Showing the applications of Vuototecnica products in video is sometimes useful more than a thousand words.
In this video you can see the processing of wood panels with CNC machines Wood panels are placed above a series of Vuototecnica suction cups with ball shutter, integrated in the worktop.
These suction cups are mounted on pneumatic cylinders that raise them above the roller tracks and only operate when the ball shutter valve is squeezed by the panel surface.
Suction cups that aren’t under the wooden panel do not activate.
Suction cups that are under the wooden panel, on the other hand, function like clamps and keep the panel firmly in place.
Note in the video how the operator tries to move the panel manually once hooked, without result.
The grip remains firm and secure until the CNC machine has completed contouring or drilling work. Then the suction cups are lowered and the panel is taken away and unloaded thanks to roller conveyors.
The fact that not all the suction cups are activated, but only those that are needed, helps the user not to disperse the vacuum generated by the pump, favouring a more stable grip on the other suction cups in contact with the panel.
The ball valve of these suction cups also prevents dust and machining residues from entering the vacuum circuit. This avoid power loss or blockages.
In addition to these advantages, Vuototecnica also provides, on request, the management of generation and distribution phases, offering customers solutions that allow them to keep the suction cup gripper firm even in the event of power failure or sudden blackouts.
Bernoulli BEC suction cups for handling coffee pods
In this video you can see one of the latest applications of Vuototecnica suction cups for a coffee pod production plant. In this case, we replaced rubber suction cups previously mounted on the plant with new Bernoulli BEC suction cups.
The advantages are innumerable. First of all, a decisive increase in the speed of taking and releasing coffee pods. In fact, Vuototecnica BEC suction cups do not generate inertia during the release time, which is typical instead of the rubber sealing lip of traditional suction cups.
In this way, the quick movement of robotic arms are enhanced.
As you can see, moreover, despite the speed, pods are released with millimeter precision, as soon as the supply with compressed air is excluded.
Another advantage for the customer is the drastic reduction in machine downtime for replacing suction cups. With the old rubber suction cups productivity was damaged by this periodic forced stop, while BEC suction cups are almost eternal, because they are made of aluminum and do not require maintenance, neither for replacement nor for cleaning. Thanks to their operating principle, they do not suck anything inside because they deflect air sucked volume towards their outer circumference.
The coffee powder is never sucked inside suction cups, unlike what happened with traditional systems equipped with vacuum generators with suction filter that had to be always cleaned and inspected because at risk of clogging.
Bernoulli suction cups are able to generate a flow of lamellar air that is placed between them and the object to be taken. There is therefore no contact.
This makes them flexible, considering the fact that coffee capsules and pods often have different, irregular shapes and surfaces; some have micro-holes that in other conditions would be a difficulty.
Furthermore BECs are equipped with stabilizing pins so that the pod / capsule does not rotate. The stabilizers are made of silicone rubber, standard for food sector.
New Vacupredator suction cups, ready to “bite”
The brand new Vuototecnica Vacupredator suction cups had a great success at Mecspe 2019.
Designed to facilitate robot integrators in one of the most difficult tasks in the field of handling in the packaging sector, they are perfect for picking up bags and flow packs, which are difficult to take by traditional rubber suction cups due to their flexibility.
The suction cups can be supplied round or elliptical and in different sizes and configurability, based on the customer’s needs.
They can also be customized, depending on the type of product to be handled, and according to the depth of the suction plate. Available in different compounds, types and heights, they can be powered from different vacuum sources such as electric vacuum pumps, pneumatic vacuum generators but also from side channels impellers.
The Vacupredator suction cup metal support allows various configurations for fixing to the robot arm: maximum application flexibility.
As usual, you can consider other accessory components from Vuototecnica range such as cup holders, joints and vacuum switches with different signal types.
Vacupredator suction cups are ready to “bite” your packages with boldness and security.
Bernoulli suction cups: it’s not magic, it’s a project
Given the friability and delicacy of baked goods, there was the challenge of moving the slices without breaking them or damaging them, which would have been quite complex with classic grips or suction cups.
In this case, however, Bernoulli suction cups allow picking and lifting, without any contact, the slice, at an incredible speed, as you can see.
The rusks are placed in the right position on the belt also thanks to the antistatic silicone spacers, placed on the gripping plane of the suction cups, which have the function of preventing the transverse movements of the object in the grip.
It seems to see a juggling, a spell: the slices carried from one side to the other with skill. In the slow-motion part of the video, the magic, however, is soon unveiled.
