Materials handling facilities such as warehouses or retail stores often provide durable item carriers to users, who may utilize the item carriers when transporting items throughout the facilities. For example, such facilities commonly provide users with carts, e.g., large vessels formed from metal or plastic that are configured to travel on wheels, as well as baskets or totes having substantially smaller vessels that may be carried by users with one or more handles.
If a user identifies one or more items that he or she intends to retrieve from a shelf or other location within a materials handling facility, the user may remove the items, place the items into an item carrier, and transport the items in the item carrier to an intended destination such as a distribution station or cash register, where the user may transfer the items from the item carrier to another facility at the destination or otherwise transition the items to another human operator or automated agent. When the user transfers the items at the intended destination, or transitions the items to the human operator or the automated agent, the user or the human operator must manually remove the items from the item carrier, and then relinquish control over the item carrier back to the materials handling facility. If such items feature an awkward or unmanageable shape, or lack a handle, the items may be removed from the item carrier and placed inside a plastic or fabric bag, or like container, to aid in the transfer or transition thereof.
Although durable item carriers such as baskets, totes or carts are effective and useful in enabling users to transport items throughout a materials handling facility, the processes by which users may purchase or otherwise check out such items are presently plagued by physical limitations and delays, in that the items must be removed from the item carrier before being placed in a bag or like container that may be released to the user. Such actions, whether performed by a staff member or a user, necessarily slow the rate at which the user may complete a transaction for the items, or otherwise take control of such items. Moreover, many bags in which such items may be placed are flimsy and formed from materials having relatively low shear strengths or yield stresses, such as paper or plastic.
As is set forth in greater detail below, the present disclosure is directed to combination carrying devices that may be utilized by users in materials handling facilities or like environments. More specifically, the systems and methods disclosed herein include totes or other carrying devices including baskets having rigid structural frames with magnetically compatible components (e.g., magnetized elements and metallic elements) provided along interior surfaces of such frames, and on outer surfaces of bags that are nested within such frames, with shapes and volumes that correspond to shapes and volumes of the frames. The carrying devices may be configured such that the bags are folded and magnetically held into place or nested within the baskets, when the magnetically compatible components of the bags and the baskets are aligned and in close proximity with one another. The bags may include side panels and end panels, with the side panels having longer dimensions and/or larger areas than the end panels, as well as folded handles that are disposed within an inner rim of the upper perimeter. The baskets may feature retractable handles that are rotatably mounted to outer surfaces of such frames, thereby enabling the handles to align with such frames when retracted, and permitting two or more of the carrying devices to be stacked with bags nested within respective baskets.
In accordance with the present disclosure, users may use the combination carrying devices to transport items within a materials handling facility and, upon completing a picking of items from inventory locations within the materials handling facility, lift the bag by the handles. When the lifting force provided by the user overcomes the magnetic force coupling the magnetically compatible components of the bags to those of the baskets, the user may remove the bag and the items therein from the basket, and carry the bag to an intended destination with the items therein. For example, if the user has retrieved items from one or more inventory locations, and the items are to be transitioned to a packing station or conveyor, the user may lift the bag by the handles to decouple metallic elements disposed on the bag from magnetized elements disposed within the basket in corresponding locations, and remove both the bag and the items from the basket collectively. The bag and the items therein may be transitioned to a packing station or onto a conveyor as a single unit, rather than individually, which would require removing each item from the basket and transitioning the items to the packing station or onto the conveyor one by one.
As used herein, a “materials handling facility” may include, but is not limited to, warehouses, distribution centers, cross-docking facilities, order fulfillment facilities, packaging facilities, shipping facilities, rental facilities, libraries, retail stores or establishments, wholesale stores, museums, or other facilities or combinations of facilities for performing one or more functions of material or inventory handling for any purpose.
Referring to
The long sides 112, the short sides 114 and the bottom 116 form or define a tapered or frustopyramidal hollow volume 115, e.g., a hollow cavity having a shape corresponding to a frustrum of a pyramid, or a pyramidal frustrum, for receiving one or more items therein. The volume 115 has a substantially rectangular horizontal cross-section with areas of descending size, from top to bottom, beginning with an area formed or defined by upper edges of the long sides 112 and the short sides 114, and concluding with an area of the bottom 116.
