Highly Damped Suction Cup Assemblies for High-Acceleration Picking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fulfillment centers face challenges in efficiently processing and handling large and heavy items due to issues with suction cup detachment during acceleration, leading to potential bottlenecks and delays in order fulfillment.
Innovation Solution
The use of highly damped suction cup assemblies with increased damping ratios, typically between 0.3 and 1.5, which are integrated with end-of-arm tools and robotic manipulators to grasp and move large and heavy items with reduced risk of detachment, allowing for higher acceleration and improved throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional suction cups are used to grasp large and heavy items, then the system can handle basic picking tasks, but the suction cups detach during acceleration of robotic manipulators
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the suction cup by increasing its damping ratio from typical values (around 0.1) to highly damped values (0.3 to 1.5). This parameter change allows the suction cup to maintain attachment during high acceleration by reducing oscillations and improving dynamic response, thereby resolving the contradiction between attachment reliability and manipulator acceleration speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structures in the suction cup design, combining materials with different damping characteristics to achieve the desired high damping ratio. This composite approach enables the suction cup to simultaneously provide structural integrity for heavy item handling and sufficient damping to prevent detachment during rapid acceleration, thus resolving the reliability-speed contradiction.
2Speed
If suction cup damping ratio is increased to prevent detachment, then acceleration capability improves, but the complexity of suction cup design and manufacturing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves high damping ratios through parameter changes in the suction cup's physical characteristics, such as material composition, wall thickness, and internal structure geometry. While these changes increase performance, they also inherently increase manufacturing complexity, as precise control of these parameters is required to achieve the target damping ratio of 0.3 to 1.5.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes flexible shell structures with controlled thickness and material properties to achieve the desired damping characteristics. By carefully designing the shell's geometric parameters and material composition, the suction cup can attain high damping ratios while maintaining manufacturability through established flexible membrane fabrication techniques.
3Reliability
If manual handling is used for large and heavy items, then detachment issues are avoided, but processing speed and throughput decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual handling with an automated robotic system equipped with highly damped suction cups. The enhanced damping characteristics of the suction cups enable reliable attachment during high-speed robotic manipulation, substituting manual labor with automated high-speed handling while maintaining or improving reliability, thus resolving the contradiction between handling reliability and processing throughput.
Solution Approach 2:
By changing the damping parameter of the suction cup system, the patent enables robotic manipulators to operate at higher accelerations without experiencing detachment. This parameter change allows the automated system to match or exceed manual handling speeds while maintaining the reliability of secure attachment, thereby improving overall productivity without sacrificing reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The implementation of highly damped suction cup assemblies enhances the ability to handle large and heavy items at higher acceleration, reducing the risk of detachment and improving processing speed and throughput in fulfillment centers.
Implementation Method 1
suction cups with increased damping ratios, typically between 0.3 and 1.5, which are integrated with end-of-arm tools and robotic manipulators to grasp and move large and heavy items with reduced risk of detachment
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed for robotic picking assemblies with highly damped suction cups. In one embodiment, an example suction cup for a picking assembly may include a shell formed of an elastomeric material, where the shell forms a first bellow. The suction cup may include a first fluid chamber disposed on an outer portion of the suction cup, a first opening, where fluid from the first fluid chamber passes through the first opening, and an optional second fluid chamber disposed on an inner portion of the suction cup. The suction cup may include an optional second opening formed in the shell, where fluid from the second fluid chamber passes through the second opening. The first fluid chamber and the second fluid chamber may be configured to dampen movement of the suction cup.