SECB. For example, the rack section SECA of the aisle has shelves with one or more pitches, while the rack section SECB of the aisle has shelves with one or more different pitches (e.g., different from the shelf pitch of section SECA). According to aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the pitch of at least one intermediate shelf of one of the rack sections SECA, SECB of the aisle is associated with the pitch of at least one intermediate shelf of the other of the rack sections SECA, SECB of the common pick - up aisle 130A. The different pitches of the intermediate shelves 1210 in the rack sections SECA, SECB of the ordered aisles are selected to result in a plurality of (at least two) ordered retrievals (i.e., retrievals in an order sequence) by the bot 110 according to a sequence of unloading mixed SKU loadings (e.g., palletizing onto a common pallet loading) from shelves of different pitches along a common path of the common pick - up aisle 130A, such that they are associated. As can be understood, the unloading of the mixed load from the storage and retrieval system 100 (e.g., for filling truck load ports / pallet loadings) is ordered in a predetermined order according to the various loadings exiting the pick - up aisle (e.g., the aisle through which case units are retrieved for transfer to an outgoing pallet), and the pitches of the shelves of the ordered sections SECA, SECB facilitate the bot 110 to retrieve two or more case units in an ordered sequence according to the sequence of the unloading sequence of the loadings in the common pick - up aisle path (e.g., in one path of the common pick - up aisle, two or more case units are retrieved from the common pick - up aisle in a predetermined order).The pitches of the shelves in different aisles of the ordered rack sections SECA and SECB are associated so as to improve the possibility of multiple retrievals (retrieval of two or more case units from a single aisle with a single path as described above) being achieved by the order processing path of each bot along each aisle, and more than half of the cases that are retrieved by the bot 110 in the storage and retrieval system 100 and are destined for a common load out (e.g., a common pallet load) are associated such that they are retrieved by the common bot 110 in an ordered sequence according to the load out sequence in a single path of the common retrieval aisle (e.g., two or more cases retrieved by the bot 110 are retrieved from the same retrieval aisle of a single path, and for example, the bot moves in a single direction as it passes through the retrieval aisle). As can be understood, in one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, both sides PAS1 and PAS2 of the retrieval aisle 130A have the ordered aisle rack sections SECA and SECB, and one of the ordered sections may be compatible with one or more sections on the same side PAS1, PAS2 of the common retrieval aisle 130A. As can be understood, the compatible aisle rack sections may be arranged adjacent to each other or spaced apart from each other along the retrieval aisle 130A.

[0028] Referring again to FIGS. 2A and 2B, each transfer deck 130B or storage level 130L includes one or more lift pick face interfaces / pass - through stations TS (referred to herein as interface stations TS), and one or more case units or totes (of single or mixed case pick faces) are transferred between a lift handling device LHD and a bot 110 on the transfer deck 130B. Interface stations TS (and buffer stations BS described herein) provide an interface to effect pick face transfer between a bot 110 and at least one lift 150 on each respective transfer deck 130B. One or more of the transfer decks or storage levels 130L, one or more lift interface stations TS have multiple load stations MLS for positioning / buffering of loads CU (such as case units) for removal by lift 150B. As described herein, in one aspect, each load is a pick face of one or more case units that are taken out / positioned in the multiple load stations MLS as a unit by one or more of the bot 110 and the load handling device LHD of the lift 150B. In one aspect, each load / pick face case unit is disposed as a unit within the load out section, and in other aspects, is distributed within the load out section. As described herein, each lift 150, in one aspect, is configured for common multiple load up / down to effect removal of multiple loads (e.g., from a common / single load handling device LHD or from multiple independent load handling devices LHD, from a common interface station TS), and in another aspect, for removal of multiple independent loads (e.g., from interface stations TS at separate deck levels etc.) by passage of a single lift, and includes a carriage 4001 having a multiple load platform.As can be understood, in one aspect, a plurality of loaded items (e.g., a single loaded item or multiple pick faces that are carried together as a unit) are positioned at one or more of the interface stations TS (or buffer stations BS) for removal by the lift 150.

[0029] The interface station TS is arranged on the side of the transfer deck 130B opposite the extraction passage 130A and the rack module RM such that the transfer deck 130B is interposed between the extraction passage and each interface station TS. As described above, each bot 110 on each extraction level 130L has access to each storage position 130S, each extraction passage 130A, and each lift 150 on each storage level 130L. Thus, each bot 110 also has access to each interface station TS on its respective level 130L. In one aspect, the interface station is offset from the high-speed bot movement path HSTP along the transfer deck 130B such that access of the bot 110 to the interface station TS is non-deterministic with respect to the bot speed on the high-speed movement path. In this way, each bot 110 can move case units (or pick faces, e.g., one or more cases constructed by the bot) from each interface station TS to each storage space 130S corresponding to the deck level and vice versa.

[0030] As an example, in one aspect, for instance, the pick face constructed by the bot 110 (e.g., in the manner described above) and transferred (e.g., placed) to the interface station TS (and / or buffer station BS) is not the same as the pick face taken out from the interface station TS (and / or buffer station BS) by the lift 150. For example, referring to FIG. 9, the bot 110 forms a first pick face including individual pick faces 7 and 5 from the storage space 130S of the buffer BS within the rack module RM (e.g., FIG. 2A) and / or on the transfer deck 130B (FIGS. 10 - 10E and FIG. 19, block 1900). The bot 110 transfers and places the first pick face, for example, on the shelf 7000B of the interface station TS (FIG. 9) for transfer to the lift 150 (FIG. 19, block 1910). As can be understood, in this example, the individual pick faces 5, 7 (e.g., forming the first pick face) are placed on the common shelf 7000B for illustrative purposes only, but in other aspects, the individual pick faces 5, 7 are placed on different shelves 7000A - 7000F (FIG. 9) such that the pick face placed on the shelf by the bot 110 is different from the first pick face but includes at least one common case unit with the first pick face. For example, the first pick face has different pick faces including the individual pick face 5 placed on the shelf 7000B, while another different pick face including the individual pick face 7 is disassembled, for example, to be placed on the shelf 7000H. A lift such as lift 150B1 takes out a second pick face from one or more of the shelves 7000A - 7000F (common to both the bot 110 and the lift 150B1, for example) of the transfer station TS (FIG. 19, block 1920). Here, the second pick face is different from the first pick face but includes at least one of the individual pick faces 5, 7 such that at least one case unit is common between the first pick face and the second pick face.

[0031] Similarly, in one aspect, the pick face that is transferred (e.g., placed) by the inbound lift 150 (see lift 150A in FIG. 1) to, for example, the interface station TS (and / or buffer station BS) is not the same as the pick face that is retrieved from the interface station TS (and / or buffer station BS) by the bot 110. For example, referring to FIG. 9A, a first pick face is transferred by the inbound conveyor 160CB from the (one or more) loading stations 160IN to one or more lifts 150A1, 150A2, i.e., each of the lifts 150A1, 150A2 retrieves the first pick face (FIG. 20, block 2000). In this example, one of the first pick faces, such as the first pick face retrieved by lift 150A1, includes a combination of individual pick faces 5, 7, while the other first pick face retrieved by lift 150A2 includes a combination of individual pick faces 20, 22. The lift 150 may provide classification of the inbound case flow by placing one or more pick faces held on a common shelf of the lift on the first interface station and maintaining other case units on the common shelf of the lift for placement on a different interface station. For example, lift 150A1 places each of the first pick faces 5, 7 on shelf 7000B of the interface station TS, while lift 150A2 places each of the other first pick faces 20, 22 on shelf 7000H of another interface station TS at the same storage level 130L (FIG. 20, block 2010). In other aspects, the first pick faces 5, 7 may be disassembled into at least one second pick face, and the pick face 5 (e.g., the second pick face) may be placed on shelf 7000B, while the pick face 7 (e.g., the third pick face) is placed on shelf 7000D (FIG. 20, block 2015).In one aspect, the lift 150 may transfer one or more case units from one storage level to another storage level, for example, from shelf 7000A to shelf 7000D, and the bot 110 may retrieve the transferred case units (transferred from the storage level corresponding to shelf 7000A) and place the transferred case units in a storage space on the storage level corresponding to shelf 7000D. The bot 110 has a first pick face (one or more) disposed on shelves 7000B, 7000H (for example, common to the bot 110 and each lift 150A) that is different from the second pick face, but the second pick face constructs a (one or more) second pick face or retrieves from a (one or more) interface station TS such that at least one case unit is common to the first pick face (Figure 20, block 2020). For example, the first pick faces 5, 7 are disassembled such that different pick faces including the individual pick face 5 (or the individual pick face 7) are retrieved by the bot 110, and / or the other first pick faces 20, 22 are disassembled such that different pick faces including the individual pick face 20 (or the individual pick face 22) are retrieved by the bot 110. Here, the second pick face is different from the first pick face, but includes at least one of the individual pick faces of the first pick face such that at least one case unit is common between the first pick face and the second pick face. As can be understood, the second pick face may be disassembled by the bot such that the pick face disposed on at least one storage shelf using 110 is different from the second pick face, and at least one case unit is common between the second pick face and the pick face disposed on at least one storage shelf.As can be understood, for the transfer of incoming stock, the pick faces 5, 7 are transferred as a unit from the lifts 150A1, 150A2 and are at one of the interface stations TS (which may include combined case units / totes). The pick faces 5, 7 may be distributed such that when conveyed to the storage array by the bots 110, one or more of the case units / totes within the pick faces 5, 7 are conveyed to separate storage rack positions (e.g., separate storage spaces 130S). Similarly, for the transfer of outgoing stock (described in more detail below) from the storage rack to a load out section such as a palletizing cell or a truck load out, the combined cases / totes of the pick faces 5, 7 at any of the plurality of interface stations TS may be distributed within the load out section. In one aspect, the distribution of the case units / totes in the load out section is effected by the lift transferring the cases / totes from the combined pick faces in a desired sequence related to a given load out section instruction or sequence. Similarly, each of the plurality of loads carried by the load handling device LHD may be transferred in a desired sequence related to a given load out section. For example, in one aspect, the load handling device LHD of the lift 150B sends a plurality of loads (e.g., from a common pick face) in a single placement step in the order sequence at unloading (in one aspect, the lift 150B removes a case unit in one pick up step in the order sequence). In other aspects, the lift 150B removes case units in a plurality of pick up steps to effect an order sequence of the case units. In one aspect, at least one of the pick faces in the combined pick faces carried on a common load handling device is different (e.g., has a different configuration) from the other pick faces in the combined pick faces.

[0032] In one aspect, the interface station TS is configured for passive transfer (e.g., handover) of case units (and / or pick faces) between the bot 110 and the load handling device LHD of the lift 150 (e.g., the interface station TS has no moving parts for transporting case units), as will be described in further detail below. For example, also referring to FIG. 2B, the interface station TS and / or the buffer station BS are such that the handover (e.g., removal and placement) of the bot 110 occurs in a passive manner substantially similar to the method (as described herein) between the bot 110 and the storage space 130S where case units or totes are transferred to and from the shelves. In one aspect, one or more stacked levels TL1, TL2 of the transfer rack shelf RTS similar to the above-described storage shelves (e.g., each formed by rails 1210, 1200 and slats 1210S) are included (e.g., to utilize the lifting ability of the bot 110 with respect to the stacked rack shelf RTS). In one aspect, a buffer station BS above one or more of the stacked levels TL1, TL2 also functions as a handover / interface station for the load handling device LHD of the lift 150. In one aspect, when the bot 110, such as the bot 110', is configured for transfer of case units to a single level 130L of the storage shelf, the interface station TS and / or the buffer station BS also include a single-level transfer rack shelf (substantially similar to the storage rack shelf of the storage level 130L described above with respect to FIG. 1D). As can be understood, the operation of the storage and retrieval system with the bot 110' providing a single-level storage and transfer shelf is substantially similar to that described herein.Also, as can be understood, the transfer (e.g., removal and placement) of case units (e.g., individual case units or pick faces) and tote load handling devices LHD to stacked rack shelves RTS (and / or single-level rack shelves) occurs in a passive manner that is substantially similar to the method (as described herein) between the bot 110 through which the case units or totes are transferred to and from the shelves and the storage space 130S. In other aspects, the shelf may include any suitable transfer arm (the transfer arm is substantially similar to the transfer arm 110PA of the bot 110 shown in FIG. 6 and / or the transfer arm of the load handling device shown in FIGS. 4A - 5B, but when the transfer arm is incorporated into the shelf of the interface station TS, the Z-direction movement may be omitted) for removing and placing case units or totes from one or more of the load handling devices LHD of the bot 110 and the lift 150. A suitable example of an interface station with an active transfer arm is described, for example, in U.S. Patent Application No. 12 / 757,354, filed on April 9, 2010, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0033] In one aspect, the positioning of the bot 110 relative to the interface station TS occurs in substantially the same manner as the positioning of the bot relative to the storage space 130S. For example, in one aspect, the positioning of the bot 110 relative to the storage space 130S and the interface station TS occurs in substantially the same manner as described in the specification of U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 327,035, filed Dec. 15, 2011 (now U.S. Patent No. 9,008,884) and the specification of U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 608,877, filed Sep. 10, 2012 (now U.S. Patent No. 8,954,188), the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. For example, referring to FIGS. 1 and 1B, the bot 110 includes one or more sensors 110S that detect slats 1210S disposed on / within the rail 1200 and / or positioning features 130F (such as openings, reflective surfaces, RFID tags, etc.). The slats and / or positioning features 130F are arranged, for example, to identify the position of the bot 110 within the storage and retrieval system relative to the storage space and / or the interface station TS. In one aspect, the bot 110 includes a control device 110C that, for example, counts the slats 1210S to at least partially determine the position of the bot 110 within the storage and retrieval system 100. In other aspects, the positioning features 130F may be arranged to form an absolute or incremental encoder that, when detected by the bot 110, results in the determination of the position of the bot 110 within the storage and retrieval system 100.

[0034] As can be understood, referring to FIG. 2B, the transfer rack shelf RTS of each interface / handover station TS defines a plurality of loading stations MLS (for example, having one or more storage case holding positions for holding a corresponding number of case units or totes) on the common transfer rack shelf RTS. As described above, each load of the plurality of loading stations is a single case unit / tote or a pick face of a plurality of cases (for example, having a plurality of case units / totes that are moved integrally) that is taken out and arranged by either a bot or a load handling device LHD. As can be understood, the positioning of the bot described above enables the bot 110 to position itself relative to the plurality of loading stations MLS in order to take out and arrange the case unit / tote and the pick face from a predetermined one of the holding positions of the plurality of loading stations MLS. The interface / handover station TS defines a buffer where the incoming and / or outgoing case units / totes and pick faces are temporarily stored when being transferred between the bot 110 and the load handling device LHD of the lift 150.

[0035] In one aspect, one or more peripheral pick face buffers / transfer stations BS (substantially the same as interface station TS and referred to as buffer station BS herein) are also arranged on the side of transfer deck 130B opposite to extraction passage 130A and rack module RM such that transfer deck 130B is interposed between the extraction passage and each buffer station BS. The peripheral buffer stations BS are either scattered among the interface stations TS or, in one aspect, are in a straight line with interface stations TS as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. In one aspect, the peripheral buffer stations BS are formed by rails 1210, 1200 and slats 1210S and are an extension (although a separate section) of the interface stations TS (e.g., the interface stations and the peripheral buffer stations are formed by common rails 1210, 1200). Thus, the peripheral buffer stations BS include, in one aspect, one or more stacked levels TL1, TL2 of transfer rack shelves RTS as described above with respect to interface stations TS, while in other aspects, the buffer stations include a single-level transfer rack shelf. The peripheral buffer stations BS define a buffer for temporarily storing case units / totes and / or pick faces when, for any suitable reason, such as when they are being transferred from one bot 110 to a different bot 110 on the same storage level 130L as further detailed below. As can be understood, in one aspect, the peripheral buffer stations BS are arranged at any suitable location in the storage and retrieval system, including any location within extraction passage 130A and along transfer deck 130B. As can be understood, the case units arranged at buffer station BS are transferred to interface station TS by bots 110 in one aspect and by any suitable conveyor connecting buffer station BS to interface station TS in other aspects.In one aspect, when the case unit is transferred from the buffer station BS to the interface station TS by the bot 110, this transfer moves along the transfer deck in a route for another task (e.g., transfer of the pick face to the storage area, classification of the pick face, transfer of the pick face from the storage area, etc.) and the bot 110 moving past the buffer station BS stops to pick up the pick face from the buffer station BS and transfers the pick face to the interface station TS during the process of performing other tasks, which is a timely transfer.

[0036] Still referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, in one aspect, the interface station TS is arranged along the transfer deck 130B in a manner similar to a parking space beside a road such that the bot 110 "parallel parks" at a given interface station TS to transfer case units to and from one or more shelves RTS at one or more levels TL1, TL2 of the interface station TS. In one aspect, the direction of transfer of the bot 110 at the interface station TS (e.g., when parallel parked) is the same as the direction when the bot 110 is moving along the high-speed bot conveyance path HSTP (e.g., the interface station is substantially parallel to the bot moving direction of the transfer deck and / or the side of the transfer deck where the lift 150 is disposed above). The interaction of the bot 110 with the surrounding buffer station BS also occurs by parallel parking such that the direction of transfer of the bot 110 at the surrounding buffer station BS (e.g., when parallel parked) is the same as the direction when the bot 110 is moving along the high-speed bot conveyance path HSTP.

[0037] In another aspect, referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, at least the interface station TS is disposed on an extension or pier 130BD extending from the transfer deck 130B. In one aspect, the pier 130BD is similar to an extraction passage along which the bot 110 moves along a rail 1200S fixed to the horizontal support member 1200 (in a manner substantially similar to that described above). In other aspects, the moving surface of the pier 130BD may be substantially similar to the moving surface of the transfer deck 130B. Each pier 130BD is disposed on a side of the transfer deck 130B, such as a side opposite the extraction passage 130A and the rack module RM, such that the transfer deck 130B is interposed between the extraction passage and each pier 130BD. The pier 130BD extends from the transfer deck at a non-zero angle with respect to at least a portion of the high-speed bot conveyance path HSTP. In other aspects, the pier 130BD extends from any suitable portion of the transfer deck 130B, including the ends 130BE1, 130BE2 of the transfer deck 130BD. As can be understood, the peripheral buffer station BSD (substantially similar to the peripheral buffer station BS described above) may also be disposed along at least a portion of the pier 130BD.

[0038] Next, referring to FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 5, as described above, in one aspect, the interface station TS is a passive station, and the load handling device LHD of the lifts 150A, 150B has active transfer arms or pick heads 4000A, 4000B. In one aspect, the lift 150 that communicates between the loading and unloading conveyors 160CA, 160CB and one or more of the (one or more) interface stations TS of the stacked deck level 130C (including the stacked transfer rack shelves RTS in one aspect) is a reciprocating lift (e.g., the lift moves linearly along a single straight path in the Z direction (with respect to the reference coordinate system REFL of the lift shown in FIG. 5) in both directions). The lift 150 is not limited in the speed of movement in the Z direction and is a high-speed lift (not a continuous operation or a part-note lift), and the transfer speed or speed of the lift is not a determining factor in the transfer of case units to and from the storage and retrieval system. For example, the transfer processing speed of the case units by the lift 150 is substantially equal to the transfer processing speed of the case units by the bot 110. As can be understood, in one aspect, the loading and unloading lifts 150A, 150B are described as vertical reciprocating lifts, but in other aspects, the loading and unloading lifts 150A, 150B are any suitable pick face transfer system for transporting the case pick face to and from the storage structure 130. For example, in other aspects, the loading and unloading lift modules 150A, 150B are one or more of a reciprocating lift, any suitable automated material handling system, conveyor, bot, turntable, roller conveyor, multi-level conveyor (e.g., a part-note conveyor) that operate synchronously or asynchronously.

