US 12,391,495 B2
Magnet arrays for vehicle identification in an independent cart system
Haihui Lu, Shanghai (CN); Zhuo Liu, Shanghai (CN); Hao Yang, Shanghai (CN); Yuhong Huang, Acton, MA (US); Azeddine Choumach, Littleton, MA (US); Brian M. Perreault, Stow, MA (US); Daniel I. Lanier, North Billerica, MA (US); and Robert H. Schmidt, Germantown, WI (US)
Assigned to Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc., Mayfield Heights, OH (US)
Filed by Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc., Mayfield Heights, OH (US)
Filed on Oct. 23, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/492,082.
Prior Publication US 2025/0128897 A1, Apr. 24, 2025
Int. Cl. B65G 67/22 (2006.01); B65G 43/02 (2006.01); B65G 43/10 (2006.01); B65G 54/02 (2006.01); H02K 41/03 (2006.01)
CPC B65G 67/22 (2013.01) [B65G 43/10 (2013.01); B65G 54/02 (2013.01); H02K 41/031 (2013.01); B65G 43/02 (2013.01); B65G 2203/043 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An independent cart system, comprising:
a plurality of track segments, each track segment of the plurality of track segments further comprising:
a plurality of coils along a length of the track segment, and
a segment controller operative to selectively energize the plurality of coils to generate an electromagnetic field with each of the plurality of coils;
a plurality of movers, each mover of the plurality of movers including a magnet array having a plurality of magnets, wherein the magnet array generates a magnetic field that interacts with the electromagnetic field generated by the plurality of coils to propel the mover along each of the plurality of track segments;
a plurality of position sensors spaced apart along the length of each track segment, each position sensor from the plurality of position sensors generates a position feedback signal with a waveform which is a function of the magnetic field generated by the magnet array on each mover; and
a controller operative to:
receive the position feedback signal from each position sensor, and
determine a unique identifier for each of the plurality of movers as a function of the waveform of the position feedback signal.