December 2, 2008 - The situation is well-known within the plastics industry: Vacuum suction cups often reach the limits of their performance when removing molded parts because the parts' surfaces are not suitable for gripping or because the vacuum cups do not produce enough force to remove the part from the mold. For anyone who has faced this problem, FIPA Inc. has good news: New Mini gripper fingers with extremely small diameters of 14 millimeters have compact dimensions that make them ideal when space is limited. With a diameter of just 14 millimeters, new gripper fingers from FIPA Inc. may be easy to overlook, but they still garner plenty of attention due to their light weight, speed, agility, and power.
In this case, smaller is better. Gripper fingers must slide past or into the work piece in order to find an undercut that can be gripped. With their small diameters, new gripper fingers GR04.034 and GR04.035 are ideal choices particularly when undercuts are difficult to reach.
Not just their diameter makes the Mini gripper fingers small. Lengths of 72 and 74 millimeters are also consistent with their petite stature. This short design saves space, which is especially useful for the small area between the two halves of a molding tool. Furthermore, the gripper fingers' low weight of 25 grams reduces loads on the robots. In summary: these gripper fingers are short, lightweight, yet deliver impressive closing force of 24 or 23 N.
Gripper fingers GR04.034 and GR04.035 fit flawlessly into FIPA's modular gripper system. They are fully compatible with all existing FIPA clamping elements and extension tubes.
