Patent ID: 7452017

Claim:
A pneumatically controlled finger gripper, comprising: a supporting body with a proximal part and a distal part defining a distal end of said supporting body, said proximal part and said distal part forming a chamber closed at the proximal part and open at the distal part; a fixed axial rod with a first end attached to said proximal part of said supporting body, said fixed axial rod extending in said chamber such that a second end of said fixed axial rod extends to a position located outside of said chamber; a compression disk connected to said second end of said fixed axial rod; a pneumatically controlled piston guided along said fixed axial rod, said piston being movable moving in said chamber with respect to said compression disk between a retracted, inactive position and a forward active position, said piston being located at a first distance from said compression disk when said piston is in said inactive position, said piston being located at a second distance from said compression disk when said piston is in said forward active position, said second distance being less than said first distance; and a flexible gripper element located between said compression disk and said control piston, said gripper element moving between a contracted position and an expanded position with respect to said compression disk when said control piston moves between said inactive position and said active position, said gripper element having an upper gripper element portion in contact with said piston and a lower gripper element portion in contact with said compression disk, said upper gripper element portion being located adjacent to said distal part of said supporting body when said gripper element is in said contracted position, said gripper element being located at a spaced location from said distal part of said supporting body when said gripper element is in said expanded position.