Additive manufacturing technologies allow to produce grippers with complex geometries, at reduced weight, in short time and at lower costs, compared to the production with more traditional methods.

These features enable engineers to develop more performant components.

New generation vacuum grippers with Multi Jet Fusion technology

To better understand benefits of additive manufacturing, we present you a vacuum gripper example, applied to a robotic arm, for packings handling.

Since the company needs to increase productivity and to reduce costs related to the robotic arm, engineers are driven to re-design it, starting from the vacuum gripper.

This vacuum gripper is usually composed of an extruded aluminium profile with external canalizations for air management.

The technical staff wants to build a new kind of vacuum gripper, in thermoplastic material, with airtight integrated canalizations.

The production of this new component is possible thanks to the technical know-how related to the Multi Jet Fusion technology and PA 12 material, chosen for this application.

Using this innovative technology, the vacuum gripper presents a significally reduced weight, compared to the previous version. This condition allows the company to:

• Improve performances: With a lighter vacuum gripper, the robot has increased the number of tasks carried out in an hour.
• Reduce costs: The company has invested in a smaller robotic arm, cutting buying cost, energetic consumption and the space occupied inside the factory. The lower weight of the new vacuum gripper has reduced the wear and the mainteinance activities on the robotic arm. The vacuum gripper production cost has been reduced by 85 %.
• Reduce time: The building time has been reduced by 70 %, since the additive method allows to deliver parts in a few days or hours. This fast delivery has enabled to quickly install the robot and make it operational in a very short time.

Spring srl – the additive manufacturing service

Spring srl is an additive manufacturing service specialized in industrial applications (ISO 9001:2015 ). Industrial automation is one of the main field served by the company, producing not only grippers, but also fittings and pallets for automated production lines, air ducts and distributors etc…

The wide range of services includes the production of functional components and prototypes with additive manufacturing technologies, engineering, re-design, post-processing, using a great variety of finishes and treatments.

Contact us for more information: https://www.spring-italia.com/contacts/?lang=en

Source: https://www8.hp.com/uk/en/home.html