Patents by Inventor Manuel Kiefer

Manuel Kiefer has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11009856
    Abstract: A method for supporting a sorting process of workpieces arranged on a sorting table that have been produced on a machine tool by a processing plan, comprising providing of a processing image data set of the processing plan based on the arrangement of at least one workpiece. The method further relates to an imaging-based capturing of the sorting table having a plurality of adjacent workpieces to each other and generating a first sorting image data set, and repeated image-based capturing of the sorting table and generating of a second sorting image data set once at least one workpiece has been removed from the sorting table. The method comprises comparing of the sorting image data sets, incorporating the processing image data set, wherein a sorting signal is generated which contains information that comprises the type, the position and/or the shape of the at least one removed workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: TRUMPF Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH + Co. KG
    Inventors: Manuel Kiefer, Jens Ottnad, Eberhard Wahl, Korbinian Weiss, Benjamin Schwarz, Philipp Springer, Matthias Denecke, David Schoene, Stefan Krause, Falko Keimel
  • Publication number: 20210034043
    Abstract: A method for the automated booking of manual activities carried out by a worker in an industrial manufacturing plant while processing a workpiece is disclosed. The booking is performed in a digital control system for the creation of a digital process chain of the manufacturing. The digital process chain includes activity profiles, each of which is assigned to a manual activity. The method includes: providing movement data of a manual activity to be booked; providing position data of the manual activity to be booked; evaluating the movement data and the position data, wherein the movement data and the position data are input data of a classification process in which the input data are classified with respect to the activity profiles and a specific activity profile is output for the movement data; and booking the output specific activity profile in the digital process chain of the workpiece.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2020
    Publication date: February 4, 2021
    Inventors: Klaus Bauer, Eberhard Wahl, Manuel Kiefer
  • Publication number: 20200218235
    Abstract: A method for assigning a workpiece to be processed to a mobile unit of an indoor location system used in a manufacturing hall in industrial processing of workpieces is provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2020
    Publication date: July 9, 2020
    Inventors: Manuel Kiefer, Jens Ottnad, Willi Pönitz, Ulrich Schneider, Benjamin Schwarz, Korbinian Weiss
  • Publication number: 20200218237
    Abstract: An indoor location system includes mobile transceiver units to support a manufacturing control of process courses in an industrial manufacturing of workpieces in a manufacturing plant. The indoor location system includes an analysis unit configured to determine a position of a mobile transceiver unit to be localized from runtimes of electromagnetic signals between transceiver units, and an energy consumption control unit configured to output a control signal for deactivating a localizing mode of a position signal module of at least one of the mobile transceiver units if participation of the at least one mobile transceiver unit in position determination operations is not required and to output a control signal for activating the localizing mode of the position signal module of the at least one of the mobile transceiver units from a deactivated state when participation of the at least one mobile transceiver unit in a position determination operation is required.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2020
    Publication date: July 9, 2020
    Inventors: Jens Ottnad, Manuel Kiefer, Korbinian Weiss, Benjamin Schwarz
  • Publication number: 20200201303
    Abstract: A production system, the production system comprising the following: a loading zone for loading and/or unloading at least one collection carrier, a locating system for locating a collection carrier in the loading zone, the locating system being designed to determine the location of a mobile unit arranged on the collection carrier and/or to capture identification information stored on the mobile unit, an image-capturing unit, which is designed to capture image information of the loading zone, an image evaluation unit, which is designed to determine the position of the collection carrier and/or a state of the collection carrier by the image information. A production control method for controlling a production system. The production system and the production control method enable improved order processing. Preparatory and/or follow-up tasks can be automated in a simpler and easier manner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2020
    Publication date: June 25, 2020
    Inventors: Manuel Kiefer, Benjamin Schwarz, Dennis Specht, Eberhard Wahl
  • Publication number: 20190240703
    Abstract: A workpiece collecting point unit for a machine tool, in particular for a flatbed machine tool, such as a laser cutting or punching flatbed machine tool, has a placing area for workpieces produced by the machine tool within the framework of a processing plan, a display unit adapted to display information about the workpieces, which are to be further processed and were placed on the placing area, to an operator, and a signal device adapted to output an identification signal indicating to an operator the location of the selected workpiece collecting point unit for placing the workpiece, which is to be further processed, on the placing area. The workpiece collecting point unit can be used inter alia in a process to support a sequence of processing steps for processing workpieces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2019
    Publication date: August 8, 2019
    Inventors: Manuel Kiefer, Jens Ottnad, Eberhard Wahl, Korbinian Weiss, Benjamin Schwarz, Philipp Springer
  • Publication number: 20190243345
    Abstract: Disclosed is an interior tracking system for manufacturing control. The interior tracking system has multiple, fixedly installed transceivers for determining the position of multiple mobile units, the position being determined in particular by evaluating the propagation time of electromagnetic (radio) signals. The interior tracking system is used to assign one of the mobile units to one or more workpieces in an industrial manufacturing plant that processes steel and/or sheet metal, to determine the position of the assigned workpieces by localizing the assigned mobile unit using the interior tracking system and to integrate the interior tracking system into a manufacturing control system of the industrial manufacturing plant.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2019
    Publication date: August 8, 2019
    Inventors: Benjamin Schwarz, Jens Ottnad, Manuel Kiefer, Korbinian Weiss, Ulrich Schneider
  • Publication number: 20190243343
    Abstract: A method for supporting a sorting process of workpieces arranged on a sorting table that have been produced on a machine tool by a processing plan, comprising providing of a processing image data set of the processing plan based on the arrangement of at least one workpiece. The method further relates to an imaging-based capturing of the sorting table having a plurality of adjacent workpieces to each other and generating a first sorting image data set, and repeated image-based capturing of the sorting table and generating of a second sorting image data set once at least one workpiece has been removed from the sorting table. The method comprises comparing of the sorting image data sets, incorporating the processing image data set, wherein a sorting signal is generated which contains information that comprises the type, the position and/or the shape of the at least one removed workpiece.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2019
    Publication date: August 8, 2019
    Inventors: Manuel Kiefer, Jens Ottnad, Eberhard Wahl, Korbinian Weiss, Benjamin Schwarz, Philipp Springer, Matthias Denecke, David Schoene, Stefan Krause, Falko Keimel
  • Publication number: 20170115656
    Abstract: Techniques are described for machining flat workpieces, such as metal sheets, or three-dimensional workpieces on a processing machine, such as a machine tool or laser cutting machine, including capturing a live image of a workpiece to be machined with an image capturing device for capturing two-dimensional images; displaying at least one workpiece machining operation to be performed in the live image of the workpiece by a predetermined forward transformation of the workpiece machining operation from the three-dimensional machine coordinate system into the two-dimensional live-image coordinate system; repositioning the workpiece machining operation to be performed in the live image of the workpiece; and performing the workpiece machining operation on the workpiece by a predetermined inverse transformation of the repositioned workpiece machining operation from the two-dimensional live-image coordinate system into the three-dimensional machine coordinate system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2017
    Publication date: April 27, 2017
    Inventors: Jens Ottnad, Manuel Kiefer