US Patent Issued to Amazon Technologies on Sept. 23 for "Backstop to facilitate container engagement by robotic manipulator" (Massachusetts Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 23 -- United States Patent no. 12,420,403, issued on Sept. 23, was assigned to Amazon Technologies Inc. (Seattle).

"Backstop to facilitate container engagement by robotic manipulator" was invented by John Timothy Foreman (Framingham, Mass.) and Matthew Budnick (Rutland, Mass.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An inventory handling system may implement a backstop to facilitate container engagement by a robotic manipulator. The system may include a second set of rollers positioned lower than a first set of rollers so as to define a stepped interface. The roller sets may be configured to carry a container. A backstop surface may be positioned along the stepped interface betwe...