FULFILLMENT CENTER

PRIORITY

[0001] The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No 62/865,596 filed June 24, 2019, the disclosure of which is hereby' incorporated by reference in its entirety .

BACKGROUND

[0002] The invention generally relates to order fulfillment centers and systems, and relates in particular to e-commerce order fulfillment system from which orders are shipped.

[0003] An order fulfillment center holds inventory and ships from that inventory' packages that fulfill customers’ orders. Inventory' may be held on shelves and picked manually, or may be held in automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS).

[0004] The picking of orders may be achieved in a variety of ways, for example, employing human personnel. Personnel may generally employ batch picking (pick less, sort now') or wave picking (pick more, sort later). In particular, in places where personnel are manually picking units from shelves, it is common to optimize the efficiency of the walking and picking process, so that as many goods as possible are picked while walking up and down aisles of shelves. In batch picking , personnel may push a cart up and down the aisles that will hold bins for multiple individual orders. When the personnel arrives at the location of a unit needing to be picked, he or she will pick that unit and place it into the tote or bin corresponding to the order. In this case, the w'orker is sorting the unit into the correct order. At the end of the tour through the shelves, all of the orders on the cart will be complete - no units will remain to be picked for those orders - and all units will be sorted into orders, and ready to be shipped.

[0005] Tire completed objects for an order may be gathered in a box or shipping bag, e.g., a polyethylene bag, for shipping in a delivery _' system. The packaging of such orders into a box or a shipping bag has traditionally been done by human personnel due to variations in packing objects, such as for example, movement of objects during the packing of multiple object orders, as well as a need in certain applications for the use of packing materials such as foam, bubble w'rap or packing peanuts. [0006] An automated system (such as a system including a programmable motion device) for packing multiple objects into a box however, may have difficulties packing objects where some objects have low pose authority (the ability to maintain a single pose when grasped) or may have low position authority (the ability to remain at a location when placed), and/or where the automated system must accommodate avoiding contact with the inside surfaces of walls of the box.

[0007] There is a need therefore, for systems and methods for packing and shipping orders, particularly multiple object orders, involving the use of programmable motion devices, wherein the systems or methods may more efficiently and economically pack multiple varied objects for shipping

SUMMARY

[0008] In accordance with an aspect, the invention provides a standardized shipping tray for use in a packaging fulfillment system . The standardized shipping tray includes a botom panel that includes raised portions that assist to inhibit rolling of an object within the shipping tray along the bottom panel, and at least two flexible side panels that are adapted to fold inward under a force of a wrapping.

[0009] In accordance with another aspect, the invention provides an object processing system for processing objects. The object processing system includes an input conveyance system by which objects are provided to at least one programmable motion device, a shipping tray conveyance system by which shipping trays are provided to the programmable motion device, and a non-transitory computer processing system for storing information regarding geometrical features of the shipping tray, the geometrical features including protrusions from a bottom panel of the shipping tray, and the geometrical features facilitating the loading of objects into the shipping tray by the programmable motion device.

[0010] In accordance with a further aspect, the inventi on provides a method of processing objects. Tire method includes receiving objects on an input conveyance system at least one programmable motion device, providing shipping trays to the programmable motion device, and loading objects onto at least one shipping tray responsive to geometrical features of the shipping tray, the geometrical features including protrusions from a bottom panel of the shipping tray, and the geometrical features facilitating the loading of objects into the shipping tray by the programmable motion device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TOE DRAWINGS

[0011] The following detailed description may be further understood with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0012] Figure 1 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a shipping tray in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0013] Figure 2 shows an illustrati ve diagrammatic view of th e sh ipping tray of Figure 1 containing objects and being wrapped for processing;

[0014] Figure 3 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a shipping tray m accordance with another aspect of the present invention;

[0015] Figure 4 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view' of the shipping tray of Figure 3 including an object with low' position authority deposited therein;

[0016] Figures 5 A and 5B show illustrative diagrammatic side partial views of the object moving (Figure 5 A) and coming to rest (Figure 5B) in the shipping tray of Figure 3;