The principle that moves these suction cups is the same that occurs when a light disk is placed in front of the end of a tube from which air flows quickly, for example.
Because of this characteristic, Bernoulli suction cups are ideal for taking and handling fragile and porous objects, such as baked goods.
They are also used for many other products that require maximum delicacy such as semiconductor plates, silicon disks, solar cells, precious metal sheets, films, fabrics, felts etc.
They are made of anodized aluminum, with a central stainless steel contrast disk.
Suction cups for lifting objects of all type, shape and surface
For handling of cardboard boxes, wood panels, marble and granite slabs, glass panes as well as plastic bags, abrasive springs and more: the suction cups, available from Vuototecnica in various conformations, are able to meet the most varied needs.
To meet every possible need, Vuototecnica makes a wide range of suction cups available, each with particular characteristics which set it apart from the others. A few of these are listed below:
• Cupped suction cup: the most common, used for moving very light objects even with rough or irregular surfaces such as plastic boxes, thin metal or glass slabs or wood panels.
• Bellows suction cup: recommended in all cases where it is necessary to move sheets of paper or cardboard, thin sheets of metal, etc. Thanks to their great flexibility they are also used to pick up sloped surfaces or to compensate planarity errors.
• Flat suction cups, round and rectangular: for vertical or horizontal movement of large loads such as marble or granite slabs.
• Suction cups in foam rubber: for picking up course or very rough surfaces such as rough cement, cut marble, anti-skid sheet metal, etc.
• MaxiGrip Suction cups: recommended in the Automotive sector for handling of oily sheet metal or body parts.
• Circular crown suction cups: capable of picking up loads with a central hole such as CDs, bored discs, gears or similar objects.
• Elliptical plane suction cups: used to move plastic objects, boxes, with limited surface area.
• Particular suction cups: various conformations, can resolve all of the countless problems of pick up and handling. Suitable for picking up CD’s, handling of envelopes, labels, biscuits and chocolates, figurines, tiles, nots and bolts, etc.
• Discover other details about the Vuototecnica suction cups.
Biscuits and suction cups
Today we present you this video in which you can see in action a machine for biscuits.
As you can see, the complexity of the machines is made simple by the fluidity and perfect score of the operations.
Please, note the firm and delicate grip – due to the friable nature of the product – the concertation of all the phases.
Focus mainly on the taking and release phases, which occur, as you can see, without jolts and in a precise way.
All Vuototecnica suction cups are also marked with a code and/or the logo. This is a very important aspect: there are often products without logo or code with an alleged non-toxic compound certificate.
It seems obvious, however, that it is impossible to certify a suction cup that has no identification.
Vuototecnica: flexibility on all gripping surfaces
Vuototecnica works every day to design gripping solutions that are flexible and facilitate customers, whatever their business sector.
These suction cups are generally used for gripping and handling cardboard boxes, wooden boards, ceramic tiles, iron or stainless steel sheets, and whatever have long and narrow grip surfaces.
In the video you can see them performing on different types of material, from plexiglass, to brick, from steel to glass, from plastic to tin.
All this happens with the maximum stability of grip, as you can see, thanks to a labyrinth structure, inside the suction cups, able to adapt also perforated or knurled, uneven and rough surfaces, as that of the tile, or slightly rounded surfaces: it is the case of the small green tube and of the tin can.
The bellow design of the elliptical suction cup also allows the compensation of heights during the job, even in the case in which we work with packages of bulk and liquid products, which are easily malleable, or when the surface of the object is not perfectly perpendicular to the axis of the suction cup.
In addition, Vuototecnica suction cups allow greater ease and rate of release.
They are usually available in three standard compounds, but, on request, we can provide them in special compounds and with the most suitable accessories.
A Vuototecnica customer – a well-known italian manufacturer of crackers – successfully used them.
The robot, equipped with these Vuototecnica suction cups, deals with pick and place of flowpacks.
The end user encountered an improvement in the operation with these new suction cups immediately, compared to those used previously.
The gripping lip, in fact, is designed to be extremely flexible and fit also to the upside of plastic material packaging.
And this feature brought another benefit to the customer, in terms of energy saving.
The grip of these suction cups takes place, in fact, with a lower volumetric suction flow rate.
The support of this suction cup, in anodized aluminum, is threaded male or female, 1/4″ gas for fixing, and ensure the proper flow to the suction cup.
