Patents Examined by David M. Fenstermacher
  • Patent number: 11009110
    Abstract: The motion control mechanism comprises a rotor mounted rotating around an axis. The rotor has a first threaded part and a second threaded part separated by a central part placed in contact with a stator excited by an oscillator. A frame defines a first threaded part collaborating with the first threaded part of the rotor. The second threaded part of the rotor collaborates with an output shaft. Rotation of the rotor with respect to the frame results in movement of the output shaft along the axis. The oscillator comprises an oscillating mass excited by an angular actuator formed by piezoelectric actuators arranged around a star-shaped support. The oscillator is fitted inside the rotor configured in the form of a bell and comprising several stressed sectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: CEDRAT TECHNOLOGIES
    Inventors: François Barillot, Christian Belly, Adrien Guignabert
  • Patent number: 11009120
    Abstract: In a shift device, a lever is able to slide in a front-rear direction relative to a housing, and an FFC electrically connects a sensor substrate of the housing to an operating substrate of the lever. Here, the lever is moved slidingly in the front-rear direction, which is on a perpendicular direction side relative to a width direction of the FFC. Because of this, a reduction in the durability of the FFC can be inhibited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOKAI-RIKA-DENKI-SEISAKUSHO
    Inventors: Keisuke Kameyama, Kenji Nakanishi
  • Patent number: 10993775
    Abstract: A surgical system includes a surgical instrument that is sensitive to backlash that would adversely affect the transmission of controlled torque and position to the surgical instrument. The surgical instrument is coupled to motors in a surgical instrument manipulator assembly via a mechanical interface. The combination of the mechanical interface and surgical instrument manipulator assembly have low backlash, e.g., less than 0.7 degrees. The backlash is controlled in the surgical instrument manipulator assembly. From the drive output disk in the surgical instrument manipulator assembly to the driven disk of the surgical instrument, the mechanical interface has zero backlash for torque levels used in surgical procedures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas G. Cooper, Robert E. Holop
  • Patent number: 10993773
    Abstract: A surgical system (200) includes a surgical instrument (260) that is sensitive to backlash that would adversely affect the transmission of controlled torque and position to the surgical instrument. The surgical instrument (260) is coupled to motors in a surgical instrument manipulator assembly (240) via a mechanical interface. The combination of the mechanical interface and surgical instrument manipulator assembly (240) have low backlash, e.g., less than 0.7 degrees. The backlash is controlled in the surgical instrument manipulator assembly (240). From the drive output disk (545) in the surgical instrument manipulator assembly to the driven disk (964) of the surgical instrument, the mechanical interface has zero backlash for torque levels used in surgical procedures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas G. Cooper, Anthony K. McGrogan, Robert E. Holop
  • Patent number: 10982741
    Abstract: A step actuator includes a housing, a stator in the housing, a rotor including a magnet provided radially inward of the stator and a nut member inserted into the magnet and protruding through one side of the housing, a bearing rotatably supporting the nut member, a screw member coupled with the nut member to linearly move as the rotor rotates, and a mounting member supported on one side of the housing to support the screw member in such a manner that the screw member is linearly movable. The nut member includes an end portion passing through the bearing and a coupling portion extending from the end portion to couple with the bearing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Assignee: LG INNOTEK CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Woo Jin Hyun
  • Patent number: 10974811
    Abstract: An upper attachment system for a trimmable horizontal stabiliser actuator (THSA) comprises: a housing, holding a yoke and a ballscrew; a nut coupled to the housing and cooperating with the ballscrew such that rotation of the ballscrew relative to the nut results in linear motion of the ballscrew; a recess formed between the yoke and the ballscrew and arranged to receive, in use, an upper part of a tie bar of the secondary load path of the actuator; and a biasing mechanism arranged such that, in use, when no axial load is applied to the tie bar, the yoke and the ballscrew are held by balanced forces from the biasing mechanism in a position within the recess.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2021
    Assignee: GOODRICH ACTUATION SYSTEMS SAS
    Inventors: Raphael Medina, Anh-Vu Abdul-Bari
  • Patent number: 10973514
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to adapter assemblies for use with and to electrically and mechanically interconnect electromechanical surgical devices and surgical loading units, and to surgical systems including hand held electromechanical surgical devices and adapter assemblies for connecting surgical loading units to the hand held electromechanical surgical devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2021
    Assignee: COVIDIEN LP
    Inventors: Earl Zergiebel, David Chowaniec, Ryan Williams, Anand Subramanian, Paul Richard
  • Patent number: 10955033
