Patent Publication Number: US-2022230229-A1

Title: Goods to person order picking with discharge mechanism

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 63/137,884 filed Jan. 15, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to an order fulfilment system and method, and in particular to an order fulfilment workstation having a reusable order consolidation element and discharge mechanism to transfer order items to an order container. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Commonly known goods to person (GTP) order fulfilment solutions include an operator whom picks inventory items to a predetermined order container that is positioned at a pick location within the GTP workstation. Once the order picking for that order container is completed, the order container is discharged or moved from the pick location to be transported away from the GTP workstation. Typically, the GTP workstation requires placement or replacement of empty order containers, such as totes or cartons, at the empty pick locations within the GTP workstation so that an order items for a new order may be picked into the newly placed empty order container. The placement or replacement of empty order containers may be done manually by the operator, requiring the operator to move or reach to retrieve an empty order container and then place it in the empty pick location, or may be done automatically, such as by a robotic arm or a transfer conveyor. Manual placement of empty order containers requires substantial manual labor and a large space to allow for sufficient movement to perform the manual operation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a system and method for consolidating order items for a customer order and automatically discharging the consolidated order into an empty, or partially completed, order takeaway container, such as a tote or a shipping carton. The system and method substantially reduce or eliminate the need for automated or manual placement of the order takeaway containers at the picking location, or an order fulfillment workstation, such as in the form of a goods-to-person (GTP) workstation, for example. The order items or components are placed in an order consolidation element or consolidator, such as in the form of a platform or temporary collection/holding compartment or container, which is coupled with a discharge mechanism. The discharge mechanism transfers the order components from the platform to the takeaway device, and may include a chute, pushing arm, and/or tilting tray, for example. After the discharge mechanism transfers the items to the takeaway device, the platform is reused to collect the components of the next order assigned by the order management system. The method is repeated and the operator is never required to manually place or replace an empty order container at a picking location. The takeaway device may include a segmented conveyor with trackable conveyor segments or other form of order collection device that is individually addressable and/or trackable by an order management system to automatically take away the order components in a completed order group or partially complete order group to a downstream solution. Alternatively, the takeaway device could be any other suitable conveyance or transport system, such as A-frame type collection conveyors, monorail or Power and Free conveyors, conveyors marketed and sold by BOSCH®, such as those marketed under the brand REXROTH by Bosch Rexroth AG of Stuttgart Germany, and conveyors with shuttles containing a bucket or tray, for example. 
     The method includes a picking process to consolidate order items or components by picking/collecting the items in the platform that is actuatable or activated by the discharge mechanism to transfer the order components onto a takeaway device or into an order container at the takeaway device. The operator picking the orders places the order items into one or more platforms at a workstation. The operator may be a human or a robot. Preferably, each platform is utilized for a single/individual order, “pseudo order” collection, or a partial individual order collection. “Pseudo order” collections may include a superset of orders or batch of orders, such as an entire set of e-commerce orders prepared for a single store location (e.g. markets, convenience stores, and retail stores). For example, a pseudo order may include a collection of multiple customer orders that are each pre-consolidated. The pre-consolidated orders are all picked to one of the platforms, to form a superset, batch, or pseudo order. The pseudo order represents a collection of orders to be forwarded to the store location such that the store&#39;s orders are already consolidated and ready for pickup at the store location by the store&#39;s respective customer. 
     Once all of required components of the individual order/partial order/pseudo order are collected in the platform, the operator indicates that the order is complete and the items are released via actuation of the discharge mechanism. For example, the discharge mechanism may include a tilting mechanism to tilt the platform so that the components release due gravity onto a tracked segmented conveyor or into a tracked order container supported at the conveyor below the platform. An order management system, including a computer, tracks each of the tracked segments of the conveyor and each tracked order container that is present within the order fulfilment system. Optionally, the takeaway device may be an autonomous mobile robot (AMR). 
