A lightweight suction gripper for micro assembly

Assembly is a crucial part in the realization of a product. Compared to assembly in the macro world, assembly in the micro world is influenced by scaling effects. These include surface forces, high requirements on placement uncertainty and small product dimensions. Conventional high-speed assembly in many cases utilizes suction grippers. However, their large moving mass results in high collision forces during product placement. Therefore, they are unsuitable for assembling micro products. This paper will discuss problems during assembly in the micro world with an emphasis on forces during the assembly process. A new design is proposed for a gripper with a moving mass less than 1 g for a pick up needle with a 6 mm diameter. In the design friction and hysteresis are neglectable. The paper focus is on gripper design, realization and experimental results.