    Abstract: An actuator may include a housing, a ball screw engaged with the housing, a tie rod disposed in the ball screw, a plurality of friction springs in the ball screw and around the tie rod, and a bearing having an interference fit with the tie rod and a clearance fit with the ball screw.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: Eaton Intelligent Power Limited
    Inventors: Ioan Iuga, Peter Foote
  • Patent number: 10955084
    Abstract: A positioning table device with six or fewer degrees of freedom and redundancy. Four modular legs extend from a base to a table. Each leg has three joints. In one embodiment, the bottom joint is planar and active, the middle joint is prismatic and passive, and the top joint is spherical and passive. In another embodiment, fewer than six degrees of freedom is achieved by reducing the number of degrees of freedom of selected joints. In another embodiment, the middle joint is active, and the bottom and top joints are passive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: Huber Diffraktionstechnik GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Gheorghe Olea
  • Patent number: 10946513
    Abstract: A robot comprising a base, an arm provided on the base, an actuator configured to drive the arm, a connector to which at least a part of a first wire of another device is connected, and a second wire configured to connect the actuator and the connector, wherein the base includes a cover through which the first wire is inserted, the cover covering at least a part of a hole of the base, and the cover includes a cutout for detaching the cover from the base by, in a state in which a screw fastening the cover and the base is loosened, sliding in a direction crossing a direction in which the first wire is inserted through the cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2021
    Inventor: Yuki Kobari
  • Patent number: 10948055
    Abstract: Provided is a pressing device for toroidal continuously variable transmission capable of reducing hysteresis that occurs between torque and pressing force. An intermediate sliding member 27 is provided in at least one location of a portion between an end surface on the outside in the radial direction of the retainer 13 of the roller 14 arranged on the outermost side in the radial direction and an inside surface of the pocket 25 on the outside in the radial direction, and a portion between an end surface on the outside in the radial direction of the retainer 13 of one roller 14 of adjoining rollers 14 in the radial direction and an end surface on the inside in the radial direction of the retainer 13 of another roller 14. As a result, the contact area of a sliding contact portion 32 is made smaller than in a case where an intermediate sliding member 27 is not provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2021
    Assignees: NSK LTD., KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hirofumi Itagaki, Masahiro Kita, Kippei Matsuda, Kenichiro Tanaka, Hideyuki Imai, Kenji Komatsu
  • Patent number: 10941841
    Abstract: Traction transmission having a first and a second component transmission (26a, b) which are of mirror-symmetrical construction with respect to one another and are arranged axially adjacently in a housing (12), in each case comprising—an axially inner drive friction disc (28a, b) and an axially outer complementary friction disc (32a, b) which are arranged coaxially and can be rotated relative to one another about a transmission central axis, and—a set of friction rollers (40) which make non-positive contact between the friction discs (28a, b, 32a, b) and are mounted such that they can be rotated about in each case one roller axle (44), wherein the roller axles (44) are pivotably mounted in a manner which is spaced apart radially from the transmission central axis on a star-shaped spider (38a, b) which can be moved ax Lilly in relation to the transmission central axis, wherein the spiders (38a, b) are arranged on a common spider sleeve (50) and are coupled to one another at a variable spacing via an axially ext
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: VOLKSWAGEN AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Rainer Petersen, Jörg Möckel
  • Patent number: 10933540
    Abstract: To simplify production, a hollow-structure robot link-constituting member is obtained by joining two or more formed members obtained by press-forming steel sheets. Compared to when the robot link-constituting member is formed of castings, the thickness can be easily reduced and high strength can be maintained by forming a hollow structure by joining at least two formed members obtained by press-forming steel sheets. In this manner, significant weight reduction can be achieved compared to iron castings, and occurrence of defects can be reduced compared to aluminum alloy castings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2021
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kazutaka Nakayama
  • Patent number: 10927932
    Abstract: The improved gearbox mechanism of the present invention includes a plurality of cam-actuated gear block assemblies, which transfer power from a power shaft to a secondary or output gear element. Each gear block assembly includes a gear block having a surface that periodically interfaces with a secondary or output gear element. In a preferred embodiment the interface surface comprises a plurality of projections or teeth which correspond to complementary projections or gear teeth on the output gear element. Each gear block assembly further includes a gear block, a rocker arm, cam followers and/or gear block tracking post, which connect or link the gear block to a cam assembly, which in turn is connected to a power source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignee: MOTUS LABS, LLC
    Inventor: Carlos A. Hoefken
  • Patent number: 10919147
    Abstract: A parallel link robot includes a base, a movable part, link mechanisms, and actuators. The movable part is movable along a center axis. The first, second and third link mechanisms are provided around the center axis with angular intervals in a circumferential direction around the center axis to project outwardly along a radial direction with respect to the center axis. Each of the first, second and third link mechanisms connects the base and the movable part to move the movable part along the center axis. The angular intervals have an acute angular interval with an acute angle. The first, second and third actuators are provided at the base to be connected to the first, second and third link mechanisms respectively so as to drive the first, second and third link mechanisms respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2021
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA YASKAWA DENKI
    Inventors: Shigeo Matsushita, Takashi Hatanaka
  • Patent number: 10907706
    Abstract: The telescopic adjuster includes a telescopic rod assembly, a driving unit, and a chain. The telescopic rod assembly includes a fixed tube and a driving tube, where the fixed tube is sleeved over the driving tube or the driving tube is sleeved over the fixed tube, the fixed tube is fixed to a housing, and the driving tube can extend or retract relative to the fixed tube. The driving unit includes a first motor and a first gear, where the first motor is configured to drive the first gear. The chain has one end wound around the first gear and the other end fixed to a top end of the driving tube. When the first motor drives the first gear to rotate, the first gear drives the chain to push or pull the driving tube so that the driving tube extends or retracts relative to the fixed tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: PEGATRON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ci-Hong Cai, Shih-Wei Hung, Wen-Chang Chuang
  • Patent number: 10907712
    Abstract: A lockable electromechanical actuator including: a screw extending along a longitudinal axis; a nut engaged on the screw and provided with means for connection to an element that is to be moved; and a passive locking device for locking the element that is to be moved in the retracted position; the passive locking device including a device for actuating a lock that can selectively adopt a first position in which the lock prevents relative turning between the screw and the nut, which would lead to the element that is to be moved being deployed, and a second position in which the nut is free to turn, the lock passing from one of its first and second positions to the other one of its first and second positions when the element that is to be moved is taken beyond its retracted position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: Safran Electronics & Defense
    Inventors: Christophe Bastide, Pascal Omnes
  • Patent number: 10900588
    Abstract: Various embodiments include an actuator comprising: a drive element; a transmission section; an actuating element mechanically actively connected to the drive element through the transmission section; a reset spring exerting a closing force on the actuating element; and a coupling device providing a mechanically active connection between the reset spring and the transmission section. The coupling device is configured to be brought into a first coupling state and a second coupling state. With the coupling device in the first coupling state, the reset spring exerts the closing force on the actuating element in a first closing direction. With the coupling device in the second coupling state, the reset spring exerts the closing force on the actuating element in a second closing direction. The first closing direction and the second closing direction are different.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2021
    Assignee: SIEMENS SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventor: Hilmar Konrad
  • Patent number: 10898980
    Abstract: A turntable includes a rotatably supported table, an electric cylinder, and a cam mechanism configured to convert the linear motion of the electric cylinder into the rotary motion of the table. The cam mechanism includes at least one cam groove provided on the table side, and at least one cam follower moved in parallel to the linear motion direction of the electric cylinder and configured to engage with the at least one cam groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2021
    Assignee: HIRATA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takeru Higuchi, Yuichi Iwata, Bungo Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 10900549
    Abstract: A mechatronic device, such as a rod-style linear actuator, is disclosed having a shock absorber. In embodiments, the device includes a threaded screw that, when rotated, is also forced to move linearly. A drive nut assembly is disposed about the screw and includes a planetary roller assembly with planetary rollers with threading that engage the threaded screw. The shock absorber is disposed linearly adjacent to the planetary roller assembly and is configured to absorb and/or dissipate a static shock load transmitted through the device so as to protect the screw. The shock absorber may be a polymeric cylindrical member disposed about the screw and contacting the planetary roller assembly via springs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2021
    Assignee: SCHAEFFLER TECHNOLOGIES AG & CO. KG
    Inventor: Jason Hoover