     Optionally, the collection of order items may be discharged directly onto the surface of the segmented conveyor to be transported to a downstream location or process (e.g. packing station). The order management system tracks the collection of order items based on its location on one of the tracked segments of the conveyor. The collection of order items may be transported by the conveyor to another/downstream discharge mechanism where the components are transferred to an order tote or order packaging device. 
     The system and method are particularly advantageous for labor and floor space reduction, and may reduce labor and/or floor space requirements by as much as 30% or more. The system and method are particularly advantageous for the elimination of an operator needing to manually replace the completed and released order container with an empty container and/or automated mechanisms to automatically replace single use empty container at each workstation. This enables the operator to increase the number of items that can be picked/consolidated for orders (e.g. single order, pseudo orders, or partial orders) within a given time period (e.g. one hour period), thus increasing throughput of the operator and the order fulfilment workstation. The system and method are particularly well suited for order fulfilment applications using automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), such as automated grid storage systems like those marketed under the trademark AUTOSTORE® by Autostore Technology AS of Norway. 
     According to one form of the present invention, an order fulfillment system includes an order management system having a computer adapted to control the order fulfilment system. The system includes one or more order fulfilment workstations for segregating inventory items or components into individual orders (or batch/pseudo orders) to fulfil orders as directed by the order management system. The order fulfilment system includes a takeaway device to transport order containers to and from the workstation. Order containers may include completed order containers with single orders or pseudo orders, partially completed order containers, and empty order containers. Each of the workstations includes multiple order consolidation elements or consolidators, such as in the form of platforms or temporary holding containers, disposed adjacent to the takeaway device and configured to receive order items for a particular order as directed by the order management system. The workstation includes an order discharge mechanism disposed at each of the platforms. The discharge mechanism is selectively operable to transfer the order items from the respective platform to an order container positioned at the takeaway device adjacent to the platform. The order management system may index empty order containers adjacent to platforms by about the time that the order picking operation at the particular platform is completed. Alternatively, the discharge mechanism may transfer the order items directly onto the surface of the takeaway device, without the use of an order container. 
     In one aspect the platform includes at least one chosen from a bin, a tote, a tray, a shelf, a conveyor belt, a conveying chain, a monorail, a cart, and a pouch. In another aspect, the order discharge mechanism includes at least one of tilt tray forming a portion of the platform, a pivoting/tilting shelf that tilts the entirety of platform toward the takeaway device, a dropout door disposed at a bottom portion of the platform, a pusher arm, and a selectively operable conveyor that directs the order items toward the takeaway device. 
     In still another aspect, the takeaway device includes a segmented conveyor wherein each segment of segmented conveyor is selectively operable and/or individually addressable by the order management system. Optionally, container brakes or barriers, such as pop-up stoppers may be provided at downstream ends of each segment of the conveyor to provide a temporary barrier to impede order containers along the conveyor. The temporary barriers may be controllable by the order management system. 
     In yet another aspect, the order management system includes a “pushing” logic, or in other words a prioritization and tracking logic, performed by the computer and adapted to track each of the order containers and direct and move (i.e. “push”) the order containers to a desired location within the order fulfilment system. The push logic, as performed by the computer, controls the conveyor to direct each of the orders to a desired location, such as a downstream packing station. The push logic is operable to prioritize the movement or transfer of completed and partially completed order containers from platforms onto the conveyor versus the system&#39;s need for empty order containers as required at platforms and/or additional downstream workstations that are downstream of a particular platform that is supporting/buffering a completed or partially completed order container. 
     According to another form of the present invention, a method for consolidating order items into order containers includes transporting an empty order container to an order fulfilment workstation. The method includes positioning the empty order container adjacent to a consolidation element or consolidator, such as in the form of a platform or temporary holding container, of the workstation. The platform is configured to receive order items for a particular order as directed by an order management system. Once the platform has been filled with the required items for the order, the method includes transferring the order items from the platform to the empty order container with a discharge mechanism and subsequently transporting the completed order container downstream of the order fulfilment workstation with a takeaway device, which may include a segmented conveyor. 
