Vacuum driven gripping tool

Apparatus for gripping an article, comprising:

• support means for applying a vacuum induced force to the articles, said support means including
• a support block having a front face with a shape substantially conforming to that of the article, and a back face, and
• a plurality of throat bores therethrough communicating with said back face and said front face, the cross sectional area of at least a portion of the length of each of said throat bores being equal in value to that of a cylinder having a diameter of from about 0.005 to about 0.010 inches;
• and
• vacuum application means for simultaneously applying a vacuum to all of said throat bores.

Apparatus for gripping printed circuit boards, comprising:

• a support block having a substantially flat support block front face and a support block back face;
• a plurality of cylindrical throat bores communicating between said support block front face and said support block back face, the cross sectional area of at least a constricted portion of the length of each of said throat bores having a diameter of from about 0.005 to about 0.010 inches;
• a pad made of a rubbery material and having a pad back face affixed to the support block front face, and a pad front face, the pad having
• a plurality of pad bores therethrough, one pad bore for each of said throat bores and positioned to communicate therewith, and
• a plurality of suction cups on said pad front face and extending above said pad front face, one suction cup for each of said pad bores and positioned to communicate therewith;
• and
• a vacuum manifold affixed to said support block and communicating with said support block back face, so that a vacuum is applied to all of said throat bores from a common source.