Glossary · Robotics
Parallel gripper
Also known as: Two-jaw parallel gripper
German: Parallelgreifer
In handling and robotics, a parallel gripper is a mechanical gripper whose jaws move linearly and parallel toward or away from each other, driven pneumatically or electrically, to clamp parts from outside or inside.
- Robotics
In one sentence
A parallel gripper has jaws that move in parallel lines toward each other, clamping parts pneumatically or electrically.
Example
An electric parallel gripper with 10 mm stroke per jaw picks bearing rings by their bore and reports the jaw position to check the ring size.
How it applies
- Engineering: Stroke, gripping force, jaw length and permitted moments determine the right size. Pneumatic parallel grippers are simple and strong; electric versions allow programmable positions and forces.
- Operation: Gripping force must hold the part during acceleration; some grippers include a spring or self-locking mechanism to keep the part on pressure loss.
- Documentation: The documentation team should document gripping force settings, jaw exchange, sensor adjustment and the behavior on air or power loss. Clamping jaws create a Crushing hazard for fingers during manual work at the tool.
Parallel gripper vs. angular gripper
Parallel gripper jaws move in straight lines, so the grip point stays the same for different part sizes. Angular gripper jaws swivel, which is compact and cheaper but shifts the contact geometry with part size.