Gripper for crankshafts

For a Chinese customer, a 120 kg crankshaft needed to be inserted into an engine block with high precision, taking the proper position into consideration. The same gripper also needed to be used to grip the heavy engine block (500 kg). Another challenge here was the need for special consideration of the weight of the gripper.

A special gripper design with a single-side gripper stroke was implemented as a solution. This extra-light special gripper features a redundant gripping force retention via pinning and clamping. A clever jaw design made it possible to grip the block and crankshaft.