Kawasaki Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Sysmex Corporation

Medicaroid Corporation

Yukio Iwasaki

Junichi Matsuoka

Satoshi Ouchi

Kenji Bando

Satoru Hibino

Eiji Mitsui

Yasuhiko Hashimoto

Yukihiko Kitano

Junichi Murakami

Takahiro Inada

Yoshiaki Tanaka

Hideshi Yamane

Takehiro Hasegawa

Hiroyuki Mizumoto

Hiroki Kokushi

Tatsuhiro Uto

Shogo Hasegawa

Daichi Himekawa

Akihiro Haneda

Shuhei Kuraoka

Kazunori Hirata

Toshiyuki Tsujimori

Souichi Tamada

Takaaki Nagai

Toshiki Sato

Yuichiro Ohmae

Takashi Yoshida

Jun Takebayashi

Hiroya Kirimura

Toshihiko Miyazaki

Kentaro Azuma

Takayuki Yoshimura

Soichi Tamada

Chikako Murata

Shoichi Miyao

Ippei Nagahiro

Hiroaki Inokuchi

Shinji Kamada

Akio Yoda

A method includes: (a) causing a robotic arm to position a contacting structure of the arm laterally in a horizontal direction in relation to a first subject on a target object; (b) causing the arm to bring the contacting structure into contact with at least three locations on the first subject; (c) detecting positions of the contacting structure in relation to the robot when contacting the locations; (d) detecting a position of the first subject in relation to the robot by using the detected positions of the contacting structure; (e) performing same steps as the steps (a) to (d) for a second subject on the target object; and (f) detecting a position of the robot in relation to the target object by using the positions of the subjects in relation to the robot and using positions of the subjects in relation to the target object.

Position detection method, controller, and robot system

An end effector configured to open and close a screw-type lid for closing an opening of a container body, is provided, which includes a container gripper configured to grip the container body, a lid gripper configured to grip the lid and be movable on a screw axis of the lid, a rotating part configured to rotate the lid gripper, a guiding part configured to guide the lid gripper being rotated by the rotating part to move on the screw axis, and a detector configured to detect that the lid gripper is moved to one of an opened position and a closed position of the lid. According to this, the end effector capable of appropriately opening and closing the screw-type lid while gripping the container body can be configured.

End effector and robot having the same

A box unpacking device includes a robot, and a cutting device. A robot hand is attached to a wrist of the robot. The robot hand has a holding device configured to hold a packed box. The cutting device has a cutting blade of which the point is oriented downward or obliquely downward. The robot can move the box held by the holding device in a vertical plane, and change an angle of the box in the vertical plane.

Box unpacking device and method of unpacking box using the same

A dispensing apparatus that dispenses a sample into a well of a microplate, including a light emitter that emits light to the well, a light receiver that receives light emitted by the light emitter and returned from the well; and a control unit that determines whether foreign matter is present in the well based on information on the light received by the light receiver.

Dispensing apparatus and dispensing method

A dispensing robot of an assay robot system includes a first contact surface oriented in a downward direction or an obliquely downward direction in a vertical direction and dispenses when the dispensing robot operates a pipette that allows a tip to be attached to a lower end of the pipette and the attached tip to be detached by pressing a tip ejector, the dispensing robot comprising: a robot arm having a hand to hold a pipette holding piece attached thereto; and a controller controls the robot arm such that the robot arm holds the pipette with the tip attached thereto by causing the hand to hold the pipette holding piece and that the robot arm is elevated and the tip ejector is pressed by bringing an upper end portion of the tip ejector of the held pipette into contact with the first contact surface from the downward direction.

Dispensing robot, method of controlling dispensing robot, and dispensing method

A transport device transports a container used in a sample measurement device or a rack housing the container. The transport device may include: a robotic arm configured to transport the container or the rack between a first sample measurement device and each of other sample measurement devices different from the first sample measurement device; and a controller that controls operation of the robotic arm.

Transport device, sample measurement system, and transport method

A sample pretreatment apparatus includes: a plurality of sample pretreatment sections, each of which executes a sample pretreatment prior to a measurement; and a robotic arm including: an articulated arm member; and a hand attached to the articulated arm member. The plurality of sample pretreatment sections includes a sample dispenser that dispenses a sample in a first sample container into a second sample container. For a first measurement, the robotic arm holds the second sample container with the hand and transports the second sample container to a pretreatment group of the plurality of sample pretreatment sections, the pretreatment group including the sample dispenser. For a second measurement, the robotic arm holds the second sample container with the hand and transports the second sample container to another pretreatment group of the plurality of sample pretreatment sections, the another pretreatment group including the sample dispenser.

