Gripping and releasing apparatus and method

摘要

A passive universal gripper includes a mass of granular material encased in an elastic membrane. Using a combination of positive and negative pressure, the gripper can rapidly grip and release a wide range of objects that are typically challenging for conventional universal grippers, such as flat objects, soft objects, or objects with complex geometries. The gripper passively conforms to the shape of a target object, then vacuum-hardens to grip it rigidly; later using positive pressure to reverse this transition—releasing the object and returning to a deformable state. The apparatus and method enable the fast ejection of objects from the gripper, as well as essentially instantaneous reset time between releasing and gripping.

主权项

1. A method for operating a universal gripping and releasing apparatus, comprising:
providing a universal gripping and releasing apparatus, comprising:
a deformable membrane having an opening fluidically coupled to a positive source of fluid ingress and a negative source of fluid egress in an evacuable sealing relationship, wherein the positive source of fluid ingress is above atmospheric pressure;at least one port providing the source of fluid ingress and egress disposed in fluid connection with the opening of the membrane; anda granular, jamming material characterized by a fluid-like to solid-like phase transition upon application of one of a negative fluid pressure and a vacuum, disposed within the membrane; and applying at least one of a positive fluid pressure that is above atmospheric pressure to the jamming material to cause a solid-like to fluid-like phase transition of the jamming material and a negative fluid pressure that is less than atmospheric pressure to the jamming material to cause a fluid-like to solid-like phase transition of the jamming material.