Vacuum pick-up end effecter to pick and place a component in a manufacturing process
View Patent ↗Disclosed is a vacuum pick-up end effecter to pick and place a component in a manufacturing process. The vacuum pick-up end effecter may comprise: a vacuum path to provide a vacuum flow to pick-up the component; and a pin moveably mounted within the vacuum pick-up end effecter. When the component is picked-up by the vacuum flow, the pin abuts against the component and is moved to a first position and, when the vacuum flow is cut-off to place the component, the pin moves to a second position and pushes against the component to aid in releasing the component.
1. A vacuum pick-up end effecter to pick and place a disk drive component in a disk drive manufacturing process comprising:
a vacuum path to provide a vacuum flow to pick-up the disk drive component; and
a pin moveably mounted within the vacuum pick-up end effecter;
wherein, when the disk drive component is picked-up by the vacuum flow, the pin abuts against the disk drive component and is moved to a first position and, when the vacuum flow is cut-off to place the disk drive component, the pin moves to a second position and pushes against the disk drive component to aid in releasing the disk drive component.
2. The vacuum pick-up end effecter of claim 1 , wherein the weight of the pin is greater than the weight of the disk drive component.
3. The vacuum pick-up end effecter of claim 1 , wherein the weight of the pin is at least two times greater than the weight of the disk drive component.
4. The vacuum pick-up end effecter of claim 1 , wherein the pin comprises a metallic material.
5. The vacuum pick-up end effecter of claim 4 , wherein the metallic material comprises stainless steel.
6. The vacuum pick-up end effecter of claim 1 , wherein the pin comprises a rounded portion that abuts against the disk drive component.
7. The vacuum pick-up end effecter of claim 1 , further comprising a plug mounted within the vacuum pick-up end effecter adjacent to the pin to prevent movement of the pin.
8. The vacuum pick-up end effecter of claim 1 , wherein the disk drive component is a latch.
9. A method to pick and place a disk drive component in a disk drive manufacturing process comprising:
providing a vacuum flow to pick-up the disk drive component; and
providing a pin to move relative to the disk drive component;
wherein, when the disk drive component is picked-up by the vacuum flow, the pin abuts against the disk drive component and is moved to a first position and, when the vacuum flow is cut-off to place the disk drive component, the pin moves to a second position and pushes against the disk drive component to aid in releasing the disk drive component.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the weight of the pin is greater than the weight of the disk drive component.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the weight of the pin is at least two times greater than the weight of the disk drive component.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the pin comprises a metallic material.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the metallic material comprises stainless steel.
14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the pin comprises a rounded portion that abuts against the disk drive component.
15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising mounting a plug adjacent to the pin to prevent movement of the pin.
16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the disk drive component is a latch.