Patents by Inventor Chris John Yates

Chris John Yates has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20230185292
    Abstract: An industrial safety zone configuration system leverages a digital twin of an industrial automation system to assist in configuring safety sensors for accurate monitoring of a desired detection zone. The system renders a graphical representation of the automation system based on the digital twin and allows a user to define a desired detection zone to be monitored as a three-dimensional volume within the virtual industrial environment. Users can define the locations and orientations of respective safety sensors as sensor objects that can be added to the graphical representation. Each sensor object has a set of object attributes representing configuration settings available on the corresponding physical sensor. The system can identify sensor configuration settings that will yield an estimated detection zone that closely conforms to the defined detection zone, and generate sensor configuration data based on these settings that can be used to configure the physical safety sensors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2022
    Publication date: June 15, 2023
    Inventors: Chris John Yates, Maciej Stankiewicz, Jonathan Alexander, Chris Softley
  • Patent number: 11493908
    Abstract: An industrial safety zone configuration system leverages a digital twin of an industrial automation system to assist in configuring safety sensors for accurate monitoring of a desired detection zone. The system renders a graphical representation of the automation system based on the digital twin and allows a user to define a desired detection zone to be monitored as a three-dimensional volume within the virtual industrial environment. Users can define the locations and orientations of respective safety sensors as sensor objects that can be added to the graphical representation. Each sensor object has a set of object attributes representing configuration settings available on the corresponding physical sensor. The system can identify sensor configuration settings that will yield an estimated detection zone that closely conforms to the defined detection zone, and generate sensor configuration data based on these settings that can be used to configure the physical safety sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Chris John Yates, Maciej Stankiewicz, Jonathan Alexander, Chris Softley
  • Publication number: 20200150637
    Abstract: An industrial safety zone configuration system leverages a digital twin of an industrial automation system to assist in configuring safety sensors for accurate monitoring of a desired detection zone. The system renders a graphical representation of the automation system based on the digital twin and allows a user to define a desired detection zone to be monitored as a three-dimensional volume within the virtual industrial environment. Users can define the locations and orientations of respective safety sensors as sensor objects that can be added to the graphical representation. Each sensor object has a set of object attributes representing configuration settings available on the corresponding physical sensor. The system can identify sensor configuration settings that will yield an estimated detection zone that closely conforms to the defined detection zone, and generate sensor configuration data based on these settings that can be used to configure the physical safety sensors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2018
    Publication date: May 14, 2020
    Inventors: Chris John Yates, Maciej Stankiewicz, Jonathan Alexander, Chris Softley