Patents Assigned to THK Co., LTD
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Patent number: 11493092Abstract: A speed-reducing or -increasing apparatus, with first and second crown gears facing one another, with a cam unit that causes the first crown gear to incline with respect to the second crown gear so that the first crown gear meshes with the second crown gear, that causes the first crown gear to precess in such a manner as to move the meshing position, and couples to an input or output shaft. A rolling element is between the cam unit and the first crown gear, and the cam unit includes a first member that couples to the input or output shaft and a second member made of steel and including a rolling element rolling portion where the rolling element rolls, the second member configured to be incapable of rotating relatively to the first member, and at least part of the first member having a lower specific gravity than the second member.Type: GrantFiled: July 17, 2018Date of Patent: November 8, 2022Assignee: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Hideo Saito, Yuichi Mizutani, Kotaro Kushida
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Patent number: 11485025Abstract: In order to extend a life span of a flexible cable passing through a movable portion, provided is a hand mechanism which has a plurality of fingers and grips an object with the fingers, including: a flexible cable; a joint which flexes or extends with the grip of the object, has a path for the flexible cable, and has a first surface and a second surface that is a surface bending from the first surface at a bending portion in the path; and a sheet which is provided between the first surface and the flexible cable to have flexibility and is formed such that a gap is provided between the second surface and the sheet.Type: GrantFiled: September 21, 2018Date of Patent: November 1, 2022Assignee: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Yoshimasa Endo, Kenji Hidaka
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Patent number: 11480236Abstract: The ball screw device includes: a screw shaft having an N number (N is an integer equal to or larger than 2) of rolling grooves having the same lead; balls configured to roll in the rolling grooves; and a nut member, which is assembled to the screw shaft through intermediation of the balls, and includes one or a plurality of endless circulation paths configured to circulate the balls around the screw shaft. Each of the endless circulation paths of the nut member includes: an N number of load portions, which are configured to allow the balls to roll thereon while bearing a load, and correspond to the N number of rolling grooves, respectively; and an N number of no-load portions, which each couple adjacent ones of the load portions, and are configured to allow the balls to move between the N number of rolling grooves.Type: GrantFiled: December 7, 2018Date of Patent: October 25, 2022Assignee: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Tomofumi Ohashi, Bin Zhao, Sho Iwashiro, Yoshihiro Kudo, Wataru Saito, Mika Oki, Takuya Miyazaki
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Patent number: 11472042Abstract: In a picking mechanism for picking four or more columnar objects, when the plurality of objects have been picked, the objects are respectively held by holding member and supported by guide members while arranged on a base member in a plurality of rows, wherein a total sectional area of the guide members provided in regions of the base member that are each surrounded by circumferences of four circles serving as projections of four objects is smaller than a total sectional area of the guide members provided in regions of the base member that are each surrounded by one or two sides of a virtual rectangle, the virtual rectangle being formed so as to surround all of a plurality of circles serving as the projections of all of the plurality of objects while contacting the circumferences of the plurality of circles, and two or one of the projections.Type: GrantFiled: June 11, 2020Date of Patent: October 18, 2022Assignee: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Kenji Hidaka, Yuki Nomura, Yoshikazu Matsuo, Takaki Sakaguchi
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Patent number: 11470966Abstract: The guiding apparatus includes a first member having a sliding groove formed along a longitudinal direction; and a plurality of second members which are slidably assembled along the sliding groove so as to hold the first member in between, wherein the first member is formed with a first mounting hole on a bottom surface of the sliding groove, and the second member is formed with a second mounting hole on a surface opposed to the bottom surface, and wherein a stopper member is mounted to each of the first mounting hole and the second mounting hole, each of the stopper member having an insertion part which is to be inserted into each of the first mounting hole and the second mounting hole and is formed to be shorter in a length in an axial direction than a depth of the first mounting hole and the second mounting hole.Type: GrantFiled: November 5, 2019Date of Patent: October 18, 2022Assignee: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Takahiro Shoyu, Hiroomi Kuribayashi, Akito Kaneko, Toshiro Minami, Hajime Fukushima, Takama Igarashi, Tomoki Obayashi
