EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS ON SOFT MATERIAL ROBOT GRIPPER PAD DURING PAPER COIL HANDLING

摘要

Individual paper sheets are winded into paper coils and presented to the appropriate equipment for further processes in paper manufacturing industries. The pick up and place operation is one of the essential tasks for handling and transporting the paper coils during various cycles of operation in paper industries. Development of soft pad by using silicone and polyurethane materials had been selected for the aim of this research. Silicone material was selected and the blended polymers from different silicone grades are synthesized through two rolles milling followed by compression molding. SEM examination is conducted to investigate the dispersity of crosslinked silicone and interfacial bonding of them. Though the hardness of both blended mixtures are shore A 50, the mechanical strength of silicone 40/60 is higher than that of silicone 20/80. This variation in strength is due to aggregates present in the resultant matrix of silicone 20/80. Similarly polyurethane coated gripper pad developed and then the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), hardness test and wear tests are conducted on the soft pads to examine its interfacial bonding, hardness and chemical compounds.