---
publication_id: "OT-2026-000060638"
title: "Three pad foam vacuum gripper, three outlet manifold, plant vacuum fed, vented after set-down"
published_at: "2026-09-17T08:45:21.818756Z"
canonical_url: "https://opentechnical.org/p/OT-2026-000060638"
categories:
  - "robotics-automation/end-effectors/vacuum-grippers"
  - "industrial-motion-power-transmission/fluid-power/valves-and-manifolds"
  - "industrial-components-safety-infrastructure/plant-utilities/vacuum-supply"
  - "lifting-positioning-manipulation/vacuum-lifting/vacuum-safety-systems"
keywords:
  - "foam area gripping tool"
  - "mounting flange"
  - "foam pad"
  - "plant vacuum connection"
  - "manifold"
  - "vent valve"
  - "plant vacuum supply"
  - "release control"
  - "vacuum"
---

# Three pad foam vacuum gripper, three outlet manifold, plant vacuum fed, vented after set-down

## Abstract

A foam-pad vacuum gripping tool comprising one mounting flange, three foam pads, one plant vacuum connection, one manifold and one vent valve. When the foam pads reach the workpiece, the foam pads are evacuated by the plant vacuum connection. After the workpiece has reached the set-down position, the vacuum circuit is vented by the vent 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: three foam pads carried on a mounting flange, fed by a plant vacuum connection. It is arranged for 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] **Three 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 three follows from the arrangement: one gripping element per manifold outlet. 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] **One manifold.** The manifold receives the vacuum at one inlet and distributes it to its outlets. The manifold has three 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 after set-down.

[0007] The foam pads are carried on the tool side of the mounting flange.

[0008] The manifold is fixed to the tool side of the mounting flange.

[0009] The manifold inlet is connected to the plant vacuum connection, which supplies every outlet of the manifold.

[0010] Each manifold outlet feeds one foam pad by its own vacuum line, so that the three outlets feed three foam pads.

[0011] The vent valve is connected to the circuit at the plant vacuum connection and opens that circuit to atmosphere when it is actuated.

[0012] The robot side of the mounting flange is bolted to the robot flange.

[0013] The vent valve is switched by the cell controller.

## 3. Operating sequence and conditions

- When the foam pads reach the workpiece, the foam pads are evacuated by the plant vacuum connection.

- After the workpiece has reached the set-down position, the vacuum circuit is vented by the vent valve.

- The workpiece is held until the vent valve has opened the circuit.

[0017] The cell controller commands the vent valve; no sensor drives an actuator directly.

## 4. Parameters and operating assumptions

[0018] Parameter values of this embodiment: material of the foam pads: sponge (sets the compliance of the sealing face); porosity of the foam pads: open cell (sets whether air passes through the pad body or only through openings cut through it); outlets of the manifold: three (sets how many lines can be fed from one inlet); timing of the vent valve: after set-down (sets whether the workpiece is released before or after it is supported by the set-down surface).

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