     In one aspect, the method includes prioritizing and tracking the empty order containers along the segmented conveyor in a manner that optimizes the conveyor capacity while providing a sufficient supply of empty order containers to the order fulfilment workstations to reduce starvation at platforms that have recently discharged a completed collection of order items onto the takeaway device. 
     In another aspect, the method includes prioritizing resource utilization by balancing the transfer of completed order containers with the need for empty order containers in a manner that permits completed order containers from upstream order fulfilment workstations to be released downstream of the order fulfilment workstation without starving empty order containers downstream workstations. In one aspect, the supply of empty order containers to empty platforms at is prioritized over the release and transport of completed order containers from their respective platform. 
     Accordingly, the system and method for consolidating orders in an order fulfilment system reduces or eliminates the need for an operator to supply or replenish empty order containers to picking locations within a workstation. The system includes a temporary compartment to receive the order components from the operator, and once the order components are all present, a discharge mechanism transfers the order components from the temporary compartment into an empty order container that is indexed adjacent to the temporary compartment. The filled order container is then released downstream along the conveyor and is tracked by the order management system. Alternatively, the order components may be transferred by the discharge mechanism directly onto the conveyor wherein the components are tracked by the order management system until they reach a desired destination. 
     These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of this invention will become apparent upon review of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic plan view of an order fulfilment system in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a top-side perspective view of an order fulfilment system having a goods-to-person (GTP) workstation with discharge mechanisms, in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram of a method for consolidating order items in an order fulfilment system, in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a top-side perspective view of an order fulfilment system having a typical goods-to-person (GTP) workstation, as known in the prior art. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depicted therein, an order fulfillment system  10  and a method  100  are provided for consolidating order items or components for a particular customer order ( FIGS. 1-3 ). The fulfilment system  10  includes an order management system  12  having a computer that is adapted to control the order fulfilment system  10  based on the requirements of customer orders. The fulfilment system  10  includes one or more order fulfilment workstations  14  for consolidating or segregating individual inventory items into individual orders and/or batch orders as directed by the order management system  12 . The fulfilment system  10  includes a takeaway device or conveyor, such as in the form of a segmented conveyor  16 , to transport orders and/or order containers to and from the order fulfilment workstations  14 . The orders may be transported directly on the conveyor  16 , such as in a collection of order items making up the completed order, or may be transported along the conveyor  16  within order containers. The order containers may include completed order containers  18 , partially completed order containers, or empty order containers  20 . Each of the order fulfilment workstations  14  includes multiple order consolidation elements or consolidators, such as in the form of platforms or temporary holding containers  22 , adjacent to the conveyor  16 . Each platform  22  is provided for receiving order items for a particular order as directed by the order management system  12 . Each platform  22  represents a picking location to which a picker may place one or more order items for one or more orders (e.g. individual orders, batch orders, pseudo orders, etc.). The workstation  14  includes an order discharge mechanism  24 , such as in the form of a tilt or drop dumper  24   a , pusher arm  24   b  and/or a chute  24   c , at each of the platforms  22  ( FIG. 2 ). The order discharge mechanism  24  is operable to transfer or release the order items from the respective platforms  22  directly to the conveyor  16  surface or to an empty order container  20  positioned on the conveyor  16  adjacent to the order discharge mechanism  24 . The platforms  22  are reusable to fill new orders without the need to replace an order container at the workstation  14  such that after the discharge mechanism  24  has released the order items and returned the platform  22  to its item holding position, the picker may place items on the platform  22  for another order to be filled. 
     The order management system  12  controls the conveyor  16  to index empty order containers  20  (or partially filled/completed containers) adjacent to platforms  22  to provide an empty order container  20  at about or nearly simultaneous to when the order picking operation at the particular one of the platforms  22  is completed and the completed order container  18  is discharged onto the conveyor  16  and moved downstream. The empty order containers  20  (or partially filled order containers) supported on said conveyor  16  may each define an order reception location at which order items may be put to/transferred to from the platform  22 . The system  10  and method  100  reduce or substantially eliminate the need for an operator to either transfer completed order containers  18  from the workstation  14  or to replenish, replace, or supply empty order containers  20  to the workstation  14  (which may be required in commonly known goods-to-person order fulfilment workstations, such as the exemplary workstation  26  illustrated in  FIG. 4 , in which the operator  28  places order items directly into one of multiple order containers  30  and the operator  28  must manually transfer completed containers to the conveyor and/or manually replace the order container  30  when a completed container is removed from the workstation  26 ). 
     The platforms  22  may include a bin, a tote, a tray, a shelf, a conveyor belt, a conveying chain, a monorail, a cart, a pouch, or any other suitable consolidation container such as commonly known and commercially available. The order discharge mechanism  24  may include at least one of a tilt tray  24   a  ( FIG. 2 ) forming a portion of the platform  22 , a pivoting/tilting shelf that supports the platform  22 , a chute or slide  24   c  ( FIG. 2 ) adjacent to or forming a portion of the platform  22 , a pusher arm  24   b  ( FIG. 2 ) operable to push items off the platform  22  toward the conveyor  16 , a dropout door at a bottom portion of the platform  22 , a selectively operable conveyor, and/or any other suitable device for discharging, transferring, or releasing the order components from the platform  22  to the conveyor  16  or into an empty order container  20  adjacent the platform  22 . While it may be one scenario that order items are discharged from the platform  22  to an empty order container  20 , it will be appreciated that the items may be discharged to a partially filled order container that already contains some order items, such as from an upstream process (e.g. an upstream workstation). 
     Individual segments  16   a  of the segmented conveyor  16  may each be selectively operable and/or individually addressable by the order management system  12 . The individual segments  16   a  may each define an order reception location at which order items may be supported directly on the conveying surface of the conveyor  16 . Brakes or barriers may be provided with the conveyor  16 , such as in the form of pop-up stoppers  25  positioned at downstream ends of each segment  16   a  to provide a temporary barrier impeding movement of order items or order containers  18 ,  20  along the conveyor  16  ( FIG. 1 ). The barriers  25  are individually addressable and controllable by the order management system  12 . While the takeaway device of the illustrative embodiment of  FIG. 1  is depicted as a segmented conveyor  16 , it will be appreciated that any suitable conveyance or transportation device may be utilized to transport the order container to and from the workstation  14 . For example, roller conveyors, continuous belt conveyors, pouch conveyors, monorail conveyors, power and free conveyors, shuttle/tray conveyors, or the like and/or or autonomous robotic vehicles (e.g. an autonomous mobile robot (AMR)) are contemplated to takeaway or deliver order containers to/away from the workstations  14 . 
     The order management system  12  includes a “pushing” logic, or in other words a prioritization and tracking logic, performed by the computer and adapted to track each of the orders and/or order containers  18 ,  20  and to direct, move, or push the orders/containers to a desired location within the order fulfilment system  10 , such as to a downstream order packaging process, for example. The computer tracks each segment  16   a  of the conveyor  16  in order to prioritize the resource utilization within the system  10 . Preferably, the pushing logic of the management system  12  controls the order fulfilment  10  to only release/transfer completed orders from their respective platform  22  to an empty order container  20  on the conveyor  16  when all downstream workstations  14  and/or platforms  22  of the downstream workstations have sufficient empty order containers  20  immediately available to them (i.e. an empty container  20  at a segment  16   a  of the conveyor  16  adjacent one or more of the workstations platforms or immediately upstream of the particular workstation  14 ). As such, the pushing logic controls the conveyor  16  and workstations  14  to move completed order containers  18  downstream as efficiently as possible without impeding the arrival of empty order containers  20  that are required downstream of a particular workstation  14 . In other words, a particular completed order  18  may be held or buffered at its respective platform  22  to permit empty order containers  20  to pass along the conveyor  16  to downstream platforms  22  within the same workstation  14  or to downstream workstations  14 . 
