GRIPPER

Abstract

A gripper, which comprises: a cylindrical main-body having a valve-rod set inside; and a plurality of gripping-jaws are pivotally set on the bottom of the valve rod which is opposite to the bottom side of the cylindrical main-body; wherein the gripping-jaws can be synchronously folded and expanded when the valve-rod is moved up and down in the cylindrical main-body; wherein each end of the gripping-jaws is pivotally connected with a gripping-piece via an axial-rod, so that the gripping-piece can rotate upwards or downwards using the axial-rod as a fulcrum; wherein a gripping-plane having a slippery-stopping effect is set on the inner side of the gripping-piece.

Description

(a) TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a gripper, and especially relates to a gripper structure applied in a selecting-thing vending machine for gripping a can (bottle) or a container.

(b) DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

The current selecting-thing vending machine (or grabbing-doll machine, grabbing-thing game machine, griping-thing game machine . . . , etc.) has both functions of grabbing entertainment and selling goods.

Whether a young child, a student, a social person, a middle-aged person or the elderly, all of them can grab objects to obtain merchandise. In addition, some stores and traders place special merchandise, limited goods . . . , in a grabbing-thing game machine for the gainers to grab to increase the value and popularity of the goods, and to promote the marketing activities; therefore, the grabbing-thing game machines are widely popular with the public and are long-term enduring game and trafficking patterns.

At present, in order to provide the diversity of the goods and the challenge of the grabbing, there are vendors who set up the can (bottle) product containing beverage or goods in the selecting-thing vending machine for players and buyers to pick up and buy.

However, the surface and packaging of the can (bottle) product are smooth, and even the body of some can (bottle) product is arced and curved.

Presently, the terminal end of the gripper for the three jaw type gripper is mostly a form of a tapered cone due to its outer diameter is gradually reduced, even if the gripper has a slippery-stopping portion at its end, it is still difficult to grip the can (bottle) product containing beverage or goods, and then lower down the purchase intention of players and buyers.

On the other hand, the two jaw type gripper is obviously not applicable to the can (bottle) product containing beverage or goods; therefore, how to improve the lacking that the grippers are unable to pick up the can (bottle) product containing beverage or goods is an urgent subject to be solved for the present selecting-thing vending machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to improve the above-mentioned defects, and to provide a gripper structure capable of gripping a can (bottle) container.

To achieve the above object, the gripper structure of the present invention comprises a cylindrical main-body having a valve-rod set inside; and a plurality of gripping-jaws are pivotally set on the bottom of the valve rod which is opposite to the bottom side of the cylindrical main-body; wherein the gripping-jaws can be synchronously folded and expanded when the valve-rod is moved up and down in the cylindrical main-body; wherein each end of the gripping-jaws is pivotally connected with a gripping-piece via an axial-rod, so that the gripping-piece can rotate upwards or downwards using the axial-rod as a fulcrum; wherein a gripping-plane having a slippery-stopping effect is set on the inner side of the gripping-piece.

In this way, a gripper structure is provided for gripping a can (bottle) container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the decomposition diagram according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assemble diagram according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another angle according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram (1) of gripping a large diameter beverage can according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram (2) of gripping a large diameter beverage can according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of gripping a small diameter beverage can according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram (1) of gripping an arc beverage bottle according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram (2) of gripping an arc beverage bottle according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following detailed description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

The foregoing and other aspects, features, and utilities of the present invention will be best understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

With respect to the technical means and the structure used by the present invention to achieve the purpose, the embodiments shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 9 are further described. The details are as follows:

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, the gripper structure in this embodiment includes a cylindrical main-body 10 having a valve-rod 11 set inside, and a plurality of gripping-jaws 20 are pivotally set on the bottom of the valve rod 11 which is opposite to the bottom side of the cylindrical main-body 10; wherein the gripping-jaws 20 can be synchronously folded and expanded when the valve-rod 11 is moved up and down in the cylindrical main-body 10; wherein each end of the gripping-jaws 20 is pivotally connected with a gripping-piece 30 via an axial-rod 21, so that the gripping-piece 30 can rotate upwards or downwards using the axial-rod 21 as a fulcrum; wherein a gripping-plane 31 having a slippery-stopping effect is set on the inner side of the gripping-piece 30.

Continuously, the gripping-piece 30 is made of a non-slip material (e.g., rubber, silicone) in a preferred embodiment.

Continuously, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the preferred embodiment is that the shape of the gripping-plane 31 is arced and curved.

With the above configuration, the gripping-piece 30 can be freely deflected upwards or downwards since the gripping-piece 30 uses the axial-rod 21 as a fulcrum. When the gripping-jaws 20 of the present invention starts to be folded and the gripping-piece 30 touches the product, the gripping-piece 30 can start to deflect according to the arc of the touched product surface (as shown in FIG. 5). At the same time, the gripping-plane 31 of the gripping-piece 30 can be abutted and clamped on the surface of the product (as shown in FIG. 6) through the continuous folding and pressurizing of the gripping-jaws 20. And since the gripping-plane 31 of the clamping gripping-piece 30 has a slippery-stopping effect, the product will not fall down when the gripper of the present invention rises and moves, so as to ensure that the player and the buyer can obtain the gripped product.

Since the gripping-plane 31 set by the gripping-piece 30 of the present invention has the slippery-stopping effect, the present invention can be applied to gripping a container, a beverage can, a beverage bottle . . . , etc.; when the gripping-piece 30 set at the end of the gripping-jaws 20 of the present invention touches the beverage can 40, the gripping-plane 31 of the gripping-piece 30 can be deflected to against the can body of the beverage can 40 (as shown in FIG. 6). When the gripping-piece 30 set at the end of the gripping-jaws 20 of the present invention grips and holds the beverage can 40A having a smaller diameter, the gripping-piece 30 can be deflected by the axial-rod 21 at a greater angle; so that the gripping-plane 31 of the gripping-piece 30 can be deflected to against the can body of the beverage can 40A having a smaller diameter (as shown in FIG. 7).

When the gripping-piece 30 set at the end of the gripping-jaws 20 of the present invention grips and holds the beverage bottle 50 with an arc, the gripping angle of the gripping-piece 30 set at the end of the gripping-jaws 20 can be deflected according to the arc of the bottle body; so that the gripping-plane 31 of the gripping-piece 30 can also abut to against the bottle body of beverage bottle 50 (as shown in FIG. 8). In this way, the drinking bottle with an arc can be smoothly gripped. If the neck of the beverage bottle 50A is relatively slender (such as: marbles, beer . . . , etc.), or due to other factor such as the bottle shape, the gripping-piece 30 cannot abut to against the bottle body and bottle neck of the beverage bottle 50A; when the gripping-piece 30 is against the bottle body, the gripping-piece 30 can be deflected by the folding pressure of the gripping-jaws 20 according to the arc of the beverage bottle 50A along with the rising of the gripping-jaws 20 since the gripping-piece 30 is deflected using the axial-rod 21 as a fulcrum. Then when the top end of the gripping-piece 30 touches the bottle cap 51, the top end of the gripping-piece 30 can abut to against the bottom edge of the bottle cap 51 (as shown in FIG. 9) since the outer diameter of the bottle cap 51 is larger than the outer diameter of the bottle body. In this way, the beverage bottle 50A can be gripped and positioned, and can be ascended and moved for the player and the buyer to obtain the beverage bottle 50A.

From the above description and explanation, it can be seen that the present invention has the following advantages:

• • 1. The gripping-piece 30 of the present invention is pivotally connected with the end of the gripping-jaws 20 by means of the axial-rod 21, which can be rotated by using the axial-rod 21 as a fulcrum. The gripping-piece 30 can be deflected according to the curve of the bottle body, so as to abut to against the bottle body; and further to provide for gripping a container and to arrange to drop.
  • 2. When the gripped container, bottle, or can body is relatively smooth, the gripped container, bottle, or can cannot be slipped and taken off due to the slippery-stopping effect of the anti-slip surface 31. In addition to ensuring that the players, buyers can obtain the goods, but also to maintain the integrity of the packaging of the goods.
  • 3. Because the gripping-piece 30 of the present invention is pivotally connected with the end of the gripping-jaws 20 by the axial-rod 21, it can be rotated using the axial-rod 21 as a fulcrum, which can not only be used to grasp the containers, bottles, cans of different outer diameters, but also be used to grasp the containers, bottles, cans of different curves and arcs; therefore the present invention can really increase the practicality and application range of the gripper.
  • 4. Since the gripping-piece 30 of the present invention is pivotally connected with the end of the gripping-jaws 20 by the axial-rod 21, it can be rotated using the axial-rod 21 as a fulcrum, so that it can abut to against the product to grasp. Therefore, the structure thereof is simple and cost-effective and has the convenience of maintenance and replacement.

Claims

1. A gripper, which comprises:

a cylindrical main-body having a valve-rod set inside; and

a plurality of gripping-jaws are pivotally set on the bottom of the valve rod which is opposite to the bottom side of the cylindrical main-body;

wherein the gripping-jaws can be synchronously folded and expanded when the valve-rod is moved up and down in the cylindrical main-body;

wherein each end of the gripping-jaws is pivotally connected with a gripping-piece via an axial-rod, so that the gripping-piece can rotate upwards or downwards using the axial-rod as a fulcrum;

wherein a gripping-plane having a slippery-stopping effect is set on the inner side of the gripping-piece.

2. The gripper according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the gripping-plane of the gripping-piece is arced and curved.

3. The gripper according to claim 1, wherein the gripping-piece is made of a non-slip material.