They are suitable for taking particularly delicate or friable products (bakery products, cardboard interlayers, thin sheets etc …) or for which, in general, the contact with the suction cups or grippers would be problematic as they are highly deformable, porous or irregular.
BEC are fed with compressed air and are also defined as suction cups without contact as there is always a flow of lamellar air between the taken object and the plane of the suction cup in aluminum. The suction cups use Bernoulli’s theorem, the same for which it is possible to interpret the effect of lift of the wings of an aircraft.
They can be, for example, the ideal solution in the textile industry for the taking of fabrics, felts or paddings to be handled with care to avoid wasting materials; as it happens instead when they are manipulated with needle grippers.
They are particularly effective in leafing several overlapping fabrics.
Bernoulli suction cups by Vuototecnica are equipped with pins- stabilizers to prevent rotation of the object and they are operative from a minimum pressure of 1 bar.
Corncobs and foam rubber: a recipe for the perfect grip
For the gripping of products with irregular surfaces, Vuototecnica offers its special foam rubber suction cups.
In this video you can see an application of these suction cups on food, such as corncobs, which have a grained surface, difficult to grip.
The foam rubber of these suction cups in fact has a density that offers excellent grip even on rough or irregularly shaped products like sawn, flamed or bush hammered marbles; non-slip or corrugated textured sheets, cement raw products, outdoor tiles.
It is possible to use them within the temperature range from -40 ° C to +80 ° C for OF orange foam rubber, from -20 ° C to +80 ° C for NF neoprene foam rubber; they maintain their elasticity even after many work cycles.
Thanks to their self-adhesive side, the suction cups attach themselves quickly to anodized aluminum holders, provided with a central threaded hole for mounting on the automatic mechanism.
Bigger holders with two threaded holes, equidistant from the center, are also available, for the possible insertion of anti rotation guide pins.
A new range of bellow suction cups by Vuototecnica: more performance, no thoughts
Vuototecnica presents its new products, even in this hot summer. A new range of bellow suction cups comes, with even greater efficiency than ever before, upgraded according to manufacturers requirements.
Designed for the handling of cardboard boxes, in the packaging industry, these suction cups can be equally effective in various fields of application.
Their peculiarity is that they are able to compensate for the height and to ensure excellent grip and stability when withdrawing the item.
The gripping lip of the suction cup was specially designed with suction ducts to ensure that it is suitable to the item.
You can also choose compounds, mountings and fittings according to application requirements and for fixing on the robot.
Here you can see technical drawings and know the specifications of these suction cups and their supports.
Vuototecnica suction cups, code 08 360 10: great strength for heavy loads in shipbuilding
The handling of large metal sheets and heavy loads is a slow and difficult process, in several stages, in shipbuilding. It involves the use of clamps, slings, hooks and other tools.
The probability that the load falls is high, with dangerous repercussions on the building site in terms of safety and cost. The procedure for hooking and slinging is not simple.
The building material (sheets, profiles and pipes) comes, generally, on the construction site from trucks for heavy loads. The first movement is performed, with the unloading and the storage of the pieces.
During the movement, metal sheets are positioned horizontally within big warehouses. Then they have to be moved again, also vertically, during the assembly of the hull and superstructures. A lengthy and elaborate process.
This no longer happens, since Vuototecnica designed its round flat suction cups, code 08 360 10, specially designed for handling heavy loads vertically and horizontally, with a lifting force of 254.3 kg (calculated with a safety factor that is equal to 3).
These suction cups have a labyrinth-graved tabletop, to facilitate and ensure the grip. They are available in three different standard compounds, fitting to materials and they are already equipped with four sprung cup holders, for they can be assembled on the automatism safely.
They are vulcanized on a steel support, on which four pins are cemented - they are in steel, too - with four self-locking nuts. The vacuum connection is ensured by a ½" gas threaded sleeve, which ensures the proper suction flow.
New bellow suction cups for the firm grip of bags and flow packs
Vuototecnica conceived 08 30 45 S bellow suction cups for the handling of plastic films and flow packs. Watch their efficiency in this video; they have an excellent seal even on the rear junction flap of pasta packs.
They ensure the handling of packs of different shape, size and weight, without damaging the content. The suction cup holder, in anodized aluminum, - 1/4" gas either male or female threaded, for fixing on the automatism - ensure the proper suction flow to the suction cup.
08 30 45 S suction cups adapt themselves, thanks to their grip lip which is thin and soft, and thanks to the film surface ripples during the intake. A revolutionary solution in studying gripping hands for this type of products and packaging.
