Patent Description:
A gripper is usually needed by the robot. Currently, there are lots of grippers in the market, but normally they only have unique function, and a servo driver is further required to work together with the gripper, which generally increase the size, weight and cost of the gripper system.

Various attempts have been made to make it lighter and smaller, or with more functions. Typical solution is using pneumatic grippers, however, which cannot control the force and position of the grippers. In some cases a pneumatic suction cup is used to pick up objects, but additional valve units are also required.

Another existing solution is using a servo gripper as shown in <FIG> however, separate drive module should be prepared for the gripper, which increases the complexity a lot.

<CIT> describes a material handling tool comprising a longitudinal body provided with a proximate end and a distal end is described herein. The handling tool includes a vacuum jaw assembly so mounted to the distal end of the body as to be transversally movable; and a longitudinally movable jaw assembly so mounted to the longitudinal body as to be longitudinally movable between a retracted position where the movable jaw assembly is adjacent to the longitudinal body and an extended position where the movable jaw assembly faces the vacuum jaw assembly.

<CIT> describes a reliable automated storage library by mounting two CCD cameras on a turret plate with two grippers, the CCD cameras providing video support for both grippers. The turret plate is rotatably mounted on the end of an anthropomorphic robot arm so that the cameras and grippers are rotated and angled into position as needed for viewing or gripping. A CCD camera is positioned to view a tape cartridge for capturing an image of the label attached thereto. While the captured image is being processed to verify its identity, the first gripper is rotated into position and moved forward to grip the desired tape cartridge. The robot arm then moves the camera and gripper assembly to a tape drive and rotates the second gripper into position to remove another tape cartridge from the tape drive. The turret plate is again rotated to position the first gripper to insert the verified tape cartridge into the tape drive. Thus pick-before-place operations may be performed by a single camera and two grippers. The second camera is added to increase reliability for pick-before-place. If either gripper fails, a single camera and a single gripper in any combination will allow the automated storage library to continue to provide storage and retrieval functions.

<CIT> describes an end of arm tool that is capable of handling fragile items such as eggs that are packaged in containers (e.g., egg cartons) that require special handling is provided. The end of arm tool comprises pivotal clamps operated by slidingcontact linear actuators and return springs. A retractable gripper for placing divider sheets between packages in the cases may be disposed above the clamps and oriented <NUM> degrees from the clamps, so that the clamps and gripper may be attached to the same tool without either obstructing the operation of the other. In addition, a method of loading packages, and optionally divider sheets, into cases using the end of arm tool apparatus of the present invention is provided.

<CIT> describes a work tool having gripping and suction functions of an object and, more specifically, to a work tool for enabling the gripping and suction of an object, and stably and efficiently performing a pick-and-place work. Therefore, the provided work tool having gripping and suction functions of an object includes: a pair of absorption plates; a pair of gripping portions which are mounted on one end of the absorption plates, and extended vertically from one end of the absorption plates; a driving unit which is combined to the gripping portions, and which adjust the space between the gripping portions; and a buffering member arranged between the gripping portions and the driving unit to absorb the reaction generated when an object is gripped.

<CIT> describes a baggage handling device comprising, in combination, a vacuum gripping foot and a non-vacuum, mechanical engagement device such as a simple hook or a power operated claw, with means to select either the vacuum gripping foot, or the mechanical device as appropriate, for any particular item of baggage; with a powered hoisting means to raise and lower the duplex unit, as necessary in a baggage handling sequence.

In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art to develop an improved gripper with the combination of servo gripping, pneumatic suction and vision functions with compact solution.

The object of the present invention is to provide an integrated gripper, makes the gripper more functional with compact solution and makes the robot system more flexible.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an integrated gripper. Said integrated gripper comprises a kernel processor, a servo gripper finger member, a pneumatic member and an interface member; said servo gripper finger member comprises at least two fingers, a servo actuator and a motor, said fingers being driven by said motor to grip and/or move an object; said pneumatic member, comprising a cup, a vacuum generator and a pneumatic actuator, is configured to suck and/or blow off an object; said kernel processor is configured to control said servo actuator of said servo gripper finger member and said pneumatic actuator of said pneumatic member; and said interface member comprises a power supply interface, a bus interface and an air input interface, said power supply interface, said bus interface and said air input interface being connectable to a power supply, a bus and an air input respectively.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention,said gripper further comprises a vision member, for object detection and calculation, and said kernel processor is configured to control said vision member.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said vision member comprises a camera and a standalone calculation unit, said camera comprising a camera lighting and a camera lens, said standalone calculation unit being controlled by said kernel processor and capable of outputting results to said kernel processor.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said pneumatic member further comprises a filter and a pressure sensor, said pressure sensor being configured to detect the air pressure of said cup.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said pneumatic member further comprises a vacuum generator, a first valve and a second valve, said first valve and said second valve being configured to open and close alternatively, to make said cup suck or blow off an object.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said integrated gripper comprises one, two or more than two said pneumatic members.

