Robotic end effector with counter-rotating fingers

A carriage for use in an end effector, the carriage comprising:

• a body;
• first and second fingers, each including a support portion and a journal portion having a longitudinal axis, said journal portion being supported for rotation about said longitudinal axis by said body, said support portion being angled with respect to said longitudinal axis;
• and
• at least one actuator selectively causing said journal portions to counter-rotate with respect to each other, wherein said at least one actuator includes first and second actuators, wherein said first and second actuators are interconnected with said body and with said first and second fingers, respectively, and operable to selectively rotate said first and second fingers, respectively, about said respective longitudinal axes.

An end effector for use with a robot, the end effector comprising:

• a chassis;
• first and second carriages interconnected with said chassis, said first carriage being movable toward said second carriage;
• first and second pairs of fingers interconnected with and rotatable with respect to said first and second carriages, respectively;
• a first pair of actuators interconnected between said first carriage and said first pair of fingers, and actuable to counter-rotate said first pair of fingers;
• and
• a second pair of actuators interconnected between said second carriage and said second pair of fingers, and actuable to counter-rotate said second pair of fingers.

An end effector for use with a robot, the end effector comprising:

• a chassis;
• a carriage interconnected with said chassis;
• a finger interconnected with said carriage and rotatable about a longitudinal axis with respect to said carriage;
• and
• a change-out mechanism interconnected between said carriage and said finger to facilitate replacement of said finger, said change-out mechanism including a clamp and a coupling member coupling said clamp with said finger.

An end effector for moving an object, the end effector comprising:

• a chassis;
• at least one carriage having a body coupled to said chassis, said body including at least one pair of spaced-apart bearings;
• at least one pair of fingers coupled to said body, each finger extending through said at least one pair of spaced-apart bearings;
• and
• at least one actuator coupled between said at least one carriage and said at least one pair of fingers.