Is a
Patent attributes
Patent Applicant
Current Assignee
Patent Jurisdiction
Patent Number
Date of Patent
September 1, 2015
Patent Application Number
14518184
Date Filed
October 20, 2014
Patent Citations Received
Patent Primary Examiner
Patent abstract
A passive universal gripper includes a mass of granular material encased in an elastic membrane. Using a combination of positive and negative pressure, the gripper can rapidly grip and release a wide range of objects that are typically challenging for conventional universal grippers, such as flat objects, soft objects, or objects with complex geometries. The gripper passively conforms to the shape of a target object, then vacuum-hardens to grip it rigidly; later using positive pressure to reverse this transition—releasing the object and returning to a deformable state. The apparatus and method enable the fast ejection of objects from the gripper, as well as essentially instantaneous reset time between releasing and gripping.
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