Abstract
A zoned vacuum gripping tool comprising one tool-change interface, four bellows cups, one vacuum pump, one isolation valve, four zone branches, four pressure sensors, one contact detector and one blow-off valve. When the bellows cups reach the workpiece, the bellows cups are evacuated by the vacuum pump. After the workpiece has reached the set-down position, the workpiece is blown off by the blow-off valve. 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 zoned vacuum gripping tool: four bellows cups carried on a tool-change interface, fed by a vacuum pump. It is arranged for handling workpieces that do not cover the whole gripping face, cutting part of the circuit while the rest holds vacuum, verifying that the workpiece is held before the arm moves, starting the cycle at the moment of contact, clearing the face at release, taking up height differences at the face 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]Four bellows cups. Each bellows cup is folded so that it shortens under vacuum and takes up a height difference between the face and the workpiece. The count of four follows from the arrangement: one gripping element per zone branch. Each bellows cup has one fold.
[0004]One vacuum pump. The pump draws the circuit down mechanically and adds its own mass to the moving assembly.
[0005]One isolation valve. The isolation valve sits in the line it controls; closing it cuts that line without disturbing the rest of the circuit. Isolation is common.
[0006]Four zone branches. Each zone branch carries the vacuum of one zone of the face and no other. The count of four follows from the arrangement: one branch per zone. The distribution is divided into four zones, each fed by its own branch.
[0007]Four pressure sensors. Each pressure sensor taps the line it is placed in and reports the vacuum level in that line. The count of four follows from the arrangement: one sensor per zone branch. The pressure is measured at each zone.
[0008]One contact detector. The contact detector reports the moment a workpiece is present at the gripping face; its sensing technology is not fixed by this arrangement. The contact detector is mounted on the frame.
[0009]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 sustained blast. The blow-off pulse is given after set-down.
[0010]The bellows cups are carried on the tool side of the tool-change interface.
[0011]The vacuum pump is fixed to the tool side of the tool-change interface.
[0012]The isolation valve is placed in the line from the vacuum pump, so that closing the valve cuts the whole circuit from the supply.
[0013]The four zone branches are taken from a branch junction on the isolation valve outlet, so that each branch carries the vacuum of its own zone only.
[0014]Each bellows cup is connected to its own zone line, one bellows cup per zone, and is evacuated through that line.
[0015]One pressure sensor is tapped into each zone line, so that each of the four sensors reads its own zone and no other.
[0016]The contact detector is mounted on the frame and reports the moment a workpiece is present against the gripping face.
[0017]The blow-off valve is connected to the circuit at the line downstream of the isolation valve, so that compressed air can be driven back through the circuit to the face.
[0018]The robot side of the tool-change interface is bolted to the robot flange.
[0019]The pump motor is supplied from the electrical supply of the cell.
[0020]The blow-off valve is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.
[0021]The locking piston of the tool-change interface is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.
[0022]The isolation valve, the blow-off valve and the lock of the tool-change interface are switched by the cell controller; the pressure sensors and the contact detector report to the cell controller.
3. Operating sequence and conditions
[0023]
- After the contact detector has detected the workpiece, the vacuum supply is actuated by the cell controller.
[0024]
- When the bellows cups reach the workpiece, the bellows cups are evacuated by the vacuum pump.
[0025]
- When the vacuum level exceeds the gripping threshold, a secure grip is signalled by the pressure sensor of each zone in use.
[0026]
- The workpiece may not be lifted unless the pressure sensor of each zone in use signals a secure grip.
[0027]
- After the vacuum level has exceeded the gripping threshold, the isolation valve is closed by the cell controller.
[0028]
- While the isolation valve is in the closed state, the vacuum downstream of the valve is maintained by the sealed gripping face.
[0029]
- After the workpiece has reached the set-down position, the workpiece is blown off by the blow-off valve.
[0030]
- The workpiece is held until the blow-off valve has opened the circuit.
[0031]The cell controller reads the pressure sensor (each zone line) and the contact detector (on the frame) and commands the blow-off valve, the isolation valve, the tool-change interface; no sensor drives an actuator directly.
4. Parameters and operating assumptions
[0032]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); folds of the bellows cups: one (sets the travel taken up between the face and the workpiece, and the lateral stiffness of the cup under load); material of the bellows cups: plastic (sets the friction at the lip and the resistance of the folds to fatigue); drive medium of the vacuum pump: electric (sets the supply the pump motor needs from the cell); control of the isolation valve: common (sets which part of the circuit the valve cuts: one branch line on its own or the whole circuit); material of the isolation valve: steel; material of the zone branches: plastic; zones of the zone branches: four (sets how much of the face can be treated separately); placement of the pressure sensors: at each zone (sets where in the circuit the reading is taken and what it describes); placement of the contact detector: on the frame (sets where the presence of the workpiece is detected); duration of the blow-off valve: a sustained blast (sets how quickly the face clears and how much air each release costs); timing of the blow-off valve: after set-down (sets whether the pulse assists a drop release or clears the face after set-down).
[0033]A zone is in use when the workpiece covers it. Which zones are in use is decided by the controller from the workpiece programme; this arrangement fixes where each zone is measured, not how the programme is written.
[0034]The blow-off is a sustained blast: the valve stays open for the whole release so that the face is cleared of dust and the workpiece is pushed positively away.
[0035]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.
[0036]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
[0037]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-4489564-B1, US-10163334-B1, US-11427405-B1, US-11858125-B2, US-2022339798-A1, US-8132312-B2, WO-2026020244-A1; their text is not reproduced, and the description above is generated from the structure of the combination.
6. Correction notice
[0038]This publication supersedes OT-2026-000003562, 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.