US Patent 7234744 Rotatable, squeeze-spread end effector for industrial robot

An end effector (10) for an industrial robot has the ability to pick up plural objects, selectively rotate same and adjusts the spacing between the plural objects as the products are being carried by the robot to a desired deposit location. This functionality is achieved by locating a rotary actuator (16) at the end (8) of a robot arm and providing a lazy tong linkage assembly (60) to which plural product graspers (62) are affixed where the lazy tong assembly is carried by a rotatable platform (18) of the rotary actuator. The rotary actuator, the lazy tong assembly and the product graspers are preferably pneumatically actuated.