--- publication_id: "OT-2026-000010114" title: "Foam pad vacuum gripper, three zone face, common isolation valve, two stage ejector, vented after set-down" published_at: "2026-09-17T08:11:35.184400Z" canonical_url: "https://opentechnical.org/p/OT-2026-000010114" categories: - "robotics-automation/end-effectors/vacuum-grippers" - "sensors-controls-machine-vision/position-and-presence-sensing" - "industrial-motion-power-transmission/fluid-power/valves-and-manifolds" - "industrial-motion-power-transmission/fluid-power/vacuum-generation" keywords: - "zoned vacuum tool" - "mounting flange" - "foam pad" - "ejector" - "isolation valve" - "zone branch" - "contact detector" - "vent valve" - "common isolation" - "compressed air supply" --- # Foam pad vacuum gripper, three zone face, common isolation valve, two stage ejector, vented after set-down ## Abstract A zoned vacuum gripping tool comprising one mounting flange, one foam pad, one ejector, one isolation valve, three zone branches, one contact detector and one vent valve. When the foam pad reaches the workpiece, the foam pad is evacuated by the ejector. After the workpiece has reached the set-down position, the vacuum circuit is vented by the vent 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: one foam pad carried on a mounting flange, fed by an ejector. It is arranged for handling workpieces that do not cover the whole gripping face, cutting part of the circuit while the rest holds vacuum, starting the cycle at the moment of contact, controlling the moment of release and holding a workpiece that a rigid lip cannot seal against. 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] **One foam pad.** The 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 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 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] **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. [0007] **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. [0008] **One vent valve.** The vent valve opens the circuit it is connected to towards atmosphere, which ends the grip. The circuit is vented after set-down. [0009] The foam pad is carried on the tool side of the mounting flange. [0010] The ejector is fixed to the tool side of the mounting flange. [0011] The isolation valve is placed in the line from the ejector, so that closing the valve cuts the whole circuit from the supply. [0012] The three 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. [0013] Each zone line opens into its own section of the distribution chamber behind the porous face of the foam pad, so that the pad is evacuated zone by zone. [0014] The contact detector is mounted on the frame and reports the moment a workpiece is present against the gripping face. [0015] The vent valve is connected to the circuit at the line downstream of the isolation valve and opens that circuit to atmosphere when it is actuated. [0016] The robot side of the mounting flange is bolted to the robot flange. [0017] The ejector is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell. [0018] The isolation valve and the vent valve are switched by the cell controller; the contact detector reports to the cell controller. ## 3. Operating sequence and conditions - After the contact detector has detected the workpiece, the vacuum supply is actuated by the cell controller. - When the foam pad reaches the workpiece, the foam pad is evacuated by the ejector. - After the foam pad has reached the workpiece, the isolation valve is closed by the cell controller. - While the isolation valve is in the closed state, the vacuum downstream of the valve is maintained by the sealed gripping face. - After the workpiece has reached the set-down position, the vacuum circuit is vented by the vent valve. - The workpiece is held until the vent valve has opened the circuit. [0025] The cell controller reads the contact detector (on the frame) and commands the isolation valve, the vent valve; no sensor drives an actuator directly. ## 4. Parameters and operating assumptions [0026] Parameter values of this embodiment: material of the foam pad: sponge (sets the compliance of the sealing face); porosity of the foam pad: 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); 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: three (sets how much of the face can be treated separately); placement of the contact detector: on the frame (sets where the presence of the workpiece is detected); timing of the vent valve: after set-down (sets whether the workpiece is released before or after it is supported by the set-down surface). [0027] 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. ## 5. Provenance and status [0028] 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-10163334-B1, US-10549431-B2, US-2022339798-A1, 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 [0029] This publication supersedes OT-2026-000005827, 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: release element added: a vent valve after set-down (the legacy assembly had no way to let go); foam_pad material 'foam' is not offered by the library; the source-stated value 'sponge' is used.