Patent ID: 6224123
Filing Date: 2001-05-01
Classification: B25J

Abstract:
A gripper apparatus, comprising:a housing body including a center part fixed within said housing;a pair of spaced apart gripping fingers disposed in said housing body to move toward and away from said center part, and consequently toward and away from each other, said movement toward each other defining a closing direction of movement and said movement away from each other defining an opening direction of movement, each of said gripping fingers having a surface defining a chamber extending in the opening and closing direction and having a closed bottom;a control rod fixed to said center part and extending in said opening and closing direction and in engagement with said chamber of each gripping finger, said control rod defining at least one free end and a first and second channel extending in the longitudinal direction in a control rod a second sealing element and its associated first sealing element define a control chamber;a first sealing element fixed to said free end of said control rod, said first sealing element being sealingly seated against said surface defining said respective chamber;a second sealing element which engages said surface defining said respective chamber, said second sealing element being movable with its respective gripper finger against said control rod; andmeans for connecting said second channel to said control chamber, wherein a flowable medium is introduced through said first channel into said chamber sealed by said sealing element.