Patent ID: 11954641
Assignee: WALMART APOLLO, LLC
Field: IT methods for management (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC G

Claim 10:
11. A method of using an automated storage and retrieval system for managing storage of inventory at a retail facility, the method comprising:
analyzing, by a control circuit of the automated storage and retrieval system, at least one business rule governing product merging between containers containing a plurality of products and stored at storage locations of a storage structure to identify at least two of the containers that are eligible for the product merging therebetween;
analyzing, by the control circuit, the containers being transported by a container transport system including at least one conveyor configured to transport the containers between the storage locations and at least one picking station, where one or more products are removed from one or more of the containers, and analyzing, by the control circuit, workload at the at least one picking station to determine whether the at least one picking station is available to accommodate the product merging between the at least two containers identified as being eligible for the product merging therebetween;
upon an identification of the at least two containers that are eligible for the product merging therebetween, and upon a determination that the at least one picking station is available to accommodate the product merging between the at least two containers identified by the control circuit as being eligible for the product merging therebetween, transmitting, by the control circuit, a first signal to a control unit operatively coupled to the container transport system and configured to control movement of the at least one conveyor of the container transport system to cause the at least one conveyor of the container transport system to remove the at least two containers identified as being eligible for the product merging therebetween from their storage locations in the storage structure, and to transport the at least two containers removed from their storage locations in the storage structure on the at least one conveyor of the container transport system toward the at least one picking station determined to be available to accommodate the product merging between the at least two containers; and
in response to receipt of a signal from at least one sensor positioned adjacent the at least one picking station, the signal indicating that the at least one sensor detected that the at least two containers identified by the control circuit as being eligible for the product merging arrived at the at least one picking station determined to be available to accommodate the product merging between the at least two containers, transmitting, by the control circuit, a first signal to the control unit to cause the control unit to stop movement of the at least one conveyor of the container transport system to keep the at least two containers that are eligible for the product merging at the at least one picking station until the product merging between the at least two containers is complete.