Transport to cutting machine

A vacuum lifter to transport steel plates with a length between three and six meters to a cutting machine. In the design we have to take into account several aspects:

• Deflection of the steel plates.
• The vacuum lifter can never be longer than the shortest plate. This is necessary to position the plate correctly on the cutting table.

Extendable design

The shortest plate is three meters, which means that the machine may be a maximum of three meters. However, to lift a steel plate of six meters we need a longer vacuum lifter. We solved this with a telescopic suspension with two outer crossbars. Making the vacuum lifter extendable to the required length. Any plate between three and six meters is easily put on the cutting table with the vacuum lifter.

Consideration of deflection

The thinnest steel plates are only 3 mm thick and therefore easily deflected. Due to the telescopic suspension, the suction pads are evenly distributed over the surface of the plate. However, the plates are not always flat before lifting. To compensate for any unevenness, the suction pads have a spring suspension.

This lifting solution is part of the Aerolift EU-series. Most of the machine is modular designed. However, the telescopic suspension is custom-made to meet the wishes of the customer. We call this a hybrid design. Partly modular and partly custom made.