Container gripper
AssigneeOwens-Brockway Glass Container Inc.
InventorBrian J. Chisholm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A container gripper comprises a housing and a petal assembly configured to be carried in the housing assembly. The petal assembly includes a petal holder and a plurality of circumferentially-spaced rigid articulating petals having upper ends pivotably coupled to the petal holder and lower ends configured to be guided by the lower housing of the housing assembly. The petal assembly further includes a travel brace configured to limit the translation of the petal holder, and a return spring between the travel brace and the petal holder.
Claims24
A container gripper, comprising:
- a housing;
- and
- a petal assembly configured to be carried in the housing, and including
- a petal holder configured to be translatably carried within the housing,
- a plurality of circumferentially-spaced articulating petals having upper ends pivotably coupled to the petal holder and lower ends configured to be guided by the housing,
- a travel brace configured to limit the translation of the petal holder, and
- a return spring configured to be held between the travel brace and the petal holder.
A container gripper, comprising:
- a housing;
- and
- a petal assembly configured to be carried in the housing, and including
- a petal holder configured to be translatably carried within the housing,
- a plurality of circumferentially-spaced articulating petals having upper ends pivotably coupled to the petal holder and lower ends configured to be guided by the housing, wherein each of the plurality of petals includes a magnet,
- a travel brace configured to limit the translation of the petal holder, wherein the travel brace includes a plurality of magnets, and
- a return spring configured to be held between the travel brace and the petal holder,
- wherein when the petal assembly is in a retracted state, each petal is pushed radially outwardly by a repelling magnetic force generated between the magnet in the petal and a respective magnet of the travel brace.
A container gripper, comprising:
- a housing;
- and
- a petal assembly configured to be carried in the housing, and including
- a seal block,
- a petal holder configured to be coupled to the seal block, wherein the petal holder and the seal block are configured to be translatably carried within the housing,
- a plurality of circumferentially-spaced rigid articulating petals having upper ends pivotably coupled to the petal holder and lower ends configured to be guided by the housing, wherein each of the plurality of petals includes a magnet,
- a travel brace configured to limit the translation of the seal block and petal holder, wherein the travel brace includes a plurality of magnets, and
- a return spring configured to be held between the travel brace and the seal block and/or the petal holder,
- wherein when the petal assembly is in a retracted state, each petal is pushed radially outwardly by a magnetic force generated between the magnet in the petal and a respective magnet of the travel brace.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.