Patents Assigned to Murata Machinery, Ltd.
  • Patent number: 11513534
    Abstract: A traveling vehicle controller includes a command assignment controller to detect a first-to-arrive traveling vehicle that is able to reach a destination point first among traveling vehicles, based on travel route candidates on which the traveling vehicles travel along a travel path from respective positions to reach the destination point, and assign the command to the first-to-arrive traveling vehicle. During detection of the first-to-arrive traveling vehicle, when a traveling vehicle traveling toward a branch point on the travel path is located within a range of a branch-switching impossible distance from the branch point and is scheduled to proceed toward a main way at the branch point, the command assignment controller performs pseudo-shift processing by which this traveling vehicle is determined to be located in a position downstream of the branch point and on a side of the main way.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventor: Kazumi Harasaki
  • Patent number: 11515186
    Abstract: An overhead transport vehicle system stores a large number of articles and includes an inclined rail and overhead transport vehicles each including a traveler to travel on the inclined rail, a holder to hold an article, an elevator to raise and lower the holder, a horizontality guide to keep the elevator horizontal or substantially horizontal at the inclined rail, and a controller. Supports are horizontally provided at a same or substantially same height, and the overhead transport vehicles located on the inclined rail are able to transfer the article between them. The overhead transport vehicles transfer the article between the supports and the controller controls the elevator to raise and lower the holder by a raising and lowering amount according to a height distance between the inclined rail and an individual support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventor: Yoshiki Yuasa
  • Patent number: 11501991
    Abstract: A container storage includes a purger that supplies a purge gas into a stored container and an evacuator that is disposed near a lid of the container and evacuates an atmosphere around the lid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsuo Tsubaki, Takashi Yamaji
  • Patent number: 11496336
    Abstract: A method includes: (a) transmitting, by the control device, control data containing one of the plurality of second parameters to the relay device; (b) determining, by at least one of the control device or the relay device, whether the one of the plurality of second parameters matches one of the plurality of first parameters; and (c) transmitting, by the relay device, the control data received from the control device in (a), using one of the plurality of interfaces of the relay device for which the one of the plurality of second parameters is set if it is determined in the determining that the one of the plurality of first parameters matches the one of the plurality of second parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshihiro Fujiwara, Shigeru Yamamoto, Tetsuya Kuwahara
  • Patent number: 11476141
    Abstract: A rail-guided trolley system includes a main body that, along rails at least partially in a grid pattern, holds and transports a transportation container on a lower side of the rails, traveling wheels at each of four corners of the main body and that travel on the rails, a controller that controls pivot drivers that change orientations of the traveling wheels, and auxiliary wheels each located at least in either front or rear in a traveling direction of the traveling wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventor: Yasuhisa Ito
  • Patent number: 11472096
    Abstract: A helical winding unit of a filament winding apparatus includes guide members guiding fiber bundles F to a liner, a movement mechanism moving the guide members, and a rotation mechanism rotating the guide members. Each of the guide members includes two side walls and guide portions fixed between the two side walls. As the guide portions, a first guide portion having a first guide surface and a second guide portion having a second guide surface and provided downstream of the first guide portion are provided. In the height direction, the first guide surface is oriented to one side. The second guide surface is oriented to the other side in the height direction and provided on the other side of the first guide surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventors: Motohiro Tanigawa, Daigoro Nakamura, Hirotaka Wada, Tadashi Uozumi, Hideo Shitamoto, Tatsuhiko Nishida, Masatsugu Goyude, Tetsuya Matsuura, Shu Ikezaki
  • Patent number: 11472095
    Abstract: In a filament winding apparatus, a supplying device supplies fiber bundles to a surface of a core material. A moving part is movable relative to the core material, and rotatable around a rotational axis extending in a vertical direction. A small diameter aligning guide part is placed at the moving part and has an opening portion through which the core material can pass. The small diameter aligning guide part guides fiber bundles to an outer peripheral surface of the core material such that the fiber bundles are arranged side by side in a circumferential direction of the core material. The tightening fiber bobbin supporting part is placed at the moving part and rotates around a center of the opening portion. A winding guide rotates with the tightening fiber bobbin supporting part and guides a tightening fiber bundle drawn from a tightening fiber bobbin toward the surface of the core material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shu Ikezaki, Motohiro Tanigawa, Tadashi Uozumi, Masatsugu Goyude, Shota Miyaji, Hirotaka Wada, Takahiro Miura, Makoto Tanaka, Daigoro Nakamura, Tetsuya Matsuura
  • Patent number: 11458847
    Abstract: An article transferring device that transfers articles includes: a traveling rail; primary-side stators; a power source; a first transporting carriage and a second transporting carriage each of which includes a secondary-side movable element and transports an article by the secondary-side movable element receiving a magnetic action from the primary-side stators. Each of the first transporting carriage and the second transporting carriage is caused to travel so as to be stopped or change a traveling speed individually by a ground primary-side linear motor system including the primary-side stators and the secondary-side movable element, and further includes a transferring unit that transfers the article in an intersecting direction intersecting with the predetermined path by receiving force from the power source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventors: Isao Fukuda, Kazuhiro Ishikawa, Kenji Kadoguchi, Masataka Hayashi
  • Patent number: 11452060
    Abstract: An operation-side communication device that is operated by an operator and a machine-side communication device that is connected to an industrial machine mutually register each other as partners permitted to communicate with each other. A communication device receives a partner ID of a partner communication device intended to be registered as a partner. The communication device wirelessly transmits a signal including the partner ID to the partner communication device. The partner communication device determines whether the partner ID included in the received signal corresponds to the ID of the partner communication device itself, and if so, the communication device registers the partner ID as the ID of a permitted communication partner. The above operations are repeated with the communication device and the partner communication device interchanged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventor: Natsuko Nakajo
  • Patent number: 11440271
    Abstract: A helical winding unit is provided with a frame member in which a plurality of nozzle attachment units are provided to be aligned in a circumferential direction about an axis of a liner; nozzle units that each have a guide body movable in a radial direction of the liner and rotatable about a rotating axis extending in the radial direction, and that are attachable to and detachable from the nozzle attachment units; a moving endless toothed annular body that transmits, commonly to one or more nozzle units attached to one or more nozzle attachment units, power for moving the guide body in the radial direction; and a rotating endless toothed annular body that transmits, commonly to one or more nozzle units attached to one or more nozzle attachment units, power for rotating the guide body about the rotating axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shu Ikezaki, Motohiro Tanigawa, Tadashi Uozumi, Hirotaka Wada, Masatsugu Goyude, Tetsuya Matsuura, Daigoro Nakamura, Takahiro Miura, Makoto Tanaka, Shota Miyaji
  • Patent number: 11417555
    Abstract: A ceiling conveyance vehicle includes a traveling wheel to roll on a track including a first track and a second track and a main body below the track and coupled to the traveling wheel. The ceiling conveyance vehicle includes a direction changer to change between a first state in which the traveling wheel rolls on the first track and a second state in which the traveling wheel rolls on the second track, with an orientation of the main body with respect to the track maintained, an article holder capable of holding an article, a hoisting-and-lowering driver to hoist and lower the article holder, a lateral slider to slidingly move the hoisting-and-lowering driver in a horizontal, linear direction, and a first rotational driver to rotationally drive the lateral slider around a first perpendicular axis with respect to the main body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventors: Haruki Ogo, Yasuhisa Ito
  • Patent number: 11412183
    Abstract: A management server, which facilitates search for information, includes storages, a network interface, and a processor. The network interface performs communication with an external device. The processor is configured or programmed to perform a process of associating monitoring target information, sensor information, and time information, with one another to be stored in the storage. Further, the processor is configured or programmed to perform a process of receiving designation information from a host controller, and combining the monitoring target information corresponding to the obtained designation information with the sensor information associated with the monitoring target information to generate combined information and output the combined information to the host controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventor: Yoshifumi Tanimoto
  • Patent number: 11404298
    Abstract: A travelling vehicle system includes travelling vehicles and a controller. The controller includes a storage that stores a last permitted travelling vehicle, to which a passage permission is transmitted lastly and the passage permission for which is not canceled, for each direction in a branching section or a merging section included in a blocking area, stores a last canceled travelling vehicle, the passage permission for which is canceled lastly, for each direction in the blocking area, and stores the travelling vehicle, to which the passage permission in a same direction in the blocking area is transmitted lastly, as a forward travelling vehicle of a travelling vehicle waiting for the permission to pass through the blocking area at the time of transmission of the passage permission to the passage-permission waiting travelling vehicle, and a determiner that determines whether to give passage permission to the travelling vehicle waiting for the permission.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventor: Masayuki Takahara
  • Patent number: 11383425
    Abstract: A filament winding device includes: a supporting unit that supports a mandrel on which a plurality of fiber bundles impregnated with a resin are wound, the supporting unit movable in the axial direction of the mandrel; and a helical unit having a plurality of fiber bundle guide units arranged radially in the circumferential direction of the mandrel and guide the corresponding plurality of fiber bundles to the mandrel, the helical unit supplying the plurality of fiber bundles to the mandrel through the fiber bundle guide units. Each of the fiber bundle guide units has a pressing roller for pressing a fiber bundle supplied to the mandrel, against the circumferential surface moving in the axial direction. The pressing roller can come into the contact with the circumferential surface of the mandrel and be rotationally driven about a roller axis extending in a roller axis direction perpendicular to the axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventors: Motohiro Tanigawa, Daigoro Nakamura, Hirotaka Wada, Tadashi Uozumi, Hideo Shitamoto, Tatsuhiko Nishida, Masatsugu Goyude, Tetsuya Matsuura, Shu Ikezaki
  • Patent number: 11382149
    Abstract: A portable operation interface transmits an instruction to switch an operation mode to a stacker crane with an automatic operation mode and a manual operation mode via a first wireless communication route. A second receiver is connected to the stacker crane. For example, a portable operation interface including a portable remote controller wirelessly transmits to the second receiver a connection request to establish wireless communication in the second wireless communication route. The second wireless communication route is a different route from the first wireless communication route. The second receiver that receives the connection request determines whether a first condition that the stacker crane is in the manual operation mode is satisfied. The second receiver establishes wireless communication via the second wireless communication route with the portable operation interface when it is determined that the first condition is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventor: Natsuko Nakajo
  • Patent number: 11339577
    Abstract: A stocker includes a transporter that travels through a traveling space within a stocker and transports an article, a pair of rails that flank the traveling space extend in parallel or substantially in parallel in a horizontal direction, platforms movable along the pair of rails, and a housing provided on a stocker outer side of a door that separates an inside and an outside of the stocker, and that houses the platforms. The pair of rails extend from the inside of the stocker to the housing through an opening directly under the door. At least one of the platforms includes a fence in an upright standing manner and an upper end of the fence is higher than an upper end of the opening. The platform that includes the fence extends across the inside of the stocker and the outside of the stocker via the opening while the fence is arranged on a stocker inner side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventor: Yu Kusama
  • Patent number: 11339008
    Abstract: A transport system includes a transport vehicle that transports an article, and a transport controller that controls the transport vehicle based on a host transport instruction received from a host controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventor: Masayuki Takahara
  • Patent number: 11343217
    Abstract: A communication system includes a transmission-side processing device, and a reception-side processing device, the transmission-side processing device and the reception-side processing device communicate using a plurality of communication lines, wherein the transmission-side processing device concurrently transmits the same telegraphic messages via each of the plurality of communication lines, and the reception-side processing device is capable of concurrently receiving telegraphic messages via each of the plurality of communication lines, and when a same telegraphic message as a previously received telegraphic message is received later, invalidates the same telegraphic message received later while processing the previously received telegraphic message.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventor: Wataru Kitamura
  • Patent number: 11333837
    Abstract: An optical communication system includes a first communication system to communicate first information from a controller to a truck and a second communication system to communicate second information. The first communication system includes a first light emitter to output the first information, a first optical fiber to transport the light output from the first light emitter while letting the light leak therefrom, and a first light receiver to receive the light leaking from the first optical fiber. The second communication system includes a second light emitter to output second information, a second optical fiber to transport the light output from the second light emitter and input to the second optical fiber at some point along the second optical fiber, and a second light receiver to receive the light transported over the second optical fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignees: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD., KEIO UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Masakazu Ishibashi, Shinichiro Haruyama
  • Patent number: 11318661
    Abstract: A filament winding device includes: a helical winder which winds a fiber bundle around a liner; a bobbin supporting shaft which rotatably supports a bobbin for providing the fiber bundle to the helical winder and a bobbin different from the bobbin in a state in which winding-initiation ends of the fiber bundle wound around the bobbin and winding-termination ends of the fiber bundle wound around the bobbin connect to each other; and a fiber bundle storage unit. The fiber bundle storage unit has a stopper which can switch the fiber bundle storage unit between a storage state in which the fiber bundle is stored in the fiber bundle storage unit and a storage-released state in which the fiber bundle has been released from storage in the fiber bundle storage unit and the fiber bundle is supplied from the fiber bundle storage unit to the helical winding unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventors: Motohiro Tanigawa, Tadashi Uozumi, Tetsuya Matsuura, Hirotaka Wada, Tatsuhiko Nishida, Shu Ikezaki, Daigoro Nakamura