Electromagnetic flat-faced robot gripper for handling multiple industrial transformer core lamination plates

In the industrial transformer core assembly process, significant productivity gains can be achieved by utilizing a robotic gripper that is able to handle, and accurately position, multiple transformer laminations during each pick-and-place cycle. This paper reports on the development of a novel electromagnetic lifter for such applications. The lifter has the unique capability to selectively pick a given number of laminations at a time (the usual requirement is three) from a stack. By considering an analytical model of the magnetic circuit of the electromagnet-lamination stack combination, closed form solutions are obtained for the flux flow pattern and the lifting force on each lamination in the stack which closely agrees with the numerical results obtained using two-dimensional finite element analysis software. Results of experiments conducted on a prototype electromagnet are also presented that validate the analytical model findings.