Pressure transmission assembly for mounting to a robotic device having a rotatable end effector
AssigneeWestern Digital Technologies, Inc.
InventorNathan R. Jones
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is a pressure transmission assembly for mounting to a robotic device having a rotatable end effector. The pressure transmission assembly includes a housing and a flexible pressure transmission member. The housing includes an input port and an output port. The flexible transmission member is coupled between the input port and the output port of the housing. The flexible transmission member is wound within the housing between the input port and the output port and is configured to receive a pressure signal at the input port and to transmit the pressure signal to the end effector through the output port.
Claims20
A pressure transmission assembly for mounting to a robotic device having a rotatable end effector, the pressure transmission assembly comprising:
- a housing including an input port and an output port;
- and
- a flexible pressure transmission member coupled between the input port and the output port, the flexible pressure transmission member being wound within the housing between the input port and the output port and configured to receive a pressure signal at the input port and to transmit the pressure signal to the end effector through the output port, wherein the housing further comprises a manifold that includes the output port, the manifold being rotatably mounted within the housing and configured to couple to the end effector, wherein the manifold rotates with the end effector of the robotic device causing the flexible pressure transmission member to wind or unwind within the housing.
A robotic device comprising:
- a rotatable end effector;
- and
- a pressure transmission assembly including:
- a housing having a plurality of input ports;
- a manifold having a plurality of output ports rotatably mounted within the housing, the end effector mounted to the manifold;
- and
- ribbon tubing including a plurality of tubes molded together, each tube of the ribbon tubing being coupled between one of the input ports of the plurality input ports of the housing and one of the output ports of the plurality of output ports of the manifold, each tube of the ribbon tubing being wound within the housing between a respective one of the input ports and a respective one of the output ports and configured to receive a pressure signal at the respective one of the input ports and to transmit the pressure signal to an end effector through the respective one of the output ports of the manifold;
- wherein the manifold rotates with the end effector causing the ribbon tubing to wind or unwind within the housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.