Abstract
A bellows-cup vacuum gripping tool comprising one tool-change interface, one bellows cup, one ejector and one vent valve. When the bellows cup reaches the workpiece, the bellows cup 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 bellows-cup vacuum gripping tool: one bellows cup carried on a tool-change interface, fed by an ejector. It is arranged for 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 pneumatic lock.
[0003]One bellows cup. Each bellows cup is folded so that it shortens under vacuum and takes up a height difference between the face and the workpiece. Each bellows cup has one fold.
[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]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.
[0006]The bellows cup is carried on the tool side of the tool-change interface.
[0007]The ejector is fixed to the tool side of the tool-change interface.
[0008]The bellows cup is connected to the ejector outlet by a single vacuum line, so that the face is evacuated through that line.
[0009]The vent valve is connected to the circuit at the ejector outlet and opens that circuit to atmosphere when it is actuated.
[0010]The robot side of the tool-change interface is bolted to the robot flange.
[0011]The ejector is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.
[0012]The locking piston of the tool-change interface is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.
[0013]The vent valve and the lock of the tool-change interface are switched by the cell controller.
3. Operating sequence and conditions
[0014]
- When the bellows cup reaches the workpiece, the bellows cup is evacuated by the ejector.
[0015]
- After the workpiece has reached the set-down position, the vacuum circuit is vented by the vent valve.
[0016]
- The workpiece is held until the vent valve has opened the circuit.
[0017]The cell controller commands the tool-change interface, the vent valve; no sensor drives an actuator directly.
4. Parameters and operating assumptions
[0018]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 cup: 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 cup: 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); 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).
[0019]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.
5. Provenance and status
[0020]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-11858125-B2, WO-2008134339-A4; their text is not reproduced, and the description above is generated from the structure of the combination.
6. Correction notice
[0021]This publication supersedes OT-2026-000006447, 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.