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Patent number: 11466762Abstract: Provided is a ball screw device which enables easy production and assembly of a nut member and formation of an endless circulation path for balls in the nut member with high accuracy. The nut member includes a plurality of nut components arranged in a superposed manner along an axial direction of a screw shaft. At a boundary portion between the nut components which are adjacent to each other, a raceway path for balls extending around a periphery of the screw shaft is formed. A joining surface of each of the nut components used for joining with another one of the nut components includes: a raceway forming surface which is annularly formed around the through hole; and an abutment surface for joining which is formed on an outer side in a radial direction with respect to the raceway forming surface.Type: GrantFiled: October 2, 2019Date of Patent: October 11, 2022Assignee: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Tetsuhiro Nishide, Sho Iwashiro
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Publication number: 20220320968Abstract: Provided is an actuator including a shaft, a drive part that moves the shaft, a fixing part disposed around the shaft, the shaft being moved relative to the fixing part, a detecting part that detects a force applied to the shaft on a side closer to the drive part than to the fixing part, and a control device that obtains a first force that is detected by the detecting part in a predetermined period of a period during which the shaft is being moved before the shaft applies the force to a workpiece, and after the predetermined period, controls the drive part based on the force detected by the detecting part and the first force.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 9, 2020Publication date: October 6, 2022Applicant: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Katsuya Fukushima, Satoshi Hara, Shogo Wakuta, Yukihiro Yamada, Masashi Ishii, Tomofumi Mizuno
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Publication number: 20220299065Abstract: A clamper mechanism for a motion guide device includes a clamper block having tapered faces, clamper rolling elements arranged between the tapered faces and both left and right side faces of a track member, and a clamper rolling element holder attached to the clamper block with an interposition of an elastic member. When an elastic force exerted by the elastic member acts in a direction in which the clamper block and the clamper rolling element holder are separated from each other, the clamper rolling elements bite the tapered faces to bring the clamper block into a state restrained to the track member. When an external force against the elastic force exerted by the elastic member acts, the clamper rolling elements are brought into a free state within the tapered faces to bring the clamper block into a state not restrained to the track member to exert a stable clamping force.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 28, 2020Publication date: September 22, 2022Applicant: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Yoshinori Murakami, Reiji Abe, Tadashi Matsuhira, Yoshiro Oishi, Hiroaki Mochizuki, Hajime Fukushima, Hiroomi Kuribayashi, Akito Kaneko
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Patent number: 11433554Abstract: In a picking mechanism for picking four or more columnar objects, when the plurality of objects have been picked, the objects are respectively held by holding member and supported by guide members while arranged on a base member in a plurality of rows, wherein a total sectional area of the guide members provided in regions of the base member that are each surrounded by circumferences of four circles serving as projections of four objects is smaller than a total sectional area of the guide members provided in regions of the base member that are each surrounded by one or two sides of a virtual rectangle, the virtual rectangle being formed so as to surround all of a plurality of circles serving as the projections of all of the plurality of objects while contacting the circumferences of the plurality of circles, and two or one of the projections.Type: GrantFiled: June 11, 2020Date of Patent: September 6, 2022Assignee: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Kenji Hidaka, Yuki Nomura, Yoshikazu Matsuo, Takaki Sakaguchi
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Publication number: 20220268314Abstract: A motion guiding device includes a supporting body and a moving body. The moving body includes a moving body main body, a cover body and a circulation component. The cover body includes a first lubrication groove. The motion guiding device is further provided with a lubrication path component, the lubrication path component including a second lubrication groove having a cross-sectional area less than that of the first lubrication groove. When a lubricating oil is used as the lubricant, the lubricant is supplied by a lubricating oil lubrication path formed by the first lubrication groove and the second lubrication groove. In this way, in the motion guiding device, the lubrication path may be widened when the lubricating grease is used to lubricate, while the lubrication path may be narrowed when the lubricating oil is used to lubricate, so that a good lubrication may be easily achieved.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 7, 2020Publication date: August 25, 2022Applicant: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Xingjia Yu, Yue Liu, Tomoyuki Aida
