Non-contact Gripping for Thin Steel Plates by Magnetic Field from Horizontal Direction

(Fundamental study on placement of electromagnets)

Abstract

　Thin steel plates are widely used in automobiles, household appliances, and other products, and there is a demand for improved surface quality. However, since contact conveyance using rollers is used in the conveyance process in thin steel sheet production lines, deterioration of surface quality is a problem. Therefore, a method of non-contact gripping and conveying of thin steel plates by magnetic levitation has been proposed. However, when thin steel plates are levitated by the attractive force of electromagnets, the plates deflect, making stable levitation difficult. Therefore, the authors proposed an edge-supported magnetic levitation system in which electromagnets are placed only at the edges of thin steel plates to achieve stable levitation. In this report, the levitation characteristics were examined by changing the arrangement of electromagnets.