GRIPPER ASSEMBLY FOR AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOTS
First Claim
1. A gripper assembly in an autonomous mobile robot for grabbing and holding an object to be transported by the robot, the gripper assembly comprising:
- two rotatable shafts;
two counter-rotating flippers, each fixedly connected to a different one of the rotatable shafts for engaging the object on opposite sides thereof;
two drive elements, each engaging a different one of the rotatable shafts; and
two drive arms, each engaging a different one of the drive elements to transfer torque and rotation from the drive arm to a respective drive element and rotatable shaft to open or close a respective flipper around the object,wherein each drive element is disengageable from a respective drive arm and rotatable when disengaged from the drive arm to adjust a radial position of a respective rotatable shaft and flipper relative to the drive arm in order to accommodate objects of different sizes.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A gripper assembly is provided for use in an autonomous mobile robot for grabbing and holding an object to be transported by the robot. The gripper assembly includes two rotatable shafts and two counter-rotating flippers, each fixedly connected to a different one of the rotatable shafts for engaging the object on opposite sides thereof. The gripper assembly also includes two drive elements, each engaging a different one of the rotatable shafts. Two drive arms engage the two drive elements to transfer torque and rotation from each drive arm to a respective drive element and rotatable shaft to open or close a respective flipper around the object. Each drive element can be disengaged from a respective drive arm and then rotated in order to adjust a radial position of a respective rotatable shaft and flipper relative to the drive arm so that objects of different sizes can be accommodated.
24 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A gripper assembly in an autonomous mobile robot for grabbing and holding an object to be transported by the robot, the gripper assembly comprising:
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two rotatable shafts; two counter-rotating flippers, each fixedly connected to a different one of the rotatable shafts for engaging the object on opposite sides thereof; two drive elements, each engaging a different one of the rotatable shafts; and two drive arms, each engaging a different one of the drive elements to transfer torque and rotation from the drive arm to a respective drive element and rotatable shaft to open or close a respective flipper around the object, wherein each drive element is disengageable from a respective drive arm and rotatable when disengaged from the drive arm to adjust a radial position of a respective rotatable shaft and flipper relative to the drive arm in order to accommodate objects of different sizes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of adjusting a gripper assembly in an autonomous mobile robot, the gripper assembly for grabbing and holding an object to be transported by the robot, the gripper assembly comprising two rotatable shafts;
- two counter-rotating flippers, each fixedly connected to a different one of the rotatable shafts for engaging the object on opposite sides thereof;
two drive elements, each engaging a different one of the rotatable shafts; and
two drive arms, each engaging a different one of the drive elements to transfer torque and rotation from the drive arm to a respective drive element and rotatable shaft to open or close a respective flipper around the object, the method comprising the steps of;disengaging a drive element from a respective drive arm; rotating the drive element to adjust a radial position of a respective rotatable shaft and flipper relative to the drive arm in order to accommodate an object of a different size; and re-engaging the drive element to the respective drive arm. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
- two counter-rotating flippers, each fixedly connected to a different one of the rotatable shafts for engaging the object on opposite sides thereof;
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17. An autonomous mobile robot for transporting objects, comprising:
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(a) a chassis; (b) a drive subsystem for maneuvering the chassis; (c) a gripper assembly on the chassis for grabbing and holding an object to be transported by the robot; (d) an object sensing subsystem on the chassis for detecting and locating objects; and (e) a controller on the chassis responsive to the object sensing subsystem and configured to control the drive subsystem and the gripper assembly in order to cause the robot to travel to a source location, pick up an object, transport the object to a destination location, and deposit the object at the destination location, wherein the gripper assembly comprises; two rotatable shafts; two counter-rotating flippers, each fixedly connected to a different one of the rotatable shafts for engaging the object on opposite sides thereof; two drive elements, each engaging a different one of the rotatable shafts; and two drive arms, each engaging a different one of the drive elements to transfer torque and rotation from the drive arm to a respective drive element and rotatable shaft to open or close a respective flipper around the object, wherein each drive element is disengageable from a respective drive arm and rotatable when disengaged from the drive arm to adjust a radial position of a respective rotatable shaft and flipper relative to the drive arm in order to accommodate objects of different sizes. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification