Compressed Air Grippers

Grippers continued...

As noted on page one of Grippers where I provide general information on grippers and focus on the Parallel Gripper, there are a number of other standard gripper formats available. They are as follows:

• Angled
• Radial
• 3 Point

Angled Grippers

The fingers on an angled gripper open to about 40 degrees of width. The actual distance will vary depending on the gripper size and manufacturer.

Angled finger grippers are selected when there is need for greater width between the fingers to enable larger-part gripping or to provide clearance between the part and the gripper fingers when the gripper is maneuvered into place

In the graphic below....

1. Depicts the gripper body
2. Shows the supply line is charged
3. The gripper fingers are opened to their widest
4. The supply line is now opened to exhaust
5. The fingers have moved to their closed position

Radial Grippers

The fingers on a radial gripper can open to about 180 degrees of width.

Radial finger grippers are most frequently selected to provide maximum clearance between the gripper fingers when the gripper is being maneuvered into place. The fingers might have to open as wide as possible to clear a part, or perhaps another component on the machine as the pick and place motion is underway.

While I have not priced one recently, I believe the wider the fingers spread, the higher the cost of the gripper, as there is more mechanical gearing inside to facilitate that greater finger movement.

In the graphic below....

1. Depicts the gripper body
2. Shows the supply line is charged
3. The gripper fingers are opened to their widest
4. The supply line is now opened to exhaust
5. The fingers have moved to their closed position

3 Point Grippers

Often used to self-center a misaligned part for pick up, the 3 point grippers are a more specialty form of air gripper.

In the graphic below we are looking down at the gripper, and the fingers, seen from the top, are red.

1. Depicts the gripper body
2. Shows the supply line is charged
3. The gripper fingers are opened to their widest
4. The supply line is now opened to exhaust
5. The fingers have moved to their closed position

The finger stroke in a 3 point gripper is fairly limited, but it can be magnified by the tooling that's attached to the fingers.

As in most forms of commercially manufactured grippers, the 3 point gripper can accept proprietary proximity switches to help identify the tooling, and by extension the part, position.

In order to help prevent internal damage, gripper operation should be controlled by flow controls whenever possible .