--- publication_id: "OT-2026-000101776" title: "Foam pad vacuum gripper, four zone face, plant vacuum fed, pulsed blow-off after set-down" published_at: "2026-09-17T09:13:02.278025Z" canonical_url: "https://opentechnical.org/p/OT-2026-000101776" 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: - "zoned vacuum tool" - "mounting flange" - "foam pad" - "plant vacuum connection" - "zone branch" - "blow-off valve" - "blow off release" - "compressed air supply" - "plant vacuum supply" - "release control" --- # Foam pad vacuum gripper, four zone face, plant vacuum fed, pulsed blow-off after set-down ## Abstract A zoned vacuum gripping tool comprising one mounting flange, one foam pad, one plant vacuum connection, four zone branches and one blow-off valve. When the foam pad reaches the workpiece, the foam pad is 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: one foam pad 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, clearing the face at 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 closed 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] **Four zone branches.** Each zone branch carries the vacuum of one zone of the face and no other. The count of four follows from the arrangement: one branch per zone. The distribution is divided into four 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 foam pad is carried on the tool side of the mounting flange. [0008] The four 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 zone line opens into its own section of the distribution chamber behind the porous face of the foam pad, so that the pad is evacuated zone by zone. [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 - When the foam pad reaches the workpiece, the foam pad is 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 workpiece is held until the blow-off valve has opened the circuit. [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: material of the foam pad: sponge (sets the compliance of the sealing face); porosity of the foam pad: closed cell (sets whether air passes through the pad body or only through openings cut through it); material of the zone branches: plastic; zones of the zone branches: four (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 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. [0021] 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 [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-10259123-B2, US-10549431-B2, US-8132312-B2, WO-2026020244-A1; their text is not reproduced, and the description above is generated from the structure of the combination.