Taking biscuits with Vuototecnica Bernoulli suction cups: cleaning and assuring the gripping
Christmas is coming and the sweetest symbol of this celebration, as well as Pandoro and Panettone, are biscuits, with a thousand shapes and consistencies. They are on everyone table; sweet manufacturers are working at full capacity for this to happen.
Even Vuototecnica is part of the production process of these delights. In this video, you can see in action Bernoulli (BEC) suction cups on famous butter biscuits located in round aluminum boxes, so beloved during tea time.
As you can see, biscuits have irregular shapes, some of them have little holes that would be an obstacle, in other conditions.
Not with Bernoulli suction cups.
Suited to take every baked product, they generate a flow of lamellar air that arises between them and the biscuit.
There is no contact in the grip and in this way you can also avoid the aspiration of crumbs, sugar, and various garnishes, while in traditional systems with rubber suction cups, you are obliged to clean the vacuum circuit every week because of the aspiration of dust and leftovers.
The interesting thing is that BEC suction cups, despite they do not involve direct contact with the product to handle, are equipped with stabilizers pins so that the biscuit does not rotate. The stabilizers are made of silicone rubber for food, totally suitable to correctly position picked up products. Vuototecnica Bernoulli suction cups operate from a supply minimum pressure of 1 bar.
Maximum flexibility, maximum stability in the grip of marble, glass and ceramics
Gripping marble, glass, cement and ceramics products – which have an extra smooth and slippery surface, or on the contrary have very rough and irregular finishes – is always a problem.
Manufacturing companies producing these materials are distressed, because these are often very expensive pieces and any loss of load means large unexpected expenses.
It has a very thin, soft and sensitive lip; and with its bearing surface, with unique reliefs, allows a considerable grip with the load.
In addition, it has the advantage of interchangeability: it can be fitted without adhesives on the support in anodized aluminum, which is itself easily attachable to the machine thanks to a central threaded hole.
It goes without saying that the replacement of this suction cup is very simple. You can change the rubber compound according to the materials of the objects to manipulate and depending on the environment.
Built-in suction Cups with special ball valve for the wood industry
For the realization of vacuum work surfaces, in particular for CNC machines for woodworking, Vuototecnica designed these built-in suction cups with a ball valve able to create vacuum and retain panels to be processed only when these are resting on suction cups.
Only if the panel load activates the valve sealing ball, suction is activated, to avoid unnecessary vacuum losses when there is no piece to be clamped.
In addition, these special suction cups, designed specifically for the woodworking industry, have a sturdy cylindrical support in anodized aluminum and a squared closure block in brass, which prevents the suction cup rotation and also acts as an vacuum distribution manifold. On request, we can produce them in other materials.
To see the designs and choose the suction cups, in different compounds, you can refer to the online catalogue, or, please, request a hard copy to the company or download apps for iPad and iPhone, to always have with you the best solutions for each project.
Handling marble and sawn granite in complete safety with Vuototecnica suction cups
In the handling of marble and sawn granite slabs, you must pay particular attention to materials quality and characteristics.
In this video you can see in action the Vuototecnica round plane suction cups with vulcanized support (08 … 40 series), employed for more than 25 years with satisfaction by leading companies in the field of marble.
These suction cups are designed for lifting and moving heavy loads, both horizontally and vertically.
Suction cup double lip adapts to sawn and irregular surfaces in an exemplary manner, such as the ones you see in the video, ensuring a perfect grip. These vacuum cups have a labyrinth graved table top, too, made in he same compound, which also allows the management of thin and fragile slabs, without bending materials when gripping them.
They can also be used in other fields with equal success, such as, for example, for the grip of embossed or corrugated sheets, rough wooden planks, concrete prefabricated.
Grip without equal: Vuototecnica flat round foam rubber suction cups
In this video you can see Vuototecnica flat round Geranium foam rubber suction cups in action on insulated sandwich panels. You will certainly be impressed by their grip: they are able to support the weight of two workers standing on the panels.
The secret of a such grip is in the special foam rubber compound, called Geranium, abbreviation OF, which has a density such as to permit the gripping also on very uneven and rough surfaces. The advantage is that these suction cups retain their own elasticity even after many work cycles.
In addition to insulating panels handling, they are ideal for vacuum gripping on very rough surfaces, such as rough concrete, sawn marbles, textured or non-slip and corrugated sheets, striatum plexiglas and many other materials.
