Abstract
A zoned vacuum gripping tool comprising one mounting flange, one foam pad, one plant vacuum connection, three zone branches and one vent valve. When the foam pad reaches the workpiece, the foam pad is evacuated by the plant vacuum connection. 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: one foam pad carried on a mounting flange, fed by a plant vacuum connection. It is arranged for handling workpieces that do not cover the whole gripping face, 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 open cell foam.
[0004]One plant vacuum connection. The plant vacuum connection takes vacuum from the plant line, so the tool carries no generator of its own.
[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 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.
[0007]The foam pad is carried on the tool side of the mounting flange.
[0008]The three zone branches are taken from a branch junction on the plant vacuum connection, so that each branch carries the vacuum of its own zone only.
[0009]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.
[0010]The vent valve is connected to the circuit at the plant vacuum connection and opens that circuit to atmosphere when it is actuated.
[0011]The robot side of the mounting flange is bolted to the robot flange.
[0012]The vent valve is switched by the cell controller.
3. Operating sequence and conditions
[0013]
- When the foam pad reaches the workpiece, the foam pad is evacuated by the plant vacuum connection.
[0014]
- 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.
[0015]
- The workpiece is held until the vent valve has opened the circuit.
[0016]The cell controller commands the vent valve; no sensor drives an actuator directly.
4. Parameters and operating assumptions
[0017]Parameter values of this embodiment: material of the foam pad: sponge (sets the compliance of the sealing face); porosity of the foam pad: open cell (sets whether air passes through the pad body or only through openings cut through it); material of the zone branches: plastic; zones of the zone branches: three (sets how much of the face can be treated separately); 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).
[0018]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.
[0019]The open-cell foam passes air through its whole face, so an uncovered part of the face draws air through the pad itself; the supply is sized for that continuous flow and the pad relies on flow restriction through the foam, not on a seal, to hold vacuum behind a covered area.
[0020]The tool carries no valve between the plant line and the face, so the plant vacuum is applied to the face whenever the plant line is live; release relies on the release element alone.
5. Provenance and status
[0021]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-10259123-B2, US-10549431-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
[0022]This publication supersedes OT-2026-000007308, 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.