As is shown in
Additionally, the bag 110 further includes a pair of handle sections 120. Each of the pair of handle sections 120 comprises a panel (or extension) 122 joined to one of the long sides 112. Each of the pair of handle sections 120 also includes a strap handle 124 joined thereto by a pair of stitched mounts 125, with each of the stitched mounts 125 provided at one end of one of the strap handles 124. For example, in the implementation of the bag 110 shown in
As is shown in
As is shown in
The long sides 152 and the short sides 154 of the basket 150 have substantially trapezoidal shapes, and the bottom 156 has a substantially rectangular shape. Additionally, and also like the volume 115 of the bag 110, the volume 155 has a substantially rectangular horizontal cross-section with areas of descending size, from top to bottom, beginning with an area formed or defined by upper edges of the long sides 152 and the short sides 154, and concluding with an area of the bottom 156. Alternatively, the volume 155 may have a corresponding frustoconical volume, e.g., a hollow cavity having a tapered shape corresponding to a frustrum of a cone, or a conic frustrum, or any other tapered volume having any cross-sectional shapes or areas and one or more continuous surfaces, such as ellipses, circles or other regular or irregular shapes. The volume 155 may be formed from sides or panels having substantially equal lengths, e.g., with square cross-sections, such that none of the sides is longer or shorter than another, or that none of the panels constitutes either a side or an end of the volume 155.
Moreover, as is shown in
The long sides 152, the short sides 154 or the bottom 156 of the basket 150 may be formed from any suitable materials, such as plastics (e.g., thermoplastics or thermosetting plastics such as epoxy or phenolic resins, polyurethanes or polyesters, as well as polyethylenes, polypropylenes or polyvinyl chlorides, acrylonitrile butadiene styrenes, recycled plastics, bioplastics, cellulose or compostable plastics, natural plastics), wood (e.g., woods with sufficient strength properties such as ash), metals (e.g., lightweight metals such as aluminum, or steel, and formed from wire, mesh, sheets or other substantially planar sections having one or more openings provided therein), or materials formed from natural fibers.
As is shown in
The handles 160 may include one or more grips or grip-like elements that may be grasped by a user when rotating or pivoting the handles 160 about axes defined by their respective pivotable connections 180, or when carrying the basket 150 by the handles 160. For example, such grips may include or comprise narrowed or rounded portions of the handles 160 that rest on or lie alongside or near the short sides 154 of the basket 150 when the handles 160 are pivoted downward, fully exposing the volume 155, and may be functionally joined together when the handles 160 are pivoted upward, above the volume 155. In some embodiments, the handles 160 may include grips having substantially smaller cross-sectional areas than the remainder of the handles 160, e.g., end portions of the handles 160 that are joined to the pivotable connections 180. The handles 160 may further include one or more flat surfaces that come into contact with one another when each of the handles 160 is pivoted upward above the volume 155, functionally joining the handles 160 together into a single, grippable cross-section that may be easily grasped by one or more hands of a user, or carried about one or more arms of the user. Additionally, each of the handles 160 may have a rounded external edge thereof, such that when the handles 160 are pivoted upward and above the volume 155, the handles 160 form a combined cross-section that is comfortable to a user of the basket 150 who is grasping the handles 160 with one or more hands or carrying the basket 150 by way of the handles 160 with one or more arms. Similarly, the slotted handles 170 are shown as being provided on the short sides 154, and may be fixed openings that are punched, carved, cut out or molded within the short sides 154 and may accommodate hands or other body parts of a worker in order to manipulate the basket 150 and any bag or contents (not shown) provided therein.
Each of the pivotable connections 180 may include one or more components extending through one or more bores or other substantially cylindrical openings provided on the long sides 152 and between an interior of the basket 150 and an exterior of the basket 150 for each of the handles 160, which may be mounted or attached at opposite ends thereof to one or more locations on the basket 150 by way of such bores. For example, in some implementations, the pivotable connections 180 may be mounted to outer faces of the long sides 152 via fasteners (e.g., one or more connectors such as threaded bolts or screws, rivets or like components) that extend through bores provided in the long sides 152 and also mount the magnetized element 182 to inner faces of the long sides 152 in corresponding locations.