[0039] As described herein, the lift 150 is arranged to travel to and from, and connect, two or more levels 130L of the multi-level transfer deck 130B, and to raise and lower the pick face from the multi-level transfer deck 130B. As described herein, for example, a plurality of loaded items disposed at the interface station TS are retrieved using the load handling device LHD of the lift 150 and conveyed by the lift 150 in one pass / across of the plurality of transfer deck levels 130B towards a discharge conveyor station such as the discharge conveyor 160CB. As noted herein, in one aspect, the retrieval of the plurality of loaded items is a common retrieval from a common interface station TS (using a common load handling device LHD or effected by a plurality of load handling devices LHD) such that the retrieval is effected with one stop of the lift. In other aspects, the plurality of loaded items are retrieved from separate interface stations TS of separate levels 130L of the multi-level transfer deck 130B and thus within the scope of one pass / across of the plurality of deck levels (without, for example, changing the lift travel direction and / or the cyclic operation) but with multiple stops of the lift. As further described herein, the case load / pick face sent by the lift 150 to the unloading station is considered to form a case load stream (for example, each lift 150 creates one case load stream).

[0040] For example, referring to FIGS. 4A - 5B, in one aspect, the pick - up heads of each lift 150 (such as pick - up heads 4000A, 4000B, 4000C, 4000D, etc.) are configured for the lifting / lowering of a plurality of common loads (such as a single load or a plurality of pick - faces grouped as a unit) (for example, for the plurality of levels 130L of a storage and retrieval system) on a platform (such as a load handling device LHD). In one aspect, the pick - up heads 4000A, 4000B, 4000C, 4000D effect the retrieval of a plurality of loads (for example, from a common / shared interface station using a common / single load handling device LHD or using a plurality of independently operable load handling devices LHD). In another aspect, the pick - up heads 4000A, 4000B, 4000C, 4000D effect the retrieval of a plurality of independent loads (for example, from separate interface stations TS located on separate levels 130L of a storage and retrieval system, such as interface station TS in FIGS. 1, shipping conveyor 160CB, etc.) in a single pass / cross - over to one or more (one or more) unloading conveyor stations or any other suitable pick - face holding / conveying station. Accordingly, the plurality of loads are positioned at each of the interface stations TS or, in other aspects, at one or more of the interface stations TS for retrieval by one or more lifts 150. As can be understood, the plurality of loads (one or more) at each or any of the interface stations TS are retrieved by the load handling device LHD of the lift 150 and conveyed by the lift 150, for example, in a single pass / cross - over to the shipping conveyor 160CB of one or more shipping stations 160UT or other suitable pick - face holding / conveying station, with respect to the level 130L of the storage and retrieval system by the pick - up heads 4000A, 4000B.As described above, in one aspect, the removal of a plurality of loaded items is a common removal from a common interface station TS (such that the removal of the plurality of loaded items is brought about by a single stop of the removal heads 4000A, 4000B, using a common loaded item operating device or by a plurality of independent loaded item operating devices LHD). In other aspects, the removal of a plurality of loaded items is from separate interface stations TS at separate levels 130L of the storage and removal system and is thus removed in a plurality of (but, for example, within the scope of a single pass / crossing without changing the direction or cyclic operation of the removal heads 4000A, 4000B) stops.

[0041] In one aspect, the inbound lift module 150A and the outbound lift module 150B have different types of extraction heads (as described below), but in other aspects, the inbound lift module 150A and the outbound lift module 150B have the same type of extraction head similar to one of the extraction heads described below (e.g., both lifts 150A, 150B have extraction head 4000A, or both lifts 150A, 150B have extraction head 4000B). For example, both the inbound and outbound lift modules 150A, 150B have a vertical mast 4002, and the slide 4001 moves along the vertical mast 4002 (although only one mast is shown, in other aspects there may be multiple masts). The (one or more) masts 4002 extend, for example, between the base level BL (FIG. 2B) where the inbound and outbound conveyors 160CA, 160CB of the inbound and outbound stations 160IN, 160UT are located, and any desired deck or storage level 130L of the multi-level storage array. One or more carriages, or one or more slides 4001, are configured to move the slide (and the extraction heads 4000A, 4000B attached thereto) up or down between the base level BL and the desired interface station shelf at the desired storage level 130L, under the propulsion of any suitable drive unit 4002D (e.g., connected to the control server 120), along the (one or more) masts 4002. The drive unit 4002D is one or more of a chain drive, a belt drive, a screw drive, a linear actuator, a solid state drive, or any other drive device capable of linearly driving the (one or more) slides, and the extraction heads 4000A, 4000B attached thereto, along the (one or more) masts 4002.

[0042] As can be understood, the lift 150 includes any suitable pick - up head positioning system for positioning the (one or more) pick - up heads 4000A, 4000B with respect to the interface station TS shelves. For example, together with the control server 120, any suitable encoder or position sensor SENS is provided that provides position measurement of the (one or more) pick - up heads 4000A, 4000B with respect to the interface station TS shelves and the in - bound / out - bound conveyors 160CA, 160CB. For example, the control server 120 provides control signals to the lift drive devices 4002D, 4005, 4005A. The control server 120 also receives a signal from the position sensor SENS when the (one or more) pick - up heads move along the mast 4002 and determines the position of the pick - up heads with respect to the interface station TS shelves based on the signal. The control server 120 stops the (one or more) pick - up heads at a predetermined interface station shelf based on the signal from the sensor SENS and causes the extension of the load handling device LHD, as will be described in more detail below, to pick up one or more case units from the interface station TS shelves or place them on the interface station TS shelves.

[0043] As described above, the (one or more) storage lift modules 150A include a retrieval head 4000A, and the retrieval head 4000A is movably subordinate to the (one or more) masts 4002, such as by being attached to the slide 4001 so that the retrieval head 4000A moves with the (one or more) slides 4001 when the (one or more) slides move. In this aspect, the retrieval head 4000A includes a retrieval head portion or effector, hereinafter referred to as a load handling device LHDA in this specification, and the retrieval head portion or effector has one or more tines or fingers 4273 attached to a base member 4272 to form a platform PFM for accommodating a load. The platform PFM forms a load support portion having a common elevator configured to hold one or more pick faces in the common elevator of the platform PFM. In one aspect, the common elevator is a substantially flat common surface, but in other aspects, the common elevator has a common retrieval and placement lift position of the lift so that the lift can retrieve and place all loads at once, at one stop of the lift's raising and lowering, including stacked shelves or effectors (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5C, one or more of the retrieval heads 4000A, 4000B include a stacked shelf or effector LHDA). As can be understood, although the stacked effectors of the retrieval head 4000A are illustrated with respect to the lift 150A, in one aspect, one or more effectors LHDA, LHDB of the retrieval head 4000B of the lift 150B include stacked effectors. The fingers 4273 are configured to pass through the slats 1210S of the interface station TS shelf or between the slats 1210S to transfer one or more case units between the load handling device LHD and the shelf (as described in more detail below). The base member 4272 is movably attached to one or more rails 4360S of the frame 4200, and the rails 4360S are attached to the slide 4001.Any suitable drive unit 4005 (such as a belt drive, a chain drive, a screw drive, a gear drive, etc., which is substantially similar in shape to drive unit 4002D, but may be smaller than drive unit 4002D and may not be similar in capacity) is attached to the frame 4200 and is connected to the base member 4272 to drive the base member 4272 in the direction of arrow 4050 (e.g., the Y direction with respect to the lift reference coordinate system REFL) using (one or more) fingers, i.e., effector LHDA. The load platform PFM includes one or more load stations LST1 - LST3, each of which is arranged to hold (one or more) case units / totes or (one or more) pick faces thereon. In one aspect, each platform PFM is illustrated as having three load stations, but in other aspects, the platform may have more or fewer than three load stations. Each of the (one or more) case units / totes or pick faces within the one or more load stations LST1 - LST3 is transferred integrally to or from the lift 150. However, if there are multiple case units / totes (e.g., pick faces) within a load station, in one aspect, the pick face is disassembled such that the one or more case units forming the pick face are distributed to sections at different storage levels 130L from the (one or more) other case units of the pick face, but in other aspects, it should be understood that the pick face may be arranged integrally within the storage space 130S in the manner described herein.

[0044] The outbound lift module 150B also includes a pick - up head 4000B attached to the slide 4001 such that when the slide moves, the pick - up head 4000B moves with the slide 4001. In this aspect, the pick - up head 4000B includes one or more pick - up head portions or effectors (e.g., transfer arms) LHDA, LHDB (each being substantially similar to the pick - up head 4000A), each having one or more tines or fingers 4273 attached to their respective base members 4272A. Each base member 4272A is movably attached to one or more rails 4360SA of a frame 4200A that is later attached to the slide 4001. Any suitable drive unit 4005A, such as a belt drive, a chain drive, a screw drive, a gear drive, etc., is attached to the frame 4200A and is connected to each respective base member 4272A to drive each respective base member 4272A (with fingers) in the direction of arrow 4050 (each effector has its own drive unit such that each effector is independently movable in the direction of arrow 4050). Two effectors LHDA, LHDB are shown on the pick - up head 4000B, but the pick - up head 4000B includes any suitable number of effectors corresponding to, for example, the number of case unit / pick - face holding positions at the interface station TS such that the case unit / pick - face is individually retrieved as further detailed below from the interface station TS.

[0045] In one aspect, referring to FIG. 5A, one or more of the loading and unloading lifts 150 each include a plurality of pick - up heads 4000C, 4000D that are each attached to a corresponding carriage or slide 4001A, 4001B. Each of the slides 4001A, 4001B (and the pick - up heads attached thereto) is attached to a mast 4002 such that each can be independently moved in the Z - direction by a drive device 4002DA, 4002DB (substantially similar to the drive device 4002D described above). Each pick - up head 4000C, 4000D shown in FIG. 5A includes a single load handling device, but in other aspects, it should be understood that one or more of the pick - up heads 4000C, 4000D may include a plurality of load handling devices that are individually actuated in a manner similar to the pick - up head 4000B. As can be understood, an appropriate gap is provided between each of the slides 4001A, 4001B and the (one or more) pick - up heads attached thereto such that each pick - up head is provided with a full - stroke movement along the mast 4002 (for example, from a base level BL to an interface station shelf at, for example, the uppermost storage level 130L).

[0046] In another aspect, as described above, each load handling device of the lifts 150A, 150B is configured to sort one or more case units on the load handling device to construct a pick face on the load handling device. For example, referring to FIG. 5B, the carriage 4200B includes a frame 4110F having a loading section 4110PL. The loading section 4110PL of the load handling device LHD includes a loading bed 4110PB, a fence or reference point member 4110PF, a transfer arm LHDA, and a pusher bar or member 4110PR. In one aspect, the loading bed 4110PB includes one or more rollers 4110RL attached to the frame 110F so as to be substantially parallel to the fingers 4273A-4273E, and one or more case units carried within the loading section 110PL are positioned within the loading section 4110PL at a predetermined position and / or relative to other case units within the loading section 4110PL (e.g., for lateral alignment of the case unit, not front-to-back, in the Y direction with respect to the lift reference coordinate system defined by the extension direction of the transfer arm LHDA), and is movable in the X direction (e.g., can be aligned with a predetermined position of the frame / loading section and / or the position reference of one or more case units of the lift reference coordinate system REFL). In one aspect, the rollers 4110RL may be driven by any suitable motor (e.g., rotated about their respective axes) to move the case unit within the loading section 4110PL. In other aspects, the load handling device LHD includes one or more laterally alignable movable pusher bars (not shown) for pushing the case unit(s) onto the rollers 4110RL to move the case unit(s) along the X direction to a predetermined position within the loading section 4110PL. The laterally alignable movable pusher bar may be substantially similar to that described in U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,952, filed Dec. 15, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.The pusher bar 4110PR is movable in the Y direction with respect to the lift reference coordinate system REFL to effect the longitudinal alignment of the (one or more) case units within the load area 4110PL, in a manner described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 107,135, filed on January 23, 2015, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, together with the fence 4110PF and / or the pick head 4270 of the transfer arm LDHA.

[0047] Referring further to FIG. 5B, the case unit is disposed on the load bed 4110PB and removed from the load bed 4110PB using the transfer arm LHDA. The transfer arm LHDA includes, for example, a lift mechanism or unit 5000 that is substantially located within the load section 4110PL, as described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 107,135, filed on January 23, 2015, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. The lift mechanism 5000 provides both a rough placement and a fine placement of the pick face, which is carried by the load handling device LHD and raised to a position within the storage structure 130, in addition to or instead of the Z-direction movement of the carriage 4200B, for interfacing the pick face and / or individual case units to and from the shelves of the interface station TS.

[0048] The lift mechanism 5000 is configured such that the combined movement of the robotic axes (e.g., the combined substantial simultaneous movement of the pusher bar 4110PR, the lift mechanism 5000, the extension of the pick - up head, and the front - to - back alignment mechanism) is carried out so that different / multiple SKUs or multiple picked - up loads are operated by the lift 150. In one aspect, the operation of the lift mechanism 5000 is independent of the operation of the pusher bar 4110PR as described hereinafter. Disconnecting the axes of the lift mechanism 5000 and the pusher bar 4110PR results in a combined pick - up / placement sequence, which results in a reduction in pick - up / placement cycle time, an increase in the throughput of the storage and pick - up system, and / or an increase in the storage density of the storage and pick - up system as described above. For example, the lift mechanism 5000 provides for raising a case unit from the loading bed 4110PL of the load handling device LHD in order to enable sorting and aligning the case unit at a predetermined position on the loading bed 41110PL and on the transfer arm LHDA. In one aspect, the case unit may be lowered onto the loading bed if sorting or alignment is desired, or the transfer arm LHDA may be at least partially raised and remain so in order to enable the arm to extend and retract to pick up / place the case unit to / from the interface station TS without a secondary lift above the fence 4110PF of the transfer arm LHDA in addition to the travel along the mast(s) 4002 of the load handling device LHD (one or more).

[0049] The lift mechanism may be configured in any suitable manner such that the extraction head 4270 of the load handling device LHD moves bidirectionally (e.g., reciprocates) along the Z-axis (e.g., in the Z direction). In one aspect, the lift mechanism 5000 includes a mast 5000M, and the extraction head 4270 is movably attached to the mast 4200M in any suitable manner. The mast 4200M is movably attached to the frame 4110F in any suitable manner so as to be movable along the Y direction. In one aspect, the frame includes a guide rail 4360S to which the mast 4200M is slidably attached. The transfer arm drive unit 4005 may be attached to the frame to effect the movement of the transfer arm LHDA at least along the Y and Z directions. In one aspect, the transfer arm drive unit 4005 includes an extension motor 4301 and a lift motor 4302. The extension motor 4301 may be attached to the frame 4110F and may be connected to the mast 4200M in any suitable manner, such as a belt and pulley transmission unit 4260A, a screw drive transmission unit (not shown), and / or a gear drive transmission unit (not shown). The lift motor 4302 may be attached to the mast 4200M and may be connected to the extraction head 4270 in any suitable manner, such as a belt and pulley transmission unit 4271, a screw drive transmission unit (not shown), and / or a gear drive transmission unit (not shown). As an example, the mast 4200M includes a guide such as a guide rail 4280, and the extraction head 4270 is attached along the guide rail 4280 for guided movement in the Z direction along the guide rail 4280. In other aspects, the extraction head 4270 is attached to the mast in any suitable manner for guided movement in the Z direction. With regard to the transmission unit, in other aspects, any suitable linear actuator is used to move the extraction head in the Z direction. The transmission unit 260A for the extension motor 301 is substantially the same as that described herein with respect to the transmission unit 271.

[0050] Still referring to FIG. 5B, the extraction head 4270 of the load handling device LHD transfers the case unit between the load handling device LHD and the interface station TS (e.g., FIG. 2A), and in other aspects, directly between the bot 110 and the lift module 150. In one aspect, the extraction head 4270 includes a base member 4200B1, one or more tines or fingers 4273A-4273E, and one or more actuators 4274A, 4274B. The base member 4200B1 is attached to the mast 4200M as described above so as to straddle along the guide rail 4280. One or more tines 4273A-4273E are attached to the base member 4200B1 at the proximal ends of the tines 4273A-4273E such that the distal ends (e.g., free ends) of the tines 4273A-4273E are cantilevered from the base member 4200B1. Referring again to FIG. 1B, the tines 4273A-4273E are configured for insertion between the slats 1210S that form the case unit support surface CUSP of the shelf of the interface station TS.

[0051] One or more of the tines 4273A-4273E are movably attached to the base member 4200B1 (such as on a slide / guide rail similar to those described above) so as to be movable in the Z direction. In other aspects, any number of tines are attached to the base member 4200B1, but in the aspect shown in the drawings, for example, five tines 4273A-4273E are attached to the base member 4200B1. Any number of the tines 4273A-4273E are movably attached to the base member 4200B1, but in the aspect shown in the drawings, for example, the outermost tines 4273A, 4273E (with respect to the center line CL of the extraction head 4270) are movably attached to the base member 4200B1, while the remaining tines 4273B-4273D are non-movable with respect to the base member 4200B1.

[0052] In this aspect, the extraction head 4270 uses only three tines 4273B to 4273D to transfer smaller-sized case units (and / or groups of case units) to and from the load handling device LHD, and uses five tines 4273A to 4273E to transfer larger-sized case units (and / or groups of case units) to and from the load handling device LHD. In other aspects, less than three tines are used to transfer smaller-sized case units (for example, when three or more tines are movably attached to the base member 4200B1). For example, in one aspect, all but one of the tines 4273A to 4273E are movably attached to the base member 4200B1 such that the smallest case unit being transferred to and from the load handling device has a width approximately equal to the distance X1 between the slats 1210S, without interfering with other case units on the shelf of the interface station (see Figure 1B).

[0053] The immovable tines 4273B to 4273D define the pickup surface SP of the pickup head 4270 and are used when transporting case units (and / or pick faces) of all sizes. However, the movable tines 4273A and 4273E can be selectively raised and lowered (e.g., in the Z direction by actuators 274A and 274B) relative to the immovable tines 4273B to 4273D for transporting larger case units (and / or pick faces). Still referring to FIG. 5B, an example is shown where all of the tines 4273A to 4273E are arranged such that the case unit support surface SF of each tine 4273A to 4273E coincides with the pickup surface SP of the pickup head 4270. However, as can be understood, the case unit support surfaces SF of the tines 4273A and 4273E are offset (e.g., downward) from the pickup surface SP, and the tines 4273A and 4273E do not contact one or more case units gripped by the pickup head 4270 and are arranged at a predetermined case unit holding position above the shelf of the interface station TS so as not to interfere with the non-picked-up case units. The two end tines 4273A and 4273E are movable so as to be disposed lower (e.g., in the Z direction) relative to the other tines 4273B to 4273D.

