Human-Robot-Collaborative (HRC-03) Gripper with FreeDrive Button

The Zimmer Group—a supplier of technologies for handling, damping, linear, processing, machine tooling, and system technology—is debuting its fully electric HRC (Human-Robot-Collaborative) gripper model HRC-03 with a new function. The HRC-03 is designed as a typical 2-jaw parallel gripper that has a maximum stroke of 10mm per jaw and which can be connected directly to the tool I/O connector on the robot flange (“plug & play”). The new feature of the “e-gripper” is the “Free Drive Button”, which is located at the upper end of the HRC gripper and is designed to switch the robot into freedrive mode. Thus, the robot can move freely to any position.

HRC-03 with FreeDrive button on robotThis feature is supposed to allow the operator to have both hands free to guide the robot. Prior to this, he had to press the freedrive switch on the robot’s control pendant with one hand and thus only had his other hand available for robot guidance. The gripper is available with an analog position sensor or alternatively with two digital sensors. In addition, the gripping force of the HRC gripper is meant to be manually adjustable in four stages—from 50 N to 190 N.

The HRC-03 has no sharp edges and is designed so that accidental snagging is unlikely with its all-round shape. This functionality in conjunction with a mechanical self-locking of the jaws and the associated gripping force maintenance should offer maximum safety in every application, says the company. Even with an emergency stop or power failure, this should apply. The HRC-03 meets the requirements of the protection principles according to ISO / TS 15066 (HRC standard) and are BG / DGUV-certified.

The HRC-03 gripper is driven by a Brushless DC (BLDC) motor, which is meant to have almost no wear and thus provides operational safety.