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Final Project Print
Final Project Print
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Pneumatic system is commonly used in industries such as in the robotic arm application
without having to worry about polluting the environment because the systems only use air. It
can be said that the pneumatic system is environmental friendly. A pneumatic gripper is a
specific type of pneumatic actuator that typically involves either parallel or angular motion of
surfaces that will grip an object and is commonly used as part of a "pick and place" system that
will allow a component to be picked up and placed somewhere else as part of a manufacturing
system.
A general definition of grippers is given in the VDI Guideline 2860. According to this,
the distinguishing feature of a gripper is the temporary grasping, retaining and subsequent
releasing of objects of a particular geometrical shape. Grippers act like hands in automated
machinery. The word “gripper” essentially describes the ever-growing family of accessories
used in handling systems. It is not always easy to select the right type of gripper. However, it
is not always appreciated that a correctly-formulated problem description can, in itself, be
halfway towards solving the problem.
Most of the grippers used now days are simply two-fingered gripper. However a two
fingered configuration would not ensure a safe grasp as sideway slip can easily occur if any
irregularities are present on the object’s surface or the object is hold in the way that the Centre
of gravity does not become collinear with the forces applied by the gripper’s fingers. Other
grippers, which have more than two fingers use motors on each joint of the finger, which
decreases the load holding capacity of the gripper due to self-weight of the motors. Moreover
they have some gear arrangements to provide interlocking at the joints which not only decreases
the load holding capacity but also increases the probability of mechanical failure at any joint.
Some grippers use wire and belt arrangement (where the full load is directly applied to the
wires and pulleys) which make them less reliable in comparison to gear arrangements due to
chances of slipping. In case of wire and pulley, precision motion is not possible.
The main functions of gripping systems depend on the specific applications they are
part of and include
• Temporary maintaining of a final position and orientation of a body in relation to the
manipulation equipment
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• Firm holding of the gripped object under static conditions (und the action of its own
weight), dynamic conditions (in motion, during acceleration and braking) or when subjected to
the action of external forces (cutting forces, torques)
• Determining and modifying the position and orientation of the object depending on
the concrete requirements of the application, etc.
1.2 History
Grippers from the early part of the 20th century to the middle of the 20th century
typically had wooden handles, were quite easy for a strong person to close and were a regularly
advertised product in bodybuilding-weightlifting magazines. Such mass market grippers were
largely replaced with inexpensive plastic-handled grippers that are commonly found in sporting
goods and exercise equipment stores today. Top early 20th century professional strong man
Thomas Inch had two challenge nutcracker grippers in the 1930s that defied nearly all who
tried to close them, and besides their status as a specific challenge, the design and application
of these gripper was praised as a sound way to assess grip strength. In 1964, Iron Man magazine
introduced the “Iron Man Super Heavy Grip Developer,” and unlike mass market grippers,
these grippers had steel handles, thick springs and were very difficult to close. The popularity
of these grippers was limited and they were discontinued in 1977. In 1990, Iron Mind
reintroduced the original Iron Man grippers and then later that year, the company began
modifying the design with the stated goal of improving the accuracy, durability and appearance
of the gripper, not just making grippers that could tax the strongest men in the world. Iron Mind
also introduced aluminum handles with permanent markings. These two features were later
adopted by other manufacturers, including those in low-cost manufacturing centers such as
China and India, and have become common on the more difficult grippers, regardless of brand.
At the same time, interest in grippers that challenged even the strongest people in the world
broadened beyond audiences directly involved with training or physical performance, and have
been reported on in such publications as The Sacramento Bee, and BusinessWeek.
A. Mechanical grippers
B. Pneumatic grippers
C. Electrical grippers
D. Electromagnetic grippers
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E. Magnetic grippers
These grippers are further classified as angular grippers and parallel grippers.
Sometimes combination of these grippers are used according to the application, purpose, space
limitations, method of actuation, etc.
A wide variety of pneumatic grippers are available for internal and external gripping
uses and have various jaw styles to adapt to any application. They range from high-precision
miniature sizes to heavy-duty models capable of more than 1600 pounds of grip force. PHD
offers angular grippers that open at an angle and parallel grippers that open directly apart.
Pneumatic and electric grippers with a wide assortment of options and accessories. The wide
variety of options provides flexibility to utilize the best end effector for pick and place,
industrial assembly, and end of arm tooling for robotic automation systems.
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Chapter 2
Literature Review
In field of Robotics and Automation, many research works have been done by many
researchers. Some of the distinguished ones which are relevant and carries basic information
for this report have been highlighted briefly.
Ramesh Kolluru, Al Steward, Micheal J. Sonnier and Kimon P. Valavanis in their paper
on ―A Sensor based Robotic Gripper for Limp material handling ― proved that series
of flat apparel grippers which are based on principle of pressure differential and suction
can pick and place fabric materials reliably and with acute precision without causing
any change to the structural dimensions of the fabric [1].
