Pneumatic Components For Delicate Handling

By Author: Vikram Kumar
Total Articles: 9818
Comment this article

Many industries that manufacture high value products require assembly lines that are designed for delicate handling of complex products. One of the most common examples of such an industry would be computer chip manufacture, where the chips are small and fragile and require equipment of the highest precision to move the raw materials through the assembly line all the way until it becomes the finished product. Among the many pneumatic components that are required for such an operation are pneumatic valves for control, pneumatic grippers for gripping and pneumatic slides for driving, among others.

In order for a complex assembly line to function properly, the various parts that comprise it must be linked together and working in perfect precision. Only when every component has been optimized will your system work efficiently and give you the best value for your money.

Gripping

Among the most basic yet most important functions that pneumatic equipment must accomplish in an assembly line is gripping. Precision is important here because the end product can be small, and inaccurate positioning of the gripper could ...
... result in the product being damaged even before it can reach the end of the assembly line or being improperly assembled. Good grippers must be capable of being programmed to move with precision and to exert firm yet controlled gripping force.

For those extremely delicate gripping jobs, there is no better equipment to handle such jobs than vacuum grippers. This type of pneumatic gripper handles objects using a vacuum, so it can handle even the most delicate products without the danger of crushing or damaging the product. One innovative application of vacuum grippers has even seen them used to handle bread in a confectionery factory line.

Driving

Besides gripping, pneumatic equipment is also needed to perform the actual assembly of the product, such as placing circuits on a circuit board. This is accomplished by moving the product and positioning it under a cylinder which then drives the placement of a component onto the unfinished product. This movement is driven by pneumatic slides, which basically extend and retract in a forwards and backwards movement.

Control

Pneumatic equipment is powered by compressed air, and there is no way to simply turn the supple of compressed air immediately on and off. In fact, for large-scale systems, it takes some time for the compressed air moving through the system to reach high enough pressures for the system to function. Thus, in order to provide control for the equipment, pneumatic valves are necessary to shut off and restore the supply of compressed air to a particular component as and when necessary.

System Design

Finally, there is also the need to consider the overall design of a system. A system might be so simple as to consist of a single component, or it might be extremely complex and constitute a large-scale operation. No matter the scale of your system, however, it is important to have a comprehensive plan as to how each and every component will fit together and function as a whole before you even start purchasing parts.

No matter what Pneumatic Components you might need, from pneumatic valves to pneumatic slides and everything in between, DAS Services Inc is the place to get it!