Patent ID: 9044864
Filing Date: 2015-06-02
Classification: B25J,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A wrist locking system for a robotic hand assembly grip mechanism, the system comprising: a grip mechanism configured to be moved between a first state and a second state; a wrist mechanism configured to rotate the grip mechanism, about a rotation axis passing through the wrist mechanism, to point substantially in a desired direction; an alignment feature; and a latch configured to be selectively interlocked with the alignment feature and in mechanical communication with the grip mechanism and the wrist mechanism in such a way that moving the grip mechanism to the first state mechanically causes the latch to transition to a locked state thereby interlocking the latch with the alignment feature so as to substantially prevent the wrist mechanism from rotating and so as to lock the grip mechanism in the desired direction, and moving the grip mechanism to the second state mechanically causes the latch to transition to an unlocked state thereby releasing the latch from the alignment feature so as to free the wrist mechanism to rotate the grip mechanism away from the desired location, wherein, in the first state of the grip mechanism, a pair of components of the grip mechanism used to grab and release a tape cartridge are in an extended position with ends of the components at a first distance from the rotation axis and, in the second state of the grip mechanism, the pair of components are in a retracted position with the ends of the components at a second distance from the rotation axis less than the first distance and wherein, in the first state of the grip mechanism, the components are spaced apart a third distance to facilitate grabbing a tape cartridge and, in the second state of the grip mechanism, the components are spaced apart a fourth distance greater than the third distance to facilitate releasing a tape cartridge.