Suction pad

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10836048-B2
Application number	US-201916529980-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 2, 2019
Priority date	Aug 8, 2018
Publication date	Nov 17, 2020
Grant date	Nov 17, 2020

Abstract

A suction device includes an adapter having a supply passage to which a negative pressure fluid is supplied, a bellows connected to a lower end of the adapter, and a pad member formed at the distal end of the bellows. The pad member has plural first and second ribs on a suction surface that attracts a workpiece under suction. The first ribs are disposed on an outer circumferential side of an attachment provided in the center of the pad member and extend toward the outer circumferential side. The second ribs are provided on an outer circumferential side of the first ribs, and are disposed in a circumferentially offset manner with respect to the first ribs. Additionally, between the respective first ribs which are disposed alongside one another in the circumferential direction of a skirt, supply paths are formed to which the negative pressure fluid is supplied from the attachment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A suction pad configured to be fixed to an end of a body having therein a passage to which a negative pressure fluid is supplied, the suction pad including:
a suction member having a suction surface to which a workpiece may be attracted under suction;
a plurality of first rib portions arranged circumferentially around the passage and configured to extend radially outward and to project from the suction surface of the suction member toward the workpiece being attracted thereto under suction, wherein adjacent ones of the first rib portions are circumferentially spaced from one another to form supply paths through which the negative pressure fluid can flow; and
a plurality of second rib portions facing outer circumferential sides of the first rib portions, wherein the second rib portions are circumferentially offset with respect to the first rib portions such that a radial line extending along one of the supply paths and passing between the adjacent ones of the first rib portions intersects one of the second rib portions,
wherein at least parts of the second rib portions are disposed so as to face toward directions in which the supply paths extend.

2. The suction pad according to claim 1 , wherein parts of the first rib portions and parts of the second rib portions are arranged to overlap each other in radial directions of the suction member.

3. The suction pad according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second rib portions are provided at equal intervals from one another along a circumferential direction of the suction member.

4. The suction pad according to claim 1 , wherein the first rib portions are formed with concave shapes in cross section opening toward an outer circumferential side of the suction member, and the second rib portions are formed with concave shapes in cross section opening toward an inner circumferential side on a side of the first rib portions.

5. The suction pad according to claim 1 , wherein the suction member further comprises:
an attachment provided in a center of the suction member, and to which the negative pressure fluid is supplied; and
a skirt which is elastically deformable and disposed on an outer circumferential side of the attachment, the skirt having the suction surface to which the workpiece may be attracted under suction;
wherein the skirt is disposed to be freely flexible about the attachment with the attachment acting as a supporting point.

6. The suction pad according to claim 5 , wherein the skirt is formed in an annular shape, a sum of lengths of the plurality of first rib portions along a circumferential direction thereof is set to lie within a range of from 40% to 70% of an inner circumference of the skirt, and is set to be less than or equal to 40% of a circumference of an outer circumscribed circle in contact with outer circumferential end portions of the second rib portions, and a total area of the first and second rib portions as viewed from an axial direction of the body and the suction member is set to lie within a range of from 5% to 40% of an area of the skirt.

7. The suction pad according to claim 5 , wherein the suction member comprises a bellows portion which is formed in a bellows shape and is expandable and contractible in an axial direction, and the skirt having the suction surface to which the workpiece may be attracted under suction is formed integrally on an end of the bellows portion, wherein the bellows portion and the skirt are formed from different materials.

8. The suction pad according to claim 7 , wherein a hardness of the bellows portion is set to be higher than a hardness of the skirt.

9. The suction pad according to claim 5 , wherein communication holes provided in communication with the passage of the body are formed in the attachment, and guide grooves that extend toward an outer circumferential side on a side of the skirt are formed in communication with the communication holes.

Assignees

• Smc Corp

Inventors

• Nakayama Toru
• Sugiyama Toru
• Miyazaki Noriyuki
• Saitoh Masaru
• Goto Yukiya

Classifications

• B25J15/0683 Primary

  Details of suction cup structure, e.g. grooves or ridges · CPC title

• B65G2201/0238

  Bags · CPC title

• B65G47/91 Primary

  incorporating pneumatic, e.g. suction, grippers · CPC title

• G03F7/70691

  Handling of masks or workpieces · CPC title

• B23Q7/04

  by means of grippers {(B23Q7/1494 takes precedence)} · CPC title