Abstract
A zoned vacuum gripping tool comprising one mounting flange, three bellows cups, one ejector, three zone branches, one pressure sensor and one vent valve. When the bellows cups reach the workpiece, the bellows cups are evacuated by the ejector. Before the workpiece reaches the set-down position, the vacuum circuit is vented by the vent 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 zoned vacuum gripping tool: three bellows cups carried on a mounting flange, fed by an ejector. It is arranged for handling workpieces that do not cover the whole gripping face, verifying that the workpiece is held before the arm moves, controlling the moment of release and taking up height differences at the face. 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 mounting flange. The mounting flange carries the whole assembly and presents the bolt pattern that meets the robot.
[0003]Three 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 three follows from the arrangement: one gripping element per zone branch. Each bellows cup has two folds.
[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 one stage.
[0005]Three zone branches. Each zone branch carries the vacuum of one zone of the face and no other. The count of three follows from the arrangement: one branch per zone. The distribution is divided into three zones, each fed by its own branch.
[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 in the supply line.
[0007]One vent valve. The vent valve opens the circuit it is connected to towards atmosphere, which ends the grip. The circuit is vented before set-down.
[0008]The bellows cups are carried on the tool side of the mounting flange.
[0009]The ejector is fixed to the tool side of the mounting flange.
[0010]The three zone branches are taken from a branch junction on the ejector outlet, so that each branch carries the vacuum of its own zone only.
[0011]Each bellows cup is connected to its own zone line, one bellows cup per zone, and is evacuated through that line.
[0012]The pressure sensor is tapped into the line between the ejector and the distribution and reads the pressure of the whole circuit.
[0013]The vent valve is connected to the circuit at the ejector outlet and opens that circuit to atmosphere when it is actuated.
[0014]The robot side of the mounting flange is bolted to the robot flange.
[0015]The ejector is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.
[0016]The vent valve is switched by the cell controller; the pressure sensor reports to the cell controller.
3. Operating sequence and conditions
[0017]
- When the bellows cups reach the workpiece, the bellows cups are evacuated by the ejector.
[0018]
- When the vacuum level exceeds the gripping threshold, a secure grip is signalled by the pressure sensor.
[0019]
- The workpiece may not be lifted unless the pressure sensor signals a secure grip.
[0020]
- Before the workpiece reaches the set-down position, the vacuum circuit is vented by the vent valve while the workpiece is above the receiving surface.
[0021]
- The workpiece is held until the vent valve has opened the circuit.
[0022]The cell controller reads the pressure sensor (the common supply line) and commands the vent valve; no sensor drives an actuator directly.
4. Parameters and operating assumptions
[0023]Parameter values of this embodiment: folds of the bellows cups: two (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); stages of the ejector: one (sets the flow drawn at low vacuum and the compressed air consumed while a sealed face is held); material of the zone branches: plastic; zones of the zone branches: three (sets how much of the face can be treated separately); placement of the pressure sensor: in the supply line (sets where in the circuit the reading is taken and what it describes); timing of the vent valve: before set-down (sets whether the workpiece is released before or after it is supported by the set-down surface).
[0024]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.
[0025]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
[0026]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-10549431-B2, US-11427405-B1, WO-2008134339-A4, WO-2026020244-A1; their text is not reproduced, and the description above is generated from the structure of the combination.
6. Correction notice
[0027]This publication supersedes OT-2026-000005365, 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. Changes made to reach a consistent configuration: sensor placement moved from an absent manifold to the supply line.