[0054] The movement of Tines 4273A to 4273E in the Z direction is brought about by one or more actuators 4274A, 4274B attached at any suitable location on the transfer arm LHDA. In one aspect, the one or more actuators 4274A, 4274B are attached to the base member 4200B1 of the pick - up head 4270. The one or more actuators can be any suitable actuator, such as a linear actuator, capable of moving one or more of the Tines 4273A to 4273E in the Z direction. For example, in the aspect shown in FIG. 5B, there is one actuator 4274A, 4274B for each of the movable Tines 4273A, 4273E such that each movable Tine can move independently in the Z direction. In other aspects, one actuator may be connected to two or more movable Tines such that two or more Tines move together in the Z direction.

[0055] As can be appreciated, movably attaching one or more of the Tines 4273A to 4273E onto the base member 4200B1 of the pick - up head 4270 provides full support onto the large case unit and / or the pick - up head 4270 of the pick - face, while also providing the ability to remove and place a small case unit, for example, without interfering with other case units arranged on the shelf of the interface station TS. The ability to remove and place case units of various sizes without interfering with other case units at the interface station reduces the size of the gap G (FIG. 9) between the case units on the shelf of the interface station.

[0056] Referring back to FIG. 5B, it is also noted that the pusher bar 4110PR is movable independently of the transfer arm LHDA. The pusher bar 4110PR is movably attached to the frame 4110F in any suitable manner, such as a guide rod and slide configuration, and is actuated along the Y direction (e.g., a direction substantially parallel to the extension / retraction direction of the transfer arm LHDA). In one aspect, at least one guide rod 4360 is attached within the loading section 4110PL to guide the pusher bar 4110PR in its movement in the Y direction. In one aspect, at least the guide rod / slide configuration is connected within the loading section 4110PL to hold the pusher bar 4110PR. The pusher bar 4110PR is actuated by any suitable motor and transmission, such as the motor 4303 and the transmission 4303T. In one aspect, the motor 4303 is a rotary motor and the transmission 4303T is a belt and pulley transmission. In other aspects, the pusher bar 110PR may be actuated by a linear actuator having substantially no rotating parts.

[0057] The pusher bar 4110PR is disposed within the loading section 4110PL so as to be substantially perpendicular to the roller 4110RL and not interfere with the pick-up head 4270 (the pusher bar 4110PR includes slots 4351 through which the fingers 4273A - 4273E pass as they descend into the loading bed 4110PB, and the slots 4351 are sized to allow unobstructed movement with respect to the fingers 4273A - 4273E). The pusher bar 4110PR also includes one or more openings through which the roller 4110RL passes, and the openings are sized to allow free rotation of the roller about its respective axis. As can be understood, the independently operable pusher bar 4110PR does not interfere with the roller 4110RL, the lateral (e.g., Y direction) extension of the transfer arm LHDA, and the raising / lowering of the pick-up head 4270.

[0058] As can be understood, the lift modules 150A, 150B are under the control of any suitable control device such as the control server 120 so that when taking out and placing the case units, the take-out head is raised and / or lowered to a predetermined height corresponding to the shelf of the interface station TS at the predetermined storage level 130L. At the interface station TS, the take-out heads 4000A, 4000B, 4270, or individual parts thereof (e.g., effectors LHDA, LHDB) are extended to be engaged between the slats 1210S (shown in FIG. 4B) under the case unit from which the fingers 4273 are taken out, corresponding to one or more case unit holding positions of the interface station TS where one or more case units are taken out. The lifts 150A, 150B raise the take-out heads 4000A, 4000B, 4270 to lift the case unit from the slats 1210S, and retract the take-out heads 4000A, 4000B, 4270 for transporting the case unit to another level of the storage and take-out system, such as for transporting the case unit to the unloading station 160UT. Similarly, for placing one or more case units, the take-out heads 4000A, 4000B, 4270, or individual parts thereof (e.g., effectors LHDA, LHDB) are extended so that the fingers 4273 are above the slats, corresponding to one or more case unit holding positions of the interface station TS where one or more case units are placed. The lifts 150A, 150B lower the take-out heads 4000A, 4000B, 4270 for placing the case unit on the slats 1210S and for the fingers 4273 to be engaged between the slats 1210S under the case unit from which they are taken out.

[0059] (One or more) case units are transferred by the lift 150, including a plurality of take-out and placement operations of the (one or more) case units, and an example of the on-the-fly classification of the case units for creating a mixed pallet load MPL (as shown in FIG. 1C) according to a predetermined order-out sequence will be described in connection with FIGS. 4A-5B, 9, and 10-10E according to aspects of the disclosed embodiments. In one aspect, the control server 120 commands one or more of the bots 110 to cause the bots 110 that form the pick face (as described in the specification of the US Provisional Patent Application with Attorney Docket No. 1127P015164-US(PAR), filed on January 15, 2016, entitled "Storage retrieval system", the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference) to classify (one or more) case orders of the outbound stream (e.g., processing stream) of the bots 110 independent of the order of case removal from the storage area, and commands the (one or more) lifts 150 to cause the lifts 150 (as described in the specification of the US Provisional Patent Application with Attorney Docket No. 1127P015165-US(PAR), filed on January 15, 2016, entitled "Storage retrieval system", the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference) to classify the case orders of the outbound flow (e.g., processing stream) of the (one or more) lifts 150 independent of the order in which the case units are placed at the (one or more) transfer stations TS (or buffer stations BS), for example, by the bots 110. In one aspect, the bot control device 110C is configured to command the bots 110 to cause the bots 110 that form the pick face to classify (one or more) case orders of the outbound flow of the bots 110 independent of the order of case removal from the storage area.In yet other aspects, both the control server 120 and the bot control device 110C are configured to cause the bot 110 to classify the (one or more) case orders of the outbound flow of the bot 110, independent of the order in which the bot 110 picks up cases from the storage area to form the pick face. Thus, in one aspect, the control server 120 and / or the bot control device 110C is configured to set the outbound case flow, at least in part, by the classification by the bot 110 of cases that are commonly carried by the bot 110, which is decoupled from the order in which the bot 110 picks up cases from the storage unit. This may be referred to, for illustrative purposes, as the outbound flow classification by the bot at the transfer station (and / or at the buffer station). In another aspect, the control server 120 and / or the (one or more) lifts 150 are configured to set the outbound case flow, at least in part, by the classification by the lift 150 of cases that are commonly carried by the lift 150, which is decoupled from the order in which the lift 150 picks up cases from the transfer station TS (or buffer station BS). This may be referred to, for illustrative purposes, as the outbound flow classification by the lift at the transfer station (and / or at the buffer station).

[0060] In one aspect, a plurality of transfer decks 130B are provided and are arranged at separate levels so as to define a multi-level deck in the above-described manner (FIG. 9B, block 900). One or more bots 110 are disposed on each of the plurality of levels of transfer decks 130B to hold and convey pick faces thereon as described above (FIG. 9B, block 910). The pick face is moved up and / or down from the multi-level deck 130B in accordance with a load-out sequence using at least one outfeed lift 150B that travels to and connects two or more levels of the multi-level deck 130B in a manner substantially similar to that described below (FIG. 9B, block 920). As can be understood, each load-out from the distribution center or warehouse where the storage and retrieval system 100 is located (such as a truck load filled with cases from the storage and retrieval system 100, a pallet load, etc.) has a predetermined sequence or order of case loads (single case or mixed case) that are integrated to fill the load-out (for example, any suitable method as defined in the load-out order sequence described in U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 654,293, filed Oct. 17, 2012, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein), and / or has a rule-based system based on customer criteria, loading and unloading criteria, or any other suitable criteria. As described below, the transfer of the pick face (such as a case unit) between the bot 110 and the at least one outfeed lift 150B is effected using at least one transfer station TS (or buffer station BS) on each deck that interacts between the bot 110 on each respective transfer deck 130B and the at least one outfeed lift 150B (FIG. 9B, block 930).In one aspect, each outbound lift 150B defines at least one case loading stream of an order processing stream that includes a mixed case pick face from a multi-level deck 130B to a load out fill or load fill, and at least one case loading stream of the processing stream is arranged in an order sequence of a streaming pick face associated with a predetermined sequence of load out fills (e.g., an individual case loading stream of lift 150B forms an order processing stream corresponding to a load out fill) (FIG. 9B, block 940). As can be understood, at least one transfer station TS (or buffer station BS) above at least one of the multi-level decks commonly supports two or more of the mixed case pick faces (e.g., defining a part of the streaming pick face in the order sequence of the streaming pick face) based on, for example, a predetermined sequence of load out fills. In one aspect, the interface station TS (or buffer station BS) forms a common pick face transfer interface for at least one outbound lift 150B such that the commonly supported pick faces are commonly retrieved using at least one outbound lift 150B. In one aspect, the interface station TS (or buffer station BS) commonly supports two or more of the mixed case pick faces in an order sequence based on a predetermined sequence of load out fills. As can be understood, any suitable control device, such as control server 120, communicates with one or more bots 110 and is configured to effect the placement of the pick faces onto at least one transfer station TS (or buffer station BS) based on the order sequence of the streaming pick faces. In one aspect, the order sequence of the streaming pick faces is based on, for example, another processing stream of another outbound lift 150B.As can be understood, when there are two or more case load streams (e.g., from multiple outfeed lifts 150B), in order to provide a coordinated and harmonious integration of the case loads within each stream in the outfeed load fill, the case loads of each case load stream are associated with a predetermined sequence of the outfeed load fill in a corresponding order sequence and are also associated with each other (e.g., individual case load streams are combined according to a predetermined sequence of the outfeed load fill to form an order processing stream in which the first order sequence of the streaming pick face from the first lift complements the second order sequence of the streaming pick face from the second lift) (FIG. 9B, block 950). In one aspect, the order sequence of the case loads in each case load stream is defined by the order sequence of the multiple case loads of each outfeed (e.g., outfeed) stroke of the outfeed lift 150B that generates / supplies the case load stream of the multiple case loads (e.g., refer to FIG. 1E where the sorting 174 is performed by the vertical case conveyor 173 of the outfeed lift 150B).

[0061] As an example of a case load stream, referring to FIG. 9, there are two outbound lifts 150B1, 150B2, each lift having a respective case load stream COS1, COS2 that is transferred through transfer stations 160TS, 160TSA to an outbound conveyor 160CB. (In other embodiments, any suitable number of outbound lifts are present having any suitable number of corresponding case load streams provided to the outbound load fill.) For example, the order sequence of the case loads in each case load stream COS1, COS2 is defined by the order sequence of multiple case loads in each load outbound (outbound) stroke of the respective lifts 150B1, 150B2 that generate / supply the case load streams COS1, COS2. (For example, the multiple loads in each lift load outbound stroke are arranged in an order sequence related to the filling sequence.) Here, the order processing stream is defined by two lifts 150B1, 15B2, but in other embodiments, the order processing stream is defined by one of the lifts 150B1, 150B2 independent of the other of the lifts 150B1, 150B2.

[0062] In one aspect, the classification of multiple loads for an order / fill sequence is effected both before and / or during lift-out. For example, the classification before lift-out involves the case units / pick faces (e.g., multiple case loads) being sent by the bot 110 to the interface station shelves 7000A - 7000L of the transfer station TS on another transfer deck level 130B. In one aspect, the timing of the case load delivery of the case loads to the transfer station TS by the bot 110 is not in order, but the delivered case loads correspond to a predetermined sequence of case load streams COS1, COS2 to be carried out by the respective outfeed lifts 150B1, 150B2 to effect the order fill sequence. For example, multiple case loads are arranged in a classified arrangement (where at least the case units required for the order sequence are arranged on the interface station TS in a known relationship with the respective interface station TS) on the interface station TS (of one or more deck levels) so as to satisfy the order sequence for each load outfeed fill sequence (even if the timing of delivery is not ordered). As will be described below, in one aspect, the lift 150 removes multiple case loads from the interface station TS located on one or more deck levels to supply the respective case load streams COS1, COS2. In one aspect, the load outfeed fill sequence for each lift 150B is a continuous sequence (n) (e.g., when a single stream COS1, COS2 forms the outfeed load fill), or a continuous skip sequence (n + i, where i = 1 - m and i corresponds to the number of load streams COS1, COS2 integrated into the outfeed load fill), and in the continuous skip sequence, there are multiple streams COS1, COS2 forming the outfeed load fill.In the latter case, the order sequence of each lift interface station TS (or buffer station BS) is adapted to, or associated with, the order sequence of other load streams that merge into the outgoing load filler.

[0063] As an example, FIG. 9 illustrates an outbound load filler in which two case load streams COS1, COS2 are integrated to form an outbound load filler for a customer order. Here, at least one of the case load streams COS1, COS2 is associated with a predetermined pick face load order sequence for the outbound load filler. For illustrative purposes, the customer order may require (one or more) case units 1-8 provided by two lifts 150B1, 150B2. Here, case units 1 and 3 are carried out into the case load stream COS1 by lift 150B1, while case units 2 and 4 are carried out into the case load stream COS2 so that the cases arrive at the outbound station 160US in an alternative manner defined by the order sequence of the processing stream. Case loads 7 and 5 are sent to the outbound conveyor 160CB according to the order sequence so that the case units are carried and transferred in one pass through the stacking portion of the interface station TS by the common load handling device LHD of lift 150B1 from separate holding positions of one or more interface station shelves 7000A-7000F. To efficiently use each lift 150 within the storage and retrieval system 100, a control device such as the control server 120 determines which (one or more) interface stations the case units 5, 7 are located on. The control device sends a command to a lift such as lift 150B1 associated with the interface station TS where the case units 5, 7 are located to retrieve one or more of the outbound case units. As described herein, in one aspect, the lift 150 may move cases from an interface station TS at a separate storage level to an interface station of the outbound conveyor.In other aspects, the lift 150 may move case units between storage levels, such as from shelf 7000A to shelf 7000D. The case unit transferred from shelf 7000A may be retrieved by the lift 150 (e.g., in combination with a case unit pre-positioned on shelf 7000D) for transfer to the interface station of the outbound conveyor from shelf 7000D. In one aspect, the control server 120 is configured to command the lift 150 to effect a classification of the outbound flow (which may also be referred to as order processing, one or more processing streams, or one or more outbound streams) of one or more case orders, independent of the order in which cases are retrieved from the storage area by the bots 110 that form the pick face. For purposes of explanation, this may be referred to as lift-based outbound flow classification at the transfer station (and / or buffer station).

[0064] For example, referring to FIG. 9, a customer order may require that case units 7 and 5 be delivered and transferred to the outbound conveyor 160CB by a common load handling device LHD of the lift 150B1 in a single pass through the stacking area of the interface station TS from separate holding positions on one or more of the interface station shelves 7000A - 7000F. To efficiently use each lift 150 within the storage and retrieval system 100, a control device, such as the control server 120, determines on which of the one or more interface stations the case units 5, 7 are located. The control device transmits a command to a lift, such as lift 150B1, associated with the interface station TS where the case units 5, 7 are located, to retrieve one or more of the outbound case units.

[0065] In one aspect where the lift 150B1 takes out the case units 5 and 7 from the common shelf 7000B of the interface station TS, the lift 150B1 moves one or more load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 (and the take-out heads 4000A, 4000B, 4000C, 4000D, 4270 thereon) in the Z direction so that the transfer arms LHDA, LHDB are located substantially at the level of the interface station shelf 7000B (FIG. 10F, block 11000). The transfer arms LHDA, LHDB of one or more load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 extend in the Y direction so that the fingers 4273 are disposed between the slats 1210S below the case units 5 and 7 (for example, the extension of the common transfer arm as in FIG. 4A, or the substantially simultaneous extension of the two transfer arms as in FIGS. 5 and 5A) (FIG. 10F, block 11010). The lift 150B1 moves one or more load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 in the Z direction so that the fingers 4273 pass between the slats 1210S to lift out / take out the case units 5 and 7 from the interface station shelf 7000B (FIG. 10F, block 11020). The transfer arms LHDA, LHDB contract in the Y direction to place the case units 5 and 7 within the transfer column TC of the lift 150B1 (for example, the area of the open space where the load handling device moves along the Z direction without interference from the interface station and the outbound conveyor) (FIG. 10F, block 11030). The lift 150B1 moves one or more load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 in the Z direction so that the transfer arms LHDA, LHDB are located substantially at the level of the interface station 160TS of the conveyor 160CB (FIG. 10F, block 11040).The transfer arms LHDA, LHDB of one or more load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 are extended in the Y direction (Figure 10F, block 11050) so as to dispose the case units 5, 7 substantially above the interface station 160TS. The lift 150B1 moves one or more load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 in the Z direction (Figure 10F, block 11060) so that the fingers 4273 pass between the slats of the interface station 160TS to lower / position the case units 5, 7 onto the shelves of the interface station 160TS (in a manner similar to that shown in Figure 4B). The transfer arms LHDA, LHDB are contracted in the Y direction (Figure 10F, block 11070) so as to dispose the transfer arms LHDA, LHDB within the transfer column TC of the lift 150B1. Here, case units carried at all load stations LST1 - LST3 (e.g., case unit holding positions) of the common platform PFM (such as in Figure 4A and Figures 5, 5A where the simultaneous extension / retraction of the transfer arms LHDA, LHDB results in a common platform) are removed, transferred, and positioned in harmony with the lift platform in the common elevator. In one aspect related to the case load streams COS1, COS2 above, the case units 6, 8 are transferred to the outbound conveyor 160CB by the lift 150B1 in a manner substantially similar to that described above with respect to the transfer of the case units 5, 7 by the lift 150B1. As can be understood, the load fill formed by the case load streams COS1, COS2 includes a mixed case pick face arranged in a predetermined pick face load order sequence. In one aspect, the streaming pick faces 1, 3, 5, 7 (e.g., case load stream COS1) are combined with the pick faces 2, 4, 6, 8 from another case load stream COS2 to fill the load fill in a predetermined pick face load order sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.In one aspect, in combination with the order sequence of the streaming pick faces from the case load stream COS1, at least one pick face from another case load stream COS2 forms part of a successively ordered pick face of a predetermined pick face load order sequence (e.g., pick faces 1, 2, 3, 4,... shown in FIG. 9).

