This standard clamp tool is designed to increase efficiency and decrease production time. The carton clamp tool EOAT is pre-engineered and one-of-a-kind in the industry; it’s simple to set up and allows for multiple configurations and accessories. It’s a suitable tool for handling boxes, crates, and trays and has a payload of up to 50 […]
Grippers
Bag grippers help keep roads ice-free
At the company Sapho GmbH, a company of the Bilgram Chemie Group, the old bag gripper no longer provided the necessary performance. The regions of southern Germany, Austria, and parts of France are supplied by Sapho with de-icing salt from its up to 50,000 tons of salt warehouse, which is partly filled from May to […]
Robotics is driving a manufacturing revolution
Robots of future will cost less, run safer, improve productivity and adapt their operations on the fly. Contributed by Donna Ritson, President, DDR Communications I recently had the pleasure of collaborating with PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, on a research study exploring the state of the robotics industry, its key markets, recent […]
Piab Kenos KCS gripper
Piab’s Kenos KCS gripper enables a collaborative robot (cobot) that can handle just about anything, anywhere, at any time. This makes it a suitable ”co-working” tool, especially for small businesses, where flexibility is essential. Originally developed together with a leading cobot manufacturer as a tailor-made automation tool for one customer, the resulting vacuum gripper cobot […]
Getting a grip with pneumatic grippers
Pneumatic grippers are a common and useful way for machines to handle product and other items, but they must be properly selected to match the payload. Pat Phillips, PE, Product Manager for AutomationDirect, Fluid Power and Mechanical Product Div. Prior to the industrial revolution, grippers used in manufacturing were human hands and simple implements. Automation […]
Piab Kenos KCS gripper
Piab’s Kenos KCS gripper enables a collaborative robot (cobot) that can handle just about anything, anywhere, at any time. This makes it a suitable ”co-working” tool, especially for small businesses, where flexibility is essential. Originally developed together with a leading cobot manufacturer as a tailor-made automation tool for one customer, the resulting vacuum gripper cobot […]
Schunk grippers now will be assembled in USA
Schunk will now be assembling grippers in the United States. The company has completed a 40,000 square foot expansion in Morrisville, N.C. earlier this year, resulting in an additional 19,000 square feet of manufacturing space allowing increased capacity and additional product line assembly. Another 22,000 square feet of additional office and training space completed the expansion. The […]
Best practices for handling bags with suction cups
A bag of sweets dropped on the floor in the plant’s packaging area. Or a bag of frozen peas deformed from its original square shape into a messy plastic package with an ugly cone-shaped suction mark. These are the kind of problems faced by manufacturers wishing to use a vacuum-based automated system to handle bags, […]
Vacuum-based soft gripper for handling sensitive, delicate objects
Piab has introduced a new soft gripping tool piSOFTGRIP, developed especially with food industry automation in mind. The vacuum-based soft gripper will grip sensitive and lightweight objects of odd geometries and/or an unusual surface. Bin-picking of small irregularly shaped objects, such as toys, is another potential application. piSOFTGRIP has three gripping fingers and a vacuum […]
Rethinking manual handling in the digital factory
Digitalization is on the rise in factories, and manual handling is no exception. Increasingly customized products go hand-in-hand with increasingly complex processes, and the way workers deal with goods needs to adapt. Intelligent handling devices play an important role in making this growing complexity manageable, according to the engineers at J. Schmalz GmbH, Glatten, Germany. […]