The large-area vacuum grippers with separating function are suitable for use with porous workpieces, particularly if the workpieces tend to stick together.

During handling of flat, porous workpieces such as sheets of MDF or OSB with vacuum, a small vacuum is always generated between the individual sheets. This causes two or more sheets to stick together, making it impossible to lift a single sheet from the stack.
With the FX/FM with separating function, this small vacuum can be destroyed by injecting a small amount of compressed air. This ensures that only one sheet is picked up and held securely. This improves the process safety and reduces the number of failures.

Advantages of the large-area vacuum gripper system FX/FM with separating function:

• The large-area vacuum gripper system with separating function permits the rapid separation of flat, porous workpieces such as sheets of chipboard or MDF.
• The separating function can be adjusted quickly and easily with the throttle valve to suit the porosity of the material to be handled, permitting the handling of chipboards and MDF sheets with varying thicknesses.
• The gripper system grips the workpiece securely, even if it is not fully in contact with the surface, which permits flexible operation without the need to changes the gripper.

Typical applications:

• Automated separation and handling of flat, porous workpieces such as sheets of wood, chipboard and MDF

Construction:

• The basic body is the same as that of the standard large-area vacuum gripper system FM…
• A throttled stream of compressed air is injected into the centre cell of the large-area gripper module to separate the workpieces.
• This cell is isolated from the vacuum chamber by a foam-rubber seal.