Bores for mounting pivotable connections 180 and/or magnetized elements 182 to the basket 150 may be formed within or associated with the long sides 152 in any manner. For example, in some implementations, the bores may be formed integral to the long sides 152 of the basket 150 by injection molding, or by any means by which the baskets 150 are formed. Alternatively, the bores may be independent implements that are mechanically joined to the long sides 152 after the baskets 150 have been formed. In some implementations, the bores for mounting the pivotable connections 180 and the magnetized elements 182 may include one or more flanges or collars that are sized and shaped to correspond with and accommodate one or more fasteners extending therethrough, or to provide adequate spacing between the pivotable connections 180 and the long sides 152. Additionally, such bores may be provided with faces or angular extensions that permit the handles 160 to pivot or rotate about axes defined by the bores and the pivotable connection 180 within a predetermined plane. The long sides 152 and/or the pivotable connections 180 may include one or more mechanical stops that mechanically restrict the handles 160 from pivoting beyond a predetermined extent.
Furthermore, although the handles 160 of
In accordance with implementations of the present disclosure, the handles 160 may, like the long sides 152, the short sides 154 or the bottom 156, be formed from any suitable materials, such as plastics (e.g., thermoplastics or thermosetting plastics such as epoxy or phenolic resins, polyurethanes or polyesters, as well as polyethylenes, polypropylenes or polyvinyl chlorides, acrylonitrile butadiene styrenes, as well as recycled plastics, bioplastics, cellulose or compostable plastics, natural plastics), wood (e.g., woods with sufficient strength properties such as ash), metals (e.g., lightweight metals such as aluminum), composites or other durable materials that may be gripped by a user and support the weight of the baskets 150 and any contents provided therein. Additionally, in accordance with other implementations of the present disclosure, the handles 160 may have any suitable length with respect to one or more dimensions of the baskets 150, in order to accommodate objects of varying sizes or shapes within the volume 155.
As is shown in
For example, as is shown in
Accordingly, as is shown in
In some implementations, the combination carrying devices of the present disclosure, including but not limited to the combination carrying device 100 of
The combination carrying devices of the present disclosure may thereby effectively join two carriers that are traditionally recognized as separate components, namely, a basket and a bag, in a manner that allows a user to seamlessly transition between exploiting the advantages of a basket, e.g., the strength and durability thereof, and the advantages of a bag, e.g., its portability and lightweight structure. The combination carrying devices further enable users to eliminate the requirement to transition picked items from a carrier or cart into a bag (e.g., when transitioning from picking to packing, or at a checkout station of a retail establishment), when the items to be transitioned are located in a basket, as the items are already placed within a volume of a bag that is releasably provided within a volume of the basket.
In accordance with the present disclosure, bags may be formed from flexible materials that define a cavity for receiving one or more objects therein, and may include handles extending from flaps provided along at least one side of the bags which enable the bags to be removed from the baskets, with the objects therein, when the items are to be transitioned from one state to another. According to some implementations, the handles may constitute substantially planar elements defined by chords, bases or segments which are connected to one or more flaps extending along opposing lengths of the bags. According to some other implementations, the bags may include pairs of straps or strap-like handles corresponding to different uses thereof. For example, a bag may include a pair of handles on opposing sides thereof, including a pair of long handles for carrying the bag about a shoulder or forearm, and a pair of short handles for carrying the bag by hand or for removing the bag from a basket in which the bag is nested. The handles of the present disclosure may include reinforcement stitching in selected locations thereof, including about all or a portion of a perimeter of an opening for a hand, arm or shoulder, or along all or a portion of a length of a strap.
Using one or more of the carrying devices disclosed herein, items may be transitioned from picking to packing, or from picking to a conveyor, at the conclusion of a working or shopping experience, or at another appropriate time. The baskets may be formed from one or more durable materials, and may be configured to receive and maintain the bags in place therein. Additionally, the baskets may be provided with two or more handles mounted along and outside of an upper perimeter, such that the handles do not interfere with the insertion or removal of the bags, and enable the baskets to be stored in a stack or other like arrangement, with bags interleaved therein.
