IP Library Granted Patent US 12661747
Granted Patent B2
US 12661747 · App. 18/249,970 · Granted Jun 23, 2026

Tool management device that manages tools of target device including tool holding mechanism that holds a plurality of tools

Inventor: Takuma Ookura (Yamanashi, JP)
Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
B23Q3/15713
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12661747
App. No.
18/249,970
Granted
Jun 23, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A tool management device according to the present invention that manages the tools, for a target device including a tool holding mechanism that holds a plurality of tools, includes an information acquisition unit that acquires configuration information including a current tool holding state in the tool holding mechanism, a holding position setting unit that sets holding positions at which the tools are held in the tool holding mechanism based on the above-described configuration information and tool information on the tools, and a command generation unit that generates a drive command for moving the holding positions in the tool holding mechanism to a transfer position at which the tools are transferred.

Claims (27)

1 . A tool management device for managing tools of a controlled device, the controlled device including a tool holding mechanism that holds the tools at holding positions, the tool management device comprising:

an information acquisition unit configured to acquire configuration information including a current tool holding state in the tool holding mechanism from a control unit of the controlled device;

a holding position setting unit configured to set the holding positions at which the tools are held in the tool holding mechanism based on the configuration information and tool information on the tools; and

a command generation unit configured to generate a drive command for moving the holding positions in the tool holding mechanism to a transfer position at which the tools are transferred.

2 . The tool management device according to claim 1 , wherein

the holding position setting unit is configured to set the holding positions to minimize an amount of movement to the transfer position.

3 . The tool management device according to claim 1 , wherein

the tool holding mechanism has a plurality of classified regions for types of the tools, respectively, and

the holding position setting unit is configured to set the holding positions for the tools, respectively, using a calculation reference position in the classified regions as a reference.

4 . The tool management device according to claim 1 , further comprising a configuration information update unit configured to update the configuration information based on the drive command.

5 . The tool management device according to claim 1 , wherein

the tool management device is configured to control a plurality of controlled devices, and

the information acquisition unit is further configured to:

acquire pieces of configuration information corresponding to each of the plurality of controlled devices, respectively, from the plurality of the controlled devices, and

select a piece of configuration information of the corresponding controlled device that is suitable for the tool information from among the corresponding pieces of configuration information.

6 . The tool management device according to claim 1 , wherein

the controlled device is a machine tool, and the tool holding mechanism is a turning turret of the machine tool.

7 . The tool management device according to claim 1 , wherein

the controlled device is a tool storage device, and the tool holding mechanism is a tool stocker of the tool storage device.

8 . The tool management device according to claim 1 , wherein

the controlled device includes a machine tool and a tool storage device,

the machine tool includes a turning turret as a first tool holding mechanism,

the tool storage device includes a tool stocker as a second tool holding mechanism,

the holding position setting unit is configured to:

set a first holding position based on first configuration information for the first tool holding mechanism and the tool information, and

set a second holding position based on second configuration information for the second tool holding mechanism and the tool information, and

the command generation unit configured to generate a first drive command for moving the first holding position to the transfer position, and a second drive command for moving the second holding position to the transfer position.