Three cup vacuum gripper, three zone face, plant vacuum fed, pulsed blow-off after set-down

Abstract

A zoned vacuum gripping tool comprising one mounting flange, three suction cups, one plant vacuum connection, three zone branches and one blow-off valve. When the suction cups reach the workpiece, the suction cups are evacuated by the plant vacuum connection. 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 zoned vacuum gripping tool: three suction cups carried on a mounting flange, fed by a plant vacuum connection. It is arranged for handling workpieces that do not cover the whole gripping face and clearing the face at release. 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 suction cups. Each suction cup presents a sealing lip to the workpiece and is evacuated through its own connection. The count of three follows from the arrangement: one gripping element per zone branch. The suction cups are of the flat form.

[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]Three zone branches. Each zone branch carries the vacuum of one zone of the face and no other. The count of three follows from the arrangement: one branch per zone. The distribution is divided into three zones, each fed by its own branch.

[0006]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.

[0007]The suction cups are carried on the tool side of the mounting flange.

[0008]The three zone branches are taken from a branch junction on the plant vacuum connection, so that each branch carries the vacuum of its own zone only.

[0009]Each suction cup is connected to its own zone line, one suction cup per zone, and is evacuated through that line.

[0010]The blow-off valve is connected to the circuit at the plant vacuum connection, so that compressed air can be driven back through the circuit to the face.

[0011]The robot side of the mounting flange is bolted to the robot flange.

[0012]The blow-off valve is fed from the compressed air supply of the cell.

[0013]The blow-off valve is switched by the cell controller.

3. Operating sequence and conditions

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

4. Parameters and operating assumptions

[0018]Parameter values of this embodiment: form of the suction cups: flat (sets the shape of the contact area and the behaviour of the lip on a curved workpiece); material of the suction cups: polyurethane (sets the friction at the lip and the tolerance of the lip to oil and heat); material of the zone branches: plastic; zones of the zone branches: three (sets how much of the face can be treated separately); 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).

[0019]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.

[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 US-10259123-B2, US-10549431-B2, US-2016214812-A1, US-8132312-B2, WO-2026020244-A1; their text is not reproduced, and the description above is generated from the structure of the combination.