Patents Examined by Carlos R. Ortiz
  • Patent number: 11960273
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein provide a supervisor for fault management at a production system. During operation, the supervisor can obtain a set of sensor readings and a state of the production system. A respective sensor reading is an output of a sensor in the production system. The supervisor can then determine, using an artificial intelligence (AI) model, whether the set of sensor readings accommodates a fault associated with a corresponding sensor. Subsequently, the supervisor can determine an action that mitigates an effect of the fault and modify the set of sensor readings based on the action. Here, the modified set of sensor readings is used by a controller that controls the production system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Christoforos Somarakis, Erfaun Noorani, Raman Goyal, Aleksandar B. Feldman, Shantanu Rane
  • Patent number: 11947346
    Abstract: The invention relates to a modular conveyor system, comprising multiple individual conveyor modules, wherein an individual conveyor module comprises at least one conveyor device, at least one power supply, at least one actuator for driving the conveyor device, an output unit for the control of the actuator and an integrated control unit, wherein the integrated control unit has a computing unit for processing information and a communications unit, and wherein the communications unit is designed to carry out the communication of the individual conveyor modules with a central control system, on the one hand, and/or the communication of the individual conveyor modules with one another, on the other hand, in such a way that the communication of the individual conveyor modules with one another is implemented at two logical communication levels. The invention further relates to a method for controlling modular conveyor systems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: CELLUMATION GMBH
    Inventors: Claudio Uriarte, Ivan Kuznetsov, Miguel Bande Firvida
  • Patent number: 11945669
    Abstract: A web unwinding and splicing system includes a turret unwind having a turret arm with rotatable shafts at opposing ends thereof to unwind a running web of an expiring web material roll and unwind a waiting web of a new web material roll. A web splicing unit operable with the turret unwind includes a web deflection device that bumps the running web onto the waiting web to splice the running web with the waiting web and a cutting device that selectively severs the running web, thereby creating a leading portion of the running web that is spliced to the waiting web and a trailing portion of the running web that remains separate from the waiting web. A vacuum system is positioned proximate the running web to suction in the trailing portion of the running web left on the expiring web material roll.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Curt G. Joa, Inc.
    Inventors: Sean P. Follen, Robert E. Andrews
  • Patent number: 11906953
    Abstract: A method for operating a technical system in an environment is disclosed, wherein the technical system can be moved, as a whole or in parts, in the environment by a motor. A person controls movements of the technical system in the environment at least temporarily. The technical system has a steering assistance system which a) observes the environment using sensors and, depending on the observed environment, determines reference movement courses for the technical system for future time intervals, b) registers movement courses of the technical system actually controlled by the person in the time intervals, c) carries out a comparison between the reference movement courses and the movement courses actually controlled, and d) depending on the comparison result, assigns one of a plurality of steering quality levels to the person. This allows greater safety in the operation of technical systems which are controlled by people in the environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: obsurver UG(haftungsbeschränkt)
    Inventors: Sven Fleck, Benjamin May
  • Patent number: 11906955
    Abstract: A system for diagnosing an additive manufacturing device is provided. The system includes a first module configured to: obtain one or more parameters for a digital twin of a component of the additive manufacturing device based on raw data from the component of the additive manufacturing device; and generate physics features for the digital twin of the component of the additive manufacturing device based on the one or more parameters and one or more transfer functions, a second module configured to obtain one or more classifiers for classifying the component as a first condition or a second condition based on physics features; and a third module configured to: determine a health of the component based on the generated physics features of the first model and the one or more classifiers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: V S S Srivatsa Ponnada, Venkata Dharma Surya Narayana Sastry Rachakonda, Megha Navalgund, Pär Christoffer Arumskog, Mattias Fager
  • Patent number: 11898449
    Abstract: A turbine control system is provided for decreasing the response time between readings of the speed of the turbine and changing a valve position in response thereto. The speed control system includes a speed probe that detects the speed of the turbine and a turbine valve that controls the flow of fluid or gas from or to the turbine. A controller receives a speed signal from the speed probe and sends valve position commands to the turbine valve. The controller also sends support functions to the turbine valve. The controller sends the valve position commands at a faster rate than the support functions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Camilo Lopez, Mark Foltz, Steve Miller
  • Patent number: 11900223
    Abstract: A portable real-time system monitoring device is advantageously capable of autonomously learning the normal behavior of any system and of alerting the user or taking other action when the system becomes unpredictable or otherwise undesirable. No prior knowledge about the system is needed by the device. This is because the device uses a combination of machine learning and statistical process control to autonomously develop its own model of the monitored system and then autonomously monitor the system for unexpected behavior. Therefore, without any prior analysis or model creation, it can be deployed on any system, and it can be reused on any other system after it has been reset. The advantageous device of the disclosed and claimed concept performs this function in either real time or near real-time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
    Inventors: Scott Edward Sidener, Clarence Lee Worrell, Whitney Bopp Sintic
  • Patent number: 11901707
    Abstract: A system and method for mounting a modular switch cabinet equipment in a switch cabinet housing (6) includes a computer-aided assistance unit (1) for determining a production-efficient assembly step sequence. The system and method further include at least one display unit (11-11?) for image and/or text information, which is installed at the assembly site for at least one fitter (M) in order to visualize manual assembly steps (A; B; D) of the determined assembly step sequence. The system and method further includes at least one input unit (12-12?) for acknowledgement of the completed assembly step (A; B; D) by the fitter (M).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: RITTAL GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventors: Thomas Weichsel, Thomas Michels, Lars Martin, Judith Zachrai
  • Patent number: 11897068
    Abstract: Provided is an information processing method capable of effectively utilizing a variety of types of information collected from a machine tool. The information processing method includes the step of communicating with a plurality of machine tools (S10). The plurality of machine tools each include a sensor to sense information about the machine tool as sensed information. The step of communicating (S10) includes the step of receiving as collected data from each of the plurality of machine tools part information about a part of the machine tool and the sensed information obtained by the sensor. The information processing method further includes the steps of storing in a storage unit the collected data received from each of the plurality of machine tools (S20A, S20B); and based on the plurality of collected data stored in the storage unit, learning a correlation between part information of a machine tool and sensed information obtained by the sensor internal to that machine tool (S32).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: DMG MORI CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Morita, Masafumi Takahashi, Satoshi Miyamoto, Sumihiro Kiyota, Masakazu Takayama, Katsuhiko Ono
  • Patent number: 11892182
    Abstract: A facility for performing setpoint adjustment-based duty cycling techniques by adjusting the setpoint of a device or component is described. The facility reduces energy consumption for a system, such as an HVAC system, or device by adjusting or modulating an associated setpoint or temperature setting. The facility modulates the setpoint between a base setpoint value and another setpoint value based on a mode of the system. When the system is in a cooling mode, the facility modulates the temperature between the base setpoint value and a higher setpoint value. When the system is in heating mode, the facility modulates the temperature between the base setpoint value and a lower setpoint value. The facility may modulate the setpoint between the two setpoint values based on an offset value or a fixed setpoint value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Uplight, Inc.
    Inventor: Eric M. Shiflet
  • Patent number: 11891741
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and software program products for dispensing chemical solutions. A controller receives a signal from a pressure sensor indicative of a pressure of a diluent. The controller determines an expected flow rate of the diluent through an eductor based at least in part on the pressure of the diluent. The controller may further determine an expected concentration of a chemical product in the solution dispensed from a discharge port of the eductor. Based on the expected flow rated and concentration of the chemical product, the controller determines a duration of a dispense stage of a dispensing operation required to dispense a predetermined dose of the chemical product. The controller then causes the diluent to flow through the eductor for the determined duration of the dispense stage. A check valve on the output of the eductor prevents dissimilar chemicals from mixing and reduces a response time of the eductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Delaware Capital Formation, Inc.
    Inventors: Terry Tincher, Christopher J. Dyer
  • Patent number: 11892831
    Abstract: Industrial technical plant controlled and monitored by a process control, wherein a visualization system requests a history of selected process datum for that display period from a process control system and outputs the associated profile as a graphic forming process data points, where the visualization system determines the particular process data point as the average or median of the values of the selected process datum in a collection period characteristic of the particular process data point and where, for the particular process data point, the visualization system also determines the minimum and/or the maximum values of the selected process datum during the collection period such that whenever the minimum is below a predefined minimum value and/or the maximum exceeds a predefined maximum value, the visualization system indicates, together with the particular process data point, a secondary alarm not set by the process control system, but set by the visualization system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventor: Benjamin Lutz
  • Patent number: 11892814
    Abstract: A diagnostic device is a device for estimating the tension of a belt of an industrial machine for transmitting power, and is provided with a control unit configured to control a diagnostic operation in which the belt is driven, a data acquisition unit configured to acquire at least feedback data at the time of the diagnostic operation, a preprocessing unit configured to analyze frequency-gain characteristics of the feedback data and create, as input data, a range including a resonant frequency and an anti-resonant frequency in the characteristics, and a machine learning device configured to perform processing related to machine learning, based on the data created by the preprocessing unit. The diagnostic device supports inference or abnormality detection of the value of the belt tension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Liancheng Hu, Kazuhiro Satou, Hiroyasu Asaoka
  • Patent number: 11892815
    Abstract: A diagnostic apparatus includes a control unit configured to control a diagnostic operation for driving a belt, a first tension calculation unit configured to perform, based on data obtained from the diagnostic operation, a calculation to estimate a first belt tension value that is a tension value of the belt when the belt is not worn, a second tension calculation unit configured to calculate a second belt tension value in a case where a tension reduction factor of the belt and a wear factor of the belt are included, and a third tension calculation unit configured to calculate the degree of wear of the belt based on the first belt tension value and the second belt tension value. Accordingly, the diagnostic apparatus can support estimation of the degree of wear of a belt or abnormality diagnosis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroyasu Asaoka, Atsushi Horiuchi, Kenjirou Shimizu
  • Patent number: 11892830
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a data-driven approach for determining and presenting a more intelligent measure of the probability of failure of a substation. The disclosed approach generally involves (i) deriving respective failure probabilities of the individual assets within the substation by taking into consideration certain operating, environmental, maintenance or other types of data related to the individual assets, (ii) determining the electrical configuration of the substation, (iii) determining a substation failure probability based on the respective failure probabilities of the individual assets within the substation and the electrical configuration of the substation, and then (iv) presenting the probability of substation failure and/or the respective failure probabilities for the individual assets to a user in various ways.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: UPTAKE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: David Fenstermacher, Victor R. Collazo
  • Patent number: 11886156
    Abstract: A system for providing an improved way of user intuitive visual management of bioprocess automation is disclosed. The system includes a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to present a graphical presentation of the bioprocess automation script and results associated with execution of the bioprocess automation script of a bioprocess, wherein the graphical presentation comprises an anticipated result and an anticipated flow path associated with the bioprocess; and modify the graphical presentation by varying at least one of the anticipated result and the anticipated flow path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Cytiva Sweden AB
    Inventors: Dalesh Dharamshi, Sudheer Mygapula
  • Patent number: 11880187
    Abstract: A steel plant control device includes a subtractor, a PI controller, a first-order lag controller, and an adder. In a band that is lower than a first frequency f1, a gain of the PI controller is higher than a gain of the first-order lag controller; in a band from the first frequency f1 to a second frequency f2, the gain of the first-order lag controller is higher than the gain of the PI controller; and in a band that is higher than the second frequency f2, the gain of the PI controller is higher than the gain of the first-order lag controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: TOSHIBA MITSUBISHI-ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Minoru Tachibana
  • Patent number: 11874651
    Abstract: A peer-to-peer interaction management system for optimizing flexible manufacturing comprising a plurality of peers and comprises rules for defining the data interaction, operational interaction, environmental interaction and safety interaction. The plurality of peers comprising a robot control server and a plurality of autonomous mobile robots. One peer can exchange data with another peer, the data can comprise planning data, operational data, monitor data, and safety data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: FAROBOT INC.
    Inventors: Chia-Pang Chen, Eduardo Munera Sanchez
  • Patent number: 11809172
    Abstract: An integrated platform system controlled with hardware and software for just-in-time, local manufacturing is disclosed. System hardware may include a fermentation system, a cross-flow system, a disposable formulation system, a robotic fill-finish system, and a quality control test and release system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Inventprise, LLC
    Inventors: Subhash V. Kapre, Kapil S. Kapre
  • Patent number: 11809167
    Abstract: The invention relates to a container processing system (10A-10U) for processing containers (12). The container processing system (10A-10U) has a plurality of processing units (22) for processing the containers (12) and a planar drive system (14) for transporting the containers (12). The planar drive system (14) is configured to move the plurality of movement devices (18) individually to a selection of the plurality of processing units (22) according to in each case one of a plurality of processing profiles for different container processing, wherein each of the plurality of processing profiles has a different selection of the plurality of processing units (22). The container processing system (10A-10U) advantageously allows flexible processing of different containers (different formats, contents, designs, bundles, packages, etc.) from a lot size of 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Krones AG
    Inventors: Stefan Scherl, August Peutl, Heinrich Bielmeier, Florian Lauterbach, Roland Laumer, Stefan Elsperger, Michael Neubauer, Alexander Kaiser, Wolfgang Roidl, Frank Winzinger