Design, Fabrication, Testing and Simulation of a Rotary Double Comb Drives Actuated Microgripper

• Published in: Micromachines (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 10; p. 1263
• Main Authors: Belfiore, Nicola Pio, Bagolini, Alvise, Rossi, Andrea, Bocchetta, Gabriele, Vurchio, Federica, Crescenzi, Rocco, Scorza, Andrea, Bellutti, Pierluigi, Sciuto, Salvatore Andrea
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 17.10.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: comb drives; compliant mechanisms; Design; Design parameters; DRIE; Etching; Flexing; Investigations; Kinematics; MEMS; microgripper; Reactive ion etching; Silicon wafers; Simulation; Vibration
• ISSN: 2072-666X; 2072-666X
• DOI: 10.3390/mi12101263

This paper presents the development of a new microgripper actuated by means of rotary-comb drives equipped with two cooperating fingers arrays. The microsystem presents eight CSFH flexures (Conjugate Surface Flexure Hinge) that allow the designer to assign a prescribed motion to the gripping tips. In fact, the adoption of multiple CSFHs gives rise to the possibility of embedding quite a complex mechanical structure and, therefore, increasing the number of design parameters. For the case under study, a double four-bar linkage in a mirroring configuration was adopted. The presented microgripper has been fabricated by using a hard metal mask on a Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) wafer, subject to DRIE (Deep Reactive Ion Etching) process, with a vapor releasing final stage. Some prototypes have been obtained and then tested in a lab. Finally, the experimental results have been used in order to assess simulation tools that can be used to minimize the amount of expensive equipment in operational environments.