A suction cup is provided, including: a cup body, including a sucking face, the cup body defining an axial direction perpendicular to the sucking face; a pump, connected to an end of the cup body opposite to the sucking face, the pump including a first passageway, a direction in which the first passageway extends and the axial direction forming an acute included angle therebetween; a movable handle, slidably disposed within the first passageway, including a piston.

A method of separating a transparent mother sheet includes contacting a first surface of the transparent mother sheet with an open ended pressure assembly including a pressure vessel shell, thereby forming a shell cavity defined by the first surface of the transparent mother sheet and the pressure vessel shell, where the transparent mother sheet comprises a damage path. The method also includes removing gas from the shell cavity through a fluid removal outlet extending through the pressure vessel shell to reduce a cavity pressure in the shell cavity, thereby applying stress to the damage path to separate a portion of the transparent mother sheet along the damage path.

The present invention relates to a vacuum plate (10) which may be used in a vacuum plate sheet material handling system (1) in which sheet material articles (4) are handled by the vacuum plate, for example by being lifted, held down, moved or deposited by the vacuum plate. The vacuum plate (10) comprises a first wall (22), a plurality of bores (24) in the first wall extending between opposite first and second sides (18, 57) of the first wall, and at least one air outlet (25) for connection to a source of vacuum pressure (16) for applying a vacuum pressure to the bores from the second side (57) of the first wall. The first wall (22) provides, in use, a vacuum lifting surface (20) for pulling and holding the sheet material article (4) to the vacuum surface when vacuum pressure is applied to the bores. Each bore comprises a flared opening (91) terminating at the vacuum surface (20) for admitting air (100) pulled through the bore by the applied vacuum pressure, and opposite this opening, an exit (99) for said air pulled through the bore, this exit being surrounded by a rim (96) that extends above a surrounding surface of the second side of the first wall.

A suction-cup end effector conforms to and grasps objects upon application of vacuum force. The suction cup assembly can have isotropic stiffness in a plane defined by a contact surface of the suction cup assembly and thus can conform regardless of the orientation of the suction cup to the object. The suction cup includes a foam suction cup body, a thin structural ring to provide a spring bias toward a rest position, and a sealing membrane within the structural ring to seal the suction cup.

An end manipulator for picking packages is provided. An example end manipulator includes a vacuum plate coupled to a machine where the vacuum plate includes a first set of vacuum cups. Further, the end manipulator includes a grasper plate movably coupled to the machine. The grasper plate moves between a retracted position and an extended position. In the retracted position, the grasper plate aligns with the vacuum plate such that the grasper plate abuts the vacuum plate. In the extended position, the grasper plate extends out from the vacuum plate. In some examples, when the grasper plate is in the retracted position, the end manipulator is configured to pick and place a first type of package. Further, in some examples, when the grasper plate is in extended position, the end manipulator is configured to pick and place a second type of package.

A vacuum gripper device including at least one suction cup including a fastener body from which there extends an elastically deformable skirt having a free annular edge for coming into contact with an object to be grasped. The suction cup includes at least one electrically conductive track secured at least to the skirt. The conductive track is made of a material that is electrically conductive and elastically deformable so as to deform together with the skirt. The device includes an electronic processor circuit that is connected electrically to two connection pads belonging to the conductive track and that is arranged to monitor an electrical property of the conductive track, which electrical property varies with the deformation of the conductive track, and to compare that property with reference data so as to anticipate a failure of the suction cup.

The present invention relates to a tool that is to be mounted on a handling device and grips pallet bases, the tool including a frame and a gripper for the bases that is mounted on the frame. The gripper is movable in the frame in such a way as to cooperate with a single edge of a pallet. The present invention relates to a corresponding transfer apparatus and a corresponding method.

A substrate holding device includes a base body that has a flat plate-like shape and that includes gas passages that open in an upper surface of the base body, and a plurality of protrusions that protrude from the upper surface of the base body. At least an upper part of each of the protrusions has a conical frustum shape having a base angle of 70 or more and 85 or less.

A carrying method of carrying a substrate with a substrate holder, including: holding a part of the substrate located above the substrate holder using holding pads; controlling and driving downward the holding pads holding the substrate so that the substrate is supported on the support surface of the substrate holder, when releasing the hold of an other part of the substrate by a substrate carry-in hand that holds the other part of the substrate located above the substrate holder. Accordingly, the substrate carriage to the substrate holder can be swiftly performed.

A noncontact support platform system is configured to support a workpiece and includes pressure ports and vacuum ports that are interspersed on a top surface of a table. The ports are arranged along columns such that a pressure port alternates with a vacuum port along each column. The columns include at least one longitudinal column that is oriented substantially parallel to a direction of motion of the workpiece. Mutually parallel rotated columns are each oriented at an oblique angle to the direction of motion. At least one transition column is located between a longitudinal column and its proximal rotated column and has an orientation that is intermediate between the two columns that are adjacent to that transition column. Each vacuum port and pressure port is located at an intersection of a column with a row that is oriented substantially perpendicular to the direction of motion.