Node-enabled logistics receptacle with deployable storage element

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Business Methods (G06Q)

Published March 31st, 2026

Detected March 31st, 2026

Summary

The USPTO issued Patent US12591842B2 to Federal Express Corporation covering a node-enabled logistics receptacle system with deployable storage element for receiving and temporarily maintaining delivery items. The patent includes 136 claims and covers systems with sensors, communication interfaces, and autonomous mobile containers for package handling.

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What changed

USPTO granted Patent US12591842B2 to Federal Express Corporation on March 31, 2026. The patent covers a logistics receptacle system featuring a storage receptacle with entrance opening, deployable autonomous mobile container, and a first node with processor, memory, communication interface, and sensors including interaction and storage sensors. The node detects changes in entrance opening state, determines container contents, generates deploy activation signals, and initiates movement of the autonomous mobile container from a host position to an external position.

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Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Node-enabled logistics receptacle apparatus, systems, and methods with a deployable storage element for receiving and temporarily maintaining a delivery item

Grant US12591842B2 Kind: B2 Mar 31, 2026

Assignee

Federal Express Corporation

Inventors

Ole-Petter Skaaksrud

Abstract

A node-enabled logistics receptacle system with a deployable storage element for receiving and temporarily maintaining a delivery item. The system includes a storage receptacle with an entrance opening for receiving the delivery item and a deployable autonomous mobile container as the deployable storage element. A first node is mounted to the storage receptacle and includes a first node processor, a first node memory, a communication interface, and a plurality of sensors including an interaction sensor and a storage sensor. The first node detects a change in the state of the entrance opening, determines a current condition of what is presently maintained within the deployable autonomous mobile container, generates a deploy activation signal, and transmits the deploy activation signal to the deployable autonomous mobile container to initiate movement by the deployable autonomous mobile container from the host position within the storage receptacle to a position external to the storage receptacle.