Patents by Inventor Yoshinari MATSUYAMA

Yoshinari MATSUYAMA 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: 20240066718
    Abstract: A gripping mechanism includes a pair of gripping parts including a first gripping part and a second gripping part facing each other. Each of the first gripping part and the second gripping part includes a first end, a second end opposite to the first end, a projection provided at the first end, and a rotation shaft provided at the second end. The projection is rotatable about the rotation shaft. The first gripping part and the second gripping part face each other in a direction intersecting a direction in which the rotation shafts extend.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2023
    Publication date: February 29, 2024
    Inventors: Takuma YABUTA, Kazunori KOUNO, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA
  • Patent number: 11878889
    Abstract: An end effector connectable to a robot arm for peeling off release paper includes a housing including a guide groove having a start position S, an intermediate position M, and an end position E and a rotary unit including a needle and a first support movable along the guide groove. Assume that a line segment connecting the start position S and the intermediate position M is defined as a line segment SM, a line segment connecting intermediate the position M and the end position E is defined as a line segment ME, an angle formed between the line segment SM and a horizontal direction when the end effector is placed on a floor surface is defined as ?1, and an angle formed between the line segment SM and the line segment ME is defined as ?2, ?1<?2<?1+180° is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takeshi Kikuchi, Hideyuki Kouno, Yuzuka Isobe, Yoshinari Matsuyama
  • Publication number: 20240017425
    Abstract: A sucking apparatus for a sheet having adhesiveness includes a first member including a first surface that sucks the sheet, and a second member including a second surface that surrounds an outer periphery of the first surface and is in contact with the sheet. The first surface includes a plurality of holes opened, and the first surface is subjected to surface treatment to allow the sheet to be less likely to stick to the first surface than to the second surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2023
    Publication date: January 18, 2024
    Inventors: Takuma YABUTA, Kazunori KOUNO, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA, Tomohiro NAKATANI, Tomoyo ARITA
  • Publication number: 20240009860
    Abstract: An end effector includes: one or more hole plates each including a plurality of holes; a cushion material to be used together with the one or more hole plates; a plurality of pins including a plurality of inner pins and a plurality of outer pins disposed outside the plurality of inner pins; and a force application portion that applies an inward force to the plurality of outer pins. The plurality of inner pins pass through the plurality of holes and the cushion material and are movable within a first distance in a pass-through direction of the plurality of holes with respect to the one or more hole plates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2023
    Publication date: January 11, 2024
    Inventors: Takeshi KIKUCHI, Kazunori KOUNO, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA, Yuzuka ISOBE
  • Publication number: 20230227256
    Abstract: An article supply device includes a holding unit that holds an article supply tray having a storage section, an opening that is provided in the holding unit, a shutter that is provided in the opening, the shutter being configured to be opened and closed, a drive unit that drives the shutter, and an article reception portion that is provided below the opening. The holding unit holds the article supply tray such that an article stored in the storage section of the article supply tray is discharged to the article reception portion through the opening when the shutter is opened, and the drive unit controls opening and closing of the shutter based on a size of the storage section storing therein the article in the article supply tray.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 12, 2023
    Publication date: July 20, 2023
    Inventors: Takuma YABUTA, Kazunori KOUNO, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA, Takeshi UEDA, Masashi EGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20230227258
    Abstract: A storage positioning device that disposes a storage having a plurality of storage sections, the storage positioning device including: a holding portion configured to hold the storage and adjust a position of the storage; and a control unit configured to control the position of the storage held by the holding portion. The control unit controls the position of the storage such that a predetermined storage section, among the plurality of storage sections of the storage, is brought to a position where an article is discharged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2023
    Publication date: July 20, 2023
    Inventors: Takuma YABUTA, Kazunori KOUNO, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA, Takeshi UEDA, Masashi EGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20230219231
    Abstract: A target object setting unit sets a position of a target object in a work object. A feature point recognizer detects feature points of a work object from a captured image obtained by an image capturing apparatus, the image including the work object and a holdable object. A first position calculator calculates a position of the target object in a coordinate system of the image capturing apparatus based on the feature points. A second position calculator calculates a position of the holdable object in the coordinate system of the image capturing apparatus based on the captured image. A control signal generator converts the positions of the target object and the holdable object in the coordinate system of the image capturing apparatus, into positions in a coordinate system of the robot arm apparatus, and outputs a first control signal to the robot arm apparatus based on the converted positions of the target object and the holdable object, for moving the holdable object to the position of the target object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2023