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Patent number: 11400589Abstract: An object of the present invention is to grip a bag-shaped object in which a fluid is sealed with stability in a gripping system having a hand mechanism. A tip end portion of a press-in finger portion of the hand mechanism is brought into contact with the bag-shaped object and pressed into the bag-shaped object, and subsequently, when the pressure detected by a pressure detection unit provided on the single press-in finger portion or the pressure detected by any one of the pressure detection units provided respectively on the press-in finger portions reaches or exceeds a predetermined pressure, a gripping operation, which is an operation for gripping the bag-shaped object using at least two finger portions among the plurality of finger portions of the hand mechanism, is executed in a state where the press-in finger portion is pressed into the bag-shaped object.Type: GrantFiled: March 16, 2020Date of Patent: August 2, 2022Assignee: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Yoshikazu Matsuo, Yuki Katsumata
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Patent number: 11389951Abstract: A hand mechanism grips an object more favorably, regardless of the attitude and surrounding conditions of the object. When an object is to be gripped by a hand mechanism having three or more finger portions, at least one finger portion among the three or more finger portions functions as a state-altering finger portion for altering the attitude or the position of the object while contacting the object, and at least two finger portions among the finger portions other than the finger portion functioning as the state-altering finger portion function as gripping finger portions for gripping the object in a state where the attitude or the position has been altered by the state-altering finger portion.Type: GrantFiled: May 15, 2018Date of Patent: July 19, 2022Assignee: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Shinji Kawabata, Yoshimasa Endo, Fumiya Koizumi, Yoshikazu Matsuo, Yuki Nomura, Toshiya Watanabe, Kenji Hidaka
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Publication number: 20220219330Abstract: A transport system comprising a manipulator device and a housing device. The manipulator device has a hand capable of grasping target objects. The hand position can be controlled relative to a manipulator main body section which is the main body section of the manipulator device. The housing device has a housing section capable of housing a plurality of target objects. The housing device is configured so as to carry the target objects housed in the housing section, one at a time, to a prescribed position accessible by the hand. The manipulator device and the housing device are configured so as to travel as an integrated unit in which the manipulator main body section and the housing device are coupled. The prescribed position is set at a known position using the manipulator main body section as a reference in which the manipulator main body section and the housing device are coupled.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 1, 2020Publication date: July 14, 2022Applicant: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Masaki Nagatsuka, Yoshiyuki Yamanoue, Hiroki Sugimura
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Publication number: 20220214311Abstract: An abnormality diagnosis system that diagnoses an abnormality related to each control shaft in equipment in which the plurality of control shafts, each including a motor and an output unit driven by the motor, are incorporated, includes: a plurality of vibration sensors that are provided for the plurality of control shafts, respectively, and that detect vibration occurring in connection with driving of the motor corresponding to each control shaft; a calculation unit that calculates, for each of the plurality of control shafts, vibration levels in a plurality of predetermined frequency ranges, based on vibration information detected by each of the plurality of vibration sensors; and a diagnosis unit that diagnoses an abnormality related to each control shaft, based on a distribution state, across the plurality of predetermined frequency ranges and across the plurality of control shafts, of the vibration levels calculated by the calculation unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 24, 2020Publication date: July 7, 2022Applicant: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Shuhei Yamanaka, Katsuya Iida, Takuya Sakamoto, Yoshiyuki Honjo, Hiroshi Inoko, Masatomo Tokuno, Satoru Nagai