[0066] In one aspect, as described above, when the lift 150 removes multiple loaded cases from the interface station TS located as separate deck levels, the sorting sequence sorts the multiple loaded cases when the order sequence of the streaming pick face (e.g., case load streams COS1, COS2) corresponds. In one aspect, a multiple transfer arm load handling device LHD (and the individually operable load handling devices LHD1, LHD2 of FIG. 5A) as in FIG. 5 removes and places case units from two or more interface stations TS at separate storage levels 130LA, 130LB, and (e.g., when the transfer stations TS of one or more outbound conveyors handling the common lift 150 are stacked vertically) transfers the case units to the same or a different outbound conveyor transfer station TS. For illustrative purposes only, a customer order may request that case units 7, 9 be sent to conveyor 160CB. To efficiently use each lift 150 within the storage and retrieval system 100, a control device such as the control server 120 determines which (one or more) interface stations the case units 7, 9 are located above. The control device sends a command to a lift such as lift 150B1 associated with the interface station TS where the case units 7, 9 are located to remove one or more of the outbound case units in a single pass of the load handling device LHD. Here, the case units 7, 9 are such that the lift 150B1 moves one or more of the load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 (and the pick heads 4000A, 4000B, 4000C, 4000D, 4270 thereon) in the Z direction, whereby the transfer arms LHDA, LHDB are substantially located at one of the interface station shelves 7000A, 7000B at levels 130LA, 130LC (FIG. 10G, block 12000), located at separate shelves 7000A - 7000F of separate interface stations TS.The transfer arms LHDA, LHDB of one or more load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 are extended in the Y direction such that the fingers 4273 are disposed between one of the slats 1210S below the case units 7, 9, such as the case unit 7 when the case unit 7 is taken out by the upward stroke of the lift 150B before taking out the case unit 9, or the case unit 9 when the case unit 9 is taken out by the downward stroke of the lift 150B before taking out the case unit 7 (FIG. 10G, block 12010). The lift 150B1 moves one or more load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 in the Z direction such that the fingers 4273 pass between the slats 1210S to lift / remove one of the case units 7, 9 (in some embodiments, it may be a pick face including two or more case units) (FIG. 10G, block 12020). The transfer arms LHDA, LHDB are contracted in the Y direction to place the case units 7, 9 within the transfer column TC of the lift 150B1 (e.g., an area of open space where the load handling device moves along the Z direction without interference from the interface station and the outbound conveyor) (FIG. 10G, block 12030). The lift 150B1 moves one or more load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 in the Z direction so that the transfer arms LHDA, LHDB are substantially at the level of the interface station shelves 7000A, 7000B where the other case units 7, 9 are located, to take out the other case units in the above-described manner (FIG. 10G, blocks 12010, 12020, 12030) (FIG. 10G, block 12035). The lift 150B1 moves one or more load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 in the Z direction so that the transfer arms LHDA, LHDB are substantially at the level of the interface station 160TS of the conveyor 160CB (FIG. 10G, block 12035).The transfer arms LHDA, LHDB of one or more load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 are extended in the Y direction (Figure 10G, block 12050) so as to dispose the case units 7, 9 substantially above the interface station 160TS. The lift 150B1 moves one or more load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 in the Z direction (Figure 10G, block 12060) so that the fingers 4273 pass between the slats of the interface station 160TS to lower / dispose the case units 7, 9 onto the shelf of the interface station 160TS (in a manner similar to that shown in Figure 4B). In one aspect, the case units 7, 9 are disposed on the interface station 160TS integrally and substantially simultaneously. In other aspects, however, the case units 7, 9 are disposed on the interface station 160TS sequentially at different times (such as when the transfer stations TS of one or more outbound conveyors handling the common lift 150 are stacked vertically), and are disposed on separate outbound conveyor interface stations 160TS according to a predetermined order removal sequence to construct a mixed pallet MPL (Figure 1C). The transfer arms LHDA, LHDB are contracted in the Y direction (Figure 10G, block 12070) so as to dispose the transfer arms LHDA, LHDB within the transfer column TC of the lift 150B1.

[0067] In one aspect, the common load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 are configured to retrieve / place one or more case units from a plurality of interface station TS shelves using a common transfer arm, and the case units are sorted on-the-fly (e.g., during conveyance on a lift) and / or aligned on the load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2. For example, the outbound case units 5, 7 are located on the interface station shelves 7000B, 7000B at different storage levels 130LA, 130LB. Also, to efficiently use each lift 150 within the storage and retrieval system 100, a control device such as the control server 120 determines on which (one or more) interface stations the case units 5, 7 are located. The control device sends a command to a lift such as lift 150B1 associated with the interface station TS where the case units 5, 7 are located, in order to retrieve one or more of the outbound case units in a single pass of the load handling device LHD. Here, referring to FIGS. 9, 10 and 10A - 10E for example, the load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 of lift 150B retrieve the case unit 7 (which may be a pick face for two or more case units) from the interface station shelf 7000B in the above-described manner. The (one or more) case units 7 are aligned on the load handling device towards the rear of the loading section 4110PL (FIG. 10H, block 13000), as will be described in more detail below. The load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 continue to move along the mast 4002 in a common path of vertical stacking of the interface station TS, and using the common transfer arm LHDA, retrieve the case unit 5 from a different interface station shelf 7000D such that both case units 7, 5 are positioned adjacent to each other on the common transfer arm LHDA (FIG. 10H, block 13010).As can be understood, in one aspect, the control device 120 is configured to effect the removal of the case units 5, 7 with any suitable command, such as a command contrary to the command for arranging the (one or more) case units at the interface station 160TS of the conveyor 160CB according to a predetermined order-out sequence, for example, to form the mixed pallet MPL.

[0068] Here, the load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 grip both case units 7 and 5 within the loading section 4110PL in the manner described below (Fig. 10H, block 13020). The load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 separate case units 7 and 5 within the loading section 4110PL so that the case units are separated in any suitable manner such that, for example, (one or more) case unit 5 is aligned towards the front of the loading section 4110PL and (one or more) case unit 7 is aligned towards the rear of the loading section 4110PL, as will be described in more detail below (Fig. 10H, block 13040). At least case unit 5 is transferred to the interface station 160TS (Fig. 10H, block 13050). The load handling devices LHAD, LHD1, LHD2 contract the transfer arms LHDA, LHDB to return (one or more) non-transferred case units 7 (e.g., case units retained within the loading section) to the loading section 4110PL and grip case unit 7 (Fig. 10H, block 13020). (One or more) case unit 7 is conveyed to another interface station 160TSA of the unloading lift 150B1 (or, after the placement of (one or more) case unit 5 at the interface station 160TS, is sequentially placed at the same interface station 160TS) (Fig. 10H, block 13030), aligned towards the front of the loading section 4110PL (Fig. 10H, block 13040), and transferred to the interface stations 160TS, 160TSA as described above (Fig. 10H, block 13050). In other embodiments, depending on a predetermined case unit unloading sequence, the load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 simultaneously place both (one or more) case units 7 and 5 at a common location / position, e.g., a single interface station of the lift 150B1.

[0069] Next, referring to FIG. 6, as described above, the bot 110 includes a transfer arm 110PA that effects the removal and placement of case units from stacked storage spaces 130S (at least partially defined in the Z direction), interface station TS, and peripheral buffer stations BS, BSD (e.g., the storage spaces, interface station, and / or peripheral buffer stations may be further defined in the X and Y directions through dynamic allocation of case units as described above), by one or more of rails 1210A - 1210C, 1200. The bot 110 conveys case units between each lift module 150 on each storage level 130L and each storage space 130S, as described above. The bot 110 includes a frame 110F having a drive section 110DR and a loading section 110PL. The drive section 110DR includes one or more drive wheel motors, each connected to a respective drive wheel 202. In this aspect, the bot 110 includes two drive wheels 202 disposed on both sides of the bot 110 at an end 110E1 (e.g., the first longitudinal end) of the bot 110 to support the bot 110 on a suitable drive surface, although in other aspects any suitable number of drive wheels may be provided on the bot 110. In one aspect, each drive wheel 202 is independently controlled such that the bot 110 can be maneuvered through differential rotation of the drive wheels 202, although in other aspects the rotation of the drive wheels 202 may be coupled to rotate at substantially the same speed. For supporting the bot 110 on the drive surface, any suitable wheels 201 are attached to the frame on both sides of the bot 110 at an end 110E2 (e.g., the second longitudinal end) of the bot 110. In one aspect, the wheels 201 are freely rotating caster wheels, whereby the bot 110 can pivot through differential rotation of the drive wheels 202 to change the direction of movement of the bot 110.In other aspects, the wheel 201 is a steerable wheel that can be oriented under the control of a bot control device 110C (configured to effect control of the bot 110 as described herein) to change the direction of movement of the bot 110. In one aspect, the bot 110 includes one or more guide wheels 110GW at one or more corners of, for example, the frame 110F. The guide wheels 110GW interact with a lift module 150 to guide and / or position the bot 110 a predetermined distance to and / or from where one or more case units are located and / or removed, and may interact with a storage structure 130, such as guide rails (not shown) in the retrieval passage 130A, on the transfer deck 130B and / or at an interface or transfer station, as described in U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,423, filed Dec. 15, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. As described above, the bot 110 can enter the retrieval passage 130A having different opposing directions to access the storage spaces 130S located on both sides of the retrieval passage 130A. For example, the bot 110 may enter the retrieval passage 130A with the end 110E2 leading the direction of movement, or may enter the retrieval passage 130A with the end 110E1 leading the direction of movement.

[0070] The loading section 110PL of the bot 110 includes a loading bed 110PB, a fence or reference member 110PF, a transfer arm 110PA, and a pusher bar or member 110PR. In one aspect, the loading bed 110PB includes one or more rollers 110RL that are laterally attached to the frame 110F (e.g., relative to the longitudinal axis LX of the bot 110) such that one or more case units carried within the loading section 110PL can be longitudinally moved along the longitudinal axis of the bot, for example, to position the case unit at a predetermined position within the loading section 110PL and / or relative to other case units within the loading section 110PL (e.g., for longitudinal front / back alignment of the case unit), and / or to be aligned (justify) relative to a position reference of one or more case units (e.g., a predetermined position of the frame / loading section). In one aspect, the rollers 110RL may be driven by any suitable motor to move the case unit within the loading section 110PL (e.g., rotated about their respective axes). In other aspects, the bot 110 includes one or more longitudinally movable pusher bars (not shown) that push the case unit beyond the rollers 110RL to move the case unit to a predetermined position within the loading section 110PL. The longitudinally movable pusher bar may be substantially similar to that described in U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 326,952, filed December 15, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The pusher bar 110PR is movable in the Y direction relative to the reference coordinate system REF of the bot 110 to effect lateral alignment of the case unit within the loading area 110PL along the fence 110PF and / or the pick head 270 of the transfer arm 110PA in the manner described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 107,135, filed January 23, 2015, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

[0071] Still referring to FIG. 6, the case unit is placed on the loading bed 110PB by the transfer arm 110PA and removed from the loading bed 110PB. The transfer arm 110PA includes a lift mechanism or unit 200 that is substantially located within the loading section 110PL, as described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 107,135, filed Jan. 23, 2015, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The lift mechanism 200 provides both a gross placement and a fine placement of the pick face gripped by the bot 110 that is lifted to the location of the storage structure 130 to remove and / or place the pick face and / or individual case units into the storage space 130S (e.g., on each storage level 130L where the bot 110 is located). For example, the lift mechanism 200 provides for the removal and placement of case units at a plurality of elevated storage shelf levels 130LS1-130LS4, TL1, TL2 accessible from the deck 1200S of a common extraction passage or interface station (see, e.g., FIGS. 1A, 2B, and 3B).

[0072] The lift mechanism 200 is configured such that the movement of the combined robotic axes (e.g., the pusher bar 110PR, the lift mechanism 200, the extension of the pick - up head, and the combined substantial simultaneous movement of the front - to - back alignment mechanism such as the longitudinally movable pusher bar described above) is carried out so that different / plural SKUs or plural - pick - up loads can be manipulated by the bot. In one aspect, the operation of the lift mechanism 200 is independent of the operation of the pusher bar 110PR as described hereinafter. Disconnecting the axes of the lift mechanism 200 and the pusher bar 110PR results in a combined pick - up / placement sequence, which results in a reduction in pick - up / placement cycle time, an increase in the throughput of the storage and pick - up system, and / or an increase in the storage density of the storage and pick - up system as described above. For example, the lift mechanism 200 provides for the pick - up and placement of case units at a plurality of elevated storage shelf levels accessible from the deck 1200S of the common pick - up passage and / or interface station as described above.

[0073] The lift mechanism may be configured in any suitable manner such that the pick - up head 270 of the bot 110 moves bidirectionally along the Z - axis (e.g., reciprocates in the Z - direction, see FIG. 6). In one aspect, the lift mechanism includes a mast 200M, and the pick - up head 270 is movably attached to the mast 200M in any suitable manner. The mast is movably attached to the frame in any suitable manner so as to be movable along the lateral axis LT of the bot 110 (e.g., in the Y - direction). In one aspect, the frame includes guide rails 210A, 210B to which the mast 200 is slidably attached. The transfer arm drive units 250A, 250B may be attached to the frame to effect the movement of the transfer arm 110PA along at least the lateral axis LT (e.g., the Y - axis) and the Z - axis. In one aspect, the transfer arm drive units 250A, 250B include an extension motor 301 and a lift motor 302. The extension motor 301 may be attached to the frame 110F and may be connected to the mast 200M in any suitable manner, such as by belt and pulley transmission units 260A, screw drive transmission units (not shown), and / or gear drive transmission units (not shown). The lift motor 302 may be attached to the mast 200M and may be connected to the pick - up head 270 in any suitable manner, such as by belt and pulley transmission unit 271, screw drive transmission units (not shown), and / or gear drive transmission units (not shown). As an example, the mast 200M includes guides such as guide rails 280A, 280B, and the pick - up head 270 is attached along the guide rails 280A, 280B for guided movement in the Z - direction. In other aspects, the pick - up head is attached to the mast in any suitable manner for guided movement in the Z - direction. With respect to the transmission unit 271, the belt 271B of the belt and pulley transmission unit 271 is fixed to and connected to the pick - up head 270 such that when the belt 271 moves (e.g., driven by the motor 302), the pick - up head 270 moves with the belt 271 and is driven bidirectionally in the Z - direction along the guide rails 280A, 280B.As can be understood, when a screw drive unit is used to drive the extraction head 270 in the Z direction, if the screw is reversed in direction by the motor 302, the nut may be attached to the extraction head 270 such that the engagement between the nut and the screw causes the movement of the extraction head 270. Similarly, when a gear drive transmission unit is used, a rack and pinion or any other suitable gear drive unit can drive the extraction head 270 in the Z direction. In other embodiments, any suitable linear actuator is used to move the extraction head in the Z direction. The transmission unit 260A for the extension motor 301 is substantially the same as that described herein with respect to the transmission unit 271.

[0074] Still referring to FIG. 6, the extraction head 270 of the bot 110 transfers the case unit between the bot 110 and case unit extraction / placement positions such as, for example, the storage space 130S, the peripheral buffer stations BS, BSD, and / or the interface station TS (see FIGS. 2A - 3B), and in other embodiments, directly between the bot 110 and the lift module 150. In one embodiment, the extraction head 270 includes a base member 272, one or more tines or fingers 273A - 273E, and one or more actuators 274A, 274B. The base member 272 is attached to the mast 200M as described above so as to straddle along the guide rails 280A, 280B. One or more tines 273A - 273E are attached to the base member 272 at the proximal ends of the tines 273A - 273E such that the distal ends (e.g., free ends) of the tines 273A - 273E are cantilevered from the base member 272. Referring again to FIG. 1B, the tines 273A - 273E are configured for insertion between the slats 1210S that form the case unit support surface CUSP of the storage shelf.

[0075] One or more of Tines 273A - 273E are movably attached to the base member 272 (such as on a slide / guide rail similar to the above) so as to be movable in the Z - direction. In other aspects, any number of tines can be attached to the base member 272, but in the aspect shown in the drawings, for example, five tines 273A - 273E are attached to the base member 272. Any number of Tines 273A - 273E can be movably attached to the base member 272, but in the aspect shown in the drawings, for example, the outermost tines 273A, 273E (with respect to the center line CL of the pick - up head 270) are movably attached to the base member 272, while the remaining tines 273B - 273D are immovable with respect to the base member 272.

[0076] In this aspect, the pick - up head 270 uses only three tines 273B - 273D to transfer smaller - sized case units to and from the bot 110, and uses five tines 273A - 273E to transfer larger - sized case units to and from the bot 110. In other aspects, less than three tines are used to transfer smaller - sized case units (such as when three or more tines are movably attached to the base member 272). For example, in one aspect, all but one of the tines 273A - 273E are movably attached to the base member so that the smallest case unit being transferred to and from the bot 110 has a width approximately equal to the distance X1 between the slats 1210S (see Figure 1B) without interfering with other case units on the storage shelf.

[0077] The immovable tines 373B to 373D define the pickup surface SP of the pickup head 270 and are used when transporting case units (and / or pick faces) of all sizes. However, the movable tines 373A, 373E can be selectively raised and lowered (e.g., in the Z direction by actuators 274A, 274B) relative to the immovable tines 373B to 373D for transporting larger case units (and / or pick faces). Still referring to FIG. 6, an example is shown where all of the tines 373A to 373E are arranged such that the case unit support surfaces SF of each tine 273A to 273E coincide with the pickup surface SP of the pickup head 270. As can be understood, the case unit support surfaces SF of the tines 273A, 273E are offset (e.g., downward) from the pickup surface SP, and the tines 273A, 273E do not contact one or more case units gripped by the pickup head 270. To avoid interfering with the non-picked case units arranged in the storage space 130S on the storage shelf or any other suitable case unit holding position, the two end tines 273A, 273E are movable so as to be arranged lower (e.g., in the Z direction) relative to the other tines 273B to 273D.

[0078] The movement of the tines 273A to 273E in the Z direction is brought about by one or more actuators 274A, 274B attached at any suitable location on the transfer arm 110PA. In one aspect, the one or more actuators 274A, 274B are attached to the base member 272 of the pickup head 270. The one or more actuators can be any suitable actuator, such as a linear actuator, capable of moving one or more of the tines 273A to 273E in the Z direction. For example, in the aspect shown in FIG. 6, there is one actuator 274A, 274B for each of the movable tines 273A, 273E such that each movable tine can move independently in the Z direction. In other aspects, one actuator may be connected to two or more movable tines such that the two or more movable tines move together in the Z direction.

[0079] As can be understood, movably mounting one or more tines 273A-273E on the base member 272 of the pick head 270 provides complete support on the large case unit and / or the pick face of the pick head 270, while also providing the ability to removably arrange small case units, for example, on storage shelves, interface stations, and / or other case units arranged on the peripheral buffer station without interfering with them. The ability to removably arrange case units of various sizes without interfering with other case units on the storage shelves, interface stations, and / or peripheral buffer stations reduces the size of the gap GP (see FIG. 1A) between the case units on the storage shelves. As can be understood, since the tines 273B-273D are fixed to the base member 272, the lifting and lowering of the case unit and / or the pick face to and from the case unit holding position is only effected by the lift motors 301, 301A, so there is no overlapping operation when removing / arranging the case unit.

[0080] Referring again to FIG. 6, note that the pusher bar 110PR is also movable independently of the transfer arm 110PA. The pusher bar 110PR is movably attached to the frame in any suitable manner, such as, for example, a guide rod and slide configuration, and is actuated along the Y direction (e.g., a direction substantially parallel to the extension / retraction direction of the transfer arm 110PA). In one aspect, at least one guide rod 360 is attached within the loading section 110PL so as to extend transversely to the longitudinal axis LX of the frame 110F. The pusher bar 110PR may include at least one slide member 360S configured to engage and slide along each guide rod 360. In one aspect, at least the guide rod / slide configuration is connected within the loading section 110PL to hold the pusher bar 110PR. The pusher bar 110PR is actuated by any suitable motor and transmission, such as motor 303 and transmission 303T. In one aspect, the motor 303 is a rotary motor and the transmission 303T is a belt and pulley transmission. In other aspects, the pusher bar 110PR may be actuated by a linear actuator having substantially no rotating parts.