    Publication date: July 13, 2023
    Inventors: Tsukasa OKADA, Tomohide ISHIGAMI, Yuzuka ISOBE, Kozo EZAWA, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA, Kenji TOKUDA
  • Publication number: 20230080952
    Abstract: A battery exchange device includes multiple battery charging modules arranged side by side on a main body wall and each configured to receive one of multiple battery packs, wherein each battery charging module includes: a tray for holding the battery pack in a predetermined setting position; a power feeding terminal for transmitting electric power for charging to the battery pack; and a lock member for prohibiting release of the battery pack from the setting position, wherein the tray is provided to be capable of advancing and retreating between a use position in which the tray protrudes from a front surface of the main body wall in a substantially horizontal direction such that the battery pack can be placed on an upper surface and a storage position in which the tray is stored in the main body wall.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2021
    Publication date: March 16, 2023
    Applicant: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takayuki OKAWA, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA, Masashi TAKEMURA, Kenichiro SHIBASAKI, Toshiya ZAITSU, Kiyoshi NAKANISHI, Ryota SAITO
  • Patent number: 11414921
    Abstract: A storage device includes a shutter having a vertically divided dome shape formed by cutting a one-end-closed cylindrical shape at two planes, the one-end-closed cylindrical shape being formed by closing an upper end of a cylindrical portion whose axis line is along an up-down direction, an arc-shaped lower portion reinforcing member which has a higher rigidity than the cylindrical portion, a housing, which includes an opening portion, the opening portion being opened and closed by the shutter rotating around the axis line, a bearing portion provided in the housing, which suspends and supports the ceiling surface portion, a lower end support portion, which supports a lower surface of the lower portion reinforcing member at a plurality of locations; and an inner side support portion, which supports an inner peripheral surface of the lower portion reinforcing member at a plurality of locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takeshi Kikuchi, Yoshinari Matsuyama, Masaki Shikanai, Yuzuka Isobe
  • Publication number: 20220227599
    Abstract: An end effector connectable to a robot arm for peeling off release paper includes a housing including a guide groove having a start position S, an intermediate position M, and an end position E and a rotary unit including a needle and a first support movable along the guide groove. Assume that a line segment connecting the start position S and the intermediate position M is defined as a line segment SM, a line segment connecting intermediate the position M and the end position E is defined as a line segment ME, an angle formed between the line segment SM and a horizontal direction when the end effector is placed on a floor surface is defined as ?1, and an angle formed between the line segment SM and the line segment ME is defined as ?2, ?1<?2<?1+180° is satisfied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2022
    Publication date: July 21, 2022
    Inventors: Takeshi KIKUCHI, Hideyuki KOUNO, Yuzuka ISOBE, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA
  • Publication number: 20220226989
    Abstract: An end effector includes a hole plate includes a plurality of holes, a plurality of pins that respectively penetrate the plurality of holes and are hung on the hole plate to be movable upward, and a force applying part that applies an inward force to an outer pin of the plurality of pins.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2022
    Publication date: July 21, 2022
    Inventors: Takeshi KIKUCHI, Hideyuki KOUNO, Yuzuka ISOBE, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA
  • Publication number: 20220152847
    Abstract: Provided is a robot hand including a movable unit, a hand that changes in shape in accordance with movement of the movable unit, and an elastic body that changes a gripping force of the hand. When the amount of movement of the movable unit is less than a predetermined value, at least the hand changes in shape, and when the amount of movement of the movable unit is more than or equal to the predetermined value, the elastic body changes in elastic force while at least a part of the hand stops changing in shape.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2022
    Publication date: May 19, 2022
    Inventors: Yuzuka ISOBE, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA, Tomoyuki YASHIRO, Kozo EZAWA
  • Publication number: 20220134550
    Abstract: A control system for a hand that is connectable to a robot arm and has a tip of which shape is deformable, includes an image acquisition unit that acquires an image of the hand, and a controller that detects at least one specific deformed shape of the hand based on the image acquired by the image acquisition unit, and performs a control on at least one of the hand and the robot arm according to the at least one specific deformed shape detected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 11, 2022
    Publication date: May 5, 2022
    Inventors: Yuzuka ISOBE, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA, Tomoyuki YASHIRO, Kozo EZAWA
  • Publication number: 20220111533
    Abstract: An end effector control system that controls a plurality of end effectors connectable to a robot arm, the end effector control system including: an image acquisition unit that acquires an image of an end effector connected to the robot arm among the plurality of end effectors; an identification information acquisition unit that acquires identification information that identifies the end effector; a control unit that controls the end effector; and a memory having control information including a target position of each of the plurality of end effectors. The control unit acquires the identification information from the identification information acquisition unit, determines a target position of the end effector in accordance with the identification information and the control information, and controls the end effector to be located at the target position based on the image acquired by the image acquisition unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2021
