Body-to-be-conveyed, container carrier, and conveying device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12098039-B2
Application number	US-202017768745-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 19, 2020
Priority date	Oct 28, 2019
Publication date	Sep 24, 2024
Grant date	Sep 24, 2024

Abstract

The weight of a body-to-be-conveyed constituting a conveying device is reduced, and the friction force between the sliding surface of the body-to-be-conveyed and the conveyance path is reduced. A body-to-be-conveyed that is a component of a conveying device that uses electromagnetic force as thrust and can move in a horizontal direction includes a mover in which a bottom surface is arranged so that a predetermined gap is formed in a vertical direction with respect to the sliding surface thereof, in which the mover includes a permanent magnet and a cover, a gap facing surface of the permanent magnet facing the gap includes one magnetic pole, the cover is installed on a side of the permanent magnet opposite from the gap facing surface in the vertical direction, the horizontal outermost diameter of the cover is larger than the horizontal outermost diameter of the permanent magnet, and the cover is formed of a flat plate.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A body-to-be-conveyed that is a component of a conveying device that uses electromagnetic force as thrust and can move in a horizontal direction, comprising:
a mover in which a bottom surface is arranged so that a predetermined gap is formed in a vertical direction with respect to a sliding surface thereof, wherein
the mover includes a permanent magnet and a cover,
a gap facing surface of the permanent magnet facing the gap includes one magnetic pole,
the cover is installed on a side of the permanent magnet opposite from the gap facing surface in the vertical direction,
the horizontal outermost diameter of the cover is larger than the horizontal outermost diameter of the permanent magnet,
the cover is formed of a flat plate and has a disk shape, and
the lower surface of the cover is parallel to the sliding surface.

2. The body-to-be-conveyed according to claim 1 , wherein
the cover includes a recess on the surface on the gap side,
the vertical dimension of the recess is smaller than the vertical dimension of the permanent magnet, and
a part of the permanent magnet is embedded in the recess.

3. The body-to-be-conveyed according to claim 2 , wherein
the following inequality (3) is satisfied when the horizontal outermost diameter of the permanent magnet is D 1 and the horizontal outermost diameter of the cover is D 2 .
1.0< D 2 /D 1   (3)

4. The body-to-be-conveyed according to claim 1 , wherein
the cover is formed of a soft magnetic material.

5. The body-to-be-conveyed according to claim 1 , wherein
the cover is installed so as to directly contact the side of the permanent magnet opposite from the gap facing surface in the vertical direction.

6. The body-to-be-conveyed according to claim 1 , wherein
a sliding unit is provided on the gap facing surface of the mover.

7. The body-to-be-conveyed according to claim 1 , comprising:
a container holder for installing a specimen vessel, and
a carrier base for supporting the container holder, wherein
the carrier base includes the mover.

8. A conveying device comprising:
a conveyance path on which a plurality of electromagnets are arranged;
a power supply;
a control unit; and
a body-to-be-conveyed, wherein
the device conveys the body-to-be-conveyed to a desired position using electromagnetic forces of the plurality of electromagnets as thrusts,
the body-to-be-conveyed includes a mover in which a bottom surface is arranged so that a predetermined gap is formed in a vertical direction with respect to a sliding surface thereof,
the mover includes a permanent magnet and a cover,
the cover is installed on a side of the permanent magnet opposite from a gap facing surface facing the gap in the vertical direction,
the horizontal outermost diameter of the cover is larger than the horizontal outermost diameter of the permanent magnet,
the cover is formed of a flat plate and has a disk shape, and
the lower surface of the cover is parallel to the sliding surface.

9. The conveying device according to claim 8 , wherein
the following inequality (1) is satisfied when the horizontal outermost diameter of the cover is D 2 and the pitch of the central axes of adjacent electromagnets among the plurality of electromagnets is A.
D 2 /2< A   (1)

10. The conveying device according to claim 8 , wherein
the cover includes a recess on a surface on the gap side,
the vertical dimension of the recess is smaller than the vertical dimension of the permanent magnet, and
a part of the permanent magnet is embedded in the recess.

11. The conveying device according to claim 8 , wherein
the cover is formed of a soft magnetic material.

12. The conveying device according to claim 8 , wherein
the cover is installed so as to directly contact the side of the permanent magnet opposite from the gap facing surface in the vertical direction.

13. The conveying device according to claim 8 , wherein
a sliding unit is provided on the gap facing surface of the mover.

14. The conveying device according to claim 8 , wherein
the following inequality (1) is satisfied when the horizontal outermost diameter of the cover is D 2 and the pitch of the central axes of adjacent electromagnets among the plurality of electromagnets is A.
D 2 /2< A   (1)

15. The conveying device according to claim 8 , wherein
the body-to-be-conveyed is a container carrier, and
the container carrier includes:
a container holder for installing a specimen vessel, and
a carrier base for supporting the container holder, and

the carrier base includes the mover.

16. The conveying device according to claim 8 , wherein
the following inequality (2) is satisfied when the horizontal outermost diameter of the permanent magnet is D 1 and the pitch of the center axes of adjacent electromagnets among the plurality of electromagnets is A.
0< D 1 /A≤ 1.5  (2)

17. The conveying device according to claim 8 , wherein
the following inequality (3) is satisfied when the horizontal outermost diameter of the permanent magnet is D 1 and the horizontal outermost diameter of the cover is D 2 .
1.0< D 2 /D 1   (3).

Assignees

• Hitachi High Tech Corp

Inventors

• Hoshi Ryosuke
• Aoyama Yasuaki
• Kaneko Satoru
• Kobayashi Hiroyuki
• Tamakoshi Takeshi
• Watanabe Hiroshi
• Kambara Katsuhiro
• Onizawa Kuniaki

Classifications

• G01N2035/0477

  Magnetic · CPC title

• G01N35/04

  Details of the conveyor system {(G01N35/021 - G01N35/028 take precedence)} · CPC title

• B01L2200/18

  Transport of container or devices · CPC title

• B01L9/06

  Test-tube stands; Test-tube holders · CPC title

• B65G47/24

  orientating the articles · CPC title