[0081] The pusher bar 110PR is disposed within the loading section 110PL so as to be substantially perpendicular to the roller 110RL and not to interfere with the pick-up head 270. As can be seen in FIG. 10B, the bot 110 has a conveying structure such that at least one case unit is supported on the roller 110RL (for example, the rollers collectively form a loading bed). In the conveying structure, the tines 273A to 273E of the pick-up head 270 are meshed with the roller 110RL and are disposed below the case unit support surface RSP (see FIG. 10) of the roller 110RL along the (Z direction). The pusher bar 110PR is configured with a groove 351 (FIG. 10C) into which the tines 273A to 273E enter, and sufficient clearance is provided in the groove 351 so that the tines can move below the case unit support surface RSP and also to allow free movement of the pusher bar 110PR without interference from the tines 273A to 273E. The pusher bar 110PR also includes one or more openings through which the roller 110RL passes, and the openings are sized to allow free rotation of the roller about its respective axis. As can be understood, the independently operable pusher bar 110PR does not interfere with the roller 110RL, the lateral (for example, Y direction) extension of the transfer arm 110PA, and the raising / lowering of the pick-up head 270.

[0082] As described above, with respect to both the bot 110 and the load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2, the pusher bar 110PR is a separate independent axis of the bot 110 and / or the load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 that operates without interference from the extension axis and the lifting axis of the extraction heads 270, 4270. Therefore, the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR can be operated substantially simultaneously with the lifting and / or extension of the transfer arms 110PA, LHDA, LHDB. The combined axis movement (e.g., the simultaneous movement of the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR with the extension axis and / or the lifting axis of the transfer arms 110PA, LHDA, LHDB) results in an increase in the loading operation throughput, and enables the ordered multiple extractions of two or more case units (e.g., by a predetermined load unloading sequence) from a common extraction path or from the shelves 7000A - 7000F of one or more interface stations in a common path of the vertical stack of the extraction path or the interface station TS. For example, referring to FIGS. 10 - 10A, during the multiple extraction / placement sequences of the transfer arms 110PA, LHDA, LHDB, the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR are pre - positioned (FIG. 14, block 1100) at a position separated by a predetermined distance X2 from the contact depth X3 (e.g., the depth of the time occupied by the case unit and / or the pick face CU, 7 when taken out / positioned from the storage space, the shelf 7000D of the interface station or other case unit holding positions) (when the case unit and / or the pick face is taken out and transferred into the loading section 110PL, 4110PL). The distance X2 is the minimum distance sufficient to provide a sufficient gap between the pusher bar 110PR and the case unit to allow the case unit to seat on the rollers 110RL, 4110RL. It should be noted that the distances / depths X2, X3, X4 are shown here with respect to the load handling device in FIGS. 10 - 10E, but the distances, depths X2, X3, X4 are equally applicable to the bot 110 as well.When the case unit CU, 7 is lowered onto the rollers 110RL, 4110RL (Figure 14, block 1110), the distance that the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR move to contact the case unit CU, 7 is shorter than the distance X4 by a conventional transport vehicle when moving from the rear 402, 4402 (in the lateral Y direction of the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL and with respect to the access sides 401, 4401). When the case unit CU, 7 is lowered by the transfer arms 110PA, LHDA, LHDB and transferred to the rollers 110RL, 4110RL so as to be supported only by the rollers 110RL, 4110RL, the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR are actuated forward (in the lateral direction with respect to the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL and the access sides 401, 4401) to align the case unit CU, 7 (Figure 14, block 1120). For example, the pusher bars 110PB, 4110PB may push the case unit CU, 7 laterally in the Y direction so that the case unit contacts the fences 110PF, 4110PF (arranged on the access sides 401, 4401 of the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL such that the reference position of the case unit can be formed through contact between the case unit CU, 7 and the fences 110PF, 4110PF). In one aspect, the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR can engage or grip the case unit CU, 7 during transport of the case unit (such as holding the case unit against the fences 110PF, 4110PF) to maintain a predetermined spatial relationship of the case unit CU, 7 with respect to each other and with respect to one of the respective reference coordinate systems REF or reference coordinate system REFL (Figures 5B and 6) of the bot 110 and the load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 (Figure 14, block 1130). After the case unit is placed, the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR are withdrawn from contact with the case unit CU, 7 (such as in the Y direction) after aligning the case unit CU, 7 with respect to the fences 110PF, 4110PF (Figure 14, block 1140).Immediately after the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR disengage from the engagement with the case unit CU, 7, one or more of the lifting axis (e.g., in the Z direction) and the extending axis (e.g., in the Y direction) of the transfer arms 110PA, 4110PA are actuated substantially simultaneously with the pulling-out operation of the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR (FIG. 14, block 1150). In one aspect, both the lifting axis and the extending axis are actuated when the pusher bar is pulled out from the contact with the case unit CU, 7, while in other aspects, only one of the lifting axis and the extending axis is actuated. As can be understood, the simultaneous operation of the lifting axis and / or the extending axis of the transfer arms 110PA, 4110PA with the pulling-out of the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR, and the reduction in the distance that the pusher moves to align the case unit CU, 7 reduce the time required to transfer the case unit CU, 7 to and from the bot 110 or the load handling device LHD, LHD1, LHD2 (e.g., stored / classified by the load handling device LHD, LHD1, LHD2 or the bot 110), and increase the throughput of the storage and retrieval system 100.

[0083] As described herein, referring to FIGS. 2A, 2B and 12, the bot 110 is configured to convey a pick face between the retrieval passage 130A and the transfer / delivery station TS and the buffer station BS. In one aspect, the control server 120 is configured to command the bot 110 to effect a sorting of the order of cases in the outbound flow by the bot 110 independently of the order in which the bot 110 forming the pick face retrieves cases from the storage area. In one aspect, the bot control device 110C is configured to command the bot 110 to effect a sorting of the order of cases in the outbound flow by the bot 110 independently of the order in which the bot 110 forming the pick face retrieves cases from the storage area. In yet another aspect, both the control server 120 and the bot control device 110C are configured to command the bot 110 to effect a sorting of the order of cases in the outbound flow by the bot 110 independently of the order in which the bot 110 forming the pick face retrieves cases from the storage area. Thus, the control server 120 and / or the bot control device 110C are configured to at least partially set the flow of outbound cases together with the sorting of the bot 110 of cases commonly carried by the bot 110, decoupled from the order of retrieval of cases from the storage section by the bot 110. As will be described later, the bot 110 transfers a first pick face PCF1 having any suitable number of case units therein from the retrieval passage 130A and arranges a second pick face PCF2 different from the first pick face PCF1 onto a common surface CS (such as the rack shelf RTS) of the transfer / delivery station TS (or the buffer station BS) common to the bot 110 and the lift 150B. This may also be referred to, for purposes of explanation, as the sorting of the outbound flow by the bot of the transfer station (and / or buffer station). Also as will be described later, the first and second pick faces, in one aspect, have at least one case unit common to both the first and second pick faces.In one aspect, as described herein, the bot 110 is configured to construct, on-the-fly, a first pick face, for example, during the round trip between the first pick position of the pickout passage 130A and the placement of a second pick face at the transfer / delivery station TS in a plurality of pickout / placement sequences. The control device 110C of the bot 110 is configured to effect an on-the-fly construction of the first pick face PCF1 (or any other pick face picked up by the bot 110). In one aspect, the bot 110 is configured to pick out / construct a pick face PCF3 different from the first pick face PCF1 and place this different pick face PCF3 on a shelf (such as another rack shelf RTS stacked above and below the rack shelves forming the common surface CS) of the transfer / delivery station TS (or the buffer station BS). The bot 110 includes operations of cases as described herein. The bot picks out the first pick face PCF1 and further picks out a second pick face PCF2 from one or more case units of the rack shelf RTS (or other locations such as the storage shelf of the pickout passage) (forming a different pick face PCF3), and is configured to place this different pick face PCF3 on the common surface CS. As can be understood, the lift 150B is configured to pick out the second pick face PCF2 from the transfer / delivery station TS in one aspect. In other aspects, the lift 150 is configured to pick out a third pick face PCF4 from the common surface CS (such as the rack transfer shelf RTS) of the transfer / delivery station TS (or the buffer station BS) as described herein, and the third pick face PCF4 is different from the first and second pick faces PCF1, PCF2, and the common case is common to the first, second, and third pick faces PCF1, PCF2, PCF4.

[0084] In one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, as can be understood, in a plurality of retrieval / placement sequences, the plurality of case units are carried and operated substantially simultaneously within the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL of the bot 110 or the lift 150 in order to further improve the throughput of the storage and retrieval system 100 and to provide a plurality of retrieval / placement sequences according to a predetermined order removal sequence for the outbound flow of the case units. Referring further to FIG. 1, the bot 110 or the lift 150B receives retrieval and placement commands from, for example, the control server 120 (and / or the warehouse management system 2500), and in order to form the ordered plurality of retrievals, the bot controller 110C executes those commands, or the lift 150B executes those commands (e.g., under the control of the control server 120 or the lift controller). Here, the bot 110 enters from the transfer deck 130B into the common passage 130A1, for example, to create a single or common path through the common passage 130A1, during which the bot 110 acquires two or more case units (FIG. 15, block 1201A) according to a predetermined order removal sequence, or the lift moves the load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 in the Z direction to retrieve one or more case units from one or more transfer stations TS (FIG. 14A, block 1201AB) according to a predetermined order removal sequence. In one aspect, the operation of the case units CU, 7, 5 is the classification of the case units (i.e., the retrieval and placement of the case units according to a predetermined load removal sequence), and in that classification of the case units, the cases are positioned on the transfer arms 110PA, LHDA, LHDB for retrieval / placement of the case units, and / or while other case units are transferred to or from the transfer arms 110PA, LHDA, LHDB, the case units are positioned to remain on the transfer arms 110PA, LHDA, LHDB without being transferred.Here, the bot 110 moves in the direction of arrow XC through the common extraction passage 130A1 and stops at a predetermined storage space 130S1. The bot 110 takes out one or more case units from the predetermined storage space 130S1 using the common transfer arm 110PA (Fig. 15, block 120B). Alternatively, the load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 move in the Z direction according to a predetermined order unloading sequence and stop at the predetermined shelves 7000A to 7000F of the interface station TS. The load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 take out one or more case units from the predetermined shelves 7000A to 7000F of the interface station TS using the common transfer arms LHDA, LHDB (Fig. 14A, block 1201BB). As will be described in more detail below, the placement of the case units onto the common transfer arms 110PA, LHDA, LHDB corresponds to a predetermined order unloading sequence (for example, the case units are sorted on-the-fly without changing direction with respect to the interface station or during the passage / crossing of a one-way lift 150 in one stroke during conveyance using the bot 110. Note that the movement of the lift 150 is not necessarily continuous).

[0085] As an example of case operation on the bot 110 or lift 150, referring also to FIGS. 5B, 6, 10, 10A - 10E (note that case units 5, 7 are shown joined to the loading section of the lift and in the examples described herein, case units 5, 7 are to be understood as being similarly joined to the loading section of the bot), case unit 7 is removed from the case unit holding position (e.g., from the storage space 130S of the common extraction passage or shelf 7000D of the interface station to effect a plurality of ordered removals, or in other aspects, from any suitable lift interface station TS and / or from the case unit buffer station BS located on the extraction passage or transfer deck) and transferred into the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL (FIG. 14A, block 1201BB and FIG. 15, block 1201B). When case unit 7 is transferred into the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL, pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR may be pre - positioned adjacent to fences 110PF, 4110PF such that they are disposed between case unit 7 and fences 110PF, 4110PF when case unit 7 is lowered for transfer to rollers 110RL, 4110RL (FIG. 14A, block 1205B and FIG. 15, block 1205). Pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR are actuated to push case unit 7 (placed on rollers 110RL, 4110RL) in the Y - direction towards the rear (e.g., the back) 402, 4402 of loading sections 110PL, 4110PL such that case unit 7 contacts the alignment surfaces 273JS, 4273JS (FIG. 10) of tapes 273A - 273E, 4273A, 4273E and is aligned with the rear 402 of loading section 110PL (FIG. 14A, block 1210B and FIG. 15, block 1210).

[0086] In one aspect, the bot 110 continues to cross the common extraction passage 130A1 in the same direction XC (e.g., such that all case units in a plurality of ordered extractions are extracted in a common path of the extraction passage using the bot 110 that moves in a single direction), and stops at another different predetermined storage space 130S according to a predetermined order unloading sequence. Or, the load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 continue to cross the mast 4002 in the same direction (e.g., such that all case units in a plurality of ordered extractions are extracted in a common path of the vertical stacking at the interface station TS using the load handling devices LHD, LHD1, LHD2 that move in a single direction), and stop at another different predetermined shelf 7000A - 7000F of a different interface station TS according to a predetermined order unloading sequence. As described above, the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR remain opposite to (e.g., gripping) one or more case units 7 during the conveyance of the one or more case units between case unit holding positions (including the storage space and the interface station shelves 7000A - 7000F) such that the one or more case units stay at predetermined positions on the back surfaces 402, 4402 of the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL (and / or at predetermined positions in the longitudinal direction in the X direction) with respect to the reference coordinate system REFL of the bot 110 or the reference coordinate system REFL of the lift 150B1 (FIG. 14A, block 1215B and FIG. 15, block 1215).For example, to remove the next case unit from another storage space 130S2 of the common extraction passage 130A1 or from another interface station shelf 7000B, the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR are moved in the Y direction to release the (one or more) case units 7, and the extension axes of the lift and transfer arms 110PA, LHDA, LHDB are actuated to remove the (one or more) other case units 5 from another storage space 130S2 or from another interface station shelf 7000B (or, in other embodiments, from any suitable lift interface / delivery station TS as described above, and / or from the buffer station BS) (FIG. 14A, block 1220B and FIG. 15, block 1220). While the (one or more) case units 5 are being removed, the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR are positioned adjacent to the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL in the Y direction so as to be located between the case unit 7 and the alignment surfaces 273JS, 4273JS of the tapes 273A - 273E, 4273A - 4273E (FIG. 14A, block 1225B and FIG. 15, block 1225). The (one or more) case units are transferred into the loading section and lowered / positioned onto the rollers 110RL, 4110RL so that the case units 7, 5 are arranged along the Y-axis relative to each other (FIG. 14A, block 1230 and FIG. 15, block 1230). The pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR are actuated in the Y direction to align the case units 7, 5 forward (FIG. 14A, block 1234B and FIG. 15, block 1234), and to grip / hold the case units 7, 5 for conveyance (FIG. 14A, block 1235B and FIG. 15, block 1235), by pushing the case units 7, 5 towards the fences 110PF, 4110PF.As can be understood, in one aspect, the case units 7, 5 are arranged together as a single unit at the case unit holding position, and in other aspects, the case units 7, 5 are sorted and, for example, as described in more detail below, are transported and arranged at individual positions of a common case unit holding position, at separate case unit holding positions, or at separate interface stations 160TS, 160TSA (FIG. 14A, block 1240B and FIG. 15, block 1240). For example, also referring to FIGS. 7-9, a bot 110 carrying an order-picked load transports the case units of the order-picked items to one or more interface stations TS corresponding to the outfeed lifts 150B1, 150B2.

[0087] As can be understood, in one aspect where the bot 110 "parallel parks" within the interface station TS (FIG. 7) or changes direction within the peer 130BD (FIG. 8), the spacing between bots moving on the high-speed bot transfer path HSTP of the transfer deck 130B (FIG. 2A) is such that a bot interacting with the interface station TS can decelerate and change direction into the interface station TS without substantial interference from another bot 110 moving along the transfer deck 130B and / or interference with another bot 110. In other aspects, the transfer deck 130B is substantially open and configured for the non-deterministic coming and going of bots 110 across and along the transfer deck 130B as described above, so a bot moving on the transfer deck may drive around a bot changing direction within the interface station. When multiple pick case units are arranged at different positions in the common buffer shelves 7000A - 7000L of the interface / delivery stations of the lifts 150B1, 150B2, for example, the bot 110 places the first case unit 5 (corresponding to the pick face 7 in FIG. 9 for illustrative purposes and including a single case unit in this example) at the first position in the buffer shelf 7000B and places the second case unit 7 (corresponding to the pick face 5 in FIG. 9 for illustrative purposes and including a single case unit in this example) at the second position in the buffer shelf 7000B. When multiple pick case units are arranged at a common case unit holding position, the bot 110 places both case units 7, 5 as a unit (e.g., pick face), for example, at a common position in the buffer shelf 7000A (corresponding to the pick face 9 in FIG. 9 for illustrative purposes and including two case units in this example).

[0088] If the case units 7, 5 are classified for placement at a common case unit holding position, at respective positions of a common case holding position, (or a common interface station 160TS, 160TSA for an arrangement of case units that are sequential but spaced apart over time), or at different case unit holding positions (or different interface stations 160TS, 160TSA) (FIG. 14A, block 1250B and FIG. 15, block 1250), the case units 7, 5 are separated from each other in the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL. For example, the pickup heads 270, 4270 of the transfer arms 110PA, LHDA, LHDB can be moved in the Z direction to lift the case units 7, 5 from the rollers 110RL, 4110RL by an amount sufficient for the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR to pass beneath the case units (FIG. 16, block 1250A). When the case units 7, 5 are lifted, the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR are arranged along the Y direction so as to be positioned between the case units 7, 5 (see FIG. 10E) (FIG. 16, block 1250B). The pickup heads 270, 4270 are lowered so that the case units 7, 5 are transferred to the rollers 110RL, 4110RL and the pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR are inserted between the case units 7, 5 (FIG. 16, block 1250C). The pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR are moved in the Y direction to move the case unit 7 towards the rear 402, 4402 of the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL (e.g., towards the alignment surfaces 273JS, 4273JS of the tines 273A - 273E, 4273A - 4273E or any other suitable position) (e.g., to separate the case units), while the case unit 5 remains in front of the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL adjacent to the fences 110PF, 4110PF (e.g., as shown in FIG. 10C) (FIG. 16, block 1250D).As can be understood, when the case unit is held against the alignment surfaces 273JS and 4273JS of the tine during conveyance, the pusher bar is moved in the Y direction (for example, to separate the case unit) to move the case unit 5 towards the front 401, 4401 of the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL (for example, with respect to the fences 110PF, 4110PF or any other suitable position), while the case unit 7 remains behind the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL adjacent to the alignment surfaces 273JS, 4273JS. The pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR may be moved in the Y direction to realign the case unit 5 with respect to the fences 110PF, 4110PF in order to place the case unit on the tines 273A - 273E, 4273A - 4273E for placement at the case unit holding position (Figure 16, block 1250E). As can be understood, with the case unit 7 arranged with respect to the alignment surfaces 273JS, 4273JS of the tines 273A - 273E, 4273A - 4273E (substantially at the position of the take - out heads 270, 4270), the case unit 5 can be placed at the case unit holding position substantially without interference from the case unit 7 (Figure 16, block 1250F), for example, the case unit 7 avoids contact with the case unit being placed at the case unit holding position. The case unit 7 is lowered / transferred to return into the loading sections 110PL, 4110PL (for example, by retracting and lowering the transfer arms 110PA, 4110PA) (Figure 16, block 1250G). The pusher bars 110PR, 4110PR arranged in advance between the alignment surfaces 273JS, 4273JS and the case unit 7 push out the case unit 7 placed on the rollers 110RL, 4110RL with respect to the fences 110PF, 4110PF to align the case unit 7 forward for placement at another case unit holding position (for example, different from the holding position where the case unit 5 is placed) (Figure 16, block 1250H).The pusher bars 110PR and 4110PR remain opposite the case unit 7 (Figure 16, block 1250I) in order to grip the case unit (e.g., by a fence) during conveyance to other case unit holding positions. The pusher bars 110PR and 4110PR move away from the case unit 7, and the transfer arm is actuated to raise and extend the pick-up heads 270 and 4270 in order to place the case unit 7 in other case unit holding positions (Figure 16, block 1250J).

