Handling with ice – the cryo‐gripper, a new approach

Europe’s textile and clothing industry is facing competition as never before. To enhance its competitiveness in countries with high labour costs, its production as part of the textile chain has to be automated. Handling processes are especially in need of automation. To this day more than 80 per cent of production steps are done manually. The non‐linear material behaviour imposes significant difficulties when automating these processes. This paper presents an approach for flexible automated textile handling. After reviewing different current design principles of grippers for transportation, the influences of different fabric properties on handling capability are discussed. An alternative handling principle was selected and based on this technology a cryo‐gripper was developed. Based on specific material behaviour, gripper types are able to be chosen for best reliability in production processes. The design of the gripper and its handling features are described.