Patent ID: 7458805

Claim:
A gripping and positioning tool for a molding machine being provided with mold plates that are closeable for molding a part and a robot assembly to position objects prior to the closing of the mold plates the robot arm being movable between the spaced apart plates, the gripping and positioning tool comprising: a structure for being positioned between the spaced apart mold plates when the robot arm is moved therebetween thereby being interfaced with a given mold plate, the structure being provided with a movable portion and a fixed portion; the movable portion extending from the fixed portion towards said given mold plate when the structure is positioned between the spaced apart mold plates, the fixed portion being so configured and sized as to be mounted to the robot assembly of the molding machine; the movable portion being so mounted to the fixed portion as to be adjustable along a plurality of orthogonal axes and tilting directions relative to the fixed portion; and a gripping element being mounted to the movable portion of the gripping and positioning tool; wherein the combination of the tilting movements and the movements along the orthogonal axes provide for positional adjustment of the gripping and positioning tool.