# US 11,027,949 B2 · Transport vehicle and transport method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,027,949 B2 - Document ID: US11027949B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/301,277 - Filed: 2017-03-30 - Published: 2020-08-27 - Granted: 2021-06-08 - Earliest claimed: 2016-05-20 - Assignees: Murata Machinery, Ltd. - Applicants: Murata Machinery, Ltd. - Inventors: Eiji Wada - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11027949B2 ## CPC - B66C 13/06: for minimising or preventing longitudinal or transverse swinging of loads - H10P 72/0606: {Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection} - B65G 1/00: Storing articles, individually or in orderly arrangement, in warehouses or magazines (conveyor combinations in warehouses, magazines or workshops B65G37/00; stacking of articles B65G57/00; removing articles from stacks B65G59/00; loading machines B65G65/02) - B66C 1/16: Slings with load-engaging platforms or frameworks - B66C 13/18: Control systems or devices (exclusively for rope, cable, or chain winding mechanisms B66D1/40) - H10P 72/30: for conveying, e.g. between different workstations - H10P 72/3218: {Conveying cassettes, containers or carriers} - H10P 72/3221: {Overhead conveying} - H10P 72/3222: {Loading to or unloading from a conveyor} - H10P 72/50: for positioning, orientation or alignment - H10P 72/7602: {the wafers being placed on a robot blade or gripped by a gripper for conveyance} - B65G 2201/0297: Wafer cassette - B66C: CRANES; LOAD-ENGAGING ELEMENTS OR DEVICES FOR CRANES, CAPSTANS, WINCHES, OR TACKLES ({specially adapted for lifting invalids A61G7/10;} rope, cable, or chain winding mechanisms, braking or detent devices therefor B66D; specially adapted for nuclear reactors G21) - H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10 - B65G: TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS (packaging B65B; handling thin or filamentary materials, e.g. paper sheets or thread, B65H; cranes B66C; portable mobile or lifting or hauling appliances, e.g. hoists, B66D; devices for lifting or lowering goods for loading or unloading purposes, e.g. fork-lift trucks, B66F9/00; emptying bottles, jars, casks, barrels or similar containers, not otherwise provided for, B67C9/00; delivering or transferring liquids B67D; filling or discharging vessels for liquefied, solidified or compressed gases F17C; pipe-line systems for fluids F17D) ## Abstract A transport vehicle includes a body; a lift platform that includes a holder to hold an article, the lift platform being ascendable and descendable with respect to the body; a lift driver that raises or lowers the lift platform by feeding out or taking up a flexible suspension support; a sensor provided in the lift driver and emits a detection wave having directivity toward a certain lower position; a lateral extender that causes the lift driver to project laterally from the body while providing cantilever support for the lift driver; and a corrector that corrects a shift in an emission direction of the detection wave that arises from bending of the lateral extender in a state in which the lift driver is caused to project laterally from the body by the lateral extender. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A transport vehicle comprising: a body; a lift platform that includes a holder to hold an article, the lift platform being ascendable and descendable with respect to the body; a lift driver that raises or lowers the lift platform by feeding out or taking up a flexible suspension support; a sensor provided in the lift driver and emits a detection wave having directivity toward a certain lower position; a lateral extender that causes the lift driver to project laterally from the body while providing cantilever support for the lift driver; and a corrector that corrects a shift in an emission direction of the detection wave that arises from bending of the lateral extender in a state in which the lift driver is caused to project laterally from the body by the lateral extender. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The transport vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the corrector changes an angle of the sensor with respect to the lift driver. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The transport vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the corrector includes an actuator that changes the angle of the sensor. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The transport vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the sensor is at least one of: a swing detection sensor that detects whether the detection wave is emitted to a certain range of the lift platform when the lift platform is raised or lowered; and a lookdown sensor that emits the detection wave to a vicinity of a lowering destination of the lift platform to detect whether a foreign matter is present. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The transport vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the corrector changes the angle of the sensor by gravity. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The transport vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the sensor is at least one of: a swing detection sensor that detects whether the detection wave is emitted to a certain range of the lift platform when the lift platform is raised or lowered; and a lookdown sensor that emits the detection wave to a vicinity of a lowering destination of the lift platform to detect whether a foreign matter is present. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The transport vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the corrector changes the angle of the sensor in conjunction with projecting movement of the lift driver by the lateral extender. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The transport vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the sensor is at least one of: a swing detection sensor that detects whether the detection wave is emitted to a certain range of the lift platform when the lift platform is raised or lowered; and a lookdown sensor that emits the detection wave to a vicinity of a lowering destination of the lift platform to detect whether a foreign matter is present. ### Claim 9 (depends on 2) The transport vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the sensor is at least one of: a swing detection sensor that detects whether the detection wave is emitted to a certain range of the lift platform when the lift platform is raised or lowered; and a lookdown sensor that emits the detection wave to a vicinity of a lowering destination of the lift platform to detect whether a foreign matter is present. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The transport vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is at least one of: a swing detection sensor that detects whether the detection wave is emitted to a certain range of the lift platform when the lift platform is raised or lowered; and a lookdown sensor that emits the detection wave to a vicinity of a lowering destination of the lift platform to detect whether a foreign matter is present. ### Claim 11 A transport method that transports an article by a transport vehicle, the transport vehicle including: a body; a lift platform that includes a holder to hold the article, the lift platform being ascendable and descendable with respect to the body; a lift driver that raises or lowers the lift platform by feeding out or taking up a flexible suspension support; a sensor provided in the lift driver and emits a detection wave having directivity toward a certain lower position; and a lateral extender that causes the lift driver to project laterally from the body while providing cantilever support for the lift driver, the transport method comprising: when the lateral extender causes the lift driver to project laterally from the body, correcting a shift in an emission direction of the detection wave that arises from bending of the lateral extender.