Patents Assigned to Murata Machinery, Ltd.
  • 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 11323857
    Abstract: A communication method includes: switching an operation mode of a first station from a first operation mode to a second operation mode; transmitting a first signal from the first station to a second station; transmitting data from the second station to the first station in response to the first signal; storing the data received by the first station from the second station into a storage of the first station; switching the operation mode of the first station from the second operation mode to the first operation mode; transmitting a second signal from an access point to the first station; and transmitting the data stored into the storage from the first station operating in the first operation mode to the access point in response to the second signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventors: Eiji Hosobuchi, Tetsuya Kuwahara
  • Patent number: 11319153
    Abstract: A floor-to-floor transport system that transports an article between different floors by using an upward path and a downward path in a vertical transporter that revolves in one direction includes, on at least one floor: a loading transport line that transports to the vertical transporter an article to be transported to another floor; a first loading opening through which the article is loaded into the upward path in the vertical transporter; a second loading opening through which the article is loaded into the downward path in the vertical transporter; a transferor that selectively transfers to the first loading opening or the second loading opening an article transported by the loading transport line; and a controller that controls the transferor depending on a destination of the article.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventor: Toshihiro Maeda
  • 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
  • Patent number: 11305944
    Abstract: An article conveyance apparatus includes a carriage which travels along a predetermined travel path, and an on-ground facility including a pair of traveling rails which define the travel path. The carriage includes a first slider which operates according to magnetic action to drive a transfer mechanism, and a drive transmission mechanism which supports the first slider and transmits a driving force from the first slider to the transfer mechanism. The on-ground facility includes a first stator which applies magnetic action to the first slider in the carriage to operate the first slider. The first stator includes an opening through which the drive transmission mechanism of the carriage passes. The opening is disposed in a position such that the inside of the first stator is not seen from the opening in top view of the first stator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masataka Hayashi, Kenji Kadoguchi
  • Patent number: 11286117
    Abstract: A deviation amount is a difference between a first error that occurs when an article is placed on a first transfer destination by a first transport vehicle and a second error that occurs when the article is placed on a second transfer destination by the first transport vehicle. An nth error that occurs when the article is placed on an nth transfer destination other than the first transfer destination and the second transfer destination is acquired. In an mth transport vehicle other than the first transport vehicle, a stop position of an mth traveling body is corrected by the nth error and an mth-1 error occurring when the article is placed on the first reference platform, or by the nth error and an mth-2 error as well as the deviation amount, the mth-2 error occurring when the article is placed on the second reference platform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazunori Shimamura, Kazumi Harasaki
  • Patent number: 11276597
    Abstract: An overhead transport vehicle includes a fall prevention mechanism including a first rotary member, a fall prevention member, and a second rotary member. The first rotary member includes a base end portion supported so as to be rotatable about a first rotation shaft extending along direction Y. The fall prevention member is provided in a tip end portion of the first rotary member and is movable to a space below a cassette. The second rotary member includes a base end portion supported so as to be rotatable about a second rotation shaft extending along direction Z, and a tip end portion to which the first rotary member is attached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventor: Makoto Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 11276596
    Abstract: A conveyance system includes a traveling area and a suspension traveling vehicle. The traveling area includes a grid area and a linear area. In the grid area, since first tracks are disposed side by side and second tracks are disposed side by side so that the first tracks and the second tracks intersect, the grid area includes unit blocks of the same shape or substantially the same shape surrounded by the first tracks and the second tracks. Both the first tracks and the second tracks surrounding the unit blocks are provided with an interstice that allows a supporting body to pass, and the interstice is perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of each track. A traveling direction is the same or substantially the same as the first direction or the second direction in the linear area, and the interstice perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction is not provided in the linear area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventors: Masayoshi Torazawa, Kazuhiro Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 11274015
    Abstract: A filament winding device includes a supporter configured to support a liner in a rotatable manner; a yarn supplying unit configured to support bobbins; a helical winding head configured to helical-wind a fiber bundles onto the liner; and a standard thread guiding mechanism configured to form a standard thread guide channel that guides a standard thread from the bobbins to the liner, the standard thread being different from the fiber bundles and being connected to leading ends of the fiber bundles, the standard thread guiding mechanism including nozzles configured to blow the standard thread with a compressed gas, and guide tubes configured to guide the standard thread blown by the nozzles, and the nozzles and the guide tubes being disposed along a fiber bundle guide channel, and capable of taking up the standard thread from the standard thread guide channel to the fiber bundle guide channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventors: Motohiro Tanigawa, Daigoro Nakamura, Masatsugu Goyude, Tetsuya Matsuura, Hideo Shitamoto, Tatsuhiko Nishida, Tadashi Uozumi, Shu Ikezaki, Hirotaka Wada