Active Gripper for Hot Melt Joining of Micro Components

Precision assembly of hybrid micro systems requires not only a high precision handling and adjusting of the parts but also a highly accurate and fast bonding technique. In this field adhesive technology is one of the major joining techniques. At the Collaboration Research Center 516, a batch process based on a joining technique using hot melt adhesives was developed. This technique allows the coating of micro components with hot melt in a batch. The coating process is followed by the joining process. Due to this, the time between coating and joining can be designed variably. Because of the short set times of hot melt adhesives short joining times are possible. For this assembly process adapted heat management and adapted gripper systems are very important. Primarily, the conception and construction of suitable grippers, which realize the complex requirements of the heat management, meet a high challenge. This paper presents an active gripper system for the joining of micro parts using hot melt adhesives. Furthermore, first examinations and results of an assembly process using this gripper for bonding with hot melt adhesives are presented.