Patents by Inventor John G. Lert

John G. Lert has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 12378077
    Abstract: An automated storage and retrieval facility includes an automated decant system for decanting cases of eaches received from manufacturers or others. The automated decant system includes a decant workstation which receives the cases of eaches, cuts and removes the packaging of the cases. Once case packaging has been removed, the decant workstation separates and organizes the eaches, and drops them into totes waiting beneath the workstation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2025
    Assignee: Symbotic LLC
    Inventors: John G. Lert, Jr., William J. Fosnight, Mark Solomon, Julian Warhurst, Mark Supernor, Nathan Stallings
  • Patent number: 12373775
    Abstract: A micro-fulfillment center fulfills orders for goods including both in-store picking of goods and online ordering of goods. Orders are fulfilled using both a picker to goods (P2G) model and an automated goods to picker (G2P) model. In examples, goods are replenished to the automated G2P system from store shelves which also serve the P2G model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2025
    Assignee: Symbotic LLC
    Inventors: John G. Lert, Jr., William J. Fosnight
  • Patent number: 12319506
    Abstract: A combination automated-service and self-service store for implementation at brick-and-mortar retail locations is provided. The store and corresponding method of implementation is an automated-service model in which robots, deployed at the brick-and-mortar location, fill orders for fungible goods placed by customers either online or in-store. The store also includes a shopping section where customers can select/order items and/or personally select non-fungible goods. The store includes a shopping section for non-fungible goods that customers prefer to pick out by hand and a back end automated order fulfillment section for other goods (e.g., fungible goods, dry goods, etc.). The two sets of goods are merged to a delivery bundle and delivered together for pickup by the customer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2024
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2025
    Assignee: Symbotic LLC
    Inventor: John G. Lert, Jr.
  • Patent number: 12319502
    Abstract: An order fulfillment system is disclosed including a multi-level tote storage structure, one or more autonomous mobile robots configured to pick, transport and place one or more tote; one or more workstations configured to accommodate a picker that transports one or more eaches from a tote on one of the autonomous mobile robots to a “put” location, wherein the autonomous mobile robots are configured to move from level to level in the order fulfillment apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2025
    Assignee: Symbotic LLC
    Inventors: John G. Lert, Jr., William J. Fosnight
  • Publication number: 20250156808
    Abstract: An automated supply chain for end to end tracking of eaches, comprising: one or more distribution centers for receiving eaches and delivering the eaches to a market; one or more of pallets, cases and totes for transporting the eaches, the one or more of pallets, cases and totes comprising tracking systems; a plurality of robots at the one or more distribution centers for sorting the eaches for shipment between the one or more distribution centers and the market; a unified commerce engine (UCE) comprising at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory including computer program code, the UCE configured to receive and store identification information from the tracking systems, the UCE tracking locations of the eaches within the pallets, cases and totes in each of the one or more distribution centers from receipt from the manufacturer to delivery to the market using the identification information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 17, 2025
    Publication date: May 15, 2025
    Inventors: John G. Lert, Jr., William J. Fosnight
  • Patent number: 12275142
    Abstract: An automated order fulfillment system and mobile robot are disclosed, where the mobile robot includes a compliant drive for moving between levels of a multilevel storage structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2024
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2025
    Assignee: Symbotic LLC
    Inventors: William J. Fosnight, John G. Lert, Jr., Michael Duquette, Martin R. Elliott, Julian D. Warhurst, Charles W. Su, Alan J. Grant
  • Publication number: 20250051094
    Abstract: An order fulfillment system is disclosed including a multi-level tote storage structure, one or more autonomous mobile robots configured to pick, transport and place one or more tote; one or more workstations configured to accommodate a picker that transports one or more eaches from a tote on one of the autonomous mobile robots to a “put” location, wherein the autonomous mobile robots are configured to move from level to level in the order fulfillment apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2024
    Publication date: February 13, 2025
    Inventors: John G. Lert, JR., William J. Fosnight, Julian Warhurst, Mark Solomon, Michael Chesna
  • Patent number: 12211003
    Abstract: A system comprising a fully automated supply chain, in combination with tracking technology and the unified commerce engine (UCE). Such a system enables the exact location of every item (or each) to be tracked from the manufacturer's facility to a customer's bag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC
    Inventors: John G. Lert, Jr., William J. Fosnight
  • Publication number: 20240425282
    Abstract: A workstation receives bots carrying order totes and bots carrying product totes for transfer of goods from the product totes to the order totes. The workstation comprises a robot for automated transfer of goods between the product and order totes, but may also have a station for an operator to perform manual transfer. Cameras may be provided to capture images of the product and/or order totes to identify contents of totes and to identify positions where goods are to be picked from the product totes and placed into the order totes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2024
    Publication date: December 26, 2024
    Inventors: William J. Fosnight, John G. Lert, JR., Christopher Hofmeister
  • Patent number: 12175405
    Abstract: A system and method for providing proxy picking of non-fungible goods within an automated storage and retrieval system is provided, which repurposes one or more automated mobile robots operating within the automated inventory management system to perform a plurality of tasks across multiple different areas of an automated store. The proxy picking system and method are configured to pick individually identified non-fungible goods according to a customer selection on an ordering screen based on measured attributes and images of the goods, the attributes selected by the customer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2024
