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.
Keywords: DRIE; MEMS; comb drives; compliant mechanisms; microgripper.