In the final thesis we focused on the development of a gripper for clamping air spring pistons. The main requirement of the gripper was to enable quick and easy clamping of diffrent sized pistons. We started the development process by reviewing the already existing types of grippers, and then designed several concepts, which we evaluated using a decision matrix and selected the most appropriate one according to certain technical criteria. This was followed by a calculation of forces in the mechanism according to the required gripping force, where we determined the dimensions of pneumatic cylinders and the corresponding geometry of the components. We also performed a calculation of loads in the welds, calculation of the prestressed bolt connection and the bending moment load on the levers of the mechanism. The deflection and deformation of the gripper's bottom plate when aplying the assembly force required for mounting the piston on the air spring bellow were analyzed by using a simple finite element analysis. After the calculations, we determined the shapes, dimensions and layout of the components. The final product of the design is a CAD virtual prototype and a component drawing of the gripper, which using a self-centering mechanism of three jaws, enables centering and quick clamping of air spring pistons.
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