Patents Assigned to Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
  • Patent number: 11880676
    Abstract: A method may include receiving an indication of an available updated container. The method may also involve identifying one or more compute surfaces comprising a first container and a second container that correspond to the available container, such that the first container may control one or more operations of an operational technology (OT) device. The method may also include scheduling a deployment of the updated container to replace the second container, receiving expected output data associated with a digital model associated with the OT device, and scheduling a switchover of control of the one or more operations to the second container based on the expected output data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Nathaniel S. Sandler, Rob A Entzminger, David C. Mazur, Bruce T. McCleave, Jr., Jonathan Alan Mills, Patrick E. Ozimek, Tim S. Biernat, Michael J. Anthony, Chris Softley
  • Patent number: 11880680
    Abstract: An industrial integrated development environment (IDE) supports collaborative tools that allow multiple designers and programmers to remotely submit design input to the same automation system project in parallel while maintaining project consistency. The industrial IDE also permits localized development of system projects, and provides an infrastructure for intelligently brokering between conflicting edits submitted to common portions of the system project. Project edits submitted to the IDE system, both applied and unapplied, are stored as edit records, allowing edits to be selectively undone or applied either manually or as part of a rollback to a milestone version.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew R Stump, Anthony Carrara, Eashwer Srinivasan, Srdjan Josipovic, Adam J Gregory, Michael J Coan
  • Patent number: 11875276
    Abstract: A method includes presenting a first graphical user interface (GUI) including a first listing of a first plurality of objects within a project library, presenting a second GUI comprising a second listing of the second plurality of objects, receiving a second input indicative of a selection of the one or more objects in the second listing, receiving a third input indicative of a command to import the one or more objects to the project library, retrieving one or more respective portions of computer code corresponding to the one or more objects of the second plurality of objects from a second database, and updating the first GUI to include the one or more objects in the first listing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew R. Stump, Anthony Carrara, Christopher W. Como, Sharon Billi-Duran, Matthew R. Ericsson, Srdjan Josipovic, Eashwer Srinivasan, Michael D. Kalan
  • Patent number: 11874655
    Abstract: A cloud computing system receives data associated with a component of an industrial automation system, wherein the data identifies a supplier of the component, and a location of the component within the industrial automation system, updates a registry for the industrial automation system based on the received data, generates a mapping between the industrial automation system and the component of the industrial automation system, wherein the mapping is indicative of the supplier, the location, or both, models the component performing one or more operations in the industrial automation system based on the received data, the registry, and the mapping, determines a recommended action for the industrial automation system based on the model, the received data, the registry, and the mapping, and transmits the recommended action to a computing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: David C. Mazur, Rob A. Entzminger, Jonathan A. Mills, Todd A. Wiese, Bruce T. McCleave, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11868122
    Abstract: Various embodiments of the present technology relate to digital twins of devices and assemblies. More specifically, some embodiments relate to the orchestration of digital twin models for representing industrial systems based on characteristics of digital twins. In an embodiment, a method of operating an orchestration engine in an industrial automation environment comprises identifying a targeted outcome for modeling the industrial automation environment, configuring a digital twin environment corresponding to the industrial automation environment based at least on the targeted outcome, and executing a process associated with the industrial automation environment using the digital twin environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Schmidt, Thong Nguyen, Paul Schmirler, Jingbo Liu
  • Patent number: 11868970
    Abstract: A method for managing device lifecycles within an industrial automation environment. The method includes receiving a scanning configuration and a request for lifecycle management data through a user interface, and based on the scanning configuration, scanning a plurality of industrial devices within the industrial automation environment to produce configuration data for the industrial automation environment. The method also includes transferring the configuration data and the request for lifecycle management data to a product compatibility and download center through a communication interface, receiving lifecycle management data from the product compatibility and download center through the communication interface, and displaying the lifecycle management data to a user through the user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Scott A. Miller, Michael J. Anthony, Adam J. Gregory, Evan J. Kausalik, Robert J. Koba, Randy Scott Oakley, Jr., Beniamin J. Skubis, Rudy Zhi Yang
  • Patent number: 11868752
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for providing sets of compatible firmware versions (e.g., cross-compatibility solution) for flashing (e.g., programming or re-programming) different devices of a network of devices (e.g., an industrial automation system) when using a flashing application. Providing the compatible firmware versions of such network of devices may facilitate flashing the devices with compatible firmware, based on a topology of the network of devices, to prevent functional errors in the network of devices. The present systems and methods may also be applicable to determining and providing cross-compatibility solution between different firmware, as well as software, used by different devices of a network of devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Fabio Malaspina, James A. Bizily, Chunhui Zhu, Yuan Wei, Jingfeng Chen, Emily J. Smith