For example, the bags may be formed from any type or form of flexible materials, e.g., one or more panels of such materials, including but not limited to knitted, woven or non-woven fabrics, natural or synthetic leathers or canvases, or other like materials that may be joined at one or more edges thereof, such as by stitching. Preferably, the materials from which the bags are formed are sufficiently structurally sound such that the bags remain erect even after the bags have been removed from their respective baskets, and are yet flexible enough to be folded and deposited within the baskets in a manner that causes the bags to be held in place therein. Additionally, the bags are preferably formed with rectangular cross sections and in tapered, frustopyramidal shapes that conform to interior volumes of the baskets in which the bags are placed.
In some implementations, the bags may be formed from one or more panels of fibrous fabrics that are formed at least in part from paper, cotton or recycled plastics, including but not limited to fabrics comprising blends of cotton or like natural materials and materials comprising recycled plastics, thereby providing the bags with enhanced hydrophobicity to repel liquids or other stain-forming matter. For example, in some implementations, the bags may be formed from non-woven plastic polypropylene materials, while in other implementations, the bags may be formed from woven fabrics including polypropylene or polyethylene fibers. Moreover, the bags may be formed from materials that are laminated on one or both sides thereof, and such materials from which the bags are formed may be selected on any basis. Laminating or otherwise reinforcing or protecting such materials enables the bags to be used, washed and reused on several occasions. For example, where the bags disclosed herein are intended to be reused by customers who received them from a retail establishment, or by the retail establishment that furnished the bags to the customers, such materials may selected based on their durability and capacity to withstand repetitive cleaning and reuse in a variety of environments.
The bags may also include handles provided on long sides thereof, within polygonal shapes or flaps extending along all or a portion of the long sides of the bag. Such shapes or flaps ensure that tensile forces provided by a customer who is holding a bag from above, by the handles, are evenly distributed throughout the length of the bag, and not concentrated about one or more likely points of failure. The handles may include one or more slots defined by elongated holes that are aligned substantially parallel to the long sides of the bag. Such slots may be may be reinforced, as necessary, with perimeter stitching.
Additionally, as is discussed above, the bags and baskets may include corresponding components for generating a magnetic force between one or more surfaces of a bag and one or more surfaces of a basket. For example, as is shown in
Furthermore, although the combination carrying device 100 of
In accordance with the present disclosure, baskets may be formed in tapered, frustopyramidal shapes corresponding to such tapered, frustopyramidal shapes of the bags provided therein, and from plastic, wood, metal, natural materials or other durable materials that provide structural support and orientation of bags and the contents thereof. In some implementations, the baskets may be substantially solid, e.g., without holes or other perforations therein. In some other implementations, however, the baskets may be provided with slots or holes, in a regular or irregular lattice or other arrangement, e.g., perforated or latticed sides, corners, bottoms or other elements. Additionally, the baskets may include two or more handles that are provided on an upper perimeter and mounted to exterior surfaces thereof. According to some implementations, a pair of handles, each having lengths corresponding approximately to half of the upper perimeter may be mounted to central points about the upper perimeter with pivotable or rotatable connections, such that that ends of the handles may pivot or rotate about such points from a lowered position along the upper perimeter to a raised position where the ends may be joined above the baskets. Such handles may include one or more ergonomically designed features that are provided in order to enhance the comfort of a user who is transporting a combination carrying device using his or her hands or arms, such as perpendicular joints having rounded shapes.
According to some implementations, the handles may be mounted on outer surfaces of a basket, and provided about an upper perimeter of the basket, in a manner that enables each of the handles to pivot or rotate from a first position that closely conforms to the upper perimeter of the basket to a second position where the handles are joined above or about a center of the basket. For example, in some implementations, the handles may rest on or lie alongside or near an upper perimeter of a basket in the first position, while in some other implementations, the handles may extend beyond the upper perimeter when in the first position. Moreover, according to some other implementations, an upper perimeter of a basket may include a shelf or other rounded extension supported by one or more corbels or other supports provided at regular or irregular intervals of the upper perimeter for supporting the handles in the first position.
