Patent ID: 7192393

Claim:
A gripping system for equipment for handling panels formed by laminates having at least one surface ply, the gripping system comprising: a pin mounting block on an operating panel of said equipment, at least one passage through said block, said passage having a longitudinal axis substantially parallel to and spaced from an adjacent face of said operating panel; a pin member on the operating panel, said pin member including a holding pin having a free end and a base end, said base end having an abutment element, said pin member mounted for movement between an operating position and a non-operating position relative to said pin mounting block, in the operating position said holding pin extends through said passage of said pin mounting block such that said free end is exposed beyond said pin mounting block; a releasable latch mechanism positioned to engage said abutment element so as to selectively hold said pin member in both the operating position and the non-operating position, said releasable latch mechanism movable to enable said pin member to move between the operating position and the non-operating position; a dome mounted on said operating panel and positioned so that when said pin member is in said operating position said free end of said holding pin is adjacent to said dome so that said free end cooperates with said dome for gripping a surface ply there between, when said pin member is in said non-operating position said free end of said holding pin is spaced away from said dome.