Junbo Song and Yoshihisa Ishida in their paper on ―A Robust Sliding mode Control
for Pneumatic Servo Systems successfully simulated and applied the results of a robust
sliding mode control scheme for pneumatic servo systems. It is proven that due to many
of the uncertain bounds used in structural properties of pneumatic servo systems which
are used in controllers design and also due to the insensitivity of the error dynamic to
uncertain dynamics, the model is strong and a robust one [2].
Robert B.van Varseveld and Gary M.Bone in their paper on ―Accurate Position
Control of a Pneumatic Actuator Using On/Off Solenoid Valves have described the
development of a inexpensive, fast acting and accurate position controlled pneumatic
actuator. The paper describes to use On/Off valve using Pulse width modulation in
place of rather costly servo valves. Also the overall efficiency of the actuators is
compared with servo valves efficiency which is obtained by various other researchers
[4].
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Jiing-Yih Lai, Chia-Hsiang Menq and Rajendra Singh in their paper on ―Accurate
Position Control of a Pneumatic Actuator have experimentally proven that their
proposed control system of single open valve was far more better than the conventional
off control valve strategy which proved that it was better to obtain the desired accuracy
in position without having any mechanical stops in the actuator [5].
2.1 Survey on Pneumatic Grippers
2.1.1 Dual Motion Gripper
For either large/small o-rings, or applications where picking or parts or seating is required
automated seal and o-ring assemblies are made. The seals are spread and placed with the
assembly machine with a o-ring placed in dual motion. The dual motion gripper have been
made for part ejection and facilitating seating of parts. With the help of set screw in center the
opening stroke is adjusted [6]
Stroke Spread 15 mm
Weight 0.56 kg
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This type of gripper is generally designed for handling tiny and delicate parts. The Miniature
size facilitates for banks of grippers to be mounted side by side for close centerlines. It has a
scavenge port and thus from the top it can be controlled.
Weight 0.02 kg
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The ideal gripper design for small parts handling is Compact parallel gripper with t-slot rib.
These types of grippers are offered in four stroke sizes which may vary up to 1 inch (25.4 mm).
For handling weight issues in case of robotic applications this type of long stroke and light
weight grippers are designed.
Weight 0.07-0.14 kg
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These types of parallel grippers are small yet rugged. It has two types of grippers whose jaws
ride on Armoloy TDC shafts. These grippers are the standards of jaw centering industry which
supply higher gripping force to the amount of weight lifted. These grippers have a guided
wedge design offers better strength and repeatability. This type of gripper is best for short
stroke length and high strength applications.
Weight 0.08-0.15 kg
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A high grip force to weight ratio is supplied by medium size two jaw parallel grippers supply.
Some of the grippers are made of light weight titanium alloy and for longer life they are stacked
in thickness in order of thousands. This type of gripper also has a guided wedge design that
causes better centering of the jaws and can repeatedly effect longer strokes. For handling
robotic applications with weight issues such grippers were developed.
Weight 0.20-0.32 kg
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Parallel gripper with T-slot rib is designed for picking parts which requires long strokes in a
narrow space. These types of grippers are designed for various stroke sizes ranging from 0.4
inches (10.16 mm) to 1.2 inches (30.48mm).
Weight 0.12-0.45 kg
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The long stroked grippers feature rigid wide bearing design, which is developed for lifting
bulkier materials or when long rigid tooling is needed. When high moment carrying capacity
is needed the jaws are supported on shafts along the full length of the body and are sealed
against the chips or particles. These type of grippers are designed for eight stroke sizes which
varies from 0.8 inch (20.32 mm) to 7 inch (177.8 mm). Rigid jaw design and long stoke is
offered by such type of grippers. Synchronous or non-synchronized are two different types of
jaw versions that is available in the market.
Weight 0.3-4.5 kg
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The Three jaw parallel grippers are designed for four models which includes a patented T-slot
design. The gripping strokes has a wide range which varies from 0.2 inch (5.08mm) to 0.9 inch
(22.86mm) and correspondingly the forces varies from 120 N to 1250N.
Weight 0.5-6 kg
In these types of grippers the angular jaw travels an angle of total 180 degrees thus compelling
the jaws of the grippers to retract back completely from the gripping which eliminates another
required axis of travel. The Jaw rotations can be adjusted for a varied angle from -2 to 90
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degrees which is associated with individual jaws and thus makes the gripper suitable for many
industrial applications. Such type of grippers features in two jaw or three jaw design, both of
which are fail safe toggle locking and is -2 degree past parallel.
