Vacuum gripper for handling wafers or solar cells

07.04.2009

The new SWG vacuum gripper from Schmalz is particularly suitable for extremely fast, precise and delicate handling of highly sensitive wafers or solar cells.

When compared to vacuum grippers, the use of manual and mechanical grippers during photovoltaic production has major disadvantages with regard to process safety and damage minimisation. However, not every vacuum gripper is suitable for all the process steps involved in handling photovoltaic components - gripping, moving, optical measurement, positioning, stacking and releasing. The latest technology utilises conventional vacuum suction pads or floating suction pads in accordance with Bernoulli's principle. However, both have disadvantages: with conventional vacuum suction pads, chemical contamination and mechanical strain occur at contact surfaces. Floating suction pads only allow slow cycle speeds, positioning is relatively imprecise and nuisance particles are uncontrollably blown off into the process room.

The new SWG vacuum gripper from Schmalz is particularly suitable for extremely fast, precise and delicate handling of highly sensitive wafers or solar cells. Because of its completely new vacuum handling concept, it does not have the disadvantages of the gripper solutions mentioned above.

• Extremely fast and precise handling with cycle times > 1 second


• Precise positioning of the wafer and short cycle times due to the high-speed blow-off function


• Minimum shearing force and minimum risk of conchoidal fracture due to the low vacuum level


• Minimum surface contamination of the raw wafer and avoidance of blind spots due to the ecial gripper contact surface made of PEEK (polyetheretherketone)


• Secure gripping and holding of deformed/broken wafers due to the high suction capacity, even when wafers are smaller than the suction area or there is a leakage


• Accurate positioning upon visual inspection and position measurement


• "On the fly" breakage detection due to the background lighting of the entire wafer as a result of the modular design with optional contact surfaces, damping elements and sensors


• Provision for standard robot flange connections


• Integrated vacuum generation


• Consideration of customer requirements regarding loading conditions and distance measurement

The Schmalz SWG wafer gripper is available in suction surface geometries for the common cell sizes between 125 mm and 156 mm. The SWG is available in a lightweight plastic design with a contact surface made of PEEK (polyetheretherketone), PMMA (acrylic glass) or POM (polyoxymethylene).

The modular design of the vacuum generator, blow-off function, robot interface and optional expansion and solar modules and the integrated pneumatic vacuum generation with controlled exhaust duct is ideal for use in fully and partially automated solar cell manufacturing.

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Questions regarding usage:
J. Schmalz GmbH Customer Center Aacher Straße 29 D-72293 Glatten	Tel.: +49 (0)7443 2403-105 Fax: +49 (0)7443 2403-9105 kundencenter@schmalz.de

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