[0017] Figure 6 show's an illustrative diagrammatic view of the shipping tray of Figure 3 loaded with multiple objects of different position authority;

[0018] Figure 7 shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of the shipping tray of Figure 1;

[0019] Figure 8 show ⁷ s an illustrative diagrammatic view of a shipping tray in accordance with another aspect of the present invention including protrusions including varying distances between protrusions;

[0020] Figure 9 shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of the shipping tray of Figure 9;

[0021] Figure 10 show _' s an illustrative diagrammatic view of a shipping tray in accordance with a further aspect of the present invention including a non-ordered array of protrusions;

[0022] Figure 11 shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view' of the shipping tray of Figure 10;

[0023] Figure 12 show's an illustrative diagrammatic view of a shipping tray in accordance with another aspect of the present invention that includes wall braces;

[0024] Figure 13 show's an illustrative diagrammatic view of a shipping tray in accordance with another aspect of the present invention that includes directional bending features;

[0025] Figure 14 show's an illustrative diagrammatic side view of a portion of the shipping tray of Figure 13; [0026] Figure 15 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view' of an object processing system employing shipping trays in accordance with an aspect of the invention;

[0027] Figure 16 shows an illustrative diagrammatic side view of the object processing system of Figure 15;

[0028] Figure 17 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of an object processing system including a placement planning system in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 18 shows an illustrative diagrammatic side view of a wrapping station on an object processing system that employs shipping trays in accordance with an aspect of the invention;

[0030] Figure 19 show's an illustrative diagrammatic view of a loaded and wrapped shipping tray in accordance with an aspect of the invention; and

[0031] Figure 20 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of the loaded wrapped shipping tray of Figure 19 being loaded into a shipping container in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

[0032] The drawings are shown for illustrative purposes only.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] In accordance with various aspects, the invention provides a holder that is shipped with and contains one or more objects to be shipped. The holder prevents objects from moving within the holder when placed in the holder, and is designed to readily accept and

accommodate being shrink wrapped in certain aspects of the invention.

[0034] In some aspects, the invention is provided as a molded container that is roughly tray- shaped, with a bottom and short sidewall like features, and that is designed to contain one or more objects prior to being processed by a shrink-wrapping machine. The container also includes a bottom with an ordered array of bumps, or a non-ordered set of bumps, that prevent round or cylindrical objects (e.g., objects with low' placement authority') from rolling within the container. In certain embodiments, the container includes sidewalls with intermittently extending wall portions that prevent objects from failing out of the tray, and that also become folded down onto the objects when subjected to shrink-wrapping. The container may be formed of any of molded cardboard pulp, paper pulp fiber or thermoformed fiber.

[QQ35] Figure 1, for example, shows a molded shipping tray 10 made from, for example, cardboard pulp. The shipping tray includes a botom panel 12 that includes an array of protrusions 14, as well as four side walls 16, each of which includes a series of intermittently extending wall portions 18. The protrusions may be any of flat-topped, rounded-topped or pointed, and the sides may be any of rounded or flat with two, three, four or more sides. When an object is placed onto the top of the bottom panel of the tray, for example using a

programmable motion device such as an robotic articulated ami as discussed in further detail below, the protrusions (either in a grid array or other layout) inhibit the object from moving (such as by rolling) any significant distance. In certain aspects, as also further discussed below, the system may know the limited extent that an object may move (roll) knowing the object’s geometry and the height of and distance between the protrusions. Tire protrusions, in oilier words, control and limit any roiling. The object falls into the nearest low area between protrusions; how far it rolls is determined by the spacing of the grid. In this way, when a robot goes to place a second object into the tray, the control system may do so under the assumption that the first object has not moved significantly, and may in fact, know the amount of movement undergone by the object.