    Publication date: April 14, 2022
    Inventors: Yuzuka ISOBE, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA, Tomoyuki YASHIRO, Kozo EZAWA
  • Patent number: 11228189
    Abstract: A loaded body housing device includes: an upper table which rotates about a rotation axis extending along a Z-axis and supports a plurality of batteries in a plurality of first storage spaces around the rotation axis; a lower table which rotates about a rotation axis extending along the Z-axis and supports a plurality of batteries in a plurality of second storage spaces around the rotation axis; and a casing having openings each of which exposes one storage space when viewed in a negative direction of the Z-axis. The upper table is positioned to have overlapping between a part of the plurality of first storage spaces and the plurality of second storage spaces and no overlapping between the plurality of first storage spaces and a second storage space when viewed in the negative direction of the Z-axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshinari Matsuyama, Masaki Shikanai, Takeshi Kikuchi, Yuzuka Isobe
  • Patent number: 11215316
    Abstract: A storage device includes a storage body, which includes a bottom surface, wall surfaces surrounding a storage space, a front opening portion and an upper opening portion such that a package body is enabled to be inserted into the storage space from a plurality of directions, a front guide, which is provided on the bottom surface in proximity to the front opening portion, and includes an inclined surface descending toward a surface on a back side of the storage space among the wall surfaces, and a rear guide, which is provided on the surface on the back side in proximity to the upper opening portion, and restricts upward movement of the package body stored in the storage space along the surface on the back side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuzuka Isobe, Yoshinari Matsuyama, Masaki Shikanai, Takeshi Kikuchi
  • Patent number: 11114872
    Abstract: A charging device includes: a connector that protrudes from a placement surface; a protective plate; a wall surface intersecting with the placement surface; a support member capable of moving to be in a first orientation in which the protective plate is supported and a second orientation in which the protective plate is not supported; and a lock mechanism that locks the support member in the first orientation. The lock mechanism includes a first protruding part that, when the support member is locked, releases the locking of the support member by being pushed. The support member (i) includes a second protruding part, and (ii) moves from the first orientation to the second orientation by the second protruding part being pushed toward the wall surface in a state where the locking is released. When the support member has moved, the protective plate is capable of moving to the placement stand.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD
    Inventors: Masaki Shikanai, Yoshinari Matsuyama, Takeshi Kikuchi, Yuzuka Isobe
  • Patent number: 10960945
    Abstract: A wall surface suction-type travel device includes a main body, a cushion, a plurality of support wheels, a crawler, and a drive source. The main body includes a wall-surface facing section and a draw-in port. The cushion is disposed on the wall-surface facing section of the main body and surrounding an edge of the draw-in port. The cushion is elastically deformable and has a slide surface sliding on the wall surface when the wall surface suction-type travel device travels on the wall surface. The plurality of support wheels are disposed on the main body. The crawler is an endless belt suspended on the plurality of the support wheels. The crawler has a grip surface put into contact with the wall surface when the wall surface suction-type travel device travels on the wall surface. The drive source is to rotate the crawler.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomohiro Sekiguchi, Yoshinari Matsuyama, Tomomi Nishikata, Masaki Shikanai, Takeshi Kikuchi, Shogo Mikami
  • Patent number: 10965052
    Abstract: A connector holding mechanism includes a biasing member provided in a through hole formed in a bottom plate of a storage body, a cover having a connector insertion hole and an inclined surface which is fixed to the through hole, a connector, in which a terminal is loosely inserted into the connector insertion hole, and a flange portion protruding from an outer periphery of the housing biased by the biasing member. When the connector is waiting to be fitted to a stored object, the connector is held in a posture where the terminal is inclined due to abutment between the inclined surface and the flange with respect to a virtual line perpendicular to the bottom surface, and when the connector is fitted to the stored object, the connector is held in a posture where the terminal is vertical along the virtual line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masaki Shikanai, Yoshinari Matsuyama, Takeshi Kikuchi, Yuzuka Isobe, Takeru Sakamoto
  • Publication number: 20200366022
    Abstract: A connector holding mechanism includes a biasing member provided in a through hole formed in a bottom plate of a storage body, a cover having a connector insertion hole and an inclined surface which is fixed to the through hole, a connector, in which a terminal is loosely inserted into the connector insertion hole, and a flange portion protruding from an outer periphery of the housing biased by the biasing member. When the connector is waiting to be fitted to a stored object, the connector is held in a posture where the terminal is inclined due to abutment between the inclined surface and the flange with respect to a virtual line perpendicular to the bottom surface, and when the connector is fitted to the stored object, the connector is held in a posture where the terminal is vertical along the virtual line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2020
    Publication date: November 19, 2020
    Inventors: Masaki SHIKANAI, Yoshinari MATSUYAMA, Takeshi KIKUCHI, Yuzuka ISOBE, Takeru SAKAMOTO