Amazon Patent Tips Underwater Storage Facilities

Amazon isn't shy about experimenting with how it stores products and delivers them to customers. A good example of that is a recent patent filed for a drone delivery tower, which is basically a skyscraper-sized beehive for drones.

Now another Amazon patent has appeared as highlighted by the New York Post, only this one is even more bizarre. Entitled "Aquatic Storage Facility," the patent describes a method of storing products "in a body of liquid" with the depth controlled by a cartridge attached to each product.

The cartridge is the key to this system. Amazon describes it as being sent instructions in a number of ways including acoustic signals. Send the cartridge a specific depth and it will descend or ascend to that depth. If the product is required for shipping, then the cartridge can be instructed to bring it to the surface before being removed and attached to another product to store underwater.

According to the diagrams included with the patent, Amazon intends to automate much of the process. The cartridge will be connected to a network for communication and its depth controlled through a combination of depth sensor, compressed air, and ballast tank. The inclusion of GPS means Amazon could literally drop products in any body of water for later retrieval. There's even a diagram showing how once descended a fan could blow each product into an underwater area not accessible from the surface.

At first, underwater storage sounds a little bit crazy, but when you think about it a lot of benefits present themselves. Items in waterproof packaging and equipped with one of these cartridges could be dropped into water from a truck or even an aircraft without fear of damage.

Once in the water, the cartridge would do the rest so no human workers are necessary. Renting or buying a body of water is sure to be much cheaper than the equivalent on-land area, so it cuts costs for Amazon. Choosing bodies of water that are unusable for anything else would cut those costs even further.

As the patent description makes clear, "for all of their technological advancements, today's fulfillment centers are still plagued by the inefficient use of space." Amazon believes it can solve that inefficiency by moving underwater.