Finger Clamping Unit (FCU) is a small-sized single-point clamp developed to clamp thin object of various thicknesses. It has a six-bar linkage with one compliant link, uses an electric motor as an actuator and induces toggle-lock motion by singular configuration. The main purpose of the FCU is to clamp car bodies in car assembly lines, while adapting to various thicknesses of car body. Unlike other clamping devices in the industry, it has a large clamping range (defined as the thickness range that the FCU can clamp). In this paper, the overall process of FCU development is presented. The six-bar linkage was chosen in type synthesis, and compliance was added for toggle-lock motion. Static analysis of the compliant FCU was completed, and results were plotted in a three-dimensional (3D) plot which expresses the behavior of the FCU. The lengths of each link were optimized in dimension synthesis. An FCU was constructed to reinforce the simulated results. The unique design of both the six-bar linkage FCU and the compliant link were presented. Simulated and experimental 3D plots were compared and analyzed. An appropriate friction model that best fits the experiment data was found. The advantage of the FCU—its clamping range—was proved by experiment.

手指夹紧装置（FCU）是一种小型单点夹紧装置，专为夹紧各种厚度的薄物体而设计。它具有六连杆机构和一个顺应性连杆，使用电动机作为执行器，并通过单一配置引起拨动锁定运动。FCU的主要目的是在车身装配线中夹紧车身，同时适应各种厚度的车身。与业内其他夹紧装置不同，它具有较大的夹紧范围（定义为FCU可以夹紧的厚度范围）。本文介绍了FCU开发的整个过程。在类型综合中选择了六连杆机构，并为肘节锁定运动增加了柔韧性。完成了对符合要求的FCU的静态分析，并将结果绘制在表示FCU行为的三维（3D）图中。在尺寸合成中，优化了每个链接的长度。构建了FCU以加强模拟结果。介绍了六连杆机构FCU和顺应性连杆的独特设计。比较和分析了仿真和实验3D图。找到了最适合实验数据的合适摩擦模型。实验证明了FCU的优势-夹紧范围。