Patent ID: 11938618
Assignee: BERKSHIRE GREY OPERATING COMPANY, INC.
Field: Handling (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 28:
29. A method of grasping an object with an end-effector that includes a body that provides an open interior that is coupled to a vacuum, said method comprising:
contacting a contact portion of the body with the object, the contact portion having a plurality of apertures defined therein;
applying a vacuum through the plurality of apertures in the contact portion to the object to primarily engage the object through tension force between the contact portion and the object; and
permitting the contact portion of the body to bend along at least one feature that defines a bend path in the contact portion while grasping the object such that the object becomes primarily engaged with the object via a shear force that is greater than the tension force between the contact portion and the object,
wherein a central region of the contact portion has larger diameter apertures as compared to apertures at the periphery of the contact portion.