[0089] An example of the (one or more) case unit transfer process of bot 110 is, in accordance with the aspects of the disclosed embodiments, as described in connection with FIGS. 9 and 11-13, in accordance with a predetermined order out sequence and / or, for example, one or more customer orders where case units are ordered for placement into one or more bags, totes, or other containers TOT (such as shown in FIG. 21) at operator station 160EP, in a predetermined order sequence (such as an order out sequence) of the retrieved merchandise, having an on-the-fly sorting of case units to create a mixed pallet load MPL (such as shown in FIG. 1C), including a plurality of case unit retrieval and placement operations. For example, referring to FIG. 11, a customer order may require that case unit 7 be carried to outfeed lift 150B1 and that case unit 5 also be carried to outfeed lift 150B1 (in other aspects, note that a customer order may also require that case units carried by a common bot 110 be carried to different outfeed lifts 150B1, 150B2 (FIG. 9) such that the transfer of case units carried by a common bot 110 to different outfeed lifts occurs in a manner substantially similar to that described herein). In the aspects of the disclosed embodiments described herein, outfeed lift 150B1 (for example, each of outfeed lifts 150B1, 150B2 of the storage and retrieval system / order processing system) defines a processing path or passageway of a mixed case pick face from which pallet fills that enter and exit the processing path in substantially the same order are stocked out from the storage array. As can be understood, although infeed and outfeed lifts 150A, 150B are described as vertically reciprocating lifts, in other aspects, infeed and outfeed lifts 150A, 150B should be understood to be any suitable transport module for transporting case pick faces to and from storage structure 130.For example, in other embodiments, the lift modules 150A, 150B are one or more of a reciprocating lift, any suitable automated article handling system, conveyor, bot, turntable, roller bed, multi-level conveyor (e.g., a peristaltic conveyor) that operate synchronously or asynchronously. To efficiently utilize each bot 110 in the storage and retrieval system 100, a control device such as the control server 120 determines in which retrieval passage the case units 5, 7 are located. The control device also determines which incoming case unit ICU should be stored in the retrieval passage from which the case units 5, 7 (e.g., the outgoing case units) are retrieved. The control device sends an instruction to the bot 110 on the level where the case units 5, 7 are located to retrieve one or more incoming case units ICU from the interface station TS of one or more lift modules 150A in a manner substantially similar to that described above (FIG. 17, block 1400A). The bot 110 grips the case unit ICU (FIG. 17, block 1420) and transports the case unit to one or more storage spaces 130 within one or more retrieval passages 130A2 (FIG. 17, block 1421), and at least one of the retrieval passages in which the incoming case unit is placed includes one of the outgoing case units 5, 7. As can be understood, when the incoming case unit is placed in another storage location 130S, the incoming case unit is classified as described above (FIG. 17, block 1425), and one or more case units are transferred to one case unit holding position such as the storage space 130S or buffer (FIG. 17, block 1430), while the non-transferred case units are returned to the loading section of the bot 110 for transfer to another case unit holding position (FIG. 17, block 1435).

[0090] As can be understood, the outbound case units 5, 7 are arranged in the same or different extraction passages and are taken out by one or different bots 110 according to the proximity of the outbound case units and the predetermined storage positions of the inbound case units. For example, referring to FIG. 11, the bot 110 takes out the inbound case unit ICU from the interface station TS of the lift module 150A (in the same manner as described above) for placement into the extraction passage 130A2, which is the extraction passage where the case unit 5 is located. In this example, the case unit 7 is located in the extraction passage 130A1. After the placement of the inbound case unit ICU, the bot continues to move along the extraction passage 130A2 in a common path (e.g., a single round trip in the extraction passage in a single direction) (FIG. 17, block 1400) to take out the outbound case unit 5. If it is more efficient to have a single bot 110 take out multiple case units, the outbound case unit 5 is positioned (justified) on the bot 110 as described above (FIG. 17, block 1405), and the bot moves to the position of another case unit, such as the outbound case unit 7 in the passage 130A1 (note that if the second outbound case is located in the same passage as the first outbound case, both outbound case units are taken out in a common path of the extraction passage by the common transfer arm 110PA of the bot 110 (FIG. 6)). The second outbound case unit 7 is taken out by the common transfer arm 110PA (FIG. 17, block 1410), and both case units 5, 7 are transferred and placed in one or more of the peripheral buffer station BS and the interface station TS of the pick-face conveyor system, such as the lift module 150B, in a substantially similar manner as described above with respect to the placement of the inbound case unit (FIG. 17, blocks 1420 - 1435).After each shipping case is removed (FIG. 17, block 1400), if it is more efficient to have each of the case units 5, 7 removed to two different bots 110, the case units are grasped (FIG. 17, block 1420) and transferred and placed on one of the peripheral buffer stations BS or interface stations TS of the shipping lift 150B as described herein (FIG. 17, blocks 1421-1435). In one aspect, when a shipping case unit such as case unit 5 is placed on the peripheral buffer station BS, a bot 110 different from the bot that placed case unit 5 on the peripheral buffer station BS transfers case unit 5 to the interface station TS, while in another aspect, the same bot 110 returns to the peripheral buffer station BS to transfer case unit 5 to the interface station TS. In aspects of the disclosed embodiments described herein, the buffer station BS and / or transfer station TS (e.g., at least one pick face handover station) define a part of the pick face of the mixed cases exiting the storage array / structure 130 that enter the access path in a sequence of pick faces ordered based on a predetermined load filling sequence and commonly support the pick faces of two or more mixed cases. In one or more of the aspects of the disclosed embodiments described herein, the buffer station BS and / or transfer station TS form a common pick face transfer interface to the shipping lift 150B1 such that the commonly supported pick faces are commonly removed by the shipping lift 150B1. In one or more of the aspects of the disclosed embodiments described herein, the buffer station BS and / or transfer station TS each define a part of the pick face of the mixed cases exiting the storage array in a sequence of pick faces ordered based on a predetermined load filling sequence and commonly support the pick faces of two or more mixed cases (see pick faces 1-4 of FIG. 9 for illustrative purposes only).In one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments described herein, a pick face of a mixed case that defines a portion of the pick face of the mixed case exiting from the storage array / structure 130 in an order sequence and is commonly supported on the buffer station BS and / or the transfer station TS is based on a sequence of pick faces ordered on another buffer station BS and / or transfer station TS of another fulfillment path (see, e.g., the mixed case exiting from the outbound lift 150B2). In one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, any suitable control device, such as the control device 120, communicates with the bot 110 and is configured to effect the placement of the pick face on the buffer station BS and / or the transfer station TS based on a sequence of ordered pick faces.

[0091] In one aspect, the shipping case units are taken out and transported as a unit (e.g., pick face) by the common transfer arm 110PA (FIG. 6) of the bots 110. Referring again to FIG. 12, a customer order may require that case unit 7 be carried to the outfeed lift 150B1 and that case unit 5 also be carried to the outfeed lift 150B1 (in other aspects, the customer order may require that the transfer of the case units carried by the common bot 110 to different outfeed lifts occurs in a substantially similar manner as described herein, where the case units carried by the common bot 110 are carried to different outfeed lifts 150B1, 150B2 (FIG. 9)). As described above, the control device determines which incoming case unit ICU should be stored in the retrieval passage from which case units 5, 7 (e.g., shipping case units) are taken out. The control device sends a command to the bot 110 at the level where case units 5, 7 are located to take out one or more incoming case units ICU as a unit (e.g., pick face) from the interface station TS of the lift module 150A in a substantially similar manner as described above (FIG. 17, block 1400A). The bot 110 grips the pick face PF1 (FIG. 17, block 1420), conveys the pick face PF1 to the storage space 130 within the retrieval passage 130A2 (FIG. 17, block 1421), and the shipping case units 5, 7 position and place the pick face PF1 within the storage space 130S (FIG. 17, block 1430). Note that the flow does not proceed to block 1435 of FIG. 17 in this example because the entire pick face is transferred to the common storage space and there are no case units left on the bot.

[0092] After placing the inbound pick face PF1, the robot 110 continues to move through the passage 130A2 along a common path (e.g., a single round-trip in a one-way retrieval passage) to the storage space that holds the outbound case units 5, 7 (which are arranged adjacent to each other on the storage shelf so as to be retrieved simultaneously as the outbound pick face PF2). The robot 110 retrieves the pick face PF2 by the common transfer arm 110PA (FIG. 6) (FIG. 17, block 1415), grips the pick face PF2 (FIG. 17, block 1420), and transports the pick face PF2 to the outbound lift 150B1 (FIG. 17, block 1421). In one aspect, the case units 5, 7 of the pick face PF2 are integrally arranged in one of the peripheral buffer stations BS or the transfer station TS (FIG. 17, block 1430). In another aspect, the case units 5, 7 of the pick face are separated and aligned for placement in different locations (in a manner similar to that described above) (FIG. 17, block 1425). For example, the robot 110 places the case unit 7 in the peripheral buffer station BS (FIG. 17, block 1430), returns the case unit 5 to the loading area of the robot 110 (FIG. 17, block 1435), grips the case unit 5 (FIG. 17, block 1420), transports the case unit 5 to the interface station TS (FIG. 17, block 1421), and transfers the case unit 5 to the interface station (FIG. 17, block 1430).

[0093] In another aspect, referring to FIG. 13, the outbound case units 5, 7 are retrieved from different storage positions in the common passage 130A2 by the common transfer arm 110PA (FIG. 6) of the bot 110. Here, the bot 110 transfers one or more inbound case units ICU to one or more storage positions in the above-described manner, and at least one of the inbound case units ICU is located in the common retrieval passage 130A2 with the outbound case units 5, 7. After placing at least one inbound case unit at the predetermined storage position 130S in the passage 130A2, the bot 110 continues to move through the common path of the retrieval passage 130A2 and through the retrieval passage 130A1, and retrieves the case unit 5 from the storage space 130S1 in the above-described manner (FIG. 17, block 1400). The case unit 5 is aligned behind the loading section 110PL on the bot 110 as described above (FIG. 17, block 1405). The bot 110 continues to move through the retrieval passage 130A1 along the common path of the retrieval passage, and retrieves the case unit 7 from the different storage space 130S2 by the common transfer arm 110PA so that both case units 7, 5 are arranged adjacent to each other on the common transfer arm 110PA (FIG. 17, block 1410). As can be understood, in one aspect, the control device 110C is configured to effect retrieval of the case units in any suitable order, such as, for example, in an order opposite to the order in which the case units are arranged.

[0094] In this example of multiple retrievals, the case unit holding position corresponds to the storage space 130S of the retrieval passage 130. However, in other embodiments, the case unit holding position includes the loading lift modules 150A1, 150A2 (where direct transfer occurs between the bot and the lift), the interface or peripheral buffer station TS, BS for interacting with the loading lift modules 150A1, 150A2 (where indirect transfer occurs between the lift module and the bot), and the storage space 130S. (Note that the retrieval by the bot 110 from the interface station TS and the loading lift module 150A is carried out in a just-in-time manner into the storage rack array such that the case units required for a predetermined order unloading sequence are not placed in the storage space 130S but are carried substantially directly to the unloading lifts 150B1, 150B2.)

[0095] The robot 110 grips both case units 7 and 5 within the loading section 110PL in the manner described above and exits the extraction passage 130A1 (FIG. 17, block 1420). The robot moves along the transfer deck 130B and interacts with the unloading lift 150B1 (FIG. 17, block 1421). For example, in any suitable manner, such as the case unit 7 being aligned forward of the loading section 110PL and the case unit 5 being aligned rearward of the loading section 110PL, the robot separates the case units 7 and 5 within the loading section 110PL as described above (FIG. 17, block 1425). The case unit 7 is transferred to the peripheral buffer station BS (FIG. 17, block 1430). The robot retracts the transfer arm 110PA to return the case unit 5 to the loading section 110PL (FIG. 17, block 1435) and grips the case unit 5 (FIG. 17, block 1420). The case unit 5 is conveyed to the interface station TS of the unloading lift 150B1 (FIG. 17, block 1421), aligned forward of the loading section 110PL as described above (FIG. 17, block 1425), and transferred to the transfer station TS as described above (FIG. 17, block 1430). In other embodiments, depending on a predetermined case unit unloading sequence, the robot 110 places both case units 7 and 5 in a common location, such as one of the unloading lifts 150B1, 150B2. For example, the pick face 20 (FIG. 9) on the shelf 7000H may include both case units 7 and 5 such that the robot 110 places both case units at a single location on the shelf 7000H as a pick face for multiple case units. As can be understood, the case unit disposed at the buffer station BS is transferred to the interface station TS by the robot 110 in one embodiment and by any suitable conveyor connecting the buffer station BS to the interface station TS in other embodiments.In one aspect, when the case unit is transferred by the bot 110 from the buffer station BS to the interface station TS, this transfer is, for example, moving along the transfer deck in a route for another task (such as transfer of the pick face to the storage section, classification of the pick face, transfer of the pick face from the storage section, etc.), and the bot 110 moving beside the buffer station BS stops to take out the pick face from the buffer station BS and transfers the pick face to the interface station TS during the process of performing other tasks, which is a timely transfer.

[0096] In the examples described herein, the transfer of the case unit between the bot 110 and the lift 150 occurs passively through the interface station TS as described above. As an example of the transfer, referring to FIG. 18, the autonomous transport vehicle is positioned relative to the interface station TS in a manner similar to that described above with respect to the slat 1210S and / or the positioning feature 130F (FIG. 18, block 1800). The transfer arm 110PA (e.g., end effector) of the bot 110 extends to transfer the pick face to the interface station TS such that the fingers 273A-273E of the transfer arm 110PA interact with, for example, the slat 1210S of the interface station TS (FIG. 18, block 1801). As can be understood and as described above, multiple pick faces may be positioned on the interface station TS for simultaneous and independent transfer to the lift 150 (e.g., multiple individual pick faces are held simultaneously on the interface station). The lift 150 is moved to position the load handling devices LHD, LHDA, LHDB adjacent to the interface station TS (FIG. 18, block 1802). The load handling devices LHD, LHDA, LHDB raise the pick face from the interface station and extend to transfer the pick face to the lift 150 such that the fingers 4273 of the load handling devices LHD, LHDA, LHDB interact with the slat 1210S of the interface station TS, for example, in the manner described above with respect to FIG. 4B (FIG. 18, block 1803). As can be understood, the interface station TS has no moving parts, and the transfer of the pick face between the bot 110 and the lift 150 through the interface station TS is a passive transfer. Also as can be understood, the transfer of the pick face from the lift 150 to the bot 110 may occur in a manner substantially opposite to that described above with respect to FIG. 18.

[0097] In one aspect, for example, the pick face constructed by the robot 110 (e.g., in the manner described above) and transferred (e.g., placed) to the interface station TS (and / or buffer station BS) is not the same as the pick face removed from the interface station TS (and / or buffer station BS) by the lift 150. For example, referring to FIG. 9, the robot 110 forms a first pick face including individual pick faces 7 and 5 from the storage space 130S within the rack module RM (e.g., FIG. 2A) (FIG. 19, block 1900). The robot 110 transfers and places the first pick face, for example, on the shelf 7000B of the interface station TS for transfer to the lift 150 (FIG. 19, block 1910). As can be understood, in this example, the individual pick faces 5, 7 (e.g., forming the first pick face) are placed on the common shelf 7000B for illustrative purposes only, but in other aspects, the individual pick faces 5, 7 are placed on different shelves 7000A - 7000F such that the pick face placed on the shelf by the robot 110 is different from the first pick face but includes at least one common case unit with the first pick face. For example, the first pick face is disassembled such that a different pick face including the individual pick face 5 is placed on the shelf 7000B, while another different pick face including the individual pick face 7 is placed, for example, on the shelf 7000H. A lift such as lift 150B1 removes a second pick face from one or more of the shelves 7000A - 7000F (e.g., common to both the robot 110 and the lift 150B1) of the transfer station TS (FIG. 19, block 1920). Here, the second pick face is different from the first pick face but includes at least one of the individual pick faces 5, 7 such that at least one case unit is common between the first pick face and the second pick face.

[0098] Similarly, in one aspect, the pick face transferred (e.g., placed) by the inbound lift 150 (see lift 150A in FIG. 1) to, for example, the interface station TS (and / or buffer station BS) is not the same as the pick face taken out by the bot 110 from the interface station TS (and / or buffer station BS). In one aspect, the control server 120 is configured to command the bot 110 to cause the bot 110 forming the pick face to classify cases of the inbound flow (which may also be referred to as warehouse replenishment or inbound stream) at the transfer station TS (and / or buffer station BS) independently of the order of case removal from the inbound station by the lift 150. In one aspect, the bot control device 110C is configured to command the bot 110 to cause the bot 110 forming the pick face to classify cases of the inbound flow at the transfer station TS (and / or buffer station BS) independently of the order of case removal from the inbound station by the lift 150. In yet another aspect, both the control server 120 and the bot control device 110C are configured to command the bot 110 to cause the bot 110 forming the pick face to classify cases of the inbound flow at the transfer station TS (and / or buffer station BS) independently of the order of case removal from the inbound station by the lift 150. Thus, the control server 120 and / or the bot control device 110C are configured to at least partially set the flow of inbound cases together with the classification of the bot 110 of the cases commonly carried by the bot 110, decoupled from the order of case removal by the lift 150. This may be referred to, for illustrative purposes, as the classification of cases of the inbound flow by the bot 110 at the transfer station TS (and / or buffer station BS).For example, referring to FIG. 9A, the first pick face is transferred from the loading station 160IN by the incoming conveyor 160CB to one or more lifts 150A1, 150A2 (FIG. 20, block 2000). In this example, one of the first pick faces includes a combination of individual pick faces 5, 7, while the other first pick face includes a combination of individual pick faces 20, 22. Lift 150A1 places the respective first pick faces 5, 7 on shelf 7000B of interface station TS, while lift 150A2 places the other respective first pick faces 20, 22 on shelf 7000H of another interface station TS on the same storage level 130L (FIG. 20, block 2010). The bot 110 constructs or retrieves the second pick face from the interface station TS such that the first pick face placed on shelves 7000B, 7000H by lifts 150A1, 150A2 (e.g., common to both the bot 110 and respective lifts 150A) is different from the second pick face, but the second pick face includes at least one case unit in common with the first pick face (FIGS. 20, 2020). For example, the first pick faces 5, 7 are disassembled such that different pick faces including the individual pick face 5 (or individual pick face 7) are retrieved by the bot 110, and / or the other first pick faces 20, 22 are disassembled such that different pick faces including the individual pick face 20 (or individual pick face 22) are retrieved by the bot 110. Here, the second pick face is different from the first pick face, but includes at least one of the individual pick faces of the first pick face such that at least one case unit is common between the first pick face and the second pick face. As can be understood, the second pick face may be disassembled by the bot such that the pick face placed on at least one storage shelf by the bot 110 is different from the second pick face, and at least one case unit is common between the second pick face and the pick face placed on at least one storage shelf.

