Abstract
Pick-and-place systems using suction cups have been being widely used and continuously developed in production automation. There are, however, some drawbacks in constructing such systems. One of them is that it generates high level noise due to air compressors. And the system must have complex constitutions of mechanical component such as air compressors, air tubes, air valves, etc. Moreover, it needs continuous air supply to maintain vacuum in suction cups. If there is a failure in any suction cup, the total suction system may fail owing to air leakage. To overcome these drawbacks, we propose PMS (Permanent Magnet Suction) mechanism which has permanent magnets for vacuuming suction cups with no air compressor. The basic concept of PMS mechanism is to rotate permanent magnets with fixed angle. Simple rotation of permanent magnets changes the direction of the magnetic force applied at the suction cups. Since each suction cup has no direct connection with any of the others, the air leakage at one suction cup is not critical. The proposed suction mechanism was designed and fabricated. With some experiments, the feasibility and performance of the PMS mechanism was shown. The strong points of the PMS mechanism are in its simple structure, generating low noise, high energy efficiency, and no need of continuous energy supply.