    Assignee: WALMART APOLLO, LLC
    Inventors: John G. Lert, Jr., William J. Fosnight
  • Patent number: 12162686
    Abstract: An automated decant system is disclosed for processing pallets of cased goods received at a facility, extracting packaging for the cases and transferring eaches within the cases to totes, possibly organized by SKU in sub-totes within the tote.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC
    Inventors: John G. Lert, Jr., William J. Fosnight, Charles W. Su, Christopher A. Hofmeister
  • Patent number: 12151885
    Abstract: An order fulfillment system is disclosed including a multi-level tote storage structure, one or more autonomous mobile robots configured to pick, transport and place one or more tote; one or more workstations configured to accommodate a picker that transports one or more eaches from a tote on one of the autonomous mobile robots to a “put” location, wherein the autonomous mobile robots are configured to move from level to level in the order fulfillment apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2024
    Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC
    Inventors: John G. Lert, Jr., William J. Fosnight, Julian Warhurst, Mark Solomon, Michael Chesna
  • Publication number: 20240367904
    Abstract: An automated order fulfillment system is disclosed having different temperature zones and robots and containers capable of and/or configured to work in these different temperature zones.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2024
    Publication date: November 7, 2024
    Inventors: William J. Fosnight, Christopher Hofmeister, John G. Lert, Jr., Stephanie Waite, Julian Warhurst
  • Patent number: 12134518
    Abstract: A rack or racking system is disclosed for use in inventory management, order fulfillment and automation-based capacity planning. The racking system includes expandable and collapsible racks used to transport containers, for example, totes, which in the expanded configuration can attach to a load/unload fixture that enables bots to load totes onto the racks and/or unload totes from the racks, and in the collapsed configuration can be loaded onto a truck that transports the totes between facilities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2024
    Assignee: WALMART APOLLO. LLC
    Inventors: John G. Lert, Jr., William J. Fosnight
  • Patent number: 12110183
    Abstract: A workstation receives bots carrying order totes and bots carrying product totes for transfer of goods from the product totes to the order totes. The workstation comprises a robot for automated transfer of goods between the product and order totes, but may also have a station for an operator to perform manual transfer. Cameras may be provided to capture images of the product and/or order totes to identify contents of totes and to identify positions where goods are to be picked from the product totes and placed into the order totes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC
    Inventors: William J. Fosnight, John G. Lert, Jr., Christopher Hofmeister
  • Publication number: 20240300737
    Abstract: A system and method for storage and retrieval are provided. The system includes a multi-level storage structure, and mobile robots configured to pick, transport and place one or more tote, container, or object. This system and method can be used in order-fulfillment applications in which one or more workstations accommodate a picker that transports one or more eaches from a tote on one of the autonomous mobile robots to a put location, and an input/output interface induct material into the system and discharge fulfilled orders from the system. The mobile robots are further configured to move from level to level in the multi-level storage structure via inclined or vertical tracks without requiring a vertical lift or vertical conveyor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2024
    Publication date: September 12, 2024
    Inventors: John G. Lert, JR., William J. Fosnight
  • Patent number: 12084281
    Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed including a robotic system having a robotic picking workstation, tote storage and retrieval and transit decks. The system has bots that autonomously transport totes from the storage and retrieval system to the robotic picking workstation via the transit decks. The robotic picking workstation may have a picking lane where a robotic handler transports eaches from totes on the bots to order totes in the workstation. The robotic picking workstation further has a queuing buffer where bots are cued for the picking lane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2023
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: WALMART APOLLO, LLC
    Inventors: William J. Fosnight, John G. Lert, Jr.
  • Patent number: 12071306
    Abstract: An automated order fulfillment system is disclosed having different temperature zones and robots and containers capable of and/or configured to work in these different temperature zones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2024
    Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC
    Inventors: William J. Fosnight, Christopher Hofmeister, John G. Lert, Jr., Stephanie Waite, Julian Warhurst
  • Patent number: 12071303
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for selecting and combining items in an outbound container through the use of autonomous vehicles, each of which includes means for automatically loading and unloading a payload, to perform both transfer and transport functions in moving containers of items within a workspace via a network of roadways. Under computer control, said autonomous vehicles transfer and transport case containers of item units between incoming receiving stations, intermediate storage locations, and outgoing order-assembly stations where entire containers or individual item units are combined in the outbound container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2024
    Assignee: Symbotic LLC
    Inventor: John G. Lert, Jr.
  • Publication number: 20240253209
    Abstract: An automated order fulfillment system and mobile robot are disclosed, where the mobile robot includes a compliant drive for moving between levels of a multilevel storage structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2024
    Publication date: August 1, 2024
    Inventors: William J. Fosnight, John G. Lert, JR., Michael Duquette, Martin R. Elliott, Julian D. Warhurst, Charles W. Su, Alan J. Grant