Gimatic extends size range of Air-Hands pneumatic internal grippers

Gimatic Air-Hands, available in the UK from Precision Motion (CoFil), are pneumatically operated single acting cylinders with either a downwards (MFD) or upwards (MFU) motion causing the plastic bellow to expand to provide an air tight grip on the interior contour of a workpiece. The consistent and smooth internal gripping provided is particularly suitable for handling fragile or delicate products such as polished metal, glass or plastic without breaking, marking or scratching. The HL models have a central through hole that can be used to apply compressed air or vacuum for cooling, or leak and pressure testing. The plastic bellows are available in red silicone or black EPDM. Silicone provides a wider temperature range and it assures a longer service life but may not be suitable in some industries as it can affect post handling surface treatment such as painting or coating. EDM is non-marking and it also provides higher friction. The expected average life of the EPDM parts is about 0.5 million cycles and about 1 million cycles for the silicone bellows. Silicone and EPDM parts are available as spares for replacement when worn. The force output of an MFD/MFU gripper depends on several variables such as the diameter of the picked object, the surface finish, the coefficient of friction and the air pressure. Graphs in the MFD/MFU catalogue (available from Precision Motion) show the extraction force on the gripped object as a function of its diameter. These test measurements were performed with aluminium rings, with roughness Ra = 0.8, with the grippers fed with 6 bar compressed air. Air-Hands are suitable for picking, placing or packaging of products ranging from glass or plastic containers, flask and bottles to highly polished steel rings, test tubes or housing components for electronic assemblies, automotive products, food processing or domestic appliances. Automatic and manual leak-test systems equipped with Air-Hands are being used in the production of vehicle exhausts and automotive radiators.