Patents Examined by Michael S Lowe
  • Patent number: 11261577
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a safety device for a quick coupler and, more particularly, to a safety device for a quick coupler, the safety device having an improved structure that is configured to improve the structure of a locking device, the locking device preventing the fixing hook from being arbitrarily released from a locking engagement, by using a safety plate that is laterally moved in a sliding manner by an elastic force of a DIE spring after a fixing hook and a first attachment pin are assembled together.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: DAEMO ENGINEERING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Seung Hwan Lee, Su Ick Jang
  • Patent number: 11257707
    Abstract: A substrate gripping mechanism, for gripping a substrate between a fixed clamp portion to be engaged with an edge portion of a substrate and a movable clamp portion configured to reciprocate with respect to the fixed clamp portion by a reciprocating driving unit, includes an interlocking member configured to move together with the movable clamp portion, and a first sensor and a second sensor, each having a detection region and configured to detect whether or not the interlocking member exists in the detection region. The interlocking member has a first to a fourth portion connected in a reciprocating direction of the movable clamp portion. The first to the fourth portion have shapes to make detection results thereof by the first sensor and the second sensor different from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Masahiro Dogome, Keisuke Kondoh
  • Patent number: 11253994
    Abstract: A robot assembly for transporting a substrate is presented. The robot assembly having a first arm and a second arm supported by a column, the first arm further having a first limb, the first limb having a first set of revolute joint/line pairs configured to provide translation and rotation of the distal most link of the first limb in the horizontal plane. The assembly further having a second arm further having a second limb, the second limb comprising a second set of revolute joint/link pairs configured to provide translation and rotation of a distalmost link of the second limb in the horizontal plane. The first limb and second limb further having proximal revolute joints having a common vertical axis of rotation and a proximal inner joint housed in a common housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: BROOKS AUTOMATION US, LLC
    Inventor: Izya Kremerman
  • Patent number: 11244845
    Abstract: A vacuum chamber having a vacuum chamber; at least one processing region arranged in the vacuum chamber; and a substrate holding arrangement for transporting and/or positioning a substrate or multiple substrates in the processing region, wherein the substrate holding arrangement has: a first drive train with a first substrate holder, the first substrate holder being configured to rotatably hold one or more substrates, a second drive train with a first support arm, wherein the first substrate holder is held rotatably by the first support arm, a third drive train with a second substrate holder, the second substrate holder being configured for rotatably holding one or more substrates, and a fourth drive train with a second support arm, wherein the second substrate holder is held rotatably by the second support arm, and wherein the first, second, third and fourth drive trains are each configured to be controllable independently of one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: VON ARDENNE ASSET GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventors: Joerg Pollack, Lutz Gottsmann, Georg Laimer
  • Patent number: 11242670
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a work machine, in particular to a hydraulic excavator, having at least one ballast device, wherein the ballast device comprises at least one ballast weight and at least one ballast support. The present disclosure is furthermore directed to a ballast weight for a corresponding work machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: LIEBHERR-HYDRAULIKBAGGER GMBH
    Inventors: Bernd Wager, Dirk Asam
  • Patent number: 11236482
    Abstract: An attachment coupling device for heavy industrial equipment, includes a coupler body coupled to operation links of the heavy industrial equipment, a fixed hook fixedly mounted to the coupler body, a movable hook rotatably coupled to the coupler body, an actuator connected to the movable hook and rotatably connected to the coupler, and a pin locking unit rotatable through operation of the actuator, to lock a first pin of the attachment coupled to the fixed hook and the movable hook, to which a second pin of the attachment is coupled. The pin locking unit includes a pivot body rotatably coupled to the coupler body and connected to the actuator, a hook support for locking the movable hook, a pin support for locking the first pin, and a locking elastic member for preventing the pivot body from excessively pivoting in a release direction thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: EVERDIGM CORP.