When the load to be handled has oiled and irregular surfaces, it is necessary to employ neoprene foam rubber suction cups, abbreviation NF, able to withstand the corrosive action of oils.
To allow rapid fixing at their supports, all foam rubber suction cups are equipped with a self-adhesive side. To replace them, it will be enough to require only adhesive foam rubber suction cup in your favorite compound, changing nothing.
These suction cups can withstand minimum temperatures of -40°C (-20°C for NF neoprene foam rubber) and up to +80 °C.
Professional Centering and Clamping, for glass panels which feature on digital command machines: the solution, Vuototecnica!
In the glasswork industry and in all contexts where panels made of this fragile material have to be clamped, as is the case in the CNC machining sector, there are many factors to bear in mind.
Vuototecnica, with its expansive experience working in collaboration with sector industries, designs and manufactures supports with hidden check pivot to enable rapid centering of the load to be clamped and the suction caps to the work surface. These anodized aluminium supports are equipped, as standard, with a quick coupling for vacuum connection, therefore, when the vacuum is activated, the plastic check pivot re-enters its housing and it remains there until it is released once again thanks to a stainless steel spring.
It is possible to see these devices in use in the video, where they are applied to some suction caps with ball valve and self-locking support. The suction caps in question are genuine clamping systems, ideal for vacuum handling of glass or smooth marble, as they are equipped with a special non-slip plastic coating which makes the tangential gripping of the glass, even more secure.
The features ensure a vacuum is only created where the load to be handled activates the ball grip shutter and they are made of a strong aluminium support with a large base surface area, with edge seal. The aforementioned enables safe fastening to the work surface. These suction caps are available in different shapes and may be modified based upon client requirements.
Code: 08 30 24S. Mission: manipulate plastic films avoiding the occlusion during the suction
Vuototecnica proposes solutions to solve many problems of manipulation in the packaging field.
For gripping and opening plastic bags for packaging but also in all cases ofmanipulation of materials particularly thin and flexible, Vuototecnica has designed a special sucker: the 08 30 24S.
The support of the suction cup can be made of nickel-plated brass or anodized aluminum and is provided with a central pin, threaded, male or female, to allow the suction and the fastening on the automated equipment.
But what makes 08 30 24S truly unique is the gripping lip: very thin, soft and flexible, which easily adapts to the ripples of plastic films. Furthermore, the suction cup is provided with an internal labyrinth of abutment which prevents the obstruction by the plastic film, of the central suction hole; to avoid the reduction of the force/diameter of the cup.
Stable and cost-effective flat elliptical vacuum cups by Vuototecnica
Vacuum technology is a crucial element of the forming machines used to create cardboard packaging elements for the packaging industry.
Vuototecnica designs and manufactures flat elliptical vacuum cups, as well as the relative supports, to be lodged within the working surfaces of these forming machines. These units are capable of holding one of the cardboard’s sides stationary while the forming takes place on the opposite side using traditional vacuum cups. These vacuum cups can nevertheless also be used for manipulating and handling small objects made of plastic or cardboard.
Thanks to their reduced internal volumes, these vacuum cups offer exceptional gripping stability and, more importantly, provide for simple and cost-effective maintenance. Once consumed, in fact, it is sufficient to replace the lips of the vacuum cups themselves, which are available in various compounds based on the gripping surface, the working environment and the required operating cycles. With Vuototecnica’s elliptical vacuum cups, you’ll never have to replace an entire vacuum cup and vulcanized metal support again, thus ensuring optimal savings in terms of both time and money.
Scramble-proof egg handling
As everyone knows, handling eggs requires maximum caution. But on an industrial level, extremely fast handling times are necessary to maximize productivity. In order to resolve the problems faced by producers, Vuototecnica has developed three special bellows vacuum cups for gripping eggs: the 08 33 50 S, the 08 40 80 S and the 08 42 90 N.
Once suction contact is made with the surface of the egg, these vacuum cups withdraw to create an extremely fast, yet gentle lifting movement. Vuototecnica also offers a wide range of components for generating and regulating vacuum levels, which, in the specific case of eggs, must be limited in order to avoid damaging the shells due to any excessive force exerted by the vacuum cup.
To this end,Vuototecnica’s vacuum regulators guarantee the proper adjustment and maintenance of low vacuum levels inside the vacuum cups without cutting off the suction flow from the vacuum source itself.
Furthermore, Vuototecnica offers its customers the choice in two different types of vacuum generating tools: single stage or multi-stage pneumatic ejectors (which allow for the vacuum levels to be adjusted by simply regulating the supply pressure) or electric rotary vane vacuum pumps equipped with vacuum reducers.
