Patent ID: 8308211

Claim:
A gripper for clamping plates, to be used in combination with a manipulator arm called a robot, and comprising: a rigid frame, connected to a support; a movable subassembly connected to said frame, and having: a first arm, called the fixed arm, a second arm, called the movable arm, and an actuator supported on said fixed arm in order to move said movable arm with respect to said fixed arm, along a first degree of freedom, in translation or rotation, so as to adopt a closed position or an open position of the gripper, in order respectively to clamp an assembly of plates between said fixed and moving arms or in order to release the assembly of plates, and a balancing module, introducing an additional degree of freedom in translation or rotation between said support on the one hand, and an assembly incorporating said movable subassembly on the other hand, in order to balance forces which are exerted on ends of said fixed and moving arms respectively in said closed position, wherein said balancing module is offset to an outside of said assembly formed by said movable subassembly and said frame, forming an independent module, to one side of the gripper, and operatively connected between said support and at least one of said frame and said movable subassembly.