Arrangement for, and method of, loading freight into a shipping container

{
  "publication_number": "US10721451B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Arrangement for, and method of, loading freight into a shipping container",
  "abstract": "A plurality of three-dimensional (3D) cameras is deployed about a zone through which freight is conveyed to a shipping container. The 3D cameras have sensors with fields of view over which a plurality of point clouds of voxels are captured from the freight. A server combines the point clouds to obtain a composite point cloud of the freight, encloses the composite point cloud with a bounding box having dimensions, and dimensions the freight from the dimensions of the bounding box. An optional scale weighs the freight while it is being dimensioned and moved through the zone.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A system comprising: a first three-dimensional (3D) camera deployed at a zone through which freight is conveyed to a container, and having a first field of view, the first 3D camera configured to generate a first point cloud of voxels representative of the freight; a second 3D camera deployed at the zone and having a second field of view narrower than the first field of view, the second 3D camera configured to generate a second point cloud of voxels representative of the freight; and a dimensioner in communication with the first and second 3D cameras, the dimensioner configured to: weigh the voxels of to the first point cloud based on respective angles of the voxels relative to the center of the first field of view of the first 3D camera; weigh the voxels of to the second point cloud based on respective angles of the voxels relative to a center to a center of the second field of view of the second 3D camera; combine the first and second point clouds to obtain a composite point cloud representative of the freight; enclose the composite point cloud with a bounding box having dimensions and facial constraints, wherein the facial constraints include a predetermined orientation of at least one face of the bounding box with respect to one of the zone through which freight is conveyed and at least another face of the bounding box; and dimension the freight using the dimensions of the bounding box enclosing the composite point cloud, wherein the dimensioner is implemented by a processor.",
    "2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second 3D cameras are stationary and are aimed at the freight along different lines of sight, and further comprising a freight mover configured to uninterruptedly move the freight through the zone past the first and second 3D cameras.",
    "3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a scale configured to weigh the freight simultaneously with the freight being dimensioned while the freight is uninterruptedly moved through the zone.",
    "4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a detector configured to trigger the first and second 3D cameras to capture the first and second point clouds upon entry of the freight in the zone.",
    "5. The system of claim 1, wherein: each voxel is associated with a set of coordinates that define a position of each voxel; the first and second 3D cameras capture a plurality of the sets of the coordinates of each voxel; and the dimensioner combines the point clouds by averaging the sets of the coordinates of each voxel from the first and second 3D cameras.",
    "6. The system of claim 5, wherein: each voxel has one of a range value indicative of a distance between a respective one of the first and second 3D camera and the freight, and an intensity value indicative of received signal strength; and the dimensioner is configured to weigh the sets of the coordinates of each voxel from the first and second 3D cameras with different weighting factors that are based on at least one of the range value and the intensity value.",
    "7. The system of claim 5, wherein: each voxel has a confidence value; and the dimensioner is configured to weigh the sets of the coordinates of each voxel from the first and second 3D cameras based on the confidence value.",
    "8. The system of claim 5, wherein: the first and second 3D cameras operate under variable environmental conditions; and the dimensioner is configured to weigh the sets of the coordinates of each voxel from the first and second 3D cameras with different weighting factors that are based on the variable environmental conditions.",
    "9. The system of claim 1, wherein the dimensioner is further configured to: assign a first weight to the first point cloud based on the second 3 D camera having a narrower field of view than the first 3 D camera; assign a second weight to the second point cloud based on the second 3 D camera having a narrower field of view than the first 3 D camera, wherein the first weight is different than the second weight; and combine the first and second point clouds according to the first and second weights to obtain the composite point cloud."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present disclosure relates generally to an arrangement for, and a method of, loading freight into a shipping container and, more particularly, to dimensioning and/or weighing the freight in an uninterrupted, continuous manner prior to loading.\n\nIt is generally known in the shipping industry to use industrial vehicles, such as forklifts, to lift and move freight, typically mounted on pallets, from warehouses or like facilities into shipping containers for transport by truck, railroad, boat, and airplane, etc. Since the recipients of the freight are typically charged by the dimensions (volume) and weight of the freight, it is known to dimension and weigh the freight prior to loading. Knowing the dimensions of the freight is also useful for determining the order in which the freight is to be loaded, and to fill as much of the shipping container as possible for efficient handling and distribution.\n\nTo that end, it is known for a forklift to lift and advance the freight to a weighing scale or dimensioning station while sometimes first waiting for access to the scale/station, to then stop and lower the freight onto the scale/station, and to then retreat and back away from the scale/station while the freight is being weighed or dimensioned. While the freight is stationary at the scale/station, a set of overhead laser scanners with range finders are moved above and past the freight over a time period of several seconds during which the freight is scanned, and range information from the freight is captured. The range information is then processed by processing equipment to obtain the dimensions of the freight.",
  "cpc": [
    "H04N 13/122",
    "B65G 1/00",
    "B65G 2203/0208",
    "B65G 2203/0258",
    "B65G 2203/041",
    "G06T 2207/10028",
    "G06T 5/50",
    "G06T 7/62",
    "H04N 13/243"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B65G 1/00",
    "G06T 5/50",
    "G06T 7/62",
    "H04N 13/122",
    "H04N 13/243"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Symbol Technologies LLC"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Patrick Martin Brown",
    "Paul Seiter",
    "Charles B. Swope",
    "Chinmay Nanda"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2016-03-23",
  "publication_date": "2020-07-21",
  "grant_date": "2020-07-21",
  "priority_date": "2016-03-23",
  "application_number": "US-201615078074-A",
  "family_id": "59898934",
  "cited_by_count": 1,
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