Flexible grippers for handling systems Design possibilities and experiences

The paper gives a survey of problems that occur for the gripper system when handling systems are applied in small batches production. In order to solve these problems, a systematic approach is described in the paper. Solutions can be found, for example, in a universal gripper for a whole work-piece spectrum or using gripper changing systems. In order to develop a universal gripper, it is necessary to analyse significant areas on every work-piece type of the whole work-piece spectrum. If it is impossible to design a universal gripper, an automatic moulding gripper could be a possibility. Thus, moulding grippers were developed that use sensors and positioning drives. This paper presents new types of automatic moulding jaws that can be fixed on various grippers. The moulding jaws have been developed as a simple system for moulding purposes in comparison to moulding grippers with sensors and positioning drives. Those automatic moulding jaws will be described in detail. Experiments with moulding jaws were made by means of a special gripper test station. Results of the experiments will be presented as well as a future outlook on gripper technology