ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,397,449, issued on Aug. 26, was assigned to Cryovac LLC (Charlotte, N.C.).
"Vacuum-based gripping tool" was invented by Roger Jeffrey Anderson (Mooresville, N.C.), Bradley Keith Powell (York, S.C.), Siddarth Sreeram (Charlotte, N.C.) and Bradley Neal Daley (Huntersville, N.C.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A gripping tool includes a vacuum manifold, a flexible membrane, and vacuum channels coupled in parallel between the vacuum manifold and the flexible membrane. Each of the vacuum channels includes a compliant conduit, a vacuum check valve, and suction cup. The vacuum check valve is biased to a closed condition and is configured to togg...