Patent ID: 11142399

Abstract:
A method and apparatus for a human picker on a picker automated vehicle (PAV) along with its vertical tote conveyors (VTCs) having totes to a successive plurality of inventory stock bins arranged in rows and columns along aisles to move the human picker both horizontally and vertically to successively retrieve each of a plurality of stock items from the bins and place the respective pp items in a preselected ones of totes. Items are later optionally transferred to shipping containers based on each customer order. In some embodiments, horizontal aisle conveyors (HACs) move totes from a configurator along the aisles to the moving PAVs, then back after tote loading by the picker. Totes are transferred from the HACs to upward VTCs, then crossover to downward VTCs, are loaded with stock items by the picker on upward or downward paths, and then transferred back to the HACs to move to shipping station.