Granted Patent B2

US 12,351,407 · App. 17/481,121 · Granted Jul 8, 2025

Inventors: Keisuke Ito (Kanagawa, JP); Takeshi Yamamoto (Kanagawa, JP); Gaku Kawaguchi (Kanagawa, JP)

Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

B65G54/02B60L13/03B60L13/035B60L13/04B60L13/06B60L13/08B60L13/10E01B25/305E01B25/30E01B25/32H02N15/00Y02P90/60

Abstract

Claims (31)

1. A transport system comprising:

a transport path housing;

a first magnetic force unit provided in the transport path housing;

a transport vehicle that includes a second magnetic force unit provided so as to be able to face the first magnetic force unit and is able to travel along the transport path housing while being levitated by magnetic force acting between the first magnetic force unit and the second magnetic force unit;

a rail on which the transport vehicle lands to be able to travel, the rail being provided in the transport path housing; and

at least one moving means for moving the transport vehicle in a landing state where the transport vehicle lands on the rail, to a position where the transport vehicle is able to be levitated by the magnetic force,

wherein the moving means moves the transport vehicle along a horizontal direction to move the transport vehicle to the position where the transport vehicle is able to be levitated.

2. The transport system according to claim 1 ,

wherein the moving means includes an up-and-down mechanism that moves the transport vehicle along a vertical direction to move the transport vehicle to the position where the transport vehicle is able to be levitated.

3. The transport system according to claim 1 ,

wherein the moving means includes a slope on which the transport vehicle in the landing state travels to move to the position where the transport vehicle is be able to be levitated.

4. The transport system according to claim 3 ,

wherein the rail includes a lower surface on which the transport vehicle lands by gravity, and

wherein the slope is provided in the lower surface so as to incline to a side of the position where the transport vehicle is be able to be levitated.

5. The transport system according to claim 3 ,

wherein the rail includes an upper surface on which the transport vehicle lands by the magnetic force, and

wherein the slope is provided in the upper surface so as to incline to a side of the position where the transport vehicle is be able to be levitated.

6. The transport system according to claim 1 ,

wherein the moving means includes a raising and lowering mechanism that moves down the first magnetic force unit to relatively move the transport vehicle to the position where the transport vehicle is able to be levitated.

7. The transport system according to claim 1 , comprising a control apparatus that makes the transport vehicle in the landing state travel to move the transport vehicle to a position where the moving means moves the transport vehicle.

8. The transport system according to claim 1 ,

wherein the moving means is provided in the transport path housing.

9. The transport system according to claim 1 ,

wherein the first magnetic force unit is formed of a magnetic material of soft magnetic material or hard magnetic material, and

wherein the second magnetic force unit is formed of a coil array including a plurality of coils.

10. A processing system comprising:

the transport system according to claim 1 ; and

a processing apparatus that performs processing on a workpiece transported by the transport vehicle.

11. A method of manufacturing an article by using the processing system according to claim 10 , the method comprising:

transporting the workpiece by using the transport vehicle; and

performing, by using the processing apparatus, the processing on the workpiece transported by the transport vehicle.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (27)