Additionally, the upper perimeter of the basket may include a central area along the long sides thereof having a tapered section with a reduced height or elevation. One or more handles may be mounted to outer surfaces of the basket at the central area, and may be provided in obtuse angles, such that the handles closely conform to the upper perimeter thereof in the first position, and may rotate upward to the second position. The long sides of the basket may include an angled mounting bore that is formed integral to the tapered, frustopyramidal shapes of the baskets (e.g., by injection molding or one or more other means), but includes one or more faces that are oriented substantially vertically and permit the handles to rotate from the first position to the second position within a substantially vertical plane. Moreover, in some implementations, the external faces of the long sides may include one or more mechanical stops (e.g., pegs or other extensions) associated with each of the handles which prevent such handles from pivoting or rotating a predetermined extent, e.g., a predefined angle, beyond the second position.
According to some implementations, the baskets of the present disclosure may include pivotable or rotatable handles formed of rounded and/or smoothed metals, plastics, composites or other like materials. The handles may include relatively thick or rigid portions corresponding to ends or extensions by which such handles are mounted or joined to a tapered basket, and comparatively thinner portions corresponding to regions that are intended for gripping by one or more users thereof. Additionally, the handles may also have lengths that correspond to portions of the upper perimeters of the baskets, as well as portions, which extend beyond or outside of the upper perimeters.
The pivotable or rotatable handles may be mounted to baskets using pivotable or rotatable connectors having portions extending through one or more bores provided in one or more sides of a basket. For example, a pivotable or rotatable handle may include an extension having a width that is less than a diameter of a bore formed within a side of a basket, and a length that is greater than a thickness of the side of the basket through which the bore is formed. Thus, such extensions may, when joined to a nut, a washer or other piece of fastening hardware, may define a channel that allows the extension to rotate freely and in a low-friction manner within the bore. In some other implementations, the fastening hardware may include a magnetized element aligned to come into contact with a corresponding metallic element of a bag when the bag is nested within the basket.
The pivotable or rotatable handles may further include mechanical stops or extensions having one or more planar components that are aligned to come into contact with one or more surfaces of an upper perimeter of a basket. The mechanical stops or extensions may include single planar components for contacting a single edge of an upper perimeter of a basket, or multiple planar components for contacting multiple edges of the upper perimeter of the basket. Moreover, depending on their positioning on the handles and the extent to which the handles may rotate or pivot, the mechanical stops or extensions may restrict the rotation of the handles between a first position closely conforming to an upper perimeter of a basket to a second position at which the handles are joined above or about a center of the basket.
According to some other implementations, the baskets of the present disclosure may further include one or more handles that are formed by cuts into one or more sides of the baskets, e.g., slots provided on corresponding sides, such as on two short sides or two long sides of the baskets. Such slots enable a user to manipulate a basket without requiring the use of one or more pivotable or rotatable handles mounted thereon.
The tapered, frustopyramidal shapes of the baskets, and the mounting of the handles along exterior surfaces thereof, enable combination carrying devices including such baskets to be stacked with or without bags provided therein. For example, two or more combination carrying devices having bags disposed in baskets may be stacked with the devices oriented upwardly, e.g., with openings of the volumes defined by such bags and baskets aligned in a vertically upward manner, such as is shown in the combination carrying device 100 of
In this regard, where combination carrying devices including bags releasably nested within baskets by magnetic force, two or more of the devices may be stacked atop one another, e.g., with a bottom of basket of one device being inserted into a volume of a bag of another device, and the each of the bags will remain nested within the baskets when a customer retrieves one of the combination carrying devices from the stack. Moreover, the magnetic force further ensures that when one of the combination carrying devices is removed from the stack, the bag will not remain attached to a basket provided beneath the combination carrying device in the stack, and ensure that the bag does not collapse within the basket.
Additional features and advantages of the combination carrying devices, and the bags or baskets associated therewith, are set forth in greater detail below.