    Inventors: Seong Tae Jeon, Jin Kook Kim
  • Patent number: 11230000
    Abstract: The mobile manipulation device includes a base, a lift, an arm, and a manipulator. The base is able to move across a surface underneath the base. The lift is coupled to the base. The lift moves the arm vertically. The arm moves the manipulator horizontally along one direction. The base is able to move perpendicular to the one direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: Georgia Tech Research Corporation
    Inventors: Charles Clark Kemp, Henry Mandus Clever
  • Patent number: 11224976
    Abstract: An apparatus for loading/unloading workpieces, including a furnace heating a workpiece, and a robot loading and/or unloading a workpiece into/from the furnace. The robot may include a manipulator linkage and a fork at an end of the manipulator linkage. The fork may have an upper side on which a workpiece is placed while being loaded into and/or unloaded from the furnace. The fork may include a parallel arrangement of fork elements, each fork element in the fork having a length and rectangular cross section perpendicular to the length. Each fork element may have a workpiece carrying surface on which a workpiece is placed and an opposite surface to the workpiece carrying surface. The fork element may include a heat insulator disposed on the workpiece carrying surface at least over an area where a workpiece is placed to equalize longitudinal thermal expansions in the workpiece carrying surface and the opposite surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kenji Kushida, Nobuyuki Kawahara
  • Patent number: 11142881
    Abstract: An excavator having a rotatable arm is disclosed. The excavator includes: a vehicle body configured to have a hydraulic pump; a boom connected to the vehicle body at one end thereof; a boom cylinder coupled between the vehicle body and the boom, and configured to receive hydraulic energy from the hydraulic pump and operate the boom; an arm connected to the other end of the boom; an arm cylinder coupled between the boom and the arm, and configured to receive hydraulic energy from the hydraulic pump and operate the arm; a bucket connected to an end of the arm; and a bucket cylinder coupled between the arm and the bucket, and configured to receive hydraulic energy from the hydraulic pump and operate the bucket. The arm includes: a first body, a second body, and a rotation module configured to enable the rotational movement of the second body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Inventor: Young Gil Kim
  • Patent number: 11141180
    Abstract: A gripping mechanism includes: two gripping pieces pivoted relative to each other about a pivot axis; a base supporting the gripping pieces in a pivotable manner; a pulling pulley rotatably supported about a rotation axis parallel to the pivot axis; and a wire wound around the pulley, and causing, with a pulling force, the pulley to move the rotation axis. The pulley is disposed so that a resultant force of tensile forces of the wire becomes greater than the pulling force and generates a moment causing the gripping pieces to be pivoted relative to each other in closing direction. The base includes a first hole. At least one of the gripping pieces includes a second hole inclined in one direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the first hole. The rotation axis is provided so as to be movable along the longitudinal axes of the individual holes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: OLYMPUS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Noriaki Yamanaka
  • Patent number: 11083249
    Abstract: Manufacturing of a shoe or a portion of a shoe is enhanced by executing various shoe-manufacturing processes in an automated manner. A material handling system suitable for use in an automated shoe-manufacturing process has a guide rail and first and second moveable holding elements, each of the holding elements having gripping elements for engaging a part or part stack during the manufacturing process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: NIKE, INC.
    Inventors: Dragan Jurkovic, Kuo-Hung Lee, Yen-Hsi Liu
  • Patent number: 11066284
    Abstract: An object is to provide an article transport vehicle which includes one or more fall preventing members while reducing any increase in complexity of the arrangement. An article transport vehicle includes a travel portion, a support portion, and a moving mechanism. The moving mechanism is configured to move the support portion to a projected position and to a retracted position. The support portion includes a support member configured to support a container, a movable member configured to be moved along a lateral width direction by the moving mechanism, and a vertically moving mechanism configured to move the support member along the vertical direction with respect to the movable member. The article transport vehicle further includes one or more fall preventing members configured to prevent a lid of a supported container from falling, and a movement coupling mechanism configured to move the one or more fall preventing members when the support member is moved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: Daifuku Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Daichi Tomida
  • Patent number: 11024531
    Abstract: A mechanical indexer for a substrate processing tool includes first and second arms each having first and second end effectors. The first arm is configured to rotate on a first spindle to selectively position the first end effector of the first arm at a plurality of processing stations of the substrate processing tool and selectively position the second end effector of the first arm at the plurality of processing stations of the substrate processing tool. The second arm is configured to rotate on a second spindle to selectively position the first end effector of the second arm at the plurality of processing stations of the substrate processing tool and selectively position the second end effector of the second arm at the plurality of processing stations of the substrate processing tool. The first arm is configured to rotate independently of the second arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Michael Nordin, Karl Leeser, Richard Blank, Robert Sculac
