Clean bearing arrangement in the cost-effective gripper for microtiter plates in the laboratory

Space-saving and light: this gripper consists only of a stainless steel wire and an iglidur plain bearing

Profile

What was needed:
plain bearings for the application in a low-cost gripper

Requirements:
application under laboratory conditions, low friction, application without additional lubricants

Industry:
laboratory technology

Success for the customer:
with the help of iglidur plain bearings, a very cost-effective and lightweight alternative to conventional grippers could be designed.

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Problem:

During the development of this lost cost handling unit for laboratories, conventional grippers basically caused problems because their own weight was too high. This made the entire handling unit too heavy.

Solution:

A stainless steel wire and a plain bearing form an extremely simple gripper, which is characterised by its particularly low weight.

(Video in German)

Gripper in clean design

The company Ebo Kunze Industriedesign has developed a low cost handling unit for the automation of laboratory processes and uses iglidur plain bearings for it. Initially, a conventional gripper was used to move the sample plates.

Since the gripper had a high dead weight compared to the payload, the entire handling unit became heavy. The aim was therefore to simplify the gripper mechanics and thus reduce its weight. The iglidur plain bearing in the gripper is responsible for two things: the clamping of the rotating gripper and the pivoting of the gripper axis.

Compact and simple design

The result is very simple: one metre of stainless steel wire and a plain bearing are all that is needed for the clean design gripper, which saves an entire direction of movement of the handling unit thanks to its pivoting capability. The stainless steel wire is placed around the specimen plate like a loop and tightened. This gives the gripper a firm grip on the sample plate and allows it to be moved from A to B. The compact and simple design allows the handling unit to be installed below the laboratory bench level.