[QQ36] Figure 2 shows at 20 a loaded and wrapped shipping tray, in which the tray 10 includes objects 22, 24, 26 that have been placed onto the tray, as well as a shrink wrap sealing material 28 that has been applied to the loaded shipping tray in accordance with an aspect of the present invention. Figure 3 shows the shipping tray 10 in more detail, in which it may be seen that the wall portions 18 are curved (e.g., generally sinusoidal), and the sections 19 of the walls between the intermittently extending wall portions 18 may be of a smaller height (e.g., 5%, 10%, 15% of the height of the wall portions 18) The sections 19 may facilitate in maintaining the upright nature of the wall portions 18 during loading, yet provide enough flexibility for the wall portions 18 to conform to the package and contents during wrapping.

[0037] Once objects are placed into the tray, the side walls (molded to stand straight up) prevent any objects from easily falling out of the tray during transport (e.g., conveyor transport). With reference to Figure 4, the protrusions 14 may further act to retain the object 22 that may have low placement authority (again, the abili ty to remain in a position/location when placed). In particular, and with reference to Figures 5A and 5B, when the object 22 is first placed onto the floor 12 of the tray, the system (e.g., including one or more computer processing systems 100 shown in Figures 10 - 12), may assume a limited range of movement of the object, of for example, a known distance (d1) of spacing between the protrusions 14. In accordance with further aspects, the system may even know the geometry of the object 22, and if round or cylindrical, it’s radius (r), as well as the geometry of the tops of the protrusions, e.g., height h, length /, width w (orthogonal to length and height ), as well as slope s. The system may even determine exactly how far (d ₂ ) the object 22 may move and in which direction. If the object has sufficient pose authority (again, the ability to maintain its shape while being held by an end effector), the system may place the object m a desired orientation on the shipping tray.

[0038] Knowing where the object 22 was placed by a programmable motion device (such as a robot) on the bottom panel 12 of the tray 10, and knowing the above parameters about the shipping tray, and in particular the geometry' of the protrusion 14, the system may know' a maximum distance (di) that the object 22 may move, and/or may know the exact distance (di) that the object 22 will move on the bottom panel 12. This information is very' important to an automated processing system that will be loading further objects onto the shipping tray. If an object moves and blocks a further object from being placed onto the tray, the system may encounter an error condition as fundamental assumptions regarding, for example, distance to the bottom panel 12, will be violated. Tire use of, and knowledge of, a standardized shipping tray having certain geometric parameters, permits the automated processing system to set boundary conditions around which the system may smoothly operate.

[0039] With reference to Figure 6, the system may then load additional objects 24, 26 onto the shipping tray 10, knowing the exact or boundaried location of the first item 22. Knowing the geometry and placement of the objects facilitates knowing whether, and how much, an object may move. For example, knowing the object 24 is a book, the system may assume that the object will remain at the location where it is deposited onto the shipping tray, while know' that a different object is any of round, cylindrical or unevenly shaped on the underside thereof will facilitate the system knowing boundary' conditions regarding the placement and resting place of the different object. Figure 7 shows a top view' of the shipping tray 10 of Figure 1, showing an order spacing ds of the bases of the protrusions 14, which are arranged in an in ordered array.

[0040] The set of protrusions may form any of an ordered array of protrusions, an ordered set of protrusions, or a non-ordered set of protrusions. For example, Figures 8 and 9 show' a shipping tray 30 made from, for example, cardboard pulp. The shipping tray 30 includes a botom panel 32 that includes an array of protrusions 34 that are spaced non-uniform distances from one another, as well as four side walls 36, each of which includes a series of

intermittently extending wall portions 38. The protrusions may be mutually spaced from one another by an amount in one direction (e.g., left to right) that varies such as between distances d ₄ and d ₅ , and may be mutually spaced from one another by an amount in another direction (e.g., left to right) that varies such as between distances ck, d 7 and ds. The variation of the protrusion spacing may be symmetrical as shown, or may vary across the full width and length of the tray 30.

[0041] Figures 10 and 11 show a shipping tray 31 made from, for example, cardboard pulp.

