| 摘要 |
A vacuum cup assembly that generates a local vacuum using a prime mover that may be an electrical motor or a solenoid. The vacuum cup may have one or more ports to remove and vent air between the cup and the atmosphere. The prime mover drives a piston or a flexible membrane, which may be a diaphragm, through one or more reciprocating cycles to generate the local vacuum. The vacuum cup assembly may be used to form a temporary attachment to a work piece, the act on the work piece, such as by moving the work piece, and then release the work piece from the vacuum cup assembly. The vacuum cup assembly disclosed herein is self-contained inasmuch as the assembly may have a power source, such as a battery, located on a housing. This makes its operation quiet and effective. |
| 主权项 |
1. An improved vacuum cup assembly having a vacuum cup with a wall terminating at one end in a rim that is configured to seat against a work piece for forming a temporary attachment to the work piece, and a concave fluid chamber is defined within the vacuum cup wall, the improvement comprising:
(a) a housing to which the vacuum cup is mounted, the housing at least partially defining a variable volume chamber that is fluidically connected to the concave fluid chamber; (b) a sidewall moveably mounted to the housing and partially defining the variable volume chamber; and (c) a prime mover mounted to the housing and the sidewall, the prime mover being operable to selectively displace the sidewall relative to the housing, thereby modifying the volume of the variable volume chamber and modifying the fluid pressure in the concave fluid chamber. |
