Gripping Device Separate Guide Rails Reduce Play
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gripping devices face limitations in achieving high clamping force with minimal installation space and low intrinsic mass, while also requiring a highly resilient and wear-resistant guide system, which is hindered by increased guide wear and play due to short guide lengths and material constraints.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves a parallel gripping device with separate guide rails for mounting and guiding slides or gripping jaws, featuring trapezoidal cross-section carriage guide rails made of resilient materials, and a double sliding wedge mechanism driven by a pneumatically or hydraulically operated cylinder-piston unit, allowing for adjustable gearing and multiple jaw configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If separate guide rails are installed for mounting and guiding slides, then gripping forces are enhanced by reducing guide wear and play, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide system is segmented into separate, modular guide rails that can be independently installed and replaced. Each guide rail is a distinct component with specific functions (load-bearing, wear-resistant, or low-friction surfaces), allowing the system to be optimized for gripping force while maintaining manageable complexity through modularity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the guide system use different materials and surface properties tailored to specific functional requirements. Load-bearing areas use high-strength materials, while sliding contact areas use low-friction or wear-resistant coatings, optimizing gripping force without uniformly increasing complexity throughout the entire device.
2Force
If guide length is increased to reduce wear and play, then gripping forces are enhanced, but installation space increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide rails utilize composite material structures combining multiple materials with complementary properties in a single component. This allows the guide rails to achieve both high load-bearing capacity and low friction coefficients, effectively reducing wear and play without requiring increased guide length, thus maintaining compact installation space while enhancing gripping force.
3Reliability
If resilient materials are used for guide rails to reduce wear, then guide system reliability is improved, but intrinsic mass increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide rails employ material parameter optimization by selecting materials and surface treatments that provide high resilience and wear resistance with minimal mass. Advanced materials with high strength-to-weight ratios and optimized surface properties allow the guide system to achieve improved reliability without proportionally increasing intrinsic mass.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enhances gripping forces by reducing guide play and wear, enabling greater clamping capabilities with minimal space and mass, while allowing for customizable material properties for load-bearing and low-friction surfaces.
Implementation Method 1
a pneumatically or hydraulically operated cylinder-piston unit
Implementation Method 2
The direction of the linear movement of the piston rod is deflected by about 90 angular degrees, for example, by means of a double sliding wedge
Implementation Method 3
a double sliding wedge gear, which is acted upon, for example, by a pneumatically or hydraulically operated cylinder-piston unit
Implementation Method 4
The area of the cross section of the carriage guide rail that protrudes from the rail guide groove has a trapezoidal cross section
Implementation Method 5
allowing for customizable material properties for load-bearing and low-friction surfaces
Data Source
Figure 1~2
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Figure 8~11
AI summary
The invention relates to a gripping device with slides which support movable gripping elements. The slides are guided one behind the other in the gripping direction of the gripping elements in a driven manner parallel to the gripping direction in a shared guiding groove, which is arranged in a main part and is open towards the gripping elements in at least in some regions, and the slides are stored transversely to the gripping direction so as to be supported on all sides. The open guiding groove has two opposing guiding groove walls, and a slide guiding rail is secured to each guiding groove wall. The invention provides a braking and/or clamping device which, while having high clamping forces, has a simple and installation space-saving design and, in addition, is maintenance-free over a long period of time.