The biggest cost driver in an electric car is the battery. Over recent years, car manufacturers worldwide have been exploring ways to develop and produce batteries that are not only sustainable but also cost-efficient with enough power for long ranges. In addition to prismatic and pouch cells, large manufacturers are increasingly relying on round cells with a diameter of 46 millimeters. SCHUNK has designed a new tool especially made for handling this type of cell: the RCG round cell gripper. It can be freely scaled, allowing it to be used to handle individual battery cells as well as automated row arrangement and precise and fast assembly of entire battery clusters in an straightforward and safe process.
The RCG round cell gripper has a pneumatically controlled magnetic system with which battery cells can be picked up and placed magnetically. The permanent magnet inside each individual gripper ensures that the gripping force is maintained throughout the entire process. Even if energy is lost during an emergency stop, the battery is retained by the gripper. The high holding force of the magnet >70 N is designed for all common battery lengths and enables high accelerations for the robots used. The RCG's sensory workpiece and status detection also contribute to process reliability. They detect whether a battery is present and enable the piston stroke monitoring system. In order to achieve the highest possible packing density of the round cells within the battery cluster without an interfering contour, SCHUNK designers have precisely adapted the RCG to battery cells with 46 millimeters. SCHUNK offers the gripper in three versions: without centering, with 2-fold centering or with 4-fold centering for tolerance compensation when picking up the battery cells.
For the use in a production line, the system can be combined with additional SCHUNK components: matching sensors, compensation and cell spacing units, as well as linear direct axes enable precise, dynamic and safe processes in the series production of battery packs.
