Effect of Intake Parameters on Lifting Force of Swirl Gripper

Abstract

A swirl gripper, which uses a vane rotated by an electric motor to form a swirling flow, is known to be more energy- efficient than the conventional pneumatic vortex gripper. However, the effect of its design parameters on the lifting force has not been fully investigated. In this study, the design parameters of the intake of the swirl gripper, such as the ratio of the inlet radius to the swirl chamber radius and the ratio of the distance from the center of the cup to the center of the intake, are investigated to clarify how they affect the lifting force. The working fluid was air, and the design parameters were varied to experimentally investigate the lifting force and pressure distribution for two different vane speeds. The experimental results suggested that the inlet flow rate increased as the diameter of the intake increased and its position became closer to the center of the swirl chamber, and the gap thickness for the same lifting force increased accordingly. In addition, it was found that there was an optimum intake diameter to obtain the maximum lifting force for the intake position.