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OT-2026-000077276

Single bellows cup vacuum gripper, common isolation valve, pump fed, vented after set-down

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Classification
Robotics & Automation › End Effectors › Vacuum Grippers
Also classified in
Valves and Manifolds, Vacuum Generation, Vacuum Safety Systems
Document SHA-256
566ff8e7fb1d96980fe4f079591eac86f2384fdd8e756b6c7783ab68f17374e2

Abstract

A bellows-cup vacuum gripping tool comprising one mounting flange, one bellows cup, one vacuum pump, one isolation valve and one vent valve. When the bellows cup reaches the workpiece, the bellows cup 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 bellows-cup vacuum gripping tool: one bellows cup carried on a mounting flange, fed by a vacuum pump. It is arranged for cutting part of the circuit while the rest holds vacuum, controlling the moment of release and taking up height differences at the face. 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 bellows cup. Each bellows cup is folded so that it shortens under vacuum and takes up a height difference between the face and the workpiece. Each bellows cup has one fold.

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

[0010]The bellows cup is connected to the isolation valve outlet by a single vacuum line, so that the face is evacuated through that line.

[0011]The vent valve is connected to the circuit at the line downstream of the isolation valve 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 isolation valve and the vent valve are switched by the cell controller.

3. Operating sequence and conditions

[0015]

  • When the bellows cup reaches the workpiece, the bellows cup is evacuated by the vacuum pump.

[0016]

  • After the bellows cup has reached the workpiece, the isolation valve is closed by the cell controller.

[0017]

  • While the isolation valve is in the closed state, the vacuum downstream of the valve is maintained by the sealed gripping face.

[0018]

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

[0019]

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

[0020]The cell controller commands the isolation valve, the vent valve; no sensor drives an actuator directly.

4. Parameters and operating assumptions

[0021]Parameter values of this embodiment: folds of the bellows cup: 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 cup: plastic (sets the friction at the lip and the resistance of the folds to fatigue); 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; 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).

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-4489564-B1, US-10163334-B1, US-10549431-B2, US-11427405-B1, 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-2026-000077276, “Single bellows cup vacuum gripper, common isolation valve, pump fed, vented after set-down,” published September 17, 2026 at 08:56:32 UTC, https://opentechnical.org/p/OT-2026-000077276.

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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.