Evaluation of the suction forces in the directions vertical and parallel to the contact face focusing on the diameter of the single suction cup of micro suction cup array

In this study, we evaluated the suction forces in the directions vertical and parallel to the contact face focusing on the diameter of the single suction cup of micro suction cup array. The suction force was measured by varying the pressing force during the attaching process of the micro suction cup arrays to the object. Three types of the micro suction cup arrays were fabricated and evaluated. The diameters of the single suction cup of the arrays were 100,150,300 μm. We confirmed that the both directional suction forces of 100 and 150 μm suction cup arrays increased with the increase of the pressing force reaching constant values.