Sample pretreatment apparatus, robotic arm, and sample pretreatment method

The present invention provides a lid closing device and a lid closing method, each of which does not require a high degree of accuracy when performing a lid closing operation. A holding portion moves such that a lid is located at a position above a container. Holding of the lid by the holding portion is released at the position above the container. The lid falls to cover the container. Thus, the lid closing operation is performed.

Lid closing device and lid closing method

A method of attaching a tip to a pipette, which is executed in a robot system, includes: making an end effector of a robot hold a pipette; bringing a vicinity portion of a distal end of the pipette into contact with or close to an edge of an opening formed in a base of a tip while tilting an axis direction of the pipette by a predetermined angle with respect to an axis direction of the tip; attaching the tip to the pipette by inserting the distal end of the pipette and the vicinity portion of the distal end of the pipette into the tip while raising the pipette such that the axis direction of the pipette is aligned with the axis direction of the tip; and separating the pipette and the tip attached to the pipette from the predetermined spot.

Method of attaching tip to pipette

A liquid surface detecting apparatus including: a retaining section that retains liquid as sample or reagent; a light emitter that emits light toward the liquid retained in the retaining section; an image capturing device that captures an image of the liquid retained in the retaining section; and a detecting device that detects a level of a liquid surface of the liquid retained in the retaining section based on the image of the liquid captured by the image capturing device, wherein the image capturing device is provided at a position such that the light, emitted by the light emitter and reflected by the liquid surface of the liquid, directly enters the image capturing device.

Liquid surface detecting apparatus and liquid surface detecting method using reflected light

A robot and a working method by the robot is capable of favorably carrying out a specific work without requiring a jig for fixing an object, such as a workpiece etc., a device for adjusting the posture of the object, etc. One example of the robot includes a first robotic arm having at a tip end a hand part according to a specific work to be performed to an object, and a second robotic arm having at a tip end a hand part according to an assisting work to assist the specific work. The first robotic arm is configured to perform the specific work to the object. The second robotic arm is configured to perform the assisting work to regulate a movement of the object in a given direction, when the first robotic arm performs the specific work.

Robot and working method by the robot

There is provided an end effector that is attached to a tip end of a robot arm for providing dispensation using a pipette and a chip attached to the pipette. The pipette includes a press button configured to draw a liquid into the chip or to discharge the liquid drawn into the chip from the chip as the press button is pressed and operated. The end effector includes a holding part for holding the pipette, a motor, and a swing part that presses and operates the press button as the swing part is driven and swung by the motor.

End effector, robot and robot system

A robot system including a plurality of manipulation parts used to input a command of the specified character information, configured to send the input command of the specified character information to an information processing device, including a manipulation tool unit capable of manipulating the plurality of manipulation parts of the character input device; a robot arm unit capable of holding and moving the manipulation tool unit; an imaging device; a controller including: an imaging device control section to take an image of the paper document; a character string determiner section to determine an input target of the paper document; a manipulation part position determiner section corresponding to the character string; and a robot control section controlling the arm unit so the manipulation tool unit held by the arm unit moves while manipulating the manipulation part determined by the character string determiner section in an arrangement order of the character string.

Robot system and control method of robot system

There is provided a rotary stocker which includes: a base; a rotary part provided on the base and rotatably connected to the base about a rotary axis extending in a vertical direction; a rotary drive device provided for rotating the rotary part; a plurality of shelves on which an object to be placed is placed, the plurality of shelves being fixed to the rotary part and being arranged in a circumferential direction about the rotary axis; and a sensor positioned outside the plurality of shelves in a radial direction of the rotary axis, the sensor capable of detecting whether the object to be placed is placed on each of the shelves positioned between the rotary axis and the sensor.

Rotary stocker and transfer system provided with rotary stocker

A component inspecting device inspects presence or absence of an abnormal state of two linear wires based on changes in the amount of received light of a first light ray and a second light ray received by a first light receiver and a second light receiver, respectively when a component is moved such that the two linear wires in the normal state block the first light ray and the second light ray in a posture wherein an arrangement direction of the two linear wires crosses optical axes of the first light ray of the first light projector and the second light ray of the second light projector. This device can detect an abnormality such as a bend or the like of linear wires by a simple configuration and a simple operation in a component having two linear wires which have axis directions parallel to each other and have different lengths.

Growing community of inventors

Kobe, Japan

Yukio Iwasaki