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Publication number: 20220203557Abstract: In a picking mechanism for picking four or more columnar objects, when the plurality of objects have been picked, the objects are respectively held by holding member and supported by guide members while arranged on a base member in a plurality of rows, wherein a total sectional area of the guide members provided in regions of the base member that are each surrounded by circumferences of four circles serving as projections of four objects is smaller than a total sectional area of the guide members provided in regions of the base member that are each surrounded by one or two sides of a virtual rectangle, the virtual rectangle being formed so as to surround all of a plurality of circles serving as the projections of all of the plurality of objects while contacting the circumferences of the plurality of circles, and two or one of the projections.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 11, 2020Publication date: June 30, 2022Applicant: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Kenji Hidaka, Yuki Nomura, Yoshikazu Matsuo, Takaki Sakaguchi
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Patent number: 11370130Abstract: The present invention improves the stability while suppressing increases in the size and heat generation amount of motors used in a hand mechanism. The hand mechanism includes a first driving mechanism for driving a first joint portion of each finger portion and a second driving mechanism for driving a second joint portion of each finger portion, the second joint portion being positioned further away from a tip end portion of the finger portion than the first joint portion. Further, the second driving mechanism is a mechanism having smaller back-drivability than the first driving mechanism. When pressing force is to be exerted on the object from gripping finger portions that are in contact with the object, the motors of the first driving mechanisms are driven to rotate in a direction for bending the first joint portions while the motors of the second driving mechanisms are held in a stopped state.Type: GrantFiled: October 25, 2018Date of Patent: June 28, 2022Assignee: THK CO., LTD.Inventor: Yoshimasa Endo
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Patent number: 11371909Abstract: A lifespan diagnosis device for a motion guidance device including: a stress calculating means which calculates stresses during movement for each of virtual segments, the stresses during movement being stresses that occur in each segment during a movement of the moving member; a counting means which counts, for each of the segments, on the basis of the amount of displacement, the number of occurrences of the stresses during movement which repetitively occur with waving during a movement of the moving member along the track; and a diagnostic means which calculates, for each of the segments, a lifespan exhaustion ratio on the basis of magnitudes of the stresses during movement and the number of occurrences of the stresses during movement, and which diagnoses the lifespan of the motion guidance device on the basis of the calculated lifespan exhaustion ratios of the respective segments.Type: GrantFiled: December 21, 2017Date of Patent: June 28, 2022Assignee: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Akihiro Unno, Yuki Hayashi, Yuki Tanaka, Tomofumi Ohashi, Yusuke Asano, Katsunori Kogure
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Publication number: 20220201532Abstract: The processing apparatus performs predetermined processing for measurement data transmitted from the sensor, in which the processing apparatus acquires transmission destination information indicating a predetermined area in a server apparatus in an outside in which processed data subjected to the predetermined processing is to be stored, from a relay apparatus that performs relay processing between the processing apparatus and the server apparatus in order to transmit the processed data from the processing apparatus to the server apparatus, when the relay apparatus is communicatively connected to the communication unit in a state before building of a network between the processing apparatus and the server apparatus, and generates, after the acquisition of the transmission destination information, transmission-processed data in a form in which the relay apparatus is able to execute the relay processing, by adding information relating to the predetermined area indicated by the transmission destination informatiType: ApplicationFiled: April 24, 2020Publication date: June 23, 2022Applicant: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Shuhei Yamanaka, Masatomo Tokuno
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Publication number: 20220193839Abstract: This multi-product pallet device (1) includes a multi-product pallet (2) deforming a shape thereof in conformity with a shape of a workpiece; and a device main body (3) to which the multi-product pallet is attached and which stores shape restoration data for deforming the multi-product pallet and restores the shape of the multi-product pallet based on the shape restoration data, wherein the multi-product pallet is detachable from the device main body.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 9, 2020Publication date: June 23, 2022Applicant: THK CO., LTD.Inventors: Kayoko Sugiura, Masaki Nagatsuka, Yoshikazu Komiya
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Patent number: D966376Type: GrantFiled: October 1, 2020Date of Patent: October 11, 2022Assignee: THK CO., LTD.Inventor: Masaki Nagatsuka