Ford Patent Filed For Defrost System For Package Delivery

Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for a defrost system for package delivery, Ford Authority has learned.

The patent was filed on May 16^th, 2021, published on March 21^st, 2023, and assigned serial number 11607068.

The Ford Authority Take

Aside from filing a patent for a vehicle-based package delivery system last October, Ford has explored various ways to make the act of delivering packages more efficient in a number of ways – including launching a pilot program in the UK that uses vehicles as delivery points, providing a more secure alternative to a carrier leaving those packages on doorsteps. Now, this newly filed Ford patent presents us with yet another idea, this time for a defrost system for package delivery.

In this case, the defrost system would be located in a smart locker used to store packages, which are then retrieved by the recipient at a later time. The idea here is pretty simple – to keep those lockers from freezing in cold weather, though these smart units would also be able to do far more than that.

For example, the locker would be able to receive a message that it is about to be used to store a package, at which point it could relay whether or not it’s at risk of freezing, or if it’s already frozen over. If that is the case, the locker could activate a defrost element prior to the package delivery, which could ensure that it’s warmed up and ready to go once that package arrives.

Commonly used these days in apartments and homes in urban areas, these smart lockers have been known to become difficult or even impossible to open in the winter, when snow and ice can quite literally freeze them shut. However, adding a feature that’s been used in vehicles for many years might just be the quick and easy way to solve that particular issue, it seems.

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