Abstract
The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background informa tion supplied bythe inventors: “An end-of-arm tool may be used to manipulate an object or a fixture may be used tosupport an object. However, such devices and fixtures are typically designed for a specific object, suchthat manipulating o r supporting different objects entails substituting an end-of-arm tool or fixtur e withanother specialized device or fixture. Such specialization may introduce manufacturing delays (e.g., as aresult of the time required to switch devices a nd fixtures), lead to additional complexity (e.g., to plan andprogram changes), and require additional space (e.g., to store multiple devices and use multiple fixtures).“It is with respect to these and other general considerations that embodiments h ave been described.Also, although relatively specific problems have been discus sed, it should be understood that the embodimentsshould not be limited to solvi ng the specific problems identified in the background.”
NETL
NSTL