ANALYTICAL & LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
and increase both throughput as well as efficiency.
Te automatic gripping and handling of samples, pipettes or reagents is among the central, constantly recurring process steps here. For this purpose, delicate, industrial small parts grippers are required. Two different technologies are generally available for gripping, explains product manager Maik Decker, who is responsible for this area at the German manufacturer Zimmer Group: “Up until now, most grippers in industry have been powered pneumatically, i.e. with compressed air. Tis technology is, however, not suitable for the hygienic environments required in laboratories, in medicine and in the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries. Grippers with electric drive are therefore used in these areas.”
ELECTRIC MOTOR MAKES GRIPPERS FLEXIBLE In addition to the hygienic aspect, these grippers have another advantage: they function without a compressed air system and the associated lines. In some industrial sectors, these are standard equipment in production facilities – electricity is, after all, available everywhere. Besides, the machines in which the grippers are installed operate with electric power. An electrical connection is much easier to install than a compressed air supply. Moreover, the control of electric components is both simpler and more flexible than working with pneumatics. “We see a clear trend toward the electric drive, not least in the automotive industry,” explains Decker. New products from the Zimmer
Group, such as the new GEP2000 series, serve and consolidate this trend. Te small parts gripper can – depending on the version – grip and hold components weighing up to 5kg but can likewise handle delicate and sensitive parts such as a test tube without problem. “Te advantages of the electric drive also include the ability to adapt the gripping force to various objects at any time,” explains Volker Kimmig, team leader for software at the Zimmer Group. “With the appropriate controller, the gripper can switch between different parts during a running process.”
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The Zimmer Group
uses Faulhaber motors in its lab automation solutions
10 MILLION CYCLES WITHOUT MAINTENANCE Te power for these work steps is supplied by a brushless DC-servomotor of the BX4 series from Faulhaber. In addition to a high torque, the strengths of the four-pole drive include its low vibration and low noise, compact design and a long service life. “We guarantee that this product will perform over 10 million cycles without maintenance,” says Kimmig. “Tis is, of course, only possible with a motor of very high quality.” Such a motor must also provide a number of additional features to meet the demands of continuous operation in a typical pick-and-place application. Te development engineer uses the production of car keys as a good example: “Large quantities and high throughput set the tone here. Te gripper robots work under very high-paced, permanent stress with short cycle times. Te motor must therefore start and then stop again
The latest solution from the Zimmer Group
at very short intervals. Decisive here is the motor’s acceleration, as every tenth of a second counts in the process as a whole. Moreover, the motor needs to
be able to efficiently dissipate the heat that forms in such an operation to eliminate the possibility of overheating.”
PROVEN COLLABORATION Te gripper experts from the Zimmer Group knew, not only from the data sheet, that the BX4 would satisfy these requirements. Tey had previously installed motors of this series in their GEH6000 gripper family. Essentially, this so-called long-stroke gripper works in the same ways as the small parts gripper. Its stroke, i.e., the distance between the open and closed position of the gripper jaws, is significantly larger and can be up to 80mm. “Te device can thus cover a wider range of different-sized target objects in the same process,” explains Decker. “Te smaller GEP2000, on the other hand, can also perform its work in very confined conditions. Of course, this only functions with a motor that delivers very high power in a very small space.” Te gripper series have one special
feature in common with other Zimmer Group products: the motor power is transferred to the jaws by a worm gear drive with a steep pitch. Even in the event of a power failure, the gripping force is retained and the respective position held. Once gripped, a work piece is held securely by this mechanical self-locking function, without an additional device such as a brake being required.
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