Apparatus for general object holding during printing using multiple conformable gripper balls

A universal object holder, comprising:

• a support fixture;
• multiple conformable gripper balls mounted on shafts, said multiple conformable gripper balls including particles therein;
• a two part back plate connected to said support fixture, said two part back plate including a pattern of holes therein, and wherein said shafts of said multiple conformable gripper balls extend orthogonally through said holes in said back plate and are configured for depth adjustment within said back plate to move said multiple conformable gripper balls horizontally into and out of engagement with an object;
• springs positioned between and connecting said two parts of said two part back plate one to the other and configured to bias said two parts of said back plate by force;
• a pressure source configured to apply positive pressure into said multiple conformable gripper balls such that said particles become loose and move freely to contour to the surface of an object and configured to subsequently apply vacuum pressure to said multiple conformable gripper balls such that said particles within said conformable gripper balls become rigid and grip said object;
• a staging shelf connected to said support fixture and onto which said object is placed to be gripped by said multiple conformable gripper balls;
• and
• wherein said support fixture includes a datum plate, said datum plate being configured to ensure location of said object within a predetermined plane for further processing.