These vacuum sources represent viable alternatives to the more traditional vacuum pumps with side channels that are often found installed upon egg handling systems, and offer significant advantages for the manufacturer and the end user alike in terms of noise reduction, maintenance and energy savings.
Vuototecnica’s skilled engineers are always available to help customers select the solutions that are best suited to their needs. The vacuum cups for eggs are made of an FDA certifiable silicone compound. Vuototecnica is also at the customer’s complete disposal for any vacuum cup customization requirements they may have, based on the characteristics of the products to be handled and the specific production environments.
When the vacuum source is missing: Vuototecnica self-locking vacuum cups!
Whenever it is not possible, useful or convenient to create a vacuum using an external vacuum source, like a vacuum pump or vacuum generator, or wherever the items to be handled are being shifted along an assembly line’s belt conveyor, Vuototecnica’s pull-release clamping vacuum cups represent the ideal solution for retaining easy-to-grip components with smooth impermeable surfaces, like glass panes or sheet metal.
Some applications include the handling of windshields on the automobile industry’s assembly lines, the handling of stainless steel objects like pots and kitchen accessories during ther various stages of production (painting, drying, etc.), the handling of marble products for construction use and the handling of glass panes by robotic systems.
These applications do not require the use of external vacuum sources since the objects themselves create the vacuum when pressed against the vacuum cups, while the integrated check valve ensures that the grip is maintained. In order to release the product, the vacuum cup just has to be slightly raised and the check valve will open in order to restore the atmospheric pressure.
Vuototecnica’s pull-release clamping vacuum cups are made from nickel-plated brass with steel guide bushes, and are even available in a non-rotating version. Vuototecnica is even capable of customizing its products to meet the customer’s specific requirements.
Vuototecnica Maxigrip Cups: red carpet stability and resistance
A convertible car driving along a deserted road at sunset, the sea alongside and accompanied by dreamlike music. We are in a film and the landscape slides past the window. What we see on the screen was specially prepared for us by a team of technical image experts.
The cameras for shooting of the car in motion require appropriate media to allow for a smoother shot without jerky movements and, above all, ensuring stability, given the high costs of the cameras. A German company has recently installed Vuototecnica Maxigrip Cups on the cars for perfect shooting of the cinematic scenes, a guarantee of perfect anchoring and stability.
With a very high friction coefficient, available in all shapes and sizes, the Maxigrip cups offer extreme flexibility of the grip lip, which allows them to adapt to flat, concave and convex surfaces, also on greasy or wet sheeting. As such, perfect to apply to the bodywork of a car.
They are available in all compounds and are stain-resistant and thus will not ruin the surface of the filming car. Finally the range of accessories (reductions, grafts, adapters and positionable knuckle joints) allow even greater stability in attachment of the film camera. Thus also the movement and speed of the car are not problematic.
Magnetic silicone compound suctions cups, to avoid unpleasant surprises
The use of suction cups in the food industry is becoming increasingly more common but the handling of products requires strict regulations and high quality standards. Caution must be used when picking up food products to prevent contaminating the products and to ensure maximum cleanliness.
For this reason, Vuototecnica offers magnetic silicone compound suction cups created especially for the food industry. The compound of suction cups can be easily detected in case of breakage or accidental detachment thanks to the metal detectors used to protect food products, which detect the ferrite powder contained in them.
In addition, the material has a high resistance to solvents, UV rays, oxygen, ozone and to chlorates, withstanding any type of production environment. The suction cups can be used at temperatures ranging from -50° to 275° C and for all types of food products.
Maximum care, safe grip
“Maximum care” is the watchword when it comes to handling fragile or deformable food products.
To prevent fragile or lightweight products from breaking, Vuototecnica has BEC suction cups for non-contact handling. The cups are based on the Bernoulli theorem, and allow products to be lifted without the need for contact like the puff pastry, a food that is quite delicate and easily deformed when handled.
The BEC also have spacers made of silicone and antistatic rubber for foods that keep the gripped object from moving side to side.
Suction cups for CDs and perforated objects
Compact discs are optical discs designed to store data in digital format. They’re made of transparent polycarbonate, covered with a thin metallic layer upon which the data is “recorded” using lasers.
The reading operations are also performed using lasers, but the devices must be treated with maximum care in order to ensure their constant and precise functionality. This includes the production stage, before they are placed on the market.