Table 2.9 Details of Two Jaw Style Toggle Lock Angular Grippers
Weight 0.08-2.8 kg
In such type of grippers a movement of 90 degrees for individual jaw compels the gripper to
move back from the gripping thus eliminating another required axis of travel The Jaw rotations
can be adjusted for a varied angle from -2 to 90 degrees which is associated with individual
jaws and thus makes the gripper suitable for many industrial applications. These types of
grippers offers unique three jaw design, both of which are fail safe toggle locking and is -2
degree past parallel.
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Table 2.10 Details of Three Jaw Style Toggle Lock Angular Grippers
Grip Force 7-900 N
Weight 0.5-4 kg
These types of grippers have a compact pneumatic gripper actuator provided with t-slot rib
designed to use in close surfaces where large loads are required. Such type of grippers is
suitable where one jaw is positioned to zero. These grippers have a T-slot bearing design which
is supported along the length of the body to bear heavy loads. There are multiple mounting
surfaces on the system which guides loads to be clamped by the top surface or by the gripper
end plate. Such type of grippers are offered in four stroke sizes which has a variable range from
0.2inches (5.08 mm) to 2.5 inch (63.5 mm) and have corresponding bore sizes of 0.5 and 0.75
inch. On both sides of the gripper the stroke adjustments are standardized and are sensor ready
for different applications.
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Table 2.11 Details of Single Jaw Parallel gripper-One Fixed Jaw Style
Stroke 12-51 mm
Weight 0.07-0.25 kg
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Chapter 3
a) Air filters: These are used to filter out the contaminants from the air.
b) Compressor: Compressed air is generated by using air compressors. Air
compressors are either diesel or electrically operated. Based on the requirement of
compressed air, suitable capacity compressors may be used.
c) Air cooler: During compression operation, air temperature increases. Therefore
coolers are used to reduce the temperature of the compressed air.
d) Dryer: The water vapor or moisture in the air is separated from the air by using a
dryer.
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e) Control Valves: Control valves are used to regulate, control and monitor for control
of direction flow, pressure etc.
f) Air Actuator: Air cylinders and motors are used to obtain the required movements
of mechanical elements of pneumatic system.
g) Electric Motor: Transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy. It is used to
drive the compressor.
h) Receiver tank: The compressed air coming from the compressor is stored in the air
receiver.
3.2 Components of pneumatic gripper
3.3 Compressors
It is a mechanical device which converts mechanical energy into fluid energy. The
compressor increases the air pressure by reducing its volume which also increases the
temperature of the compressed air. The compressor is selected based on the pressure it needs
to operate and the delivery volume. The compressor can be classified into two main types.
A. Positive displacement compressors: Piston type, Vane type, Diaphragm type, Screw type.
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Piston compressors are commonly used in pneumatic systems. The simplest form is
single cylinder compressor (Fig. 3.2). It produces one pulse of air per piston stroke. As
the piston moves down during the inlet stroke the inlet valve opens and air is drawn
into the cylinder. As the piston moves up the inlet valve closes and the exhaust valve
opens which allows the air to be expelled. The valves are spring loaded. The single
cylinder compressor gives significant amount of pressure pulses at the outlet port. The
pressure developed is about 3-40 bar.
The pulsation of air can be reduced by using double acting compressor as shown in
Figure 3.2. It has two sets of valves and a crosshead. As the piston moves, the air is
compressed on one side while on the other side of the piston, the air is sucked in. Due
to the reciprocating action of the piston, the air is compressed and delivered twice in
one piston stroke. Pressure higher than 30bar can be produced.
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In this type, two-stage compression is carried out by using the same piston (Fig. 3.4).
Initially when the piston moves down, air is sucked in through the inlet valve. During
the compression process, the air moves out of the exhaust valve into the intercooler. As
the piston moves further the stepped head provided on the piston moves into the cavity
thus causing the compression of air. Then, this is let out by the exhaust port.
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3.5 Actuators
Actuators are output devices which convert energy from pressurized hydraulic oil
or compressed air into the required type of action or motion. In general, hydraulic
or pneumatic systems are used for gripping and/or moving operations in industry.
These operations are carried out by using actuators.
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These cylinders produce work in one direction of motion hence they are named as
single acting cylinders. Figure 3.5 shows the construction of a single acting
cylinder. The compressed air pushes the piston located in the cylindrical barrel
causing the desired motion. The return stroke takes place by the action of a spring.
Generally the spring is provided on the rod side of the cylinder.
