Abstract
A zoned vacuum gripping tool comprising one tool-change interface, three bellows cups, one vacuum pump, one manifold, three zone branches, one contact detector and one vent 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 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: three 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, starting the cycle at the moment of contact, controlling the moment of 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 mechanical lock.
[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 three folds.
[0004]One vacuum pump. The pump draws the circuit down mechanically and adds its own mass to the moving assembly.
[0005]One manifold. The manifold receives the vacuum at one inlet and distributes it to its outlets. The manifold has six outlets.
[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 bellows cups are carried on the tool side of the tool-change interface.
[0010]The manifold is fixed to 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 manifold inlet is connected to the pump inlet line, which supplies every outlet of the manifold.
[0013]Each of the three zone branches is taken from its own manifold outlet, so that the 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]The contact detector is mounted on the frame and reports the moment a workpiece is present against the gripping face.
[0016]The vent valve is connected to the circuit at the pump inlet line and opens that circuit to atmosphere when it is actuated.
[0017]The robot side of the tool-change interface is bolted to the robot flange.
[0018]The pump motor is supplied from the electrical supply of the cell.
[0019]The remaining three manifold outlets are plugged and carry no line.
[0020]The vent valve is switched by the cell controller; the contact detector reports to the cell controller.
3. Operating sequence and conditions
[0021]
- After the contact detector has detected the workpiece, the vacuum supply is actuated by the cell controller.
[0022]
- When the bellows cups reach the workpiece, the bellows cups are evacuated by the vacuum pump.
[0023]
- After the workpiece has reached the set-down position, the vacuum circuit is vented by the vent valve.
[0024]
- 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 vent valve; no sensor drives an actuator directly.
4. Parameters and operating assumptions
[0026]Parameter values of this embodiment: locking of the tool-change interface: mechanical (sets what has to be present at the interface for the tool to stay attached); folds of the bellows cups: three (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); outlets of the manifold: six (sets how many lines can be fed from one inlet); 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 lock is engaged by a manually operated lever on the interface; no supply crosses the interface for the lock, and tool exchange needs an operator at the tool.
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-4489564-B1, US-11427405-B1, US-11858125-B2, US-2022339798-A1, US-8006968-B2, 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-2026-000005908, 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); manifold outlets raised to feed every zone.