More efficiency when sawing large sheets of wood

One market requirement for manufacturers is to produce high-quality standard items of furniture at reasonable prices. A more difficult problem is producing individual fitted furniture at prices which lie only slightly above those of the standard units However, priceworthy furniture - units which are "worth their price" - can be produced only if a modular system is used for the standard items and the customer-specific items are produced by modifying elements from this modular system. This, in turn, means that the production facilities must be extremely flexible, permitting rapid conversion to match the batch sizes; in many cases, one-off jobs are becoming more and more common. The necessary flexibility cannot be achieved simply by purchasing extremely powerful and very flexible wood-working machines. The productivity of machines such as power saws or CNC machining centres depends to a great degree on the minimisation of the non-productive down times which occur during loading of the machines, the actual machining and the unloading of the finished parts. What use are machines whose tools can be changed in seconds while changing the workpieces takes several minutes, during which the machines stand idle?

How can small batches and one-off
jobs be manufactured more efficiently?

In most furniture factories, the mass-production of items for the standard ranges is already automated. On the other hand, the customer-specific items are still one-off jobs. Nevertheless, high productivity is also necessary for the one-off jobs, since economical manufacture is otherwise impossible and the prices have to rise. For this reason, many manufacturers use vertical power saws for cutting large and heavy sheets of wood. These saws can be loaded far more efficiently with the aid of a vacuum tube lifter from the specialists for vacuum technology and vacuum handling systems J. Schmalz GmbH in 72293 Glatten, which can also be used for removing the finished parts. The workpieces are transported far more easily, safely and with no damage to their surfaces. Another advantage is that only one person is needed for operation of the vacuum tube lifter and their work is made less strenuous, thus also improving their motivation.

The vacuum tube lifter improves efficiency and
reduces the overall machining times

The vacuum tube lifter JUMBOERGO with pneumatic swivelling unit PSE is the ideal solution for applications where workpieces have to be lifted in the horizontal position and swivelled by 90° to the vertical position before they are placed on the vertical saw. With the aid of the pneumatic swivelling unit, the sheets of wood can be swivelled through 90° from the horizontal position to the vertical position by simply moving a lever: the pneumatic drive system does the hard work. After the sheets have been cut, the parts can be gripped again in the vertical position and swivelled back to the horizontal position for stacking on a pallet or a transport trolley. The combination of the ergonomical operating handle of the JUMBOERGO and the pneumatic swivelling unit PSE permits simple, safe and precise handling of the sheets and the finished parts by a single person. Furthermore, the vertical saw can be loaded and unloaded more quickly, permitting more throughput and better efficiency.

The JUMBOERGO PSE