According to an optional exemplary embodiment, there is provided an integrated gripper. Said integrated gripper comprises a kernel processor, a servo gripper finger member, a vision member and an interface member; said servo gripper finger member comprises at least two fingers, a servo actuator and a motor, said fingers being driven by said motor to grip and/or move an object; said vision member is used for object detection and calculation; said kernel processor is configured to control said servo actuator of said servo gripper finger member and said vision member; and said interface member comprises a power supply interface and a bus interface, said power supply interface and said bus interface being connected to a power supply and a bus respectively.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said vision member comprises a camera and a standalone vision calculation unit, said camera comprising a camera lighting and a camera lens, said standalone vision calculation unit being controlled by said kernel processor and capable of outputting results to said kernel processor.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said servo gripper finger member further comprises a gear box and a pinion-rack mechanism, said gear box and said pinion-rack mechanism being configured to drive said fingers to move in parallel, for gripping and/or moving an object.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said kernel processor controls the current, speed and position of said servo gripper finger member through said servo actuator.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said servo gripper finger member further comprises a position feedback unit to form a closed-loop control.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said integrated gripper is controlled by a user through said bus.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said bus interface is configured to accept the control signal from the user, and keep the user monitor the status of said integrated gripper.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said power supply is a direct-current (DC) power supply, and said motor is a DC motor.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a robot comprising the integrated gripper as described above.

Compared with the existing prior arts, the solution for gripper can achieve several advantages as below.

Multi-functions: the present invention integrates multi-functional modules, to conduct motion control, valve control and visual supervision.

Intelligent automatic control: the present invention can improve control speed of the whole robot, while ensure the control accuracy of the gripper.

Compact: the present invention has a compact solution with the combination of intelligent grippers, pneumatic function, and view-function. Furthermore, the control unit is also inside the gripper. Its size and weight are extremely small compared to other products.

Other features and advantages of embodiments of the present application will also be understood from the following description of specific exemplary embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, byway of example, the principles of the invention.

The above and other features of the present disclosure will become more apparent through detailed explanation on the embodiments as illustrated in the description with reference to the accompanying drawings, throughout which like reference numbers represent same or similar components and wherein:.

Throughout the figures, same or similar reference numbers indicate same or similar elements.

Hereinafter, solutions as provided the present disclosure will be described in details through embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be appreciated that these embodiments are presented only to enable those skilled in the art to better understand and implement the present disclosure, not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any manner.

All references to "a/an/the/said [element, device, component, means, step, etc.]" are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of said element, device, component, means, unit, step, etc., without excluding a plurality of such devices, components, means, units, steps, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. Besides, the indefinite article "a/an" as used herein does not exclude a plurality of such steps, units, modules, devices, and objects, and etc..

In general, embodiments of the present application provide a new gripper of a robot. As will be apparent from the further discussions below, several options modules, including a servo gripper finger member, at least one pneumatic member and a vision member, are employed to provide an integrated gripper.

Reference is first made to <FIG>, which shows an integrated gripper <NUM> for use in a robot according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The integrated gripper <NUM> comprises a kernel processor <NUM>, a servo gripper finger member <NUM>, a pneumatic member <NUM> and an interface member <NUM>. The servo gripper finger member <NUM> comprises two or more fingers <NUM> as shown in <FIG>, and a servo actuator <NUM>, a motor <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. The fingers <NUM> are driven by the motor <NUM> to grip or move an object. The pneumatic member <NUM> is used for sucking or blowing off an object As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, it comprises a cup <NUM>, a vacuum generator <NUM> and a pneumatic actuator <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the kernel processor <NUM> is configured to control the servo actuator <NUM> of the servo gripper finger member <NUM> and the pneumatic actuator <NUM> of the pneumatic member <NUM>.

As also shown in <FIG>, the interface member <NUM> comprises a power supply interface <NUM>, a bus interface <NUM> and an air input interface <NUM>. The power supply interface <NUM>, the bus interface <NUM> and the air input interface <NUM> are connected to a power supply, a bus and an air input respectively.

Therefore, by having the servo gripper finger member <NUM> and the pneumatic member <NUM>, a new gripper can be designed to achieve multi-functions with compact solution. This new gripper with control system has bus communication function, servo gripping function, pneumatic suction and blow off functions, etc. All functions are combined in one gripper and each function can also be modularized. For example, a user can just select servo gripping function, which includes the servo gripper module only, to save weight and cost.

The above describes one kind of integrated gripper <NUM>, but the structures of the gripper <NUM> are not limited to the above, and it can also adopt, but not limited to, other structures as described below.

As shown in <FIG>, one way to arrange the servo finger member <NUM> is to have a gear box <NUM> and a pinion-rack mechanism <NUM>. The gear box <NUM> and the pinion-rack mechanism drive the fingers <NUM> to move in parallel. So the fingers <NUM> can grip or move an object.

As shown in <FIG>, one way to arrange the pneumatic member is to have a filter <NUM> and a pressure sensor <NUM>. So the air pressure of the cup <NUM> can be detected by the pressure sensor <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, another way to arrange the pneumatic member is to have a vacuum generator <NUM>, a first valve <NUM> and a second valve <NUM>. When the first valve <NUM> open and the second valve <NUM> close, it will form a vacuum by the vacuum generator <NUM> around the cup <NUM>, so the cup <NUM> can suck an object. When the first valve <NUM> close and the second valve <NUM> open, it will form a positive pressure around the cup <NUM>, so the cup <NUM> can blow off an object.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the kernel processor <NUM> controls the current, speed and position of the servo gripper finger member <NUM> through the servo actuator <NUM>. Furthermore, the servo gripper finger member can also have a position feedback unit to form a closed-loop control. So it can improve control speed of the gripper, while ensure the control accuracy of the gripper.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the kernel processor <NUM> of the integrated gripper <NUM> is controlled by a user through the bus. Furthermore, the bus interface <NUM> can also accept the control signal from the user, and keep the user monitor the status of the integrated gripper <NUM>. As the control unit is inside the gripper. Its size and weight are extremely small compared to other products.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the power supply is a DC power supply, so the motor is a DC motor. However, the power supply can also be a AC power supply upon requirements.

Reference is next made to <FIG> and <FIG>, which shows an integrated gripper <NUM> for use in a robot according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The integrated gripper <NUM> comprises a kernel processor <NUM>, a servo gripper finger member <NUM>, two or more pneumatic members <NUM> and an interface member <NUM>. It is noted that, in the second and subsequent embodiments, the components identical with or similar to those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions of some similar elements will be omitted.

As shown in <FIG>, the gripper <NUM> according to the second embodiment can have two or more channels of pneumatic functions. By having several pneumatic members <NUM>, a new gripper can be designed to increase the working area and facilitate the flexibility of suction and blowing off functions in object picking.

Reference is next made to <FIG> and <FIG>, which shows an integrated gripper <NUM> for use in a robot according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

The integrated gripper <NUM> comprises a kernel processor <NUM>, a servo gripper finger member <NUM>, a vision member <NUM> and an interface member <NUM>.

The vision member <NUM> can be a smart camera, which is used for object detection and calculation. The kernel processor <NUM> can also control the vision member <NUM> as shown in <FIG>.

The advantages of having the vision member <NUM> comprise providing detecting and view function, and ensuring the control accuracy of the gripper. This visual supervision feature makes a gripper more functional and makes the robot system more flexible with compact structure. So the size and weight of the robot are further saved by the third embodiment.

One way to arrange the vision member <NUM> is to have a camera <NUM> and a standalone vision calculation unit <NUM>. The camera <NUM> comprises a camera lighting <NUM> and a camera lens <NUM>. So integrated lighting is provided for the vision. And the standalone vision calculation unit <NUM> is controlled by the kernel processor <NUM> and capable of outputting results to the kernel processor 2O. With the standalone vision calculation unit <NUM>, the vision member <NUM> can easily process the imaging information without other module.

Reference is next made to <FIG> and <FIG>, which shows an integrated gripper <NUM> for use in a robot according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in <FIG>, the integrated gripper <NUM> comprises a kernel processor <NUM>, a servo gripper finger member <NUM>, a pneumatic member <NUM>, a vision member <NUM> and an interface member <NUM>. It is noted that, the components identical with or similar to those in the above embodiments are given the same reference, and repeated descriptions of some similar elements will be omitted.

The present embodiment with multi-functional modules has a compact solution with the combination of intelligent grippers, pneumatic function, and view function. Its size and weight are extremely small compared to other products. Therefore, by having several modules, a new gripper can be designed to facilitate its compactness, flexibility and reliability. Furthermore, as each member is formed as a separate module, a user can select among these multi-functions, to save weight and cost.

Claim 1:
An integrated gripper (<NUM>), wherein
said integrated gripper (<NUM>) comprises a kernel processor (<NUM>), a servo gripper finger member (<NUM>), a pneumatic member (<NUM>) and an interface member (<NUM>);
said servo gripper finger member (<NUM>) comprises at least two fingers (<NUM> ), a servo actuator (<NUM>) and a motor (<NUM>), said fingers (<NUM>) being driven by said motor (<NUM>) to grip and/or move an object;
said pneumatic member (<NUM>), comprising a cup (<NUM>), a vacuum generator (<NUM>) and a pneumatic actuator (<NUM>), is configured to suck and/or blow off an object;
said kernel processor (<NUM>) is configured to control said servo actuator (<NUM>) of said servo gripper finger member (<NUM>) and said pneumatic actuator (<NUM>) of said pneumatic member (<NUM>); and
said interface member (<NUM>) comprises a power supply interface (<NUM>), a bus interface (<NUM>) and an air input interface (<NUM>), said power supply interface (<NUM>), said bus interface (<NUM>) and said air input interface (<NUM>) being connectable to a power supply, a bus and an air input respectively.