The shipping tray 31 includes a bottom panel 33 that includes an array of protrusions 35 that are spaced non-uniform distances from one another, as well as four side walls 37, each of which includes a series of intermittently extending wall portions 39. The protrusions may be randomly distrib uted about the bottom panel 33 of the tray 31, providing a wide variety of distances d ₉ , d ₁₀ , d ₁₀ and d ₁₂ . The variations of the positioning of the protrusion may be known by the processing system, and may be used to facilitate placement of specifically sized objects onto the tray.

[0042] Again, the protrusions 34, 35 may be any of flat-topped, rounded-topped or pointed, and the sides may be any of rounded or flat with two, three, four or more sides. When an object is placed onto the top of the bottom panel of the tray, for example using a programmable motion device such as an robotic articulated arm as discussed in further detail below, the protrusions (either in a grid array or other non-ordered layout) inhibit the object from moving (such as by rolling) any significant distance. In certain aspects, as also further discussed below, the system may know tire limited extent that an object may move (roll) knowing the object’s geometry and the height of and distance between the protrusions. The protrusions, in other words, control and limit any rolling.

[0043] The shipping trays may be stored in batches (e.g., stacked) prior to use, and may be provided on an infeed conveyor to a programmable motion device as discussed in further detail below. During such handling however, the wall portions 18 may become compromised in certain applications where care is not sufficiently taken to ensure that the wall portions 18 remain upright pri or to packaging, which is particularly problem atic of the wall portions become bent away from the bottom panel 12. In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in Figure 12, a shipping tray 40 may include similar protrusions 44 on a bottom panel 42, as well as wall portions 48, and may further include extended botom panel portions 45 as well as braces 46 that are each atached to the extended bottom panel portions 45 but are not attached to the adjacent wall portions 48. The braces 46 inhibit the wall portions from being bent away from the bottom panel 42, yet permit the wall portions 18 to be bent toward the bottom panel 42 during shrink wrapping. The extended bottom panel portions 45 and the braces 46 also are sized to not interfere with the shrink wrap material when wrapped, as the outer edges 47 of the extended bottom panel portions 45 are (similar to the top portions of the wall portions 48) rounded so as to not impart excess localized stress on the shrink wrap material.

[0044] In accordance with a further embodiment, and with reference to Figures 13 and 14, a shipping tray 50 may include similar protrusions 54 on a bottom panel 52, as well as wall portions 58, and may further include directional bend features 56 on the inner surface of the wall portions 58 that inhibit the well portions 58 from bending away from the bottom panel 52, yet permit tire wall portions 58 to be bent toward the bottom panel 52 during shrink wrapping. In further embodiments, individual shipping trays may further include both braces such as braces 46 as well as directional bend features such as features 56 on the same shipping trays.

[0045] Any of the embodiments of shipping trays discussed or noted above may be used in a system employing a programmable motion device for automated processing of the objects and the shipping trays. Figures 15 and 16 for example, show' an automated processing system 60 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention that includes programmable motion devices 62, 64 such as robotic articulated arms that are positioned between an object conveyor 66 and a shipping tray conveyor 68, and are positioned adjacent a respective perception system 70, 72. The objects may arrive in totes 74, and the shipping trays 80 are provided on the shipping tray infeed conveyor. Each programmable motion device 62, 64 is employed to move a selected object from a tote 74 (or from directly from the object conveyor 66 itself) to a shipping tray 76. The programmable motion devices 62, 64 may, for example, employ vacuum or other grippers to grasp the objects.

[0046] With reference to Figure 17, the object processing system (e.g., packaging fulfillment system) 80 includes a placement planning system 82 that communicates with a programmable motion device 84 such as an articulated arm robot as discussed above. The programmable motioned device 84 is coupled to the placement planning system via a processing controller 86 that also receives pose input from a pose detection device 88 regarding a pose of an object being held by the end effector of the programmable motion device. The processing controller 86 receives placement authority data from a placement authority non-transitory memory system 90, and receives protrusion patern data from a shipping tray pattern non-transitory memory system 92. The placement authority non-transitory memory system 90 may receive input from one or more sources 94, 95 including, for example, a warehouse management system, a master SKU database and a learned information data processing system. The shipping tray pattern non-transitory memory _' system 92 may receive input from one or more sources 96, 97 including, for example, a warehouse management system, and a learned information data processing system.

