Patents Examined by Tomas Tarcza
  • Patent number: 8768545
    Abstract: An article transport facility in which movable bodies can merge into a merging portion while preventing collisions between the movable bodies. A communication relay device is provided to each of the first merging path, the second merging path, and the post-merging path. Each communication relay device includes an antenna portion, a relay device main body that associates movable body information obtained by communicating with the movable body communication devices using the antenna portion with identification information which indicates which one of the paths the antenna portion that received the movable body information is provided to, and that is capable of communicating the information thus obtained to the managing means. The managing means determines in which path the movable body exists to manage operations of a plurality of movable bodies based on said body information and identification information which are received from said main body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2014
    Assignee: Daifuku Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masayuki Ikeya