Referring to
As is shown in
As is further shown in
Also in accordance with the present disclosure, when the bag 210 is inserted into a basket (not shown) having magnetized elements in corresponding orientations and positions on internal surfaces, the bag 210 may be folded or creased at one or more locations in a manner that enables portions of the bag 210, e.g., the panels 222 of the handle sections 210, to be tucked between the long sides 212 and a corresponding side of the basket while maintaining the bag 210 nested therein.
Referring to
Those of ordinary skill in the pertinent arts will recognize that the bags provided in the combination carrying devices of the present disclosure may be formed from any number of panels of appropriate fabric-based materials, including one or more knitted, woven or non-woven fabrics, as well as natural or synthetic leathers, canvases or other like materials. For example, referring again to
Additionally, according to some implementations of the present disclosure, the bags may be formed in a single-piece construction from a piece of fabric that is properly cut and shaped, and may be subsequently stitched or joined in order to define a volume that corresponds to an interior of a basket and may be nested therein. A single piece of material may include panels or subsections corresponding to sides and a bottom of a bag, including panels or subsections corresponding to the long sides 112, the short sides 114 or the bottom 116 of the bag 110 of
The baskets and bags disclosed herein may be formed of any size and may have any dimensions. For example, in one implementation, a basket may have a height of approximately ten to fifteen inches (10-15″), a length of approximately twelve to twenty-four inches (12-24″) and a width of approximately nine to eighteen inches (9-18″), and may define tapered volumes for receiving and nesting a bag therein. Such baskets may further include rotatable handles having a maximum length of approximately six to nine inches (6-9″). The bags may have any heights, lengths, widths or volumes corresponding to the heights, lengths, widths or volumes of the baskets, and may be sized to be accommodated within such baskets.
As is discussed above, the handles of the baskets of the combination carrying devices disclosed herein may have lengths corresponding to upper perimeters of volumes defined by such baskets, and may be rotatably mounted and aligned near a center of a long side of the baskets along the upper perimeters, such that the handles may be rotated upwardly and inwardly to enable the combination carrying devices to be carried by a user, or downwardly and outwardly to enable the bags to be removed from the baskets or to enable the baskets to be stacked. The rotatable mounting and alignment of the handles further may provide additional clearance for items that are substantially taller than either of the long sides or the short sides of the baskets to be carried within bags nested therein, such that a maximum height of an item that may be carried within a basket may be defined by a sum of a depth of the basket and an interior radial length of the handle. For example, where the basket has a depth of approximately twelve inches (12″), and the handle has an interior radial length of approximately eight inches (8″), items having heights of up to approximately twenty inches (20″) may be accommodated within the basket in a central region thereof. A largest item of a plurality of items may be positioned substantially centrally within a volume of a bag nested in a basket of a combination carrying device, such that handles of the basket may be rotated from an area near an upper perimeter of the basket upwardly and inwardly and joined above the items with sufficient clearance, and such that a user may grasp the handles and carry the combination carrying device thereby.
As is discussed above, the combination carrying devices of the present disclosure may include baskets having handles mounted to outer surfaces of the baskets on opposing sides via pivotable or rotatable connections, and magnetic components mounted to inner surfaces of the baskets that are aligned to correspond with corresponding components provided on outer surfaces of bags to be nested therein. The handles of the baskets may be specifically shaped and mounted to a basket such that the handles may rest on or lie alongside or near an upper perimeter of the basket when folded down, e.g., into a first position, and may be joined together when folded upwardly to a point substantially over a centroid of the basket, e.g., at a second position, when the basket is in use.
Referring to
The basket 350 includes a pair of long sides (or side panels) 352, a pair of short sides (or end panels) 354 and a bottom (or bottom panel) 356 formed in a tapered, frustopyramidal shape defining a volume 355. As is shown in
As is also shown in
Although the basket 350 of
Furthermore, where a basket is formed with various intervening surfaces between long sides or short sides, with sides or bottoms of shapes other than polygons or in non-planar (e.g., curved) forms, or with intersections of one or more straight or curvilinear segments, a bag that is intended to be nested within the basket may be similarly formed with sides, surfaces or a bottom of a similar shape or form, and with intersections of similar straight or curvilinear segments, such that the bag defines a volume corresponding to a volume of the basket.
