Universal part gripper with conformable gripper ball with vacuum assist
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsLinn C Hoover, Erwin Ruiz, Jeffrey J Bradway, Paul M Fromm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A universal object holder device for securing 3-D objects for printing on the objects includes one or more ball shaped conformable grippers filled with irregular-shaped granular material with the one or more ball shaped conformable grippers each possessing an integrated vacuum gripper extending through an outer surface thereof. The combination of ball and vacuum gripper enables the universal object holder device to pick up a wider range of objects including those whose diameter is larger than the diameter of each gripper ball.
Claims20
A universal part holder, comprising:
- a part holder plate;
- at least one shaft mounted conformable gripper, said at least one shaft mounted conformable gripper including granular particles therein;
- a loading plate spaced a predetermined distance away from said part holder plate, said loading plate including at least one hole therein, and wherein said at least one shaft mounted conformable gripper is mounted within and extends orthogonally through said at least one hole in said loading plate;
- said loading plate is configured to be biased to move said at least one shaft mounted conformable gripper horizontally into and out of engagement with a part positioned within said part holder plate;
- a vacuum source for applying negative pressure into said at least one shaft mounted conformable gripper such that said granular particles within said at least one conformable gripper become semi-rigid and grips said part positioned within said part holder plate;
- and
- wherein said at least one shaft mounted conformable gripper includes at least one integrated vacuum gripper positioned within an outer surface portion of said at least one shaft mounted conformable gripper.
A printer part holder for securely gripping parts for printing thereon, comprising:
- a holder plate;
- a loading plate and spacers separating said holder plate and loading plate a predetermined distance;
- collapsible spherical grippers loaded orthogonally within said loading plate and extending towards said holder plate, said collapsible spherical grippers including granular material therein;
- vacuum grippers integral with an outer surface of and extending into said collapsible spherical grippers;
- and
- a vacuum source adapted to apply a vacuum to said collapsible spherical grippers and collapse said collapsible spherical grippers under atmospheric pressure and thereby compress said granular material around a part while simultaneously forming a semi-rigid support against a back portion of the part.
A part holder for gripping a part for transfer to a predetermined location, comprising:
- a holder plate into which said part is placed;
- a loading plate having holes therein, said loading plate being spaced from and connected to said holder plate;
- a pair of spherical flexible grippers loaded orthogonally within said holes in said loading plate, said pair of spherical flexible grippers including granular material therein;
- wherein said loading plate and said pair of spherical flexible grippers configured to be biased to slide towards said holder plate;
- vacuum grippers integral with an outer surface of and extending into said pair of spherical flexible grippers;
- and
- a vacuum source adapted to apply a vacuum to said pair of spherical flexible grippers and collapse said pair of spherical flexible grippers under atmospheric pressure to compress said granular material around a part and thereby forming a semi-ridge support against a back portion of said part.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.