Six pad foam vacuum gripper, six outlet manifold, common isolation valve, pump fed, pulsed blow-off after set-down, on a tool changer

Abstract

A foam-pad vacuum gripping tool comprising one tool-change interface, six foam pads, one vacuum pump, one isolation valve, one manifold and one blow-off valve. When the foam pads reach the workpiece, the foam pads are evacuated by the vacuum pump. After the workpiece has reached the set-down position, the workpiece is blown off by the blow-off 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 foam-pad vacuum gripping tool: six foam pads carried on a tool-change interface, fed by a vacuum pump. It is arranged for cutting part of the circuit while the rest holds vacuum, clearing the face at release, holding a workpiece that a rigid lip cannot seal against 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]Six foam pads. Each 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 count of six follows from the arrangement: one gripping element per manifold outlet. The pad is of closed cell foam.

[0004]One vacuum pump. The pump draws the circuit down mechanically and adds its own mass to the moving assembly.

[0005]One isolation valve. The isolation valve sits in the line it controls; closing it cuts that line without disturbing the rest of the circuit. Isolation is common.

[0006]One manifold. The manifold receives the vacuum at one inlet and distributes it to its outlets. The manifold has six outlets.

[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 after set-down.

[0008]The foam pads 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 vacuum pump is fixed to the tool side of the tool-change interface.

[0011]The isolation valve is placed in the line from the vacuum pump, so that closing the valve cuts the whole circuit from the supply.

[0012]The manifold inlet is connected to the isolation valve outlet, which supplies every outlet of the manifold.

[0013]Each manifold outlet feeds one foam pad by its own vacuum line, so that the six outlets feed six foam pads.

[0014]The blow-off valve is connected to the circuit at the line downstream of the isolation valve, 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 pump motor is supplied from the electrical supply of the cell.

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

[0018]The locking piston of the tool-change interface is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.

[0019]The isolation valve, the blow-off valve and the lock of the tool-change interface are switched by the cell controller.

3. Operating sequence and conditions

[0025]The cell controller commands the blow-off valve, the isolation valve, the tool-change interface; no sensor drives an actuator directly.

4. Parameters and operating assumptions

[0026]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); material of the foam pads: sponge (sets the compliance of the sealing face); porosity of the foam pads: closed cell (sets whether air passes through the pad body or only through openings cut through it); drive medium of the vacuum pump: electric (sets the supply the pump motor needs from the cell); control of the isolation valve: common (sets which part of the circuit the valve cuts: one branch line on its own or the whole circuit); material of the isolation valve: steel; outlets of the manifold: six (sets how many lines can be fed from one inlet); 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: after set-down (sets whether the pulse assists a drop release or clears the face after set-down).

[0027]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.

[0028]The closed-cell foam does not pass air through its body; the face is evacuated through openings cut through the pad into the distribution chamber, and the foam around each opening forms the seal against the workpiece.

[0029]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

[0030]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-10163334-B1, US-11427405-B1, US-11858125-B2, US-8006968-B2, US-8132312-B2; their text is not reproduced, and the description above is generated from the structure of the combination.