Manufacturing a product using causal models

US12140938B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY · US

Inventors

• Brian E. Brooks · Okabena, US
• Gilles J. Benoit · Minneapolis, US
• Peter O. Olson · Andover, US
• Tyler W. Olson · Woodbury, US
• Himanshu Nayar · Okabena, US
• Frederick J. Arsenault · Stillwater, US
• Nicholas A. Johnson · Burnsville, US
• Brett R. Hemes · Woodbury, US
• Thomas J. Strey · River Falls, US
• Jonathan B. Arthur · Hudson, US
• Nathan J. Herbst · Woodbury, US
• Aaron K. Nienaber · Maplewood, US
• Sarah M. Mullins · Okabena, US
• Mark W. Orlando · Chesterfield Township, US
• Cory D. Sauer · Star Prairie, US
• Timothy J. Clemens · Maplewood, US
• Scott L. Barnett · Medina, US
• Zachary M. Schaeffer · Maplewood, US
• Patrick G. Zimmerman · Mendota Heights, US
• Gregory P. Moriarty · Vadnais Heights, US
• Jeffrey P. Adolf · Rochester, US
• Steven P. Floeder · Shoreview, US
• Andreas Backes · Kaarst, DE
• Peter J. Schneider · Neuss, DE
• Maureen A. Kavanagh · Stanchfield, US
• Glenn E. Casner · Woodbury, US
• Miaoding Dai · Woodbury, US
• Christopher M. Brown · Cottage Grove, US
• Lori A. Sjolund · Stillwater, US
• Jon A. Kirschhoffer · White Bear Lake, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 3, 2019
• Grant date: Nov 12, 2024
• Expiry date: Mar 1, 2041

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G05B2219/32203
• WIPO field: Control
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for optimizing a process of manufacturing a product. In one aspect, the method comprises repeatedly performing the following: i) selecting a configuration of input settings for manufacturing a product, based on a causal model that measures causal relationships between input settings and a measure of a quality of the product; ii) determining the measure of the quality of the product manufactured using the configuration of input settings; and iii) adjusting, based on the measure of the quality of the product manufactured using the configuration of input settings, the causal model.