Abstract
A foam-pad vacuum gripping tool comprising one tool-change interface, three foam pads, one ejector, one manifold, one pressure sensor and one blow-off valve. When the foam pads reach the workpiece, the foam pads are evacuated by the ejector. Before the workpiece reaches the set-down position, the workpiece is blown off by the blow-off valve while the workpiece is above the receiving surface. The arrangement is a proposed configuration composed from a typed library of mechanism blocks derived from published patents; it has not been constructed.
1. Purpose and arrangement
[0001]This disclosure describes a foam-pad vacuum gripping tool: three foam pads carried on a tool-change interface, fed by an ejector. It is arranged for verifying that the workpiece is held before the arm moves, clearing the face at release, holding a workpiece that a rigid lip cannot seal against and exchanging the tool without rewiring the cell. One concrete embodiment is described; every connection is stated with the medium it carries, and the operating sequence is given as conditions on named operations.
2. Components, construction and connections
[0002]One tool-change interface. The tool-change interface splits the tool into a robot side and a tool side, so the tool can be exchanged without dismantling it. The tool-change interface has a pneumatic lock.
[0003]Three foam pads. Each foam pad presents a compliant face to the workpiece; the holding force is spread over the contact area rather than concentrated at a lip. The count of three follows from the arrangement: one gripping element per manifold outlet. The pad is of closed cell foam.
[0004]One ejector. The ejector draws the circuit down by passing compressed air through a nozzle; it has no moving part at the tool and consumes air for as long as it runs. The ejector has two stages.
[0005]One manifold. The manifold receives the vacuum at one inlet and distributes it to its outlets. The manifold has three outlets.
[0006]One pressure sensor. The pressure sensor taps the line it is placed in and reports the vacuum level in that line. The pressure is measured at the manifold.
[0007]One blow-off valve. The blow-off valve drives compressed air back through the circuit to the face, which clears the face instead of waiting for the circuit to refill. The blow-off is a short pulse. The blow-off pulse is given before set-down.
[0008]The foam pads are carried on the tool side of the tool-change interface.
[0009]The manifold is fixed to the tool side of the tool-change interface.
[0010]The ejector is fixed to the tool side of the tool-change interface.
[0011]The manifold inlet is connected to the ejector outlet, which supplies every outlet of the manifold.
[0012]Each manifold outlet feeds one foam pad by its own vacuum line, so that the three outlets feed three foam pads.
[0013]The pressure sensor is tapped into the manifold body and reads the pressure common to every outlet.
[0014]The blow-off valve is connected to the circuit at the ejector outlet, so that compressed air can be driven back through the circuit to the face.
[0015]The robot side of the tool-change interface is bolted to the robot flange.
[0016]The ejector is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.
[0017]The blow-off valve is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.
[0018]The locking piston of the tool-change interface is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.
[0019]The blow-off valve and the lock of the tool-change interface are switched by the cell controller; the pressure sensor reports to the cell controller.
3. Operating sequence and conditions
[0020]
- When the foam pads reach the workpiece, the foam pads are evacuated by the ejector.
[0021]
- When the vacuum level exceeds the gripping threshold, a secure grip is signalled by the pressure sensor.
[0022]
- The workpiece may not be lifted unless the pressure sensor signals a secure grip.
[0023]
- Before the workpiece reaches the set-down position, the workpiece is blown off by the blow-off valve while the workpiece is above the receiving surface.
[0024]
- The workpiece is held until the blow-off valve has opened the circuit.
[0025]The cell controller reads the pressure sensor (the manifold) and commands the blow-off valve, the tool-change interface; no sensor drives an actuator directly.
4. Parameters and operating assumptions
[0026]Parameter values of this embodiment: locking of the tool-change interface: pneumatic (sets what has to be present at the interface for the tool to stay attached); material of the foam pads: sponge (sets the compliance of the sealing face); porosity of the foam pads: closed cell (sets whether air passes through the pad body or only through openings cut through it); stages of the ejector: two (sets the flow drawn at low vacuum and the compressed air consumed while a sealed face is held); outlets of the manifold: three (sets how many lines can be fed from one inlet); placement of the pressure sensor: at the manifold (sets where in the circuit the reading is taken and what it describes); duration of the blow-off valve: a short pulse (sets how quickly the face clears and how much air each release costs); timing of the blow-off valve: before set-down (sets whether the pulse assists a drop release or clears the face after set-down).
[0027]The workpiece is released while it is still above the receiving surface and falls the remaining distance onto it. This sequence is for a workpiece and a receiving surface that tolerate that drop, for example a part released into a container or onto a conveyor; the drop height is set by the application and is not fixed here.
[0028]The blow-off is a short pulse: the valve opens for a fraction of a second, long enough to break the seal and clear the face, and closes again.
[0029]The closed-cell foam does not pass air through its body; the face is evacuated through openings cut through the pad into the distribution chamber, and the foam around each opening forms the seal against the workpiece.
[0030]The lock is engaged by compressed air acting on the locking piston and is held only while that air pressure is applied; what the lock does on loss of air pressure is not fixed by this arrangement.
[0031]Vacuum levels are stated as gauge pressure below atmosphere. A stronger vacuum is a larger pressure difference below atmosphere, and the vacuum level 'exceeds the gripping threshold' when that difference is at least the threshold difference.
5. Provenance and status
[0032]This document is an original combination composed from a typed library of mechanism blocks. Each block was derived from a published patent and carries typed connection points, the parameters its source states, and its own construction and operating description. The combination described here is proposed and has not been constructed. The published documents behind the blocks used in this arrangement are EP-4385681-B1, US-11427405-B1, US-11858125-B2, US-8006968-B2, US-8132312-B2, WO-2008134339-A4; their text is not reproduced, and the description above is generated from the structure of the combination.
6. Correction notice
[0033]This publication supersedes OT-2026-000003514, whose text described this arrangement with defects recorded in the quality register at https://opentechnical.org/qa/. The earlier publication is unchanged and remains public.