  • Patent number: 10987800
    Abstract: A robotic system and method that includes a robot having one or more axes of movement and which can be coupled to a supplemental axis unit that is structured to rotatably displace the robot about a supplemental axis. The robot can be coupled to a rotatable wheel portion of a table unit of the supplemental axis unit. The wheel portion can be operably coupled to a drive unit having a motor that provides rotational power for the rotational displacement of the wheel portion, and thus the robot, about the supplemental axis of the supplemental axis unit. The robotic system can also include one or more controllers that can be configured to dynamically control or coordinate the movement of both the robot about the one or more axes of the robot and the rotational displacement of the wheel portion, and thus the robot, about the supplemental axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Didier Rouaud, Michael G. Nelson, Srinivas Nidamarthi, Rui Li
  • Patent number: 10975548
    Abstract: A wheel loader front unit includes a frame for a wheel loader, the frame including an upper joint element and a lower joint element for connecting the frame to a rear unit of the wheel loader, and for transferring loads between the frame and the rear unit, the frame including a lift arm mounting point for a pivot connection of the frame and a lift arm for lifting an implement of the wheel loader. The upper and lower joint elements are arranged so that a first of the upper and lower joint elements, during use of the wheel loader, transfers a larger vertical load than a second of the upper and lower joint elements, and the lift arm mounting point is located closer to the first of the upper and lower joint elements than to the second of the upper and lower joint elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2021
    Assignee: Volvo Construction Equipment AB
    Inventors: Johan Ohlsson, Norbert Rosenpek
  • Patent number: 10964567
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a processing apparatus including a wafer testing unit for testing whether or not a wafer carried from a cassette mount unit is a wafer corresponding to a processing condition. The wafer testing unit measures characteristics of the carried wafer by a measuring section, and a determining section of a control unit compares actual measurements of the wafer characteristics measured by the measuring section with setpoints of wafer characteristics corresponding to the processing condition, to thereby determine conformability of the carried wafer. When it is determined by the determining section that the carried wafer is a wafer corresponding to the processing condition, the wafer is carried to a processing unit and processed. When it is determined by the determining section that the carried wafer is not a wafer corresponding to the processing condition, an error is notified by a notifying section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Assignee: DISCO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kazuma Sekiya
  • Patent number: 10889010
    Abstract: A grasping mechanism including a first grasping piece and a second grasping piece that are coupled with each other so as to be pivotable about a pivoting axis, a pulling pulley that is supported by the second grasping piece so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis parallel to the pivoting axis, and a wire whose distal end is secured to one grasping piece and that is wound around the pulling pulley so that a resultant force of tensile forces on both sides of the pulling pulley flanking the rotation axis generates a rotational moment about the pivoting axis in a closing direction of the second grasping piece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Assignee: OLYMPUS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Noriaki Yamanaka
  • Patent number: 10857674
    Abstract: A robot system and a robot are capable of easily defining a position of a target object with respect to a robot. The robot system includes a first robot, a first cell which is provided with the first robot and is capable of moving, and a positioning unit which is provided in an inner portion of the first cell and positions a target object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Inventors: Masato Yokota, Shiguma Iijima
  • Patent number: 10850405
    Abstract: A robot hand is designed to open or close fingers using a linear actuator disposed in a housing. The robot hand has linear motion shafts extending from inside to outside the housing through guide holes formed in a wall of the housing. Each of the fingers includes a base portion and a tip portion. The base portions are secured to the linear motion shafts outside the housing. The tip portions are bent inwardly from the base portions in directions in which they approach each other and then extend toward tips of the fingers. A sealing member is disposed between each of the linear motion shafts and a corresponding one of the guide holes to hermetically isolate the inside of the housing from the outside thereof. This structure achieves an increased degree of sealing of the housing and is capable of having an increased opening or closing stroke of the fingers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED
    Inventor: Wataru Saito
  • Patent number: 10815637
    Abstract: An arm assembly for a working vehicle, the arm assembly including a material handling implement and an arm including a single plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: J.C. BAMFORD EXCAVATORS LIMITED
    Inventors: David Craig Panni, Jamie Thomas Lewis Shenton, Niall Benjamin Seigler, Luke Wood