Vacuum pickup assemblies for picking up articles and minimizing contamination thereof

Abstract

Vacuum pickup assemblies for picking up articles and minimizing contamination of the articles are described. One such vacuum pick up assembly includes an end effector configured to contact the article, the end effector coupled to a vacuum section and a purge section, the vacuum section including a vacuum filter pneumatically coupled to the end effector, and a vacuum source pneumatically coupled to the first filter and, in a pick up mode, configured to generate vacuum pressure at the end effector at a preselected vacuum pressure to pick up and retain the article, the purge section including a purge filter pneumatically coupled to the end effector, and a purge source pneumatically coupled to the second filter and, in a release mode, configured to expel a purge gas at the end effector at a preselected purge pressure to release the article.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.