US 2025/0033878 A1Published application

Low profile transfer mechanism for controlled environment

AssigneeRutgers, The State University of New Jersey

InventorsGuohong LI, Eva Y. ANDREI, Angela COE

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A system for transferring objects into a device inside a controlled environment includes a winch, tool and carousel. The winch includes a drum, and wire arrangement configured to be reversibly wound onto the drum by a first drive. The tool is suspended below a distal end of the wire arrangement and configured to suspend an object. Both the tool and the object are sized to fit inside a device located below the winch. The carousel is connected to a second drive configured to rotate the carousel around a vertical axis, and includes a storage space centered at a first horizontal angle and a pass-through opening at a different second horizontal angle. The pass-through opening being large enough to pass the tool and the object as the wire arrangement is unwound from the drum thereby lowering the tool and object inside the device.

Claims6

Dependent claims

An apparatus, comprising:

a housing;
a handle at a top end of a housing;
a central passage through the housing and the handle;
and a floating element configured to move along an axis in the central passage through a range of positions bounded by an upper position and a lower position and including a neutral position;
a flip-flop linkage comprising a sliding block constrained to move perpendicular to the axis and a coupler connected to the sliding block and to the floating element, wherein when the floating element is in the lower position the coupler positions the sliding block at a first perpendicular distance from the housing, when the floating element is in the upper position the coupler positions the sliding block at a different second perpendicular distance from the housing and the floating element protrudes through the handle, and when in the neutral position the coupler positions the sliding block at a maximum perpendicular distance from the housing;
and
a spring configured to bias the sliding block toward the housing and thereby, via the coupler, bias the floating element away from the neutral position;
and
a hook secured to the sliding block and configured to suspend an object therefrom.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 18/810,045Filed 20 Aug 2024
Priority: 24 Apr 2018
Published: 30 Jan 2025
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification12 codes

B25J 15/0266
Comprising parallel grippers: actuated by articulated links
B66C 17/12
Specially adapted for particular purposes, e.g. in foundries, forges; combined with auxiliary apparatus serving particular purposes: for handling…
B25J 15/022
Comprising articulated grippers: actuated by articulated links
B25J 15/0273
Actuated by articulated links: comprising linear guide means

Family

Application62/661,924Us provisional application · filed 24 Apr 2018
Application15/733,768Division · filed 20 Oct 2020
Application18/810,045Division
US 12,098,026 B2Related patent
US 2021/0237972 A1Published application
US 2025/0033878 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.