The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 14, 2020
Filed:
Jul. 08, 2016
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Arnold John Lauder, Oak Bluff, CA;
David C. Boonstra, Dugald, CA;
Antonio M. Ferreira, Petersfield, CA;
Alan Wright, Winnipeg, CA;
Garth Vincent Kummen, Stonewall, CA;
Demsey Drew Kirkwood, Melbourne, AU;
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
Presently disclosed systems and methods provide for a quick-change clamp arm that may be coupled to and removed from a robot end effector via a quick-change feature coupled to the robot end effector. Systems may include a plurality of such quick-change clamp arms that each may be coupled to a given robot end effector such that when one is removed, a different respective quick-change clamp arm may be coupled to the robot end effector. The robot end effector may be configured to perform a task to one side of a workpiece, while the quick-change clamp arm applies a stabilizing normal force to the other side of the workpiece. Due to the interchangeable nature of presently disclosed quick-change clamp arms, systems may reduce the number of robot end effectors required for a given manufacturing process. Related methods of removing and coupling quick-change clamp arms to robot end effectors may be automated.