Medical Tape Gripping Solution for Different Product Sizes

In this application, the customer needed to pick 30 medical tapes at once and place them into a white packaging box.The tapes are arranged in 5 columns, with 6 tapes in each column. The main issue was not the number of products, but the fact that the tape dimensions can vary between different product types.When the tape size changes, the center distance between the products changes as well. With a rigid gripper, this means the gripping positions often have to be adjusted during product changeover.A flexible soft gripper offered a different way to handle the variation.

The Problem with Fixed Gripping Positions

The customer's existing rigid gripper had fixed gripping points.When a different size of medical tape was introduced, the distance between the products changed. The gripper positions then had to be adjusted to match the new arrangement.This can make product changeovers more time-consuming, especially when several specifications need to be handled by the same automation system.The requirement was therefore quite straightforward:Keep the same basic gripping solution while allowing for changes in product spacing.

A Flexible Soft Gripper That Adapts to Changing Center Distances

For this application, we used a flexible gripper with a specially designed gripping head.The gripping process works in two steps.First, negative pressure pulls the flexible fingers inward, reducing the size of the gripping head so that it can enter the space between the tapes.Once the gripper reaches the gripping position, positive pressure expands the fingers outward, creating an internal supporting force and securing the tapes.Instead of relying entirely on fixed gripping points, the flexible structure can accommodate a certain amount of variation in the product spacing.This makes the gripping system more suitable for applications where product dimensions are not always exactly the same.

Custom Adapter Blocks for Easy Integration

The gripping head is not the only part that can be adapted to the application.Depending on the robot, tooling layout, and product arrangement, custom adapter blocks and mounting structures can also be designed to connect the gripper with the existing automation system.In this way, the two parts solve different problems:

• The adapter block matches the gripper to the machine and product layout.
• The flexible gripping head accommodates changes in product spacing.

This combination makes it easier to build a gripping solution around the customer's existing equipment instead of redesigning the entire setup for every product specification.

More Flexibility for Product Changeovers

The key point of this application is not simply picking 30 medical tapes at once.It is about maintaining a workable gripping solution when product size and center distance change.For production lines handling multiple medical tape specifications, a flexible gripper can provide more tolerance than a fixed rigid gripping structure. Combined with customized adapter blocks, it gives the automation system more room to accommodate different product layouts.One gripping concept, more flexibility for product changeovers.