Pick Up And Placement Tools For Items

Abstract

An item with fibers may be picked up and placed using a tool head with hooks that engage the fibers. The tool head may comprise at least one hook portion and at least one contact surface adjacent to the hook portion. The hooks that engage the fibers may extend from the hook portion. The tool head may be actuatable between at least a first configuration that permits the hooks to engage the fibers and a second configuration that does not permit the hooks to engage the fibers. An item may be picked up at a starting location with a tool head in the first configuration and placed at a placement location by moving the tool head and then actuating the tool head to the second configuration.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A pick up tool for engaging, moving, and disengaging an item formed having a plurality of fibers, the pickup tool comprising:
 at least one hook portion, the at least one hook portion having a plurality of hooks configured to engage fibers forming at least a portion of a pliable item, the hook portion having a hook contacting surface;   at least one pusher having a pusher contacting surface; and   an actuator that moves the at least one pusher or the at least one hook portion between a first configuration and a second configuration,
 (1) the first configuration permitting the hook contacting surface to extend beyond the pusher contacting surface adapted to allow hooks of the at least one hook portion to engage the fibers forming a portion of a pliable item, and 
 (2) the second configuration permitting the pusher contacting surface to extend beyond the hook contacting surface adapted to prevent the hooks of the at least one hook portion from engaging the fibers of the pliable item. 
   
     
     
         2 . The pickup tool of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one pusher surrounds the at least one hook portion. 
     
     
         3 . The pickup tool of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one hook portion surrounds the at least one pusher. 
     
     
         4 . The pickup tool of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one hook portion has a shape substantially congruent to the shape of a portion of the pliable item. 
     
     
         5 . The pickup tool of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a positioning system that moves the at least one hook portion and the at least one pusher to a starting location to engage at least some of the fibers forming the pliable item and that moves the at least one hook portion and the at least one pusher to a placement location to disengage the fibers forming the pliable item; and   a control system that causes the positioning system to move the at least one hook portion and the at least one pusher to the starting location and to the placement location, the control system further causing the actuator to move the at least one pusher or the at least one hook portion to the first configuration to permit the hooks of the at least one hook portion to engage at least some of the fibers forming the pliable item at the starting location and causing the actuator to move the at least one pusher or the at least one hook portion to the second configuration to prevent the hooks of the at least one hook portion from engaging the fibers forming the pliable item at the placement location.   
     
     
         6 . The pickup tool of  claim 5 , wherein the positioning system further causes:
 (1) moving the at least one hook portion and the at least one pusher to a first height at the starting location,   (2) raising the at least one hook portion and the at least one pusher to a second height while moving the at least one hook portion and the at least one pusher to the placement location, and   (3) lowering the at least one hook portion and the at least one pusher to a third height at the placement location.   
     
     
         7 . The pickup tool of  claim 6 , wherein the first height and the third height are different. 
     
     
         8 . The pickup tool of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one hook portion comprises a plurality of distinct hook portions. 
     
     
         9 . The pickup tool of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one pusher comprises a single pusher surrounding all of the plurality of hook portions. 
     
     
         10 . The pickup tool of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one pusher comprises a plurality of pushers. 
     
     
         11 . The pickup tool of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one pusher comprises a plurality of distinct pushers. 
     
     
         12 . The pickup tool of  claim 5 , wherein the actuator moves the at least one pusher relative to the at least one hook portion. 
     
     
         13 . The pickup tool of  claim 5 , wherein the actuator moves the at least one hook portion relative to the at least one pusher. 
     
     
         14 . A tool for picking up and positioning an item having fibers, the tool comprising:
 a tool head having an engaging surface that is adapted to contact a pliable item to be picked up and positioned, the engaging surface having at least a first configuration and a second configuration;   a contact surface on the engaging surface of the tool head;   at least two non-contiguous hook portions on the engaging surface of the tool head, wherein the contact surface extends between the at least two non-continuous hook portions;   each of the non-contiguous hook portions having a plurality of semi-rigid hooks oriented to contact and engage at least a portion of a pliable item with at least some of the hooks extending beyond the contact surface when the engaging surface is in at least the first configuration;   an actuator that moves the contact surface or the at least two non-contiguous hook portions between the first configuration and a second configuration, the second configuration preventing all of the semi-rigid hooks of the hook portions from contacting the pliable item by allowing the contact surface to extend closer to the pliable item than the hooks   a positioning system that moves the tool head from at least a first location to pick up the pliable item and a second location to place the pliable item; and   a control system that causes the positioning system to move the tool head to the first location with the tool head surface in the first configuration to contact the pliable item and engage at least some of the fibers of the pliable item with at least some of the hooks of the at least two non-contiguous hook portions, and to cause the positioning system to move the tool head to the second location and to cause the actuator to move the tool head surface to the second configuration to disengage the hooks of the at least two non-contiguous hook portions from the fibers of the pliable item.   
     
     
         15 . The tool for picking up and positioning pliable items having fibers of  claim 14 , wherein the contact surface comprises a surface that surrounds at least two non-contiguous hook portions in the first configuration. 
     
     
         16 . The tool for picking up and positioning pliable items having fibers of  claim 14 , wherein the contact surface comprises a plurality of non-contiguous contact surfaces. 
     
     
         17 . A method for picking up, moving, and placing an item having fibers, the method comprising:
 positioning a tool at a starting location, the tool having a surface with at least one hook portion and at least one pusher, the hook portion comprising a plurality of semi-rigid hooks that engage the fibers of the pliable item formed from fibers;   lifting the pliable item from the starting location by raising the tool while at least some of the plurality of semi-rigid hooks adapted to engage at least some of the fibers of the pliable item;   after lifting, moving the pliable item to a placement location by moving the tool while at least some of the plurality of semi-rigid hooks engage at least some of the fibers of the pliable item; and   placing the pliable item at the placement location by actuating the at least one pusher or the at least one hook portion relative to one another such that the plurality of hooks of the at least one hook portion to disengage the hooks of the at least one hook portion from the fibers of the pliable item.   
     
     
         18 . The method for picking up, moving, and placing a pliable item formed from fibers of  claim 17 , wherein the at least one hook portion comprises a plurality of semi-rigid hooks arranged in a size and a shape that corresponds to the size and shape of a portion of the pliable item. 
     
     
         19 . The method for picking up, moving, and placing a pliable item of  claim 17 , wherein the at least one hook portion comprises a plurality of distinct hook portions. 
     
     
         20 . The method for picking up, moving, and placing an item of  claim 17 , wherein the at least one pusher comprises a plurality of distinct pusher surfaces.