[0099] In one aspect, referring again to FIG. 5A, a lift having a plurality of individually operable load handling devices LHD1, LHD2 removes and positions a case unit from two or more interface stations TS at separate storage levels 130LA, 130LB and transfers it to the same or separate outbound conveyor interface stations TS (such as when one or more transfer stations TS of an outbound conveyor handling a common lift 150 are stacked vertically). Here, each of the individually operable load handling devices LHD1, LHD2 removes and positions a case unit from interface station shelves 7000A - 7000F and sends the removed case unit to an outbound conveyor 160CB in a manner substantially similar to the method described above with respect to FIGS. 10F, 10G, and 10H. In one aspect, each load handling device LHD1, LHD2 includes a single transfer arm LHDA, LHDB (see FIGS. 4A, 5A) or two or more single transfer arms LHDA, LHDB (see FIG. 5) (for example, one load handling device includes a single transfer arm while the other load handling device LHD includes two or more transfer arms, or both load handling devices include a single transfer arm, or both load handling devices include two or more transfer arms). In one aspect, the load handling devices LHD1, LHD2 include the sorting and alignment mechanisms described with respect to FIG. 5B.

[0100] The outfeed lifts 150B1, 150B2 transfer the (one or more) ordered multiple retrievals arranged on the shelves 7000A to 7000L by the bots 110 to the outfeed station 160UT in accordance with a predetermined order outfeed sequence. For example, referring again to FIG. 9, the pick faces 1 to 22 are retrieved by the lifts 150B1, 150B2 in an ordered command, whereby the pick faces 1 to 22 are required to form the mixed pallet load MPL (e.g., indicated by the numbers associated with each case unit / pick face shown in FIG. 9) in a predetermined order and / or, for example, the case units are ordered for placement into one or more bags, totes, or other containers TOT at the operator station 160EP (as shown in FIG. 21) in the order to fulfill one or more customer orders, and are sent to the outfeed station 160UT in a predetermined order sequence of the retrieved goods (e.g., the order outfeed sequence). Thus, each of the interface stations TS of each lift 150B1, 150B2 forms a buffer section that holds one or more case units until the (one or more) case units are required to form the mixed pallet load and are retrieved by the respective lifts 150B1, 150B2.

[0101] Referring to FIG. 22, in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiments, storage spaces are provided on the racks along the retrieval passage (FIG. 22, block 1600). A multi-level deck is also provided (FIG. 22, block 1610), and at least one deck level of the multi-level deck communicates with each passage, and the multi-level deck and passages define a running surface for the autonomous transport vehicle at each level of the multi-level deck. The racks of the plurality of rack levels are accessed from respective running surfaces common to the plurality of rack levels (FIG. 22, block 1620), and the racks are arranged along at least one passage at each level of the multi-level deck. In one aspect, the vertical pitch between the rack levels varies by portion of each passage. In one aspect, the vertical pitch between at least two rack levels of each passage portion is associated with the vertical pitch between at least two other rack levels of another passage portion of the same passage such that the autonomous transport vehicle provides a plurality of retrievals in an order sequence on a common passage route. In one aspect, the vertical pitch between at least two rack levels of each passage portion is associated with the vertical pitch between at least two other rack levels of another passage portion of the same passage such that the vertical pitch and the other vertical pitch substantially fill the vertical space between the plurality of deck levels with the item being stored.

[0102] As can be understood, the above-described load handling device is configured to hold (one or more) pick faces having different sizes and / or any number of case units. For illustrative purposes only, FIG. 5D illustrates a load handling device LHDA that holds two pick faces PCKFC1, PCKFC2. It should be understood that the load handling device LHDA is shown for illustrative purposes only, and that any of the load handling devices described herein are configured in a manner substantially similar to that described with respect to the load handling device LHDA. Here, the pick face PCKFC1 includes a single case unit CU1, while the pick face PCKFC2 includes two case units CU2, CU3 so as to be larger than PCKFC1. In other embodiments, the pick faces PCKFC1, PCKFC2 have any suitable size and include any suitable number of case units. As can be understood, two pick faces PCKFC1, PCKFC2 are shown held on the load handling device LHDA, but in other embodiments, the load handling device LHDA may hold any suitable number of pick faces, such as three or more or one. The arrangement of the pick faces PCKFC1, PCKFC2 (and the case units / totes therein) is, in one embodiment, arranged on the inbound or outbound lifts 150A, 150B according to a predetermined sequence. By way of example, the pick faces PCKFC1, PCKFC2 are similar to one or more of the pick faces 5 described above.

[0103] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, an automated storage and retrieval system includes at least one autonomous transport vehicle, a transfer deck having a plurality of moving lanes that define a non-deterministic transport surface for at least one autonomous transport vehicle, at least one reciprocating lift, and at least one pick face transfer station connected to the transfer deck and configured to interact between at least one autonomous transport vehicle on the transfer deck and at least one reciprocating lift such that a pick face is transferred between the at least one autonomous transport vehicle and the at least one reciprocating lift.

[0104] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face transfer station is a passive transfer station.

[0105] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face transfer station is configured to simultaneously support independent pick face loads.

[0106] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, an automated storage and retrieval system further includes an extraction passage connected to a transfer deck, and at least one pick face transfer station is disposed on the side opposite to the extraction passage of the transfer deck.

[0107] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face transfer station is offset from a plurality of transfer lanes such that the interaction of at least one automated guided vehicle with the at least one pick face transfer station is non-deterministic with respect to movement along a plurality of movement lanes of the automated guided vehicle.

[0108] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one automated guided vehicle includes an end effector configured to transfer a pick face to and from at least one automated guided vehicle, at least one reciprocating lift includes an end effector configured to transfer a pick face to and from at least one reciprocating lift, at least one pick face transfer station includes a fixed pick face support surface configured to interact with at least one of the end effectors of the at least one automated guided vehicle and the end effectors of the at least one reciprocating lift, and at least one reciprocating lift is rigidly joined to the transfer deck.

[0109] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the automated storage and retrieval system further includes a buffer station having at least one shelf that buffers the pick face between the retrieval and placement of the pick face by the autonomous transport vehicle.

[0110] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the buffer station is disposed adjacent to at least one pick face transfer station.

[0111] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the buffer station includes an array of shelves stacked vertically one above the other, each shelf being configured to buffer the pick face between the retrieval and placement of the pick face by the autonomous transport vehicle.

[0112] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the buffer station is connected to at least one pick face transfer station by at least one autonomous transport vehicle.

[0113] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face transfer station includes positioning features to enable at least one autonomous transport vehicle to position itself relative to the at least one pick face transfer station.

[0114] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, an automated storage and retrieval system includes at least one autonomous transport vehicle and a transport vehicle end effector configured to transfer a pick face to and from the at least one autonomous transport vehicle; a transfer deck having a plurality of moving lanes and defining a non-deterministic transport surface for the at least one autonomous transport vehicle; at least one reciprocating lift and at least one reciprocating lift having a lift end effector configured to transfer a pick face to and from the at least one reciprocating lift; at least one pick face transfer station; and at least one pick face transfer station configured to interact with at least one of the transport vehicle end effector and the lift end effector to effect transfer of the pick face between the at least one autonomous transport vehicle and at least one of the at least one reciprocating lift.

[0115] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face transfer station is a passive transfer station.

[0116] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face transfer station is configured to simultaneously support independent pick face loads.

[0117] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the automated storage and retrieval system further includes a retrieval passage connected to the transfer deck, and at least one pick face transfer station is disposed on the side of the transfer deck opposite the retrieval passage.

[0118] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face transfer station is offset from a plurality of transfer lanes such that interaction of the at least one autonomous transport vehicle with the at least one pick face transfer station is non-deterministic with respect to movement along the plurality of moving lanes of the at least one autonomous transport vehicle.

[0119] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face transfer station includes a pick face support surface configured to interact with at least one of a transport vehicle end effector and a lift end effector.

[0120] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, an automated storage and retrieval system includes a buffer station disposed adjacent to at least one pick face transfer station.

[0121] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the buffer station is connected to at least one pick face transfer station by at least one autonomous transport vehicle.

[0122] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face transfer station includes positioning features to enable at least one autonomous transport to position itself relative to the at least one pick face transfer station.

[0123] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a method includes placing, using an autonomous transport vehicle, a first pick face at a pick face transfer station and removing, using a reciprocating lift, a second pick face different from the first pick face from the pick face transfer station, wherein the pick face transfer station is common to the autonomous transport vehicle and the reciprocating lift and at least one case unit is common between the first pick face and the second pick face.

[0124] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the method further includes constructing a pick face adjacent to at least one storage shelf using an autonomous mobile vehicle, and the pick face constructed adjacent to the at least one storage shelf is different from the first pick face, and at least one case unit is common between the first pick face and the pick face constructed adjacent to the at least one storage shelf.

[0125] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the method includes removing a first pick face from a storage shelf using an autonomous mobile vehicle, buffering the first pick face on a stationary shelf at a pick face transfer station using the autonomous mobile vehicle, forming a second pick face on the stationary shelf, and removing the second pick face from the stationary shelf using a reciprocating lift, wherein the second pick face is different from the first pick face and comprises two or more cases in an order sequence corresponding to a predetermined case out order sequence of mixed cases, and the first pick face and the second pick face have at least one common case.

[0126] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the pick face transfer station includes two or more vertically stacked stationary shelves, and arranging the first pick face on the stationary shelf includes arranging the first pick face on one of the two or more vertically stacked stationary shelves, and removing the second pick face from the stationary shelf includes removing the second pick face from one of the two or more vertically stacked stationary shelves.

[0127] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the second pick face removed from the stationary shelf by the reciprocating lift is different from the first pick face arranged by the autonomous mobile vehicle, and the stationary shelf is common to the second pick face removed by the reciprocating lift and the first pick face arranged by the autonomous mobile vehicle.

[0128] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, an automated storage and retrieval system includes a three-dimensional storage array having multiple levels of racks in a passageway, the passageway being configured for the movement of autonomous transport vehicles in the passageway, the transfer deck having a non-deterministic transport surface, the autonomous transport vehicle moving on the non-deterministic transport surface, and the non-deterministic transport surface having two or more parallel movement lanes connecting the passageways.

[0129] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, two or more parallel movement lanes are juxtaposed along a common non-deterministic transport surface between both ends of the transfer deck.

[0130] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the passageway is joined to the transfer deck on one side of the transfer deck.

[0131] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the transfer deck has a deck storage rack distributed along another side different from one side and the other side of the transfer deck such that at least a part of the transfer deck is inserted between the deck storage rack and the passageway.

[0132] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the automated storage and retrieval system further includes a lift, and the deck storage rack is arranged along the other side so as to communicate with the autonomous transport vehicle from the transfer deck and the lift.

[0133] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the method includes placing a first pick face at a pick face handover station using a reciprocating lift, and retrieving a second pick face from the pick face handover station using an autonomous transport vehicle, the pick face handover station being common to the autonomous transport vehicle and the reciprocating lift, and at least one case unit being common between the first pick face and the second pick face.

[0134] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the method further includes placing a pick face on at least one storage shelf using an autonomous transport vehicle, the pick face placed on the at least one storage shelf being different from a second pick face, and at least one case unit being common between the second pick face and the pick face placed on the at least one storage shelf.

[0135] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the first pick face is different from the second pick face.

[0136] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, an automated storage and retrieval system includes at least one autonomous transport vehicle, a storage array having a rack aisle and a plurality of storage rack modules disposed along the rack aisle, a transfer deck defining a transport surface for the at least one autonomous transport vehicle, at least one reciprocating lift, and at least one pick face transfer station connected to the transfer deck and configured to interact between at least one autonomous transport vehicle on the moving deck and the at least one reciprocating lift, the at least one autonomous transport vehicle transporting a first pick face between the rack aisle and the at least one pick face transfer station, a second pick face different from the first pick face being configured to be placed on a common surface of the at least one pick face transfer station that is common to both the at least one autonomous transport vehicle and the at least one reciprocating lift, the second pick face having a case that is a common case with the first pick face, the at least one reciprocating lift being configured to retrieve a third pick face from the common surface of the at least one pick face transfer station, the third pick face being different from the first and second pick faces, and the common case being common to the first, second, and third pick faces.

[0137] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one autonomous transport vehicle is configured to construct a first pick face on-the-fly during a traverse from a first retrieval position within a rack aisle to the placement of a second pick face at at least one pick face transfer station.

[0138] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one autonomous transport vehicle comprises a control device configured to effect the construction of a first pick face.

[0139] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one autonomous transport vehicle is configured to transport a different pick face from a rack aisle, place that different pick face on top of a shelf of at least one pick face transfer station, and transport a second pick face from the shelf to a common surface.

[0140] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a product order processing system includes at least one autonomous transport vehicle configured to hold and transport pick faces, a storage array having a transfer deck that defines a transport surface for the at least one autonomous transport vehicle, at least one other pick face transport system connected to the transfer deck, and at least one pick face transfer station disposed adjacent to the transfer deck. The at least one pick face transfer station is configured to transfer pick faces between the at least one autonomous transport vehicle and the at least one other pick face transport system. The at least one other pick face transport system defines a processing course for a mixed case pick face that is shipped from the storage array to a load fill. The at least one pick face transfer station commonly supports two or more of the mixed case pick faces that define a portion of the mixed case pick face that is shipped from the storage array into the processing course in an order sequence of pick faces based on a predetermined sequence of the load fill.

[0141] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face transfer station forms a common pick face transfer interface for at least one other pick face transport system such that the pick faces that are commonly supported are commonly retrieved by at least one other pick face transport system.

[0142] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, each of at least one pick face transfer station commonly supports two or more of the mixed case pick faces that define a portion of the mixed case pick face that is shipped from the storage array in an order sequence of pick faces based on a predetermined sequence of load fillings.

[0143] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the mixed case pick faces that define a portion of the mixed case pick face that is shipped from the storage array in the order sequence and that are commonly supported on at least one pick face transfer station are based on the order sequence of pick faces on another pick face transfer station of another processing course.

[0144] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the product order processing system further includes a control device that communicates with at least one autonomous transport vehicle, the control device being configured to effect the placement of pick faces onto at least one pick face transfer station based on the order sequence of pick faces.

[0145] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one other pick face transport system includes a reciprocating lift.

[0146] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face transfer station has a stationary shelf that effects the transfer of the pick face between at least one autonomous transport vehicle and at least one other pick face transport system.

[0147] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, an automated storage and retrieval system includes a pick face transfer station, an autonomous transport vehicle configured to position a first pick face at the pick face transfer station, and a reciprocating lift configured to retrieve a second pick face different from the first pick face from the pick face transfer station, the pick face transfer station being common to the autonomous transport vehicle and the reciprocating lift, and at least one case unit being common between the first pick face and the second pick face.

[0148] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the automated storage and retrieval system further includes at least one storage shelf, the autonomous transport vehicle being configured to construct a pick face adjacent to the at least one storage shelf, the pick face constructed adjacent to the at least one storage shelf being different from the first pick face, and at least one case unit being common between the first pick face and the pick face constructed adjacent to the at least one storage shelf.

[0149] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, an automated storage and retrieval system includes a storage shelf, a pick face transfer station including a stationary shelf, and an autonomous transport vehicle configured to retrieve a first pick face from the storage shelf, buffer the first pick face on the stationary shelf of the pick face transfer station, and form a second pick face on the stationary shelf, wherein the second pick face includes two or more cases in an order sequence corresponding to a predetermined case out order sequence of mixed cases, different from the first pick face, and the first pick face and the second pick face have at least one case in common, and a reciprocating lift configured to retrieve the second pick face from the stationary shelf.

[0150] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the pick face transfer station includes two or more vertically stacked stationary shelves, and the autonomous transport vehicle is configured to buffer the first pick face on the stationary shelf by placing the first pick face on one of the two or more vertically stacked stationary shelves, and the reciprocating lift is configured to retrieve the second pick face from the stationary shelf by retrieving the second pick face from one of the two or more vertically stacked stationary shelves.

[0151] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the second pick face retrieved from the stationary shelf by the reciprocating lift is different from the first pick face placed by the autonomous transport vehicle, and the stationary shelf is common to the second pick face retrieved by the reciprocating lift and the first pick face placed by the autonomous transport vehicle.

[0152] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the lift comprises at least one load handling device configured to reciprocate along a lift axis, and a drive section connected to the load handling device and configured to move the load handling device along the lift axis, wherein the load handling device forms a loading section comprising a load support surface having a common elevator, the common elevator being configured to hold one or more pick faces at the common elevator of the load support surface, a frame, at least one transfer arm movably attached to the frame, and one or more pick faces carried together by the load support surface of the at least one load handling device define an order sequence of pick faces on the at least one load handling device according to a predetermined case unloading order sequence of the mixed case.

[0153] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the lift further comprises a control device connected to the drive section, the control device being configured to provide a defined order sequence of pick faces on the at least one load handling device according to a predetermined case unloading order sequence of the mixed case.

[0154] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face of the one or more pick faces is a multi-case unit pick face.

[0155] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the lift is configured to arrange one or more pick faces according to a predetermined case unloading order sequence.

[0156] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one transfer arm is common to two or more pick faces, and the transfer arm is configured to hold two or more pick faces adjacent to each other.

[0157] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one transfer arm includes two independently operable transfer arms configured to individually transfer a pick face to and from a load handling device.

[0158] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one load handling device includes two independently operable load handling devices configured to individually transfer a pick face.

[0159] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the load handling device further includes an alignment member disposed within a loading section, and the control device is configured to control a combined movement of the alignment member and the transfer arm to effect sorting of two or more case pick faces conveyed within the loading section.

[0160] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the lift further includes an alignment member connected to a drive section and a control device, the alignment member being movably attached to the frame, and the transfer arm and the alignment member being movable independently of each other.

[0161] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, within the loading section, the control device controls the drive section and is configured to effect movement of the alignment member and the transfer arm such that on-the-fly sorting is effected by holding at least one of two or more pick faces while another of the two or more pick faces is being transferred to or from the loading section.

[0162] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the lift is a high-speed lift having a pick face transfer processing speed that is substantially equivalent to the pick face transfer processing speed of an autonomous transport vehicle that transfers a pick face to a reciprocating lift.

[0163] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one load handling device is attached to the mast so as to reciprocate along the length of the mast.

[0164] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, an automated storage and retrieval system lift has a frame and a carriage frame having a drive shaft, and at least one load carriage configured to hold one or more load goods, the at least one load carriage being disposed on a first load axis so as to move along the first load axis that traverses the drive shaft, the at least one load carriage having a transfer arm with a plurality of independent degrees of freedom, the transfer arm with a plurality of independent degrees of freedom being at least partially disposed within the load section, and the transfer arm with a plurality of independent degrees of freedom and the load section being configured to effect an on-the-fly sorting of one or more load goods carried within the load section.

[0165] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one load carriage further includes an alignment member disposed within the load section so as to move along a second load axis that traverses the first load axis.

[0166] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the lift further includes a control device connected to the alignment member and at least one transfer arm, the control device being configured to control the combined movement of the alignment member and at least one transfer arm to effect an on-the-fly sorting of one or more load goods carried within the load section.

[0167] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the alignment member and at least one transfer arm are each movable independently of each other.

[0168] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the control device causes the alignment member to be inserted between two of the one or more load goods so as to physically separate two of the one or more load goods, and is configured to effect movement of the alignment member and at least one transfer arm.

[0169] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the alignment member is configured to move one or more load goods bidirectionally along a second axis within the loading section.

[0170] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the control device is configured to control the movement of the alignment member and at least one transfer arm such that sorting is effected by holding at least one of the one or more load goods within the loading section while another of the one or more load goods is being transferred into or out of the loading section.

[0171] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one load carriage comprises two independently operable load carriages arranged side by side on a mast so as to move along the mast independently of each other.

[0172] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one transfer arm includes a plurality of load holding positions arranged to hold loads in at least a side-by-side arrangement to effect simultaneous transfer of loads to and from the at least one transfer arm.

[0173] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the transfer arm includes a plurality of load support tines configured for transfer of loads by passage of the loads to load holding positions of a storage and retrieval system.

[0174] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the drive shaft comprises a common mast on which a plurality of transfer arms with independent degrees of freedom are arranged.

[0175] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the storage and retrieval system includes at least one transfer arm configured to hold at least one pick face, at least one bot configured to transfer at least one pick face to and from at least one transfer station, at least one load handling device attached to reciprocate along a lift axis, at least one transfer arm movably attached to a frame, and a drive section connected to the load handling device and configured to move the load handling device along the lift axis. At least one load handling device includes a frame forming a load section having a load support surface, the load support surface including a common elevator configured to hold one or more pick faces with a common elevator of the load support surface in communication with at least one transfer station. The one or more pick faces carried together by the load support surface of at least one load handling device define an order sequence of the pick faces on at least one load handling device according to a predetermined case removal order sequence of differently configured pick faces.

[0176] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the storage and retrieval system further comprises a control device connected to the drive section, the control device being configured to effect a defined order sequence of the pick faces on at least one load handling device according to a predetermined case removal order sequence between differently configured pick faces.

[0177] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one of the one or more pick faces is a multi-case unit pick face.

[0178] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one load handling device is configured to arrange one or more pick faces according to a predetermined case removal order sequence.

[0179] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one transfer arm is common to two or more pick faces, and the transfer arm is configured to hold two or more adjacent pick faces to each other.

[0180] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one transfer arm comprises two independently operable transfer arms configured to individually transfer pick faces to and from the load handling device.

[0181] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one load handling device comprises two independently operable load handling devices configured to individually transfer pick faces.

[0182] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the load handling device further comprises an alignment member disposed within the loading section, and the control device is configured to control the combined movement of the alignment member and the transfer arm to effect a classification of two or more case pick faces carried within the loading section.

[0183] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one load handling device further comprises an alignment member connected to a drive section and a control device, the alignment member being movably attached to the frame, and the transfer arm and the alignment member being movable independently of each other.

[0184] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, within the loading section, the control device controls the drive section and is configured to effect movement of the alignment member and the transfer arm such that on-the-fly sorting is provided by having at least one of the two or more pick faces held by another one of the two or more pick faces while that other pick face is being transferred to or from the loading section.

[0185] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one load handling device is a high-speed lift having a pick face transfer processing speed that is substantially equivalent to the pick face transfer processing speed of an autonomous transport vehicle that transfers a pick face to the at least one load handling device.

[0186] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the order sequence of differently configured pick faces is independent of the order sequence of the pick faces at the transfer station.

[0187] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the method includes removing pick faces in order sequence on a common platform using a common platform of a lift and disposing the pick faces substantially simultaneously in order sequence at an outbound pick face holding position using the common platform.

[0188] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the pick face includes a mixed case unit.

[0189] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the pick face includes two or more different pick faces.

[0190] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the pick face is removed from a common level of a pick face holding position.

[0191] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the pick face is retrieved from multiple levels of pick face holding positions.

[0192] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the method includes retrieving two or more pick faces using a common platform of a lift and causing an on-the-fly classification of the two or more pick faces using the lift.

[0193] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the on-the-fly classification of the two or more pick faces includes traversing a stack portion of pick face holding positions in a common direction using the common platform.

[0194] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the method includes retrieving at least one pick face using a common platform of a lift and placing the at least one pick face in an outbound pick face holding position using the lift in a single offloading step, wherein the at least one pick face has an arrangement classified at offloading.

[0195] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the at least one pick face includes a mixed case unit.

[0196] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the at least one pick face includes two or more different pick faces.

[0197] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the at least one pick face is retrieved from a common level of pick face holding positions.

[0198] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the at least one pick face is retrieved from multiple levels of pick face holding positions.

[0199] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a lift includes at least one load handling device attached to reciprocate along a lift axis, at least one transfer arm movably attached to a frame, a drive section connected to the load handling device and configured to move the load handling device along the lift axis, and a control device connected to the drive section and configured to effect the removal of two or more pick faces using a common load support platform and the on-the-fly sorting of two or more pick faces using the common load support platform, the load handling device including a frame forming a load section having a common load support platform configured to hold one or more pick faces on the common load support platform.

[0200] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the control device is configured to effect, in an order sequence, the removal of two or more pick faces using the common load support platform and, in the order sequence, the placement of two or more pick faces to an outbound pick face holding position using the common load support platform.

[0201] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the control device is configured to effect the on-the-fly sorting of two or more pick faces, the common load support platform traversing the stacking of pick face holding positions in a common direction.

[0202] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the control device is configured to effect, in a single offloading step, the placement of two or more pick faces to an outbound pick face holding position, the two or more pick faces having an arrangement sorted at offloading.

[0203] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a product order processing system includes a plurality of decks arranged at separate levels and defining a multi-level deck, at least one autonomous transport vehicle disposed on each of the multi-level decks and configured to hold and transport pick faces on each deck, at least one lift disposed to travel between, connect, and raise and lower pick faces from the multi-level deck, and at least one pick face transfer station on each deck that interacts between the autonomous transport vehicle on the deck and the at least one lift to effect transfer of the pick face between the autonomous transport vehicle and the at least one lift, wherein at least one lift defines a processing stream for a mixed case pick face that is stocked from the multi-level deck to a load fill, and at least one stream of the processing stream has an order sequence of streaming pick faces, and the order sequence of the streaming pick faces is based on another processing stream.

[0204] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a load fill includes a mixed case pick face arranged in a predetermined pick face load order sequence.

[0205] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the order sequence of streaming pick faces from at least one stream is related to a predetermined pick face load order sequence.

[0206] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the order sequence of streaming pick faces from at least one stream is combined with pick faces from other processing streams in a predetermined pick face load order sequence to fill a load fill.

[0207] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face from another processing stream, combined with an ordered sequence of streaming pick faces from at least one stream, forms part of a sequentially ordered pick face of a predetermined pick face load order sequence.

[0208] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one lift includes a first lift, and another processing stream is defined by at least one other lift independent of the first lift.

[0209] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the first lift has a lift platform arranged to support two or more pick faces on the lift platform, and the first lift is configured to effect the retrieval or placement of two or more pick faces using the lift platform in a common lift elevator in accordance with an ordered sequence of streaming pick faces.

[0210] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the first lift effects the retrieval or placement of two or more pick faces substantially simultaneously.

[0211] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the product order processing system further includes a storage array including a storage rack having pick face storage locations arranged in a plurality of levels corresponding to separate levels of a multi-level deck.

[0212] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a product order processing system includes a plurality of decks arranged in separate levels and defining a multi-level deck, at least one autonomous transport vehicle disposed on each of the multi-level decks and configured to hold and transport pick faces on each deck, a first lift disposed to travel between, connect, and raise and lower pick faces from two or more levels of the multi-level deck, a second lift disposed to travel between, connect, and raise and lower pick faces from two or more levels of the multi-level deck, and at least one pick face transfer station on each deck that interacts between the autonomous transport vehicle on the deck and the first and second lifts to effect transfer of the pick face between the autonomous transport vehicle and the first and second lifts. The first lift defines a first processing stream of mixed case pick faces that are shipped from the multi-level deck to the load fill, the second lift defines a second processing stream of mixed case pick faces that are shipped from the multi-level deck to the load fill, the first processing stream has a first order sequence of streaming pick faces, the second processing stream has a second order sequence of streaming pick faces, and the first order sequence of streaming pick faces captures the second order sequence of streaming pick faces and is related to the load fill order sequence.

[0213] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a load fill includes a mixed case pick face arranged in a predetermined pick face load order sequence.

[0214] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one of the first order sequence of streaming pick faces from the first processing stream and the second order sequence of streaming pick faces from the second processing stream is related to a predetermined pick face load order sequence.

[0215] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the first order sequence of the streaming pick faces from the first processing stream is in a predetermined pick face load order sequence and is combined with the pick faces from the second order sequence of the streaming pick faces from the second processing stream to fill the load fill.

[0216] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face from the second processing stream, combined with the first order sequence of the streaming pick faces from the first processing stream, forms part of a sequentially ordered pick face of a predetermined pick face load order sequence.

[0217] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one lift includes a first lift, and the second processing stream is defined by another one of at least one lift independent of the first lift.

[0218] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the first lift has a lift platform arranged to support two or more pick faces on the lift platform, and the first lift is configured to effect the removal or placement of two or more pick faces using the lift platform in a common lift elevator in response to the first order sequence of the streaming pick faces.

[0219] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the first lift effects the removal or placement of two or more pick faces substantially simultaneously.

[0220] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a product order processing system further includes a storage array having storage racks with pick face storage locations arranged in multiple levels corresponding to separate levels of a multi-level deck.

[0221] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a method for product order processing includes providing a plurality of decks arranged in separate levels and defining a multi-level deck, placing at least one autonomous transport vehicle on each of the multi-level decks, using the at least one autonomous transport vehicle to hold and transport pick faces on each deck, traveling to and connecting two or more levels of the multi-level deck, using at least one lift to raise and lower pick faces from and to the multi-level deck, using at least one pick face transfer station on each deck to interact between the autonomous transport vehicle on the deck and the at least one lift to effect transfer of the pick face between the autonomous transport vehicle and the at least one lift, and using at least one lift to define a processing stream for mixed case pick faces that are shipped from the multi-level deck to the load fill, wherein at least one stream of the processing stream has an order sequence of streaming pick faces, and the order sequence of the streaming pick faces is based on another processing stream.

[0222] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a load fill includes a mixed case pick face, and the method includes arranging the mixed case pick face in a predetermined pick face loading order sequence.

[0223] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the order sequence of the streaming pick faces from at least one stream is related to a predetermined pick face load order sequence.

[0224] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the method further includes combining an order sequence of streaming pick faces from at least one stream with pick faces from other processing streams in a predetermined pick face load order sequence to fill the load filler.

[0225] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the method further includes using at least one pick face from other processing streams combined with an order sequence of streaming pick faces from at least one stream to form a portion of successively ordered pick faces of a predetermined pick face load order sequence.

[0226] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one lift includes a first lift, and the method further includes defining other processing streams by another one of at least one lift independent of the first lift.

[0227] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the first lift has a lift platform arranged to support two or more pick faces on the lift platform, and the method further includes using the first lift to effect the removal or placement of two or more pick faces using the lift platform in a common lift elevator according to an order sequence of streaming pick faces.

[0228] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the method further includes using the first lift to effect the removal or placement of two or more pick faces substantially simultaneously.

[0229] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the method further includes providing a storage array comprising a storage rack having pick face storage locations arranged at a plurality of levels corresponding to separate levels of a multi-level deck.

[0230] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a product order processing system includes a plurality of decks arranged at separate levels and defining a multi-level deck, at least one autonomous transport vehicle disposed on each of the multi-level decks and configured to hold and transport a pick face on each deck, at least one lift disposed to travel between, connect, and raise and lower a pick face from two or more levels of the multi-level deck, and at least one pick face buffer station on each deck that interacts between at least one autonomous transport vehicle on the deck and the at least one lift to effect transfer of the pick face between the at least one autonomous transport vehicle and the at least one lift, wherein at least one lift defines a processing stream for a mixed case pick face that is streamed out of the multi-level deck to a load fill, and at least one of the at least one pick face buffer stations on the multi-level deck supports two or more of the mixed case pick faces that define a portion of the streaming pick face in an order sequence of the streaming pick face based on a predetermined sequence of the load fill.

[0231] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, at least one pick face buffer station forms a common pick face transfer interface for at least one lift such that the pick faces supported in common are commonly retrieved by the at least one lift.

[0232] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, each of at least one pick face buffer stations above two or more of the multi-level decks supports two or more of the multi-level decks that define a portion of the streaming pick face in an order sequence of the streaming pick face based on a predetermined sequence of the load fill.

[0233] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a mixed case pick face that defines a portion of a streaming pick face that is commonly supported on a buffer station is based on the order sequence of a pick face on another buffer station of another processing stream.

[0234] According to one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a product order processing system further includes a control device in communication with at least one autonomous transport vehicle, the control device being configured to effect the placement of a pick face to at least one pick face buffer station based on the order sequence of the streaming pick face.

[0235] It should be understood that the foregoing description is merely illustrative of aspects of the disclosed embodiments. Various alternatives and modifications may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the aspects of the disclosed embodiments. Accordingly, the aspects of the disclosed embodiments are intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims. Further, the fact that different features are detailed in different dependent or independent claims does not mean that combinations of these features cannot be used advantageously, and such combinations remain within the scope of aspects of the present invention.

Claims

Claim 1 A product order processing system, wherein the product order processing system at least one elevated deck, the at least one elevated deck having an array of product storage locations distributed along the at least one elevated deck, at least one elevated deck; at least one autonomous transport vehicle disposed on each of the at least one elevated decks and configured to hold and transport a pick face on each deck; a plurality of lifts disposed to traverse and connect the at least one elevated deck and the base level and to raise and lower the pick face from the at least one elevated deck; at least one pick face buffer station on each deck, the at least one pick face buffer station interfacing with each of the plurality of lifts to effect transfer of the pick face between the buffer station and a selected one of the plurality of lifts for loading and unloading, at least one pick face buffer station; comprising the selected lift defines a processing sequence for a mixed case pick face that is sequenced and discharged at the base level from the selected lift and the at least one elevated deck to a load fill, and the at least one pick face buffer station of the at least one elevated deck at the selected lift supports one of the mixed case pick faces such that transfer of the pick face between the buffer station and each lift for loading and unloading is in an ordered pick face order sequence based on a predetermined sequence of the load fill and defines a portion of the ordered pick face; Product order processing system. Claim 2 The product order processing system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one pick face buffer station forms a common pick face transfer interface at each deck for the processing sequence defined by the plurality of lifts such that the pick face is transferred to and from the plurality of lifts within the processing sequence. Claim 3 Each of the at least one pick face buffer station on each of the at least one elevated deck respectively supports one or more of the mixed case pick faces such that the transfer of the pick face between the buffer station and the selected one of the plurality of lifts for loading and unloading is in an ordered pick face order sequence based on the predetermined sequence of the load fillings and defines a part of the ordered pick faces. The product order processing system according to claim 1.

4. The transfer of the mixed case pick face between the buffer station and each lift for loading and unloading that defines a part of the ordered pick faces in the order sequence is based on the order sequence of the pick faces on another buffer station of another processing sequence. The product order processing system according to claim 1.

5. The product order processing system further includes a control device in communication with the at least one autonomous vehicle, and the control device is configured to effect the placement of the pick faces to the at least one pick face buffer station based on the order sequence of the ordered pick faces. The product order processing system according to claim 1.

6. The product order processing system further includes a storage array including a storage rack having pick face storage locations arranged at a plurality of levels corresponding to different levels of the at least one elevated deck. The product order processing system according to claim 1.

7. The transfer of the mixed case pick face between the buffer station and the selected lift for loading and unloading changes the buffer order of the pick faces supported at the buffer station in the selected lift of the at least one elevated deck to the order sequence of a part of the ordered pick faces. The product order processing system according to claim 1.

8. The product order processing system further includes a control device configured to effect the placement of the pick faces to the at least one pick face buffer station based on the buffer order. The product order processing system according to claim 7.

9. A method for product order processing, wherein the method comprises: providing at least one deck, the at least one deck having an array of product storage locations distributed along at least one elevated deck; placing at least one autonomous transport vehicle on each of the at least one elevated deck, and holding and transporting a pick face on each deck by the at least one autonomous transport vehicle; raising and lowering the pick face from the at least one elevated deck by a plurality of lifts that traverse and connect the at least one elevated deck and a base level; providing at least one pick face buffer station and effecting transfer of the pick face between the at least one pick face buffer station and a selected one of the plurality of lifts for loading and unloading; defining, by the selected lift, a processing sequence of a mixed case pick face that is discharged at the base level from the selected lift and the at least one elevated deck to a load fill, wherein the at least one pick face buffer station of the at least one elevated deck at the selected lift supports at least the mixed case pick face such that transfer of the pick face between the buffer station and the lift for loading and unloading defines an ordered pick face sequence based on a predetermined sequence of the load fill and defines a part of the ordered pick face; A method comprising the above steps. **Claim 10** The method according to claim 9, wherein the at least one pick face buffer station forms a common pick face transfer interface at each deck for the processing sequence defined by the plurality of lifts such that the pick face is transferred to and from the plurality of lifts within the processing sequence. **Claim 11** Each of the at least one pick face buffer station on each of the at least one elevated deck supports one or more of the mixed case pick faces such that the transfer of the pick face between the buffer station and each lift for loading and unloading occurs in an ordered pick face order sequence based on the predetermined sequence of the load fill, defining a part of the ordered pick face, the method of claim 9.

12. The transfer of the mixed case pick face between the buffer station and each lift for loading and unloading, which defines a part of the ordered pick face in the order sequence, is based on the order sequence of the pick face on another buffer station of another processing sequence, the method of claim 11.

13. Further comprising causing the placement of the pick face to the at least one pick face buffer station based on the order sequence of the ordered pick face by a control device in communication with the at least one autonomous transport vehicle, the method of claim 9.

14. Further comprising providing a storage array comprising a storage rack having pick face storage locations arranged at a plurality of levels corresponding to different levels of the at least one elevated deck, the method of claim 9.

15. The transfer of the mixed case pick face between the buffer station and the selected lift for loading and unloading changes the buffer order of the pick face supported at the buffer station at the selected lift of the at least one elevated deck to the order sequence of a part of the ordered pick face, the method of claim 9.

16. Further comprising causing the placement of the pick face to the at least one pick face buffer station based on the buffer order by a control device, the method of claim 15.

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