[0047] Each loaded tray is then provided to a shrink wrapping station, where shrink wrap film (e.g., polyvinyl chloride (PVC) shrink film, polyolefin (POP) shrink film, or polyethylene (PE) shrink film) is provide as a sheet above and a sheet below the loaded tray. The sandwiched product may subjected to a shrink wrap oven elevated temperature (e.g., 25Q°F to 350°F), and the above and below' shrink films will first seal at the edges, and then shrink around the loaded tray. The remaining sheet may either be shed by the sealing process itself, or may be cut either prior to or following being subjected to the elevated temperature.

[0048] Figure 18 show's an automated shrink wrap system 1 10 for use in connection with the automated processing system 60 of Figures 10 and 11. In particular, the system 110 receives loaded shipping trays from the shipping tray conveyor 68, and provides the loaded shipping trays to a covering station 112, which is followed by a high temperature application station 114. The covering station 112 includes a pair of sheets 120, 130 of shrink wrap film material. The top sheet 120 of shrink wrap film material is unw'ound from a feed spool 122 above the shipping tray 80 and its remaining web (remaining after stamping) is wound on a pickup spool 124 following stamping. Similarly, the bottom sheet 130 of shrink wrap film material is unwound from a feed spool 132 below' the shipping tray 80 and its remaining web (remaining after stamping) is wound on a pickup spool 134 following stamping. The conveyor may be provided in sections, permitting the bottom sheet 130 to be brought under each shipping tray 80. The covering station 112 further includes a stamping device that descends upon the sheets 120, 130, and stamps out above and below _' covering portions 128, 138 above and below each shipping tray 80. The stamping is achieved using a stamping device 116 having blades on the bottom portion thereof in the shape of the desired covering portions 128, 138. In accordance with various embodiments, the stamping device 116 may further include the application of heat at the blades and/or the system may include a heated back under the conveyor section 140 that carries the shipping tray 80 through the covering station 112.

[0049] The covered shipping tray 80 is then moved by a further conveyor section 142 to the high temperature application station 114, at which the sandwiched product may subjected to a shrink wrap oven elevated temperature (e.g., 250°F to 350°F), and the above and below' covering portions will first seal at the edges, and then shrink around the loaded tray. During the application of heat, the sidewall flaps that aided in keeping the one or more objects in the tray, now' fold down onto the object(s) due to the force of the shrink wrap shrinking over the sidewall flaps, drawing them inward. Initially, when subjected to heat, the shrink wrap top sheet seals to the shrink wrap bottom sheet at the points where the sheets contact each other along the outer perimeter of the tray. Once the sheets are sealed together, the sheets both continue to shrink above and below the tray, and the top sheets shrinking while held to the bottom sheet at the edges, causes the sidewall flaps to pull inward over the object(s) in the tray, further securing them from movement. The operation of the conveyors, programmable motion devices, covering station 112 and high temperature application station 114 are governed by the one or more processing systems 100.

[0050] The wrapped shipping tray 140 (as shown in Figure 19) this accommodates the objects 22, 24, 26 by permitting the objects to be readily placed into and maintained in the shipping tray, while also permitting the curved wall portions to adjust to the shipping tray and its contents such that different wall portions may bend different amounts as shown in Figure 19.

By use of the sidewall flaps, therefore, the tray is designed to be deformable under the force applied to the sidewall flaps under for force of the shrink wrapping. Tire sealed package 140 may now be placed into a box 142 or shipping bag for shipment as shown in Figure 20.

[0051] Each of the above disclosed aspects and features may be used in combination with other disclosed aspects and features. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications and variations may be made to tire above disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0052] What is claimed is: