Patent ID: 7299925

Claim:
A module for holding a payload in position, said module comprising: a plurality of grippers, each individual gripper fillable to a conical shape from an interior wall of said module to a longitudinal axis of said module wherein each of said grippers is positioned to be in contact with a surface of the payload by an extending action resulting from fluid supplied to and filling each individual gripper with the contact acting to secure the payload; a passageway fluidly connected to supply fluid to said plurality of grippers and to each of said grippers and to remove the fluid from each of said grippers when releasing the payload; and an inner skirt positioned on said interior wall toward the longitudinal axis of said module wherein said inner skirt includes a plurality of apertures wherein each of said apertures is sized to secure one of said grippers as the fluid is removed from each of said grippers such that an inner surface of said inner skirt extends to the longitudinal axis beyond each of said grippers with the fluid removed.