Three bellows cup vacuum gripper, three outlet manifold, three stage ejector, pulsed blow-off before set-down, on a tool changer

Abstract

A bellows-cup vacuum gripping tool comprising one tool-change interface, three bellows cups, one ejector, one manifold, one contact detector and one blow-off valve. When the bellows cups reach the workpiece, the bellows cups are evacuated by the ejector. Before the workpiece reaches the set-down position, the workpiece is blown off by the blow-off 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 bellows-cup vacuum gripping tool: three bellows cups carried on a tool-change interface, fed by an ejector. It is arranged for starting the cycle at the moment of contact, clearing the face at 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 manifold outlet. 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 three stages.

[0005]One manifold. The manifold receives the vacuum at one inlet and distributes it to its outlets. The manifold has three outlets.

[0006]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 gripping face.

[0007]One blow-off valve. The blow-off valve drives compressed air back through the circuit to the face, which clears the face instead of waiting for the circuit to refill. The blow-off is a short pulse. The blow-off pulse is given before set-down.

[0008]The bellows cups are carried on the tool side of the tool-change interface.

[0009]The manifold is fixed to the tool side of the tool-change interface.

[0010]The ejector is fixed to the tool side of the tool-change interface.

[0011]The manifold inlet is connected to the ejector outlet, which supplies every outlet of the manifold.

[0012]Each manifold outlet feeds one bellows cup by its own vacuum line, so that the three outlets feed three bellows cups.

[0013]The contact detector is mounted on the gripping face and reports the moment a workpiece is present against the gripping face.

[0014]The blow-off valve is connected to the circuit at the ejector outlet, so that compressed air can be driven back through the circuit to the face.

[0015]The robot side of the tool-change interface is bolted to the robot flange.

[0016]The ejector is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.

[0017]The blow-off valve is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.

[0018]The blow-off valve is switched by the cell controller; the contact detector reports to the cell controller.

3. Operating sequence and conditions

[0023]The cell controller reads the contact detector (on the gripping face) and commands the blow-off valve; no sensor drives an actuator directly.

4. Parameters and operating assumptions

[0024]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: 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 cups: plastic (sets the friction at the lip and the resistance of the folds to fatigue); stages of the ejector: three (sets the flow drawn at low vacuum and the compressed air consumed while a sealed face is held); outlets of the manifold: three (sets how many lines can be fed from one inlet); placement of the contact detector: on the gripping face (sets where the presence of the workpiece is detected); duration of the blow-off valve: a short pulse (sets how quickly the face clears and how much air each release costs); timing of the blow-off valve: before set-down (sets whether the pulse assists a drop release or clears the face after set-down).

[0025]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.

[0026]The blow-off is a short pulse: the valve opens for a fraction of a second, long enough to break the seal and clear the face, and closes again.

[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-11858125-B2, US-2022339798-A1, US-8006968-B2, US-8132312-B2, WO-2008134339-A4; their text is not reproduced, and the description above is generated from the structure of the combination.