In the field of industrial automation, it’s extremely important to be able to develop ad hoc solutions for every product. Vuototecnica is capable of providing various types of suction cups based on the specific requirements of the objects to be handled, such as ring suction cups, which are designed to hold objects with a central hole, like CDs.
These suction cups are often used in the electronics industry; they have an extremely thin sealing lip in order to allow them to adapt well to rough surfaces, such as abrasive disks for angle grinders. They are cold fitted to the supports and are made from silicone S for handling compact discs. The supports are made from anodized aluminium and are equipped with a threaded central hole, which provides for the suctioning operations and allows the unit to be fastened to the automated mechanism itself.
Ring suction cups can be used to handle perforated disks of any material, including gears, pulleys and even abrasive discs.
In order to meet its customers’ requirements, Vuototecnica even produces these suction cups in different blends. Download the Vuototecnica Catalogue in PDF format or request a printed copy to find out more about all the solutions we have to offer!
Concave suction cups for glass bottles: an intelligent solution
Glass is a material that’s made up of raw materials that are readily available upon the earth. What’s more, it can be continuously recycled and therefore has an extremely low environmental impact. In the production of glass bottles or cylindrical glass objects, the raw materials are melted in furnaces and cut by shearing machines before being moulded into their classic cylindrical shapes. After being annealed in the furnaces and inspected, the bottles must be handled for packaging. It is precisely at this stage that the need arises for suction cups capable of adapting to the cylindrical shapes and smooth surfaces of the bottles themselves.
Based on the types of objects to be handled, the suction cups can be manufactured in nitrile or oil-resistant rubber A, which are suitable for gripping glass materials and loads with smooth surfaces and are highly resistant to oil, heat and aging; in natural rubber N, for irregular or rough surfaces (wood, cardboard, marble, brick, glass or plastic); in silicone S, even produced according to the most well-known food-grade manufacturing standards.
In addition to bottles, these suction cups can even be used in conjunction with a wide range of other cylindrical objects, including pipes and round profiles. The support is made of aluminium and has a threaded central hole to facilitate machine mounting, as well as a lateral hole to facilitate the insertion of an anti-rotation guide pin.
Vuototecnica provides custom solutions to meet the needs of every industrial sector.
Foam rubber suction cups: irregular surfaces are no longer a problem
Rough, uneven and sometimes even grooved surfaces can be extremely difficult to handle and manipulate. There is a constant risk of accidental damage to the materials themselves due to suction cups failing to properly adhere to the surface, thus resulting in wasted time and money.
Vuototecnica has permanently eliminated this risk thanks to its innovative foam rubber suction cups, which are available in flat round or flat rectangular versions.
They are particularly suitable for use on rough surfaces, like sawn marble, textured sheet metal, corrugated or anti-slip materials, striped acrylic, raw concrete, textured patio and garden tiles and, more generally, in all cases where a tight grip on a rough surface is required.
In fact, the foam’s softness allows it to adapt to all the grooves and to perfectly adhere to the material.
Our foam rubber suction cups are made using a special high density blend of material, with an optimal elastic yield. They have a self-adhesive side for quick and easy fastening and offer guaranteed functionality at temperatures ranging from -40°C to +80°C.
In the case of oil-coated grip surfaces and outdoor equipment, it is possible to make use of neoprene foam (NF) rubber, which has an operating temperature range of -20°C to +80°C and is capable of withstanding the wear and tear of the atmospheric agents.
The durability of these suction cups is guaranteed over time, even after many operating cycles.
Oils, grease and fuels: problem solved with Vuototecnica BENZ compound suction cups!
In the automotive industry there is often the need to manipulate stamped or deep drawn metal sheets which then go on to make up the bodywork or other car components.
Today's automatic industry allows performing all phases of car production with robots, but these don't always represent the most ideal solutions for the gripping metal plates and glass that are in contact with oils, grease and fuels. The result is imprecision in work and poor safety in the workplace.
Vuototecnica solves these problems by manufacturing different types of suction cups for the automotive sector: flat, bellows, elliptical and maxigrip of different shapes and sizes.
The suction cups are made of BENZ compound, resistant to chlorine which is usually present in the oils for stamping and deep drawing sheet metal, and they carry out their work flawlessly, regardless of the weight and cleanliness of the load. The maxigrip suction cups provide an unparalleled grip, even on very oily and wet surfaces; as a matter of fact, the liquids are easily drained, without any worries. The grip lip is extremely sensitive and this makes manipulation easy, whatever the shape of the object to be gripped, whether it be concave, flat or convex.
