ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,609,259, issued on April 21, was assigned to KEYENCE Corp. (Osaka, Japan).
"Safety switch having a lock function using an electromagnet" was invented by Hiroshi Kashima (Osaka, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A safety switch that has a lock function using an electromagnet and a member to be magnetized is downsized. The safety switch includes: a detection unit that detects that a movable actuator is within a predetermined range; a safety signal output unit that outputs a safety signal based on a detection result obtained by the detection unit; an electromagnet; a lock input unit that receives a lock instruction for locking movement ...