Patents by Inventor Kunihiro Ota

Kunihiro Ota 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).

  • Patent number: 11987446
    Abstract: An opening-closing control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a device that controls opening and closing of a plurality of doors of an accommodating portion when a robot executes a task of loading or unloading an object to and from the accommodating portion. The opening-closing control device includes a door opening information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a door to be opened in order to execute the task; and a control unit that controls, based the on the information indicating the door to be opened in order to execute the task, a lock unit that is arranged corresponding to each of the plurality of doors and that is configured to restrict a door other than the door to be opened in order to execute the task in a closed state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuta Itozawa, Kunihiro Iwamoto, Hirotaka Komura, Yutaro Takagi, Yoshiaki Nakamoto, Junya Ota
  • Publication number: 20240150126
    Abstract: A physical distribution system includes: a creation unit configured to create a layout for storage of objects to be sorted in a storage container; an output unit configured to output the created layout; a notification unit configured to transmit, when there is, in the storage container, an object that cannot be picked up, a notice for requesting a person to take out that object to a terminal apparatus; and a pickup control unit configured to control the pickup unit so that it picks up an object that has been put in the storage container, and move the object to a sorting destination in accordance with the object, in which the creation unit creates the layout in which that only objects that are registered in advance as those that cannot be picked up are collectively stored in a predetermined storage area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2023
    Publication date: May 9, 2024
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takatoshi MORIMITSU, Junya OTA, Yutaro TAKAGI, Kunihiro IWAMOTO, Uori KOIKE
  • Patent number: 11972394
    Abstract: A shelf inventory management system includes: a shelf installed in a house; a sensor that detects that an article is taken out from the shelf; a management unit that manages an inventory status of the article stored in the shelf, based on a detection result of the sensor; and a terminal for notifying a user of information related to the article stored in the shelf. The management unit stores, for each user, a taken out amount of each health-related product a consumption amount of which affects health, of the article stored in the shelf, and is able to output the taken out amount of each health-related product to the terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshiaki Nakamoto, Yuta Itozawa, Hirotaka Komura, Yutaro Takagi, Junya Ota, Kunihiro Iwamoto
  • Patent number: 11958195
    Abstract: An embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a detection system used in a case where a transport robot transports a package in a state where the package in which an opening portion of a container is closed by a lid is placed on a placing portion of the transport robot. The detection system is configured to detect that the lid is opened.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yutaro Takagi, Kunihiro Iwamoto, Yuta Itozawa, Hirotaka Komura, Yoshiaki Nakamoto, Junya Ota
  • Publication number: 20240116711
    Abstract: A sorting system, a sorting method, and a program that can reduce the time required for sorting items using a shelf are achieved. A sorting system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a shelf in which a plurality of boxes are contained in a plurality of tiers, transfer means for putting each box in or taking it out of the shelf, and a sorting robot attached to the shelf configured to put an item in or take it out of each box. The transfer means pulls the box contained in an upper tier halfway out and the sorting robot puts in or takes the item out of each of the box contained in the upper tier and the box contained in the lower tier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 6, 2023
    Publication date: April 11, 2024
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yutaro TAKAGI, Junya OTA, Takatoshi MORIMITSU, Kunihiro IWAMOTO, Uori KOIKE
  • Patent number: 11952029
    Abstract: A rack includes: a casing; M pairs of supports that are provided inside the casing so as to extend in a depth direction and arrayed at regular intervals in a predetermined direction; and a lock mechanism. The rack can house all returnable containers of one or more prespecified sizes along the respective pairs of supports. The M pairs of supports are arrayed in N rows in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction. The lock mechanism is configured such that moving first and second shafts that are provided for the respective rows and for the respective tiers, respectively, so as to be movable in the predetermined direction can switch between engagement and disengagement between branches of the first and second shafts and first and second holes, respectively, of the returnable containers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kunihiro Iwamoto, Yuta Itozawa, Hirotaka Komura, Yutaro Takagi, Yoshiaki Nakamoto, Junya Ota
  • Patent number: 11946290
    Abstract: A rack includes: a casing; M (an integer not less than three) pairs of supports that are provided inside the casing so as to extend in a depth direction and arrayed at regular intervals in a predetermined direction (a height direction or a left-right direction); and a lock mechanism. The rack can house all returnable containers of one or more prespecified sizes along the respective pairs of supports. The lock mechanism includes N (an integer not less than two and meeting N<M?2N?1) shafts that are movable in the predetermined direction. Branches are provided on the shafts such that a combination of engagement and disengagement between the branches and holes provided in protrusions of the returnable container is different in each of the returnable containers housed on the respective M pairs of supports.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kunihiro Iwamoto, Yuta Itozawa, Hirotaka Komura, Yutaro Takagi, Yoshiaki Nakamoto, Junya Ota
  • Publication number: 20050053671
    Abstract: The alternate soaking apparatus for treatment of tissue materials has a plurality of chemical liquid containers, a treatment container for soaking and treating a tissue material, a plurality of liquid feed tubes for providing fluid communication between the corresponding chemical liquid containers and the treatment container to introduce the respective chemical liquids into the treatment container, a liquid discharge tube for discharging the chemical liquids in the treatment container, and control means for controllably opening and closing the liquid feed tubes and the liquid discharge tube to allow the plurality of chemical liquids to be contained in the treatment container individually and alternately.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2004
    Publication date: March 10, 2005
    Applicants: JAPAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGENCY, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS SCIENCE, TAMACHI INDUSTRIES CO., LTD., TAKI CHEMICAL CO., LTD., ESCOM CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Junzo Tanaka, Masataka Sakane, Hironobu Fukuzaki, Yoshikane Yokoyama, Kunihiro Ota, Masanori Kikuchi, Toshiyuki Ikoma, Isamu Yamaguchi