As is further shown in
The pivotable connections 380 allow the handles 360 to pivot or rotate between a first position, such as is shown in
Additionally, as is shown in
Referring to
As is shown in
Moreover, dimensions of the extension 462 enable the handle 460 to rotate freely and in a low-friction manner within the bore 458, regardless of the pressure or tightness of the fit between the fastener 484 and the extension 462. As is shown in
As is discussed above, the bore 458 may be associated with the long side 452 in any manner. For example, in some implementations, the bore 458 may be formed integral to the long side 452 of the basket 450 by injection molding, or by any means by which the basket 450 is formed. Alternatively, the bore 458 may be an independent implement that is mechanically joined to the long side 452 after the baskets 450 have been formed.
The bore 458 is a substantially cylindrical opening provided on the long side 452 and extending between an interior of the basket 450 and an exterior of the basket 450. The bore 458 may include one or more flanges or collars that are sized and shaped to correspond with and accommodate the fastener 458 extending therethrough. Whereas the long side 452 of the basket 450 may be provided at an obtuse angle with respect to the bottom (not shown) of the basket 450, thereby defining the tapered, frustopyramidal volume of the basket 450 at least in part, the bore 458 may be provided with flat faces that are substantially vertical, e.g., perpendicular to the bottom, and with openings that are substantially horizontal, e.g., parallel to the bottom. Thus, when the handles 460 is mounted or attached to the basket 450 by way of the fastener 484 (e.g., one or more connectors such as threaded bolts or screws, rivets or like components) inserted into the bore 458, the substantially vertical flat faces of the bore 458 may enable the pivotable connection 480 to pivot or rotate in planes that are parallel to the flat faces of the bore 458, and perpendicular to the bottom.
As is discussed above, when a combination carrying device includes a bag nested within a basket and secured therein by magnetic force, one or more items within a materials handling facility may be deposited into a volume defined by the bag. After such items have been deposited into the volume, and when the basket is no longer required, e.g., when transitioning from picking to packing within a fulfillment center, or upon arriving at a checkout station of a retail establishment, the user may raise the bag out of the basket by one or more handles provided on the bag, thereby extracting the bag from the basket, with the items within the bag, once the lifting force provided by the user exceeds the magnetic force that secures the bag within the basket.
Referring to
As is shown in
As is further discussed above, the symmetric construction of some implementations of the combination carrying devices of the present disclosure enables two or more the combination carrying devices to be conveniently stored in a stack. For example, two or more combination carrying devices having bags disposed in baskets may be stacked with the devices oriented upwardly, e.g., with openings of the volumes defined by such bags and baskets aligned in a vertically upward manner, such as is shown in the combination carrying device 100 of
As is shown in
The combination carrying device 600A may be easily added to a stack of combination carrying devices 600B, 600C, 600D, 600E, e.g., by inserting the basket 650A of the combination carrying device 600A into a volume 615B defined by the combination carrying device 600B, such as is shown in
As is shown in
As is discussed above, in some implementations, the combination carrying devices 600A, 600B, 600C, 600D, 600E may include holes, openings or perforations extending therethrough in a regular pattern or lattice, or irregularly. Such holes, openings or perforations permit air pressure or volumes that accumulate when a combination carrying device is inserted into one or more other combination carrying devices in a stack to dissipate through the holes, openings or perforations extending through the respective combination carrying devices in the stack, thereby ensuring that the bags nested within the baskets of such devices may remain in place as the combination carrying devices are stacked. Conversely, when one of the combination carrying devices is to be removed from the stack, the holes, openings or perforations may overcome any vacuum that may form between two or more of such devices as a combination carrying device is being removed, thereby ensuring that the bags nested within the baskets of such devices may remain in place as one of the combination carrying devices is removed.
Although the disclosure has been described herein using exemplary techniques, components, and/or processes for implementing the systems and methods of the present disclosure, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that other techniques, components, and/or processes or other combinations and sequences of the techniques, components, and/or processes described herein may be used or performed that achieve the same function(s) and/or result(s) described herein and which are included within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, although some of the implementations of the combination carrying devices disclosed herein include bags and baskets having corresponding frustopyramidal volumes, the present disclosure is not so limited, and bags and baskets having any corresponding shape or volume, e.g., any type or form of polyhedron or other three-dimensional shape. In some implementations, the combination carrying devices of the present disclosure may include bags and baskets having corresponding frustoconical volumes, e.g., hollow cavities having shapes corresponding to a frustrum of a cone, or a conic frustrum, for receiving one or more items therein. Alternatively, the combination carrying devices of the present disclosure may include bags and baskets having tapered volumes which correspond to one another, e.g., with corresponding cross-sectional shapes and/or areas and one or more continuous surfaces. For example, in some implementations, the bags and baskets may each feature volumes having ellipsoidal, circular, triangular, hexagonal or other regularly or irregularly shaped cross-sections that correspond to one another. The dimensions, types or sizes of the cross-sectional areas or shapes of the bags and baskets of the combination carrying devices disclosed herein are not limited. Furthermore, while some of the labels assigned to sides or panels of the bags or baskets described herein may represent lengths or positions (e.g., “long” or “short”), other labels may be purely arbitrary (e.g., “side” or “end”).
Additionally, the bags of the present disclosure are also not limited for use in connection with non-wheeled baskets, such as those discussed herein. Rather, one or more of the bags disclosed herein may be releasably nested within a wheeled cart or other like apparatus, and may feature a volume that corresponds to a volume of the cart or other apparatus. One or more outer surfaces or panels of such bags, and one or more inner surfaces or panels of such carts, may include magnetically compatible components that are coaligned when such bags are nested within volumes of such carts, and are drawn or coupled together accordingly by magnetic force. In this regard, when a user has completed the picking of items into the cart, the user may simply extract the bag from the cart by lifting the bag using one or more handles provided thereon to overcome the magnetic force therebetween.
Moreover, although some of the baskets of the present disclosure are described as having handles that may pivot or rotate about axes defined by pivotable or rotatable connections between a first position and a second position, the baskets disclosed herein are not so limited. Rather, the handles may pivot or rotate to any position between an upper perimeter of a basket and a position located substantially above a centroid or midpoint of the basket, along a continuous or substantially continuous arc.
It should be understood that, unless otherwise explicitly or implicitly indicated herein, any of the features, characteristics, alternatives or modifications described regarding a particular implementation herein may also be applied, used, or incorporated with any other implementation described herein, and that the drawings and detailed description of the present disclosure are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives to the various implementations as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, with respect to the one or more methods or processes of the present disclosure described herein, orders in which such methods or processes are presented are not intended to be construed as any limitation on the claimed inventions, and any number of the method or process steps or boxes described herein can be combined in any order and/or in parallel to implement the methods or processes described herein. Also, the drawings herein are not drawn to scale.
Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey in a permissive manner that certain implementations could include, or have the potential to include, but do not mandate or require, certain features, elements and/or steps. In a similar manner, terms such as “include,” “including” and “includes are generally intended to mean “including, but not limited to.” Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or more implementations or that one or more implementations necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular implementation.
Disjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, or Z,” or “at least one of X, Y and Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may be either X, Y, or Z, or any combination thereof (e.g., X, Y, and/or Z). Thus, such disjunctive language is not generally intended to, and should not, imply that certain implementations require at least one of X, at least one of Y, or at least one of Z to each be present.
Unless otherwise explicitly stated, articles such as “a” or “an” should generally be interpreted to include one or more described items. Accordingly, phrases such as “a device configured to” are intended to include one or more recited devices. Such one or more recited devices can also be collectively configured to carry out the stated recitations.
Language of degree used herein, such as the terms “about,” “approximately,” “generally,” “nearly” or “substantially” as used herein, represent a value, amount, or characteristic close to the stated value, amount, or characteristic that still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms “about,” “approximately,” “generally,” “nearly” or “substantially” may refer to an amount that is within less than 10% of, within less than 5% of, within less than 1% of, within less than 0.1% of, and within less than 0.01% of the stated amount.
Although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to illustrative implementations thereof, the foregoing and various other additions and omissions may be made therein and thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
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