Gap-Free Sprue Grippers

FIPA Inc., a manufacturer of advanced vacuum technology, gripper systems, air nippers, tube lifters and end-of-arm-tooling (EOAT), has improved upon its 100 Series medium sized, 10 mm diameter sprue grippers with wide opening jaws by eliminating the gap between closed jaws. The updated design enables the secure, gap-free gripping of workpieces ranging from flat and malleable (e.g., silicone) parts and sprues as thin as 1 mm to those with material thickness up to 10 mm. Available with standard, sensor-enabled and fully elastomer-coated jaws to accommodate a wide variety of applications, FIPA's newly improved 100 Series sprue grippers are ideal for building EOAT systems designed to handle complex workpieces with low material thicknesses, and are designed for removing components from injection molding machines in plastics processing operations.

"This latest improvement to our tried-and-tested 100 Series grippers not only allows the jaws to securely detect and grip extremely flat sprues and tabs as thin as 1 mm, but enables reliable parts inspection starting from that sprue thickness as well," said Rainer Mehrer, President of FIPA. "As a result, our new 100 Series grippers provide customers with better performance."

Featuring bodies and jaws made of high strength anodized aluminum alloy, FIPA's 100 Series medium sized, 10 mm diameter sprue grippers are designed for improved performance in environments with filtered and oiled or unoiled air. The designs provide a closing force of 22 N at six bar operating pressure. The grippers are also lightweight, weighing between 48 g and 53 g (1.69 oz and 1.87 oz.), which make them an option for EOAT applications.

The 100 Series grippers with standard, non-sensing jaws are available with single- or double-acting operation modes, the latter of which is built to allow jaw opening and closing to be controlled separately, and are beneficial for applications with short cycle times. The 100 Series grippers with sensor-enabled jaws feature a single-acting operating mode and PNP or NPN sensors capable of either direct or indirect part detection. Sensor-enabled grippers designed for direct part detection feature large area sensor activation regardless of sprue position. Sensor-enabled grippers designed for indirect part detection signal when jaws close without gripping a part and do not feature any moving parts. "Lastly, the 100 Series grippers with fully elastomer-coated jaws gently grip workpieces, preventing the surface of even delicate materials from scratching. This option is designed for cosmetic applications in which an additional level of removal protection is required," said a company spokesperson.

For more information contact:

FIPA Inc.

1855 Evans Road

Cary, NC 27513

919-651-9888

sales.us@fipa.com

www.fipa.com