Regripping
The vacuum gripper or mechanical (jaw) gripper does a Pickup of the part (flat sheetmetal) from a pallet or a dispenser, with a particular gripper configuration consisting of:
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The gripping plane the gripper is holding the part by.
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The position of the gripper on that plane.
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The orientation of the gripper on that plane.
In many cases, it may not be possible to process all the bends in the part with that initial configuration, and a regrip operation will be necessary between two bends. This section discusses the various ways in which the regrip operation can be programmed in Flux.
Regrip icons
Regrip operations are displayed in the bend navigator as separate columns with tags like R1, R2 etc. Clicking once on that cell switches the simulation to that regrip operation, and a second click opens up the Regrip Panel.
The small icons in these cells indicate the type of regrip operation:
| Icon | Meaning |
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Regrip during bend: The regrip happens during the bending operation, and the part is held by the punch and die during the regrip. The gripper releases the part, moves to the new location and picks up the part, while the punch is still down and holding the part in place. |
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Regrip at Station: Part is placed on a regrip station which uses suction to hold the part securely while the gripper releases the part, moves and picks up the part at a different plane, position or orientation. |
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Regrip at Clamping: The punch and the die are used to hold the part during the regrip, which happens as soon as the punch comes down and clamps the part, and before the bending operation. |
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Regrip Post-Bend: The punch and die are used to hold the part during regrip. The bending is completed as usual, but the punch remains in place and does not move up to decompress and release the part. Instead, the gripper releases the part, moves to the new location and picks up the part. |
Thus, during the regrip operation, the part is held either by the regrip station, or is clamped between the punch and the die.