GRIPPING DEVICE

摘要

A gripper formed as a single component includes a hoop portion connecting facing arms. Each arm may have a tang end, a jaw end and a pivot intermediate the tang and jaw ends and be attached to the hoop portion at the pivot to be pivotable to change the size of a jaw opening defined by the jaw ends. The hoop portion is cyclically loaded in use and configured to act as a stress concentrator for the gripper and provide a failure point for consistently initiating a failure crack in the hoop portion at time of failure of the gripper. Each of the facing arms is attachable to a base such that at failure, the fractured portions of the gripper are retained to the base.

主权项

1. A gripper configured to fail in a controlled manner, the gripper comprising:
a hoop portion connecting a pair of facing arms defining a longitudinal axis of the gripper; wherein each of the facing arms:
defines a pivot axis at an intermediate position within the respective facing arm;is attached to the hoop portion adjacent the pivot axis; andis pivotable relative to the longitudinal axis; wherein the hoop portion is configured to provide a failure point in the hoop portion for consistently initiating a failure crack in the hoop portion at time of failure of the gripper.