{
  "patent_number": "US 10947045",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Robots and Mobile Shelves Fulfill Orders in Warehouses",
  "original_title": "Warehousing and order fulfillment systems and methods",
  "summary": "Target's patent describes an automated warehouse system where mobile robots bring shelves and shipping containers to a central robot that picks items directly into orders, all without human hands.",
  "what_it_does": "The patent describes an order fulfillment system that uses robots to move inventory and assemble orders. A control system, upon receiving an order, directs a \"first mobile robot\" to pick up a \"mobile storage unit\" (like a portable shelf) containing the desired item (a \"sellable unit\"). Simultaneously, a \"second mobile robot\" brings an \"outbound container\" (like a shipping box) to a \"robotic picking cell.\" The key mechanism is that a \"picking robot\" within this cell transfers the item from the mobile storage unit directly into the outbound container while both the storage unit and the container remain engaged with their respective mobile robots. For example, if you order a specific toy, a robot brings the shelf with the toy, another robot brings your shipping box, and a third robot picks the toy from the shelf into your box.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Systems where items are picked by humans instead of a robotic picking cell.",
    "Systems where the mobile storage unit or outbound container are detached from their respective mobile robots before the picking robot transfers the item.",
    "Warehouses where mobile storage units contain multiple different types of sellable units, as each unit must contain 'one or more of a single type'.",
    "Systems that do not use separate mobile robots for transporting the mobile storage units and the outbound containers.",
    "Systems without a 'dense inventory storage system' where mobile storage units are consolidated in an area."
  ],
  "filed": "2018-11-14",
  "granted": "2021-03-16",
  "expires": "2038-11-14",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Target Brands",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/target-brands",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "David Sellner",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/david-sellner"
    },
    {
      "name": "Arthur Valdez",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/arthur-valdez"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kevin Vliet",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/kevin-vliet"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 1,
  "tags": [
    "ecommerce",
    "robotics",
    "software",
    "telecommunications",
    "mechanical"
  ],
  "abstract": "Warehouse automation and methods of controlling material flow can be used to streamline order fulfillment. For example, according to some embodiments described herein, a method includes: causing a first mobile robot to engage with and transport a mobile storage unit to a robotic picking cell, causing a second mobile robot to engage with and transport an outbound container to the robotic picking cell, and causing the picking robot to transfer a sellable unit from the mobile storage unit to the outbound container.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10947045/warehousing-and-order-fulfillment-systems-and-methods",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10947045/warehousing-and-order-fulfillment-systems-and-methods/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US10947045",
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}