  • Patent number: 11868117
    Abstract: An industrial automation component may receive design information associated with an arrangement of one or more industrial automation components in an industrial automation system and identify a first portion of the industrial automation components in the industrial automation system that is unable to interface with a second portion of industrial automation components based on the design information. The industrial automation component may then generate a list of industrial automation components based on the first portion of the industrial automation components and the second portion of industrial automation components, wherein each of the list of industrial automation components is configured to translate a first set of data associated with the first portion of the industrial automation components to a second set of data configured to be at least partly interpretable by the second portion of industrial automation components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Haithem Mansouri, William Sinner, Charles M. Rischar, Subbian Govindaraj, Michael Kalan, Juergen Weinhofer, Andrew R. Stump, Daniel S. DeYoung, Frank Kulaszewicz, Edward A. Hill, Keith Staninger, Matheus Bulho
  • Publication number: 20240006875
    Abstract: A system includes a circuit breaker and a delay circuit. The circuit breaker has a coil to enable control of a contact to selectively couple a load to a power source responsive to a coil voltage signal applied to the coil. The delay circuit has a depletion mode MOSFET and an energy storage circuit. The depletion mode MOSFET is controlled as an active current sink to provide the coil voltage signal based on a DC voltage signal. The energy storage circuit has an input coupled to a drain of the depletion mode MOSFET, a capacitor, and an output coupled to the drain of the depletion mode MOSFET, the energy storage circuit charges the capacitor from the DC voltage signal and delivers current to the depletion mode MOSFET to delay discontinuation of the coil voltage signal responsive to a drop or discontinuation of the DC voltage signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 4, 2022
    Publication date: January 4, 2024
    Applicant: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Ji Jun Cao
  • Patent number: 11860609
    Abstract: An operator control station of an industrial automation system includes at least one input interface to receive a user input and a communication interface to communicate with one or more devices of the industrial automation system, including a first device via an Ethernet communication protocol. The operator control station also includes a controller communicatively coupled to the communication interface. The controller performs operations including generating a signal based on the user input and the signal instructs the first device to control at least one component of the industrial automation system. The controller also performs operations including providing the signal to the communication interface for transmission to the first device via the Ethernet communication protocol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Corey A. Peterson, Roberto S. Marques, Yutao Wang
  • Patent number: 11860599
    Abstract: Embodiments of this present disclosure may include a system with a first power converter and a control system. The first power converter may supply a first current to a first backplane while a second power converter is concurrently supplying a second current to a second backplane. The first backplane and the second backplane may electrically couple to one or more load components and the control system. The control system may cause the first power converter to adjust the first current such that the first current and the second current are imbalanced with respect to each other in response to receiving a request to verify that the second power converter is capable of supplying the one or more load components with a target current value while the first current and the second current are imbalanced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Stephen E. Denning, Sean P. Overberger, James R. Hissem, Arun Kumar Shivaraman
  • Patent number: 11863560
    Abstract: An industrial information hub (IIH) and an industrial development hub (IDH) serve as an industrial ecosystem platform where multiple participants can deliver repeatable and standardized services relevant to their core competencies. The IIH system is centered around the development of an ecosystem that creates and delivers value to users—including industrial enterprises, OEMs, system integrators, vendors, etc.—through the aggregation of digital content and domain expertise. The IIH system serves as a trusted information broker between the ecosystem and the OT environments of plant facilities, and provides a platform for connecting assets, contextualizing asset data and providing secure access to the ecosystem. As part of this ecosystem, the IIH system uses a secure remote access architecture to allow users to remotely access data on their plant floor assets via a virtual private network connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Stephen C. Briant, Nathaniel S Sandler, Scott A. Miller, Ryan P Dunn, Bruce T. McCleave, Jr., Nabin Acharya, Julie Nguyen
  • Patent number: 11862889
    Abstract: A connector for receiving a ribbon cable is provided. The connector includes a housing including an open top and a guide wall including a track and a cable organizer configured to be positioned within an interior of the housing and the open top and to receive the ribbon cable along a surface thereof. The connector also includes a cover configured to selectively cover the open top of the housing to enclose the cable organizer within the interior of the housing. The cover includes a rib configured to slide along the track so that the cover moves relative to the housing along a linear trajectory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark E. Davidsz, Michael S. Baran, Shravan Rajmohan, Douglas J. Carpiaux, Scott H. Micoley
  • Patent number: 11853311
    Abstract: A digital technology transfer system transforms technology transfer documents to a set of digitized manufacturing procedures and operations documentation. The system can transform a technology transfer document to a hierarchical structured model representing a package, or product to be manufactured, and the process for manufacturing the product. The resulting package model can be integrated into a larger model representing an ecosystem of manufacturing entities and plant facilities by assigning steps of the manufacturing process to one or more selected production lines. The system allows participants in the ecosystem to browse the hierarchical model to view information about the manufacturing entities, their plant facilities, and the packages assigned to the respective facilities. The system offers filtered role-specific views of the technology transfer documents, their approval statuses, and their plant assignments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Francisco P. Maturana, Sachin Misra, Brian Taylor, Dennis J Luo, Jay W Schiele
  • Patent number: 11851093
    Abstract: An independent cart system with safety functions prevents unintended motion independently within different sections of the track while permitting motion along other sections of the track. A safety controller receives one or more input signals corresponding to operating conditions along the track. A safety program executing in the safety controller monitors the state of the input signals to determine whether a safety function is to be executed. When a safety program is executed, the safety controller transmits an output signal to one or more segment controllers present in one section along the track. Each segment controller is responsible for regulating current flow to the coils mounted to the corresponding track segment. In response to the signal from the safety controller, each segment controller in the section controls the power output to the coils along that section of track to achieve the safe operation desired in that segment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Sawyer J. Desotelle, Patrick E. Ozimek, Mark R. Cooper, David D. Van Dorpe
  • Patent number: 11852691
    Abstract: Embodiments of this present disclosure include an input/output (IO) power supply module coupled to a load. The IO power supply module may include testing circuitry that couples to a voltage supply of the IO power supply module. The testing circuitry may perform an online load current test to verify performance of IO power supply module. To do so, the testing circuitry may include a current measurement circuit coupled to a switch. The current measurement circuit may receive a current via the switch while closed to determine whether the output current generated by the voltage supply is equal to a rated output current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: John R. O'Connell, Edward C. Hopsecger
  • Patent number: 11853040
    Abstract: An industrial automation system includes a collector component communicatively coupled to a first network and configured to receive one or more event logs via a first communication protocol. The industrial automation system also includes a first industrial automation component communicatively coupled to the first network and the collector component. The first industrial automation component is configured to communicate via the first communication protocol. Additionally, the industrial automation system includes a second industrial automation component configured to communicate via a second communication protocol, generate a first event log representative of a property associated with the second industrial automation component, and send the first event log to the first industrial automation component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: James R. Copus, Stephen A. Wenner, Kyle E. Neet
  • Patent number: 11846918
    Abstract: An industrial automation system may include a first computing device that may receive operational technology (OT) data from industrial automation devices of an industrial automation system, determine identities of the industrial automation devices based on the OT data, determine that the OT data includes data attributes having variations as compared to additional OT data, transmit the identifiers and the data attributes to a second computing device in response to determining that the data attributions have the variations, receive containers including updated digital representations of the industrial automation devices from the second computing device, execute the containers to output additional data attributes, and send commands to the industrial automation devices to modify processes based the additional data attributes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: David C. Mazur, Rob A. Entzminger, Bruce T. McCleave, Jr., James M. Teal
  • Patent number: 11846929
    Abstract: Systems and method for leveraging container orchestration systems to generate visualizations related to components or operations of an industrial automation system. In particular, a visual manager, a primary node of the container orchestration system, may receive a container image for operating an application of the industrial automation system. A visual manager may identify a container host from a cluster of nodes of the container orchestration system for executing the container in response to the container host meeting container orchestration constraints. Upon execution of the constraint, the container host may transmit configuration details for accessing a visualization associated with the container image to a thin client for display. In some embodiments, the container host, itself, may include a thin client device. Accordingly, the thin client device may execute the container and display the corresponding visualization.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Nicholas M. Putman, Matthew B. Hortman, Randy A. Cannady, Travis J. Seagert
  • Publication number: 20230400845
    Abstract: An industrial system and a method including using a processor, estimating a reliability of a component of an industrial system using a prognostic model program, using the processor, updating weighting vector parameters of the prognostic model program based on collected data and a previous reliability estimate using machine learning, and using the processor, selectively generating a warning based on comparison of the reliability with a threshold and/or deviation of weighting vector parameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2022
    Publication date: December 14, 2023
    Applicant: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Yujia Cui, Jiangang Hu, Rangarajan Tallam, Robert J. Miklosovic