Tool Flange

工具法兰Advanced

The standardized round mounting interface at a robot arm's tip, where grippers and other tools attach.

The tool flange is the round mounting face at the end of a robot arm's last joint, with threaded holes and dowel-pin holes arranged in a standard pattern; grippers, force sensors, camera mounts, and tool changers all attach here. The international standard ISO 9409-1 defines the flange's dimensions and hole layout, so a tool built to that standard can be reused across arms from different brands; a tool that doesn't follow it needs an adapter plate. The flange center is also usually the origin of the arm's default end-effector coordinate frame — once a tool is attached, the controller needs its tool center point (TCP) offset set correctly so the arm knows exactly where its working point is. Some collaborative arms also route power and communication lines near the flange, making it easy to power an electric gripper.

ExampleSwapping a gripper onto a UR5e: first bolt the gripper to the flange using the ISO 9409-1 hole pattern, then set the TCP offset on the teach pendant.

Also called: End Flange, Wrist Flange, Robot Flange
Related: Tool Center Point · End Effector · Tool Changer · Six-Axis Force/Torque Sensor · Robotic Arm
Sources: Robot end effector - Wikipedia