Robot gripper assembly

A gripping device for use with a robot to pick and place wires of a wire harness onto an assembly peg board, the device comprising:

• a gripper having first and second grip halves wherein the first grip halve and second grip halve together form a gripping portion of the gripper and wherein at least one of the first grip halve and second grip halve actuates between an open and closed position;
• the first grip halve including spaced apart first and second projections, wherein the first projection of the first grip halve has a split tine and the second projection of the first grip halve has a single prong;
• the second grip halve including spaced apart first and second projections wherein the first projection of the second grip halve has a split tine and the second projection of the second grip halve has a single prong;
• and
• wherein the first projection of the first grip halve mates with the second projection of the second grip halve.

A method of delivering and placing a filament in a desired location of an automated workplace, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a gripper having a leading grip edge and a trailing grip edge, wherein the gripper is adapted for picking and placing a horizontally oriented filament, the gripper including:
• first and second grip halves that together form a gripping portion of the gripper and that actuate between an open and a closed position;
• the first grip halve including spaced apart first and second projections wherein the first projection has a split tine and the second projection has a single prong;
• the second grip halve including spaced apart first and second projections wherein the first projection has a split tine and the second projection has a single prong, wherein the first projection of the first grip halve is aligned adjacent the leading grip edge of the gripper and the first projection of the second grip halve is aligned adjacent the trailing edge of the gripper;
• loading a filament into a filament dispenser positioned adjacent to the leading grip edge of the gripper;
• gripping an end of the filament with the gripper;
• fixing the end of the filament within the workplace at a first position;
• releasing a grip on the filament and moving the gripper to a second position while maintaining the filament dispenser at a leading travel edge of the gripper;
• and
• re-gripping the filament.