3.5.2 Double acting cylinder
The main parts of a hydraulic double acting cylinder are: piston, piston rod,
cylinder tube, and end caps. These are shown in Figure 3.6. The piston rod is
connected to piston head and the other end extends out of the cylinder. The piston
divides the cylinder into two chambers namely the rod end side and piston end
side. The seals prevent the leakage of oil between these two chambers. The
cylindrical tube is fitted with end caps. The pressurized oil, air enters the cylinder
chamber through the ports provided. In the rod end cover plate, a wiper seal is
provided to prevent the leakage of oil and entry of the contaminants into the
cylinder. The combination of wiper seal, bearing and sealing ring is called as
cartridge assembly. The end caps may be attached to the tube by threaded
connection, welded connection or tie rod connection. The piston seal prevents
metal to metal contact and wear of piston head and the tube. These seals are
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replaceable. End cushioning is also provided to prevent the impact with end caps.
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Chapter 4
Design of Gripper
For upper link bush press machine, there is lot of time wasting in the setting of bush in
fixed alignment on press station. Due to which quality of upper link gets disturbed. For such
reason, there is a need of automatic pick and place positioning system for reducing lead cycle
time and improving quality. By installing gripping system for bush at upper link bush press
machine, we will get following advantages:
1. Quality improves
2. Reduced lead cycle time
3. Easily aligned bush in proper position
4. Overall operation time gets reduced
5. It increases operating speed
6. Less handling of work piece
Various factors are considered while designing pneumatic gripper for upper link bush
press. They are as follows:
1. Space:
As the space availability is very small, there are lot of difficulties while
designing.
2. Actuator Selection:
Actuators required for gripping system are very small. Actuators are selected
according to required stroke lengths.
3. Cost:
Cost is very high for small actuators. Thus, it is very important factor while
designing gripping system
4. Other components such as magnet:
As the bush is made up of magnetic material, magnet used helps to reduce the
cost of gripping actuator.
5. Weight of the bush:
Consideration of weight of bush is very much necessary for magnet selection.
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Fig 4.1 [a] & [b] CATIA Design of upper link bush press
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[a] [b]
Fig. 4.2 [a] & [b] Pneumatic circuit for horizontal cylinder A/ vertical cylinder B
4.5 Working
Firstly bush is placed in a arrangement provided on the piston end of vertical cylinder, at the
same time magnets provided on the horizontal cylinder pick up the bush. When 5/2 DC valve
is used for vertical cylinder retraction stroke (B-) will takes place. Due to which bush is
grabbed in horizontal cylinder. When another 5/2 DC valve is used for horizontal cylinder,
extension stroke (A+) will takes place and bush is placed at the press station. Then press
machine will operated. Simultaneously retraction stroke of horizontal cylinder will takes
place by using 5/2 DC valve. Then cycle will be repeated for next operation.
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Chapter 5
The estimation of various components in the design of this pneumatic circuit have been
surveyed from various suppliers. Costing has been collected, compared and studied. Following
suppliers have been visited and quotations have been marked in tubular form.
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Fatigue allowances = 5% of NT
ST = NT + 0.15 of NT
= 1.15 of NT
= 33 sec
8×60×60
=
33
= 872
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ST = NT + 0.15 of NT
= 1.15 of NT
= 31sec
8×60×60
=
31
= 929
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Chapter 6
Conclusions
6.1 Conclusions
The project was carried out to reduce the setting period of bush on the upper link bush press
fit machine. From the calculations and analysis the conclusion for setting period of bush on
upper link is reduced by 2 seconds per piece as stated in time study. Following advantages
after installing pick and place positioning of bush by magnet used pneumatic gripping
system:
1. Gripping system reduces setting time.
2. Product per shift considerably increases.
3. Ease of operation.
4. Less human interference.
From this project, it is conducted that the machine is suitable for mass production.
As it is simple in construction and easy to operate, it reduces the human effort.
6.2 Future Scope
For the pneumatic gripping system, sequencing can be done for extension stroke of horizontal
cylinder. It can be done by using limit switches. There is a large scope for automatic rotating
of upper link. However, the machine is well and good automated and hence increases the
productivity without less intervention of human.
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References
[1] Design & Development of a Two-jaw parallel Pneumatic Gripper for Robotic
Manipulation et al Ardhendu Prasad Nanda
[2] Design And Fabrication Of A Gripper For Grasping Irregular Objects et al Ashish
Singh, Deep Singh and S.K. Dwivedy
[3] Study on the Pneumatic Actuation of Gripping Systems et al Doina Łǎrliman
(Negrea), Tudor Deaconescu
[4] www.AGSautomation.com/grippers/pneumatic
[5] Handbook of Industrial Robotics. John Wiley and Sons Inc. New York, 1985.
[6] http://www.io.com/~hcexres/textbook/class_ex.html
[7] Market available Clamp Grippers (Walton Picker), www.pickrobotics.com, from
Pick Robotics Inc.
[8] Festo AG & Co. Germany. Product catalogue. https://www.festo.com/
[9] www.wekipedia.com/grippers
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