If you are thinking that a strong grip may be broken, warped or leave unwanted marks on the surfaces, think again, because despite the high friction coefficient, Vuototecnica suction cups are designed with extreme attention to materials and the application processes.
In addition, a wide range of supports and accessories are available which can be installed on any type of robot.
Discover our solutions for the automotive sector.
Vertical glass sheets: gripping, separation, and lifting in total safety
The glass industry encompasses a variety of processes and designs. The fragility of products and the necessary perfection of each piece often make handling difficult.
Vuototecnica offers various solutions in this field, even for special manipulation requirements such as gripping glass sheets stored vertically.
Bellow suction cups for glass, are ideal for this application since once the suction cup is placed on the surface and vacuum is attained, they have the ability to quickly retract, thereby facilitating the separation of superimposed glass plates.
The sheet is gripped and separated from any adjacent to it, without the risk of breaking or falling it. It is first positioned perpendicular to the floor and after this phase it can be moved in all directions without any adhesion problems and in total safety.
The bellow suction cups for glass are available in different compounds depending on the requirements: they don't leave halos or marks on the glass, they increase adherence in case of uneven or wet surfaces and they work in contact with atmospheric agents, in addition to having many other qualities.
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Packaging and handling of crumbly baked goods
Crackers are light and flaky baked goods. The fact is, however, that they are so thin and fragile that one must be extremely careful in order to avoid breaking them. In order to prevent such inconveniences with crackers and other light and flaky food products, their producers rely upon special handling techniques.
Vuototecnica offers BEC vacuum cups for non-contact gripping. Though designed for semiconductor plates, silicon disks, solar cells and foils and films made from precious metals, these units also have a wide range of potential applications in the food industry.
The vacuum cups are based on Bernoulli’s principle, the same theory that explains how an airplane’s wing produces lift. In fact, the “lift” effect that they generate even allows for light products to be lifted, with no need for contact to be made, and is used for a wide range of lifting and separating applications: including sheets of paper, cardboard and stacked laminations.
The BEC are equipped with anti-static food-grade silicone rubber spacers in order prevent any lateral movements of the gripped object. These special vacuum cups can also used for handling crumbly baked goods that produce light powders, such as crackers, thus preventing machine clogging and consequent production downtime. Flawless handling, with no contact!
Radiographic films without halos and without fear
X-rays play a very important role in hospitals: they show the portion of the body being examined in clear detail. X-rays are very similar to the film used in photography, consisting of plastic coated material with a thin layer of silver nitrate able to expose X-rays.
These supports are highly electrostatically charged, so in the development of X-rays, users must be very careful handling them to avoid contaminants that could affect the validity of the examination.
These supports are highly electrostatically charged, so in the development of X-rays, users must be very careful handling them to avoid contaminants that could affect the validity of the examination.
For this application, Vuototecnica has created special mixture suction cups that do not leave any traces on the X-rays, for X-ray film developing machines. The mix of elliptical suction cups with vulcanised support by Vuototecnica does not carry electrostatic charges and is therefore ideal for this kind of work.
The original conformation of the suction cups allows users move and withdraw one X-ray at a time without leaving halos and without deforming the film. The aluminium supports are vulcanised on the suction cups and have a side groove that prevents rotation
The elliptical suction cups with vulcanised support by Vuototecnica are useful in any situation which requires safe handling of X-rays, laminates, sheets, pages and other kinds of products for which the separation of many thin superimposed layers is necessary.
All this without ever forgetting the Vuototecnica keywords: quality, versatility and customisation.
Vacuum technology for producing solar panels
Italian government incentives for solar panel installation confirmed again for 2011. Compared to 2010, tax rebates have doubled from 5 to 10 years for those who choose a more eco-sustainable home.
Ensuring not only environmental improvement but also low expenses, solar energy has undergone remarkable development in recent years and solar panel production is destined for even further growth.
Have you ever thought about how each delicate solar cell is handled during the solar panel production process, where speed is very fast with relatively short cycle times? Vuototecnica has found the solution with BEC suction cups which make use of the Bernoulli theorem.
BEC suction cups have been specially designed to handle fragile objects such as solar cells, silicone discs, precious metal sheets and other objects that need to be handled with the utmost delicacy without any contact.
Have a look here to discover all the characteristics of these suction cups and of other Vuototecnica patented vacuum gripping systems.