     Referring to the illustrative embodiment of  FIG. 3 , a method  100  is provided for consolidating order items into order containers and includes transporting  102  an empty order container to an order fulfilment workstation, such as the workstation  14  described above and illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The method  100  includes positioning or indexing  104  an empty order container  20  adjacent to an order consolidation element or picking location, e.g. a platform or temporary holding container  22 , of the workstation  14  ( FIG. 1 ). An order management system  12  assigns  106  an order to a platform  22  at the workstation  14  and an operator, either a human or a robot, picks  108  the order items to the assigned platform  22 . The platform  22  is provided to receive and retain order items from the operator for the assigned order. When the platform  22  has been filled with the required items for the order, the method  100  includes transferring or discharging  110  the order items from the platform  22  to an empty order container  20  with a discharge mechanism  24 . The completed order container is then transported  112  downstream of the order fulfilment workstation  14 . 
     Transporting  102  of the empty order container is performed with a takeaway device, such as a segmented conveyor  16  or an autonomous mobile robot (AMR), for example. Transporting  102  may include indexing empty order containers  20  along the segmented conveyor  16  to optimize the conveyor capacity while providing sufficient empty order containers  20  to the order fulfilment workstation  14  to reduce starvation at the platforms  22  that have completed processing their previous order. The method  100  may include prioritizing or balancing  114  resource utilization in regard to the quantity and location of completed order containers  18  present on the conveyor  16  with the need for empty order containers  20  at the platforms  22 . For example, resource utilization may be prioritized in a manner that permits completed order containers  18  from upstream order fulfilment workstations  14  to be released downstream while optimizing the arrival of empty order containers  20  to a particular order fulfilment workstation  14 . For example, if a downstream workstation  14  requires empty order containers  20  at one or more platform  22 , the method  100  may prioritize  114  sending empty order containers  20  to that downstream workstation  14 , in lieu of releasing/transferring completed order containers  18  from upstream workstations  14  onto the conveyor  16 . In such a scenario, the completed order containers  18  at upstream workstations  14  are held or buffered at their respective platform  22  to permit the prioritized empty order containers  20  to pass those upstream workstations  14 . The completed order containers  18  at the upstream workstations  14  may be released/transferred to the conveyor  16  once the prioritized empty order containers  20  have passed. In other words, because the conveyor  16  is utilized for moving inbound empty/partially empty order containers  20  as well as outbound completed/partially completed order containers  18 , the method  100  is well-suited for prioritizing the utilization of the conveyor  16  to execute both inbound and outbound processes. For example, the transfer  110  of outbound, completed order containers  18  to the conveyor  16  may be balanced against the transport  102  of inbound, empty order containers to workstations  14  in a manner that prioritizes the supply of empty order containers  20  to empty platforms  22  over the release  110  and transport  112  of completed order containers  18  from their respective platforms  22 . 
     Alternatively, the steps of method  100  providing an empty order container may be omitted, and the discharge mechanism  24  may discharge/transfer the collection of order components directly from the platform  22  onto the conveyor  16 . In such an embodiment, the order management system  12  tracks the order components as they move along the trackable segments  16   a  of the conveyor  16 . The collection of order components are transported directly on the conveyor  16  to a downstream process, such as another workstation  14  or an order packaging process, for example. 
     Thus, a system and method are provided for picking individual items and consolidating those items into individual orders within an order fulfilment workstation. The method includes discharging the order items for the individual order to a takeaway device, such as a trackable segmented conveyor. The system includes a platform or temporary holding container at the workstation and a discharge mechanism to release or transfer the order contents at the platform onto the segmented conveyor. The system and method substantially reduce or eliminate the need for an operator to (i) manually transfer completed order containers to the segmented conveyor or (ii) manually supply or replenish order transport containers to the workstation once a completed order container has been dispatched from the workstation. As such, labor and space requirements may be significantly reduced by alleviating the operator from having to transfer and/or replenish order containers, thereby increasing operator and workstation throughput and improving resource efficiency. The system and method may also track the orders and/or order containers to prioritize and optimize resource usage, such as by balancing and prioritizing completed order container discharge processes versus empty order container arrivals at the workstation. 
     Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the principles of the present invention which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims, as interpreted according to the principles of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents.