Development of a novel manufacturing method for a contactless handling system using a variable outlet restriction

Master thesis (2022)

Authors

K.H. Pijnenburg Mechanical Engineering

Contributors

R.A.J. van Ostayen Mechatronic Systems Design - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (supervisor 1)
J. Snieder Mechatronic Systems Design - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (supervisor 1)
J.F.L. Goosen Computational Design and Mechanics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (supervisor 2)
Faculty
Mechanical Engineering
Copyright: © 2022 Kees Pijnenburg
Aerostatic bearing Contactless handling Manufacturing method Resin casting
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Published Date

03-05-2022

Language

English

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Faculty

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Improved handling methods are required in order to decrease the manufacturing cost of solar cells and flat panel display. A potential method would be to use a contactless handling system based on air bearing technology. As the name implies, the substrate levitates on a thin film (~10 μm) of air. The viscous shear force is used to exert a lateral force on the substrate. In order to be able to control the position of the substrate, this force needs to be controlled over time.
In this research, this is achieved by varying the film geometry of the outlet. This thin film (~50 μm) is formed between a pin in a slightly oversized hole. The full system is comprised of multiple unit cells, which makes manufacturing using traditional subtractive manufacturing techniques very complicated. During this research, a novel manufacturing method was developed, where the dimensions of the outlet film are relatively insensitive for manufacturing errors.