Abstract: A gripper for a manipulation installation such as an industrial robot characterized by a gripping arrangement including a gripping element movable into a receiving bore to enable gripping a cylindrical part. In order to compensate for misalignment between the bore and the cylindrical part and for tilting of the part, the cylindrical bore is provided in a slidable member and has a frusto-conical opening facing toward the part to act as a centering bell so that upon engagement of the part with the surface of the frusto-conical opening the slidable member moves to the desired position to allow insertion of the part into the bore. To enable exact positioning of the part after it is grasped by the gripping arrangement and removed from a rack or storage facilities, the gripper includes a centering arrangement to precisely center the movable member in the housing.

Abstract: A resilient gripper pad stores deformation energy just before the gripped object starts to slip, then rapidly accelerates as it suddenly releases the energy in the springback to rest position. An accelerometer in the resilient pad (corrected for ambient acceleration by differentiation with a nearby second accelerometer) provides information by which the control computer of a closed loop robot system mandates the manipulation of objects by controlled slipping. Controlled transitions of gripping (releasing) action evoked by the control computer provide related sequences of grip (slide) events, with one or more slip (pad chatter) events intervening at the threshold. Prior to the slide, there is an instant when the gripped object starts to slip on a slip pad on one digit of the gripper, but remains frictionally gripped by a resilient pad on the opposing digit. During this instant, the resilient pad deforms downward because of gravity on the gripped object.

Abstract: Apparatus that uses a suction engagement element to transport semiconductor wafers between processing boats and detects when suction engagement has not occurred despite the engagement element having been moved toward a wafer a distance sufficient to enable said engagement, and then adjusts the position of the engagement element relative to the object (e.g., by backing up and trying again or by pivoting the engagement element) to facilitate the suction engagement.

Abstract: An apparatus for transferring thin sheet-like articles such as wafers is disclosed. The apparatus is provided with opposed pairs of contact elements capable of adjusting the distance between said pairs of contact elements. The thin sheet-like articles are transferred one by from a transfer passage to a treating station while they are clamped between said pairs of contact elements by a transfer mechanism movable between the transfer passage and the treating station.

Abstract: An end effector suitable for use on a robotic arm associated therewith and coupled to a computer includes a universal mounting plate permitting the end effector to be mounted on the distal end of a robotic arm; a gripper mechanism slideably retained within the end effector is responsive to electronic command signals permitting the finger members disposed therein to cooperate with and removably retain a plurality of tools and components upon receiving computer controlled electronic command signal. The electronic command signal controls the driving power from a power source which is coupled to the end effector.

Abstract: A light weight servo controlled robot gripper is disclosed. A plastic body houses one or more threaded drive shafts which are powered by a direct current motor. Attached to the shafts are finger mounting blocks which support removable fingers and which can be driven both closer to and further away from a fixed point by the motor. Integral with at least one mounting block is a force transducer which monitors the load exerted on the finger through a pivot and lever action of a mounting bracket provided adjacent to the load cell. Since the transducer is in the block rather than the fingertip, fingers are readily interchangable without reinstrumentation. A limit switch, located above one of the finger mounting blocks, is used to determine coarse finger position, and an optical shaft encoder provides precise position information allowing the gripper to be utilized for a variety of position as well as force servoing tasks.

Abstract: A tube handling device of a type in which a plurality of tubes are hung by inserting claws in opposite end portion of the tubes, including a telescopically movable beam supporting at opposite ends thereof a plurality of claw members for movement in a direction perpendicular to the length of the beam, and sensor members for sensing the vertical distance between the tubes and the tube handling device and the horizontal distance between the claw members and the end edges of the tubes.

Abstract: A robotics manipulator utilizes a fluid pressure control system to provide a response to the gripping force of the robotics manipulator on an object. The force is converted to a change in fluid pressure that is sensed in a fluid flow channel. This change in pressure or flow is in turn used to provide the control system for the robotics manipulator with information on how hard an object is being gripped.