Inventors:
- Redwood City CA, US
Jason Kalus - Redwood City CA, US
Nathan Beckett - Redwood City CA, US
David Cameron Hosken - Redwood City CA, US
John Hosken - Redwood City CA, US
Matthew Hohenberger - Redwood City CA, US
International Classification:
B65B 25/04
B65B 35/02
B65G 65/36
B65G 65/42
B65G 1/127
B65B 5/10
B65G 17/00
B65G 1/137
B65B 57/12
B65B 43/54
B65G 1/04
B65G 47/51
B65B 43/52
G06Q 30/06
B65G 1/00
B65B 11/02
Abstract:
Embodiments of product handling systems facilitate transfer of individual product items from incoming bulk form into dedicated trays for inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging. Inspection may comprise interrogation of product items within a tray by electromagnetic (e.g., optical, hyperspectral) or other (e.g., physical, acoustic, gas sensing, etc.) techniques. Prior to packaging, product items disposed within the tray may be stored in a moveable carousel responsible for controlling environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, illumination, ambient gases, product-to-product interactions, and/or others. Movement of product items from a carousel's transfer station to an outside staging position may be accomplished using robots and/or conveyor belts. Embodiments may allow rapid, low-cost consumer selection of specific individual product items based upon their accompanying metadata (e.g., source, identifier), in combination with the results of inspection (e.g., visual appearance). Embodiments may receive product items pre-packaged in tray format to expedite inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging.