--- publication_id: "OT-2026-000051230" title: "Six pad foam vacuum gripper, six outlet manifold, pump fed, vented before set-down, on a tool changer" published_at: "2026-09-17T08:37:05.998905Z" canonical_url: "https://opentechnical.org/p/OT-2026-000051230" categories: - "robotics-automation/end-effectors/vacuum-grippers" - "industrial-motion-power-transmission/fluid-power/valves-and-manifolds" - "robotics-automation/end-effectors/tool-changers" - "industrial-motion-power-transmission/fluid-power/vacuum-generation" keywords: - "foam area gripping tool" - "tool-change interface" - "foam pad" - "vacuum pump" - "manifold" - "vent valve" - "compressed air supply" - "drop release" - "electric actuation" - "release control" --- # Six pad foam vacuum gripper, six outlet manifold, pump fed, vented before 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 manifold and one vent valve. When the foam pads reach the workpiece, the foam pads are evacuated by the vacuum pump. 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 foam-pad vacuum gripping tool: six foam pads carried on a tool-change interface, fed by a vacuum pump. It is arranged for controlling the moment of 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 manifold.** The manifold receives the vacuum at one inlet and distributes it to its outlets. The manifold has six outlets. [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 pads are carried on the tool side of the tool-change interface. [0008] The manifold is fixed to the tool side of the tool-change interface. [0009] The vacuum pump is fixed to the tool side of the tool-change interface. [0010] The manifold inlet is connected to the pump inlet line, which supplies every outlet of the manifold. [0011] Each manifold outlet feeds one foam pad by its own vacuum line, so that the six outlets feed six foam pads. [0012] The vent valve is connected to the circuit at the pump inlet line and opens that circuit to atmosphere when it is actuated. [0013] The robot side of the tool-change interface is bolted to the robot flange. [0014] The pump motor is supplied from the electrical supply of the cell. [0015] The locking piston of the tool-change interface is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell. [0016] The vent valve and the lock of the tool-change interface are switched by the cell controller. ## 3. Operating sequence and conditions - When the foam pads reach the workpiece, the foam pads are evacuated by the vacuum pump. - 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 workpiece is held until the vent valve has opened the circuit. [0020] The cell controller commands the tool-change interface, the vent valve; no sensor drives an actuator directly. ## 4. Parameters and operating assumptions [0021] 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); outlets of the manifold: six (sets how many lines can be fed from one inlet); 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). [0022] 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. [0023] 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. [0024] 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 [0025] 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-11427405-B1, US-11858125-B2, US-8006968-B2, WO-2008134339-A4; their text is not reproduced, and the description above is generated from the structure of the combination.