With the help of custom-designed gripper and clamping jaws, as well as contact pieces for robotic or vacuum grippers, your workpieces are reliably grasped and offer a material-friendly alternative to metal solutions.
#APPLICATIONEXAMPLE
When a component needs to be processed in our machining department that does not have flat surfaces, securely clamping it in our CNC machines becomes difficult. In such cases, we solve the issue by 3D printing clamping jaws that perfectly adapt to the shape of the part and hold it securely, even with complex geometries. The material used is PETG, which is easy to print and recycle.
#APPLICATIONEXAMPLE
The problem was that loading workpieces with steel grippers caused damage to the product. We 3D printed the grippers in two variants with different diameters and then refined them. The rubber coating on the contact surface with the tool not only provided a more gentle treatment of the products but also improved grip.
#APPLICATIONEXAMPLE
For an automated handling task, the gripper and robot arm together had to stay under a total weight of 20 kg. At the same time, three independently controllable vacuum generators and blow-off connections for the workpieces were required. The control valves also needed to be mounted directly on the gripper. The solution was a hybrid-manufactured gripper: the suction elements were produced using SLS 3D printing, while the supporting structure was made from lightweight fiber composite material. Despite measuring approximately 900 x 250 mm, the entire gripper weighs less than 1.2 kg. All functions – including valves and media routing – are integrated in a space-saving design.
#APPLICATIONEXAMPLE
For the machining of workpieces made of aluminum, we manufactured a clamping system consisting of a workpiece carrier and clamping jaws made from Original "S" plus+® GB. The micro-glass beads embedded in the material ensure a hard surface and increased pressure resistance compared to Original "S"® green®. This guarantees a gentle and durable handling of both the aluminum and the clamping system.
#APPLICATIONEXAMPLE
When particularly sensitive products, such as eggs, need to be lifted and transported, the use of vacuum grippers is ideal. In addition to this gentle method, the end pieces of the gripper should also preserve the surface quality of the products. A 3D-printed solution is lightweight, and the material MurSint® PA12 blue [FS] is fully colored and visually detectable. Therefore, it is particularly suitable for the requirements of the food and pharmaceutical industries.
#APPLICATIONEXAMPLE
In a packaging line, a collaborative robot was tasked with safely and efficiently handling four packages weighing 2 kg each. The challenge was to develop a lightweight, compact, and safe gripper for a Universal Robot UR10 (max. payload 10 kg). The solution was a modular, 3D-printed gripper with integrated media channels and vacuum generation using the Venturi principle. Thanks to the lightweight design, the entire gripper weighed less than 2 kg, allowing the robot’s payload capacity to be used optimally. The compact, hose-free design enabled safe collaboration with humans without interfering external tubing.
MURTFELDT Anwendungstechnik/ Application Engineering
technik@murtfeldt.de