Universal Gripping and Suction Chuck

摘要

Proposed is a universal gripping and suction chuck for use as an interchangeable end effector of a robot arm of a robotic station capable of picking up, transporting, and handling objects having colors and outlines. The chuck housing contains elements of a vacuum system for holding the object by vacuum suction force, a vortex system for holding the objects in a non-contact manner in a state of levitation, and a mechanical edge gripper. The vacuum system, the vortex system, and the mechanical edge gripper can be selectively activated by commands from the central processing system that receives a signal recognition signal, object presence/absence signal and/or object approaching signal from respective sensors and depending on the type of the object recognized by the respective sensor. As a result, the chuck can pick up and handle such different objects as solid semiconductor wafer, paper or fabric interleaves, or small-diameter rings.

主权项

1. A universal gripping and suction chuck for use as an interchangeable end effector of a robot arm of a robotic station capable of picking up, transporting, and handling objects having colors and outlines, the chuck comprising:
a hollow housing having a periphery, an inner wall, and a bottom plate; a vacuum system with a plurality of suction cups and suction channels connected to the suction cups formed in the bottom plate of the housing, said suction cups being arranged symmetrically along a first contour; a vortex system with nozzles for generation of air flows for holding objects in a state of levitation, the nozzles being located inwardly with respect to the first contour; an edge gripper with gripper elements located beyond the outlines of the objects for gripping and releasing the objects; at least one sensor for recognizing the color and outlines of the objects and generating an object and color recognition signal; and a central processing unit for selectively activating or deactivating one or two of the vacuum system, the vortex system, and the edge gripper in response to the object and color recognition signal obtained from the at least one sensor.