Abstract
A mechanical finger gripper comprising one tool-change interface, four gripper fingers and one separating element. When the gripper reaches the gripping position, the gripper fingers are closed by the pneumatic actuator. After the gripper fingers have been opened, the workpiece is released by the separating element. 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 mechanical finger gripper: four gripper fingers carried on a tool-change interface. It is arranged for separating a workpiece that stays on 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]Four gripper fingers. The fingers close onto the workpiece and hold it by form closure; they need access to opposed surfaces of the workpiece. The count of four follows from the arrangement: the count is the one the source module states. The fingers are driven by a pneumatic actuator.
[0004]One separating element. The separating element acts on the workpiece directly, so release does not depend on the holding mechanism alone.
[0005]The gripper fingers are carried on the tool side of the tool-change interface.
[0006]The separating element acts on the workpiece held at the gripper fingers and pushes it clear of the face.
[0007]The robot side of the tool-change interface is bolted to the robot flange.
[0008]The pneumatic finger actuator is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.
[0009]The separating element is driven from the compressed air supply of the cell.
[0010]The separating element is switched by the cell controller.
3. Operating sequence and conditions
[0011]
- When the gripper reaches the gripping position, the gripper fingers are closed by the pneumatic actuator.
[0012]
- While the gripper fingers are in the closed state, the workpiece is clamped by the gripper fingers.
[0013]
- After the workpiece has reached the set-down position, the gripper fingers are opened by the pneumatic actuator.
[0014]
- After the gripper fingers have been opened, the workpiece is released by the separating element.
[0015]The cell controller commands the gripper fingers, the separating element; no sensor drives an actuator directly.
4. Parameters and operating assumptions
[0016]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); drive medium of the gripper fingers: pneumatic (sets which supply the cell has to provide to the actuator and how the closing force is set); timing of the separating element: after set-down (sets when the separating element acts relative to set-down).
[0017]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
[0018]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 US-11858125-B2, US-2023381975-A1, US-8043071-B2; their text is not reproduced, and the description above is generated from the structure of the combination.