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OT-2026-000061294

Foam pad vacuum gripper, pump fed, vented after set-down

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Classification
Robotics & Automation › End Effectors › Vacuum Grippers
Also classified in
Position and Presence Sensing, Vacuum Generation, Vacuum Safety Systems
Document SHA-256
3c85571417b9b3d3579ca2c1f0c1a6a9cd71385be43271dbf2353e5c9a1e952a

Abstract

A foam-pad vacuum gripping tool comprising one mounting flange, one foam pad, one vacuum pump, one contact detector and one vent valve. When the foam pad reaches the workpiece, the foam pad is evacuated by the vacuum pump. 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: one foam pad carried on a mounting flange, fed by a vacuum pump. It is arranged for starting the cycle at the moment of contact, 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]One foam pad. The 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 pad is of open cell foam.

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

[0005]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.

[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 pad is carried on the tool side of the mounting flange.

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

[0009]The foam pad is connected to the pump inlet line by a single vacuum line, so that the face is evacuated through that line.

[0010]The contact detector is mounted on the gripping face and reports the moment a workpiece is present against the gripping face.

[0011]The vent valve is connected to the circuit at the pump inlet line 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 pump motor is supplied from the electrical supply of the cell.

[0014]The vent valve is switched by the cell controller; the contact detector reports to the cell controller.

3. Operating sequence and conditions

[0015]

  • After the contact detector has detected the workpiece, the vacuum supply is actuated by the cell controller.

[0016]

  • When the foam pad reaches the workpiece, the foam pad is evacuated by the vacuum pump.

[0017]

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

[0018]

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

[0019]The cell controller reads the contact detector (on the gripping face) and commands the vent valve; no sensor drives an actuator directly.

4. Parameters and operating assumptions

[0020]Parameter values of this embodiment: material of the foam pad: sponge (sets the compliance of the sealing face); porosity of the foam pad: open 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); placement of the contact detector: on the gripping face (sets where the presence of the workpiece is detected); 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).

[0021]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.

5. Provenance and status

[0022]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-10549431-B2, US-11427405-B1, US-2022339798-A1, WO-2008134339-A4; their text is not reproduced, and the description above is generated from the structure of the combination.

Publication information

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Citation

OpenTechnical Publication OT-2026-000061294, “Foam pad vacuum gripper, pump fed, vented after set-down,” published September 17, 2026 at 08:45:45 UTC, https://opentechnical.org/p/OT-2026-000061294.

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Published through OpenTechnical, which means it has been made publicly available here. It is not a statement that the design has been built, tested or independently validated. Content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. See the publication policy.