Robotic gripper for disk-shaped objects
US4586743A · kind A · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 24, 1984 |
| Grant date | May 6, 1986 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 24, 2004 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S414/141
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A robotic gripper for transporting an object such as a disk-shaped integrated circuit wafer by contacting and gripping only its edge surface. The robotic gripper includes a plurality of elongated fingers which are joined together at a central location from which they project outward in the shape of the letter "X" to their fingertips. Each fingertip may be individually extended outward from or retracted inward to the edge surface of the object to be transported. To adapt the fingertips for grasping the edge of disk-shaped integrated circuit wafers, each fingertip is formed with a projecting lip having a V-shaped notch into which a wafer's edge surface is received while it is being gripped. Each finger includes a bellows through which a cable communicates force from a remote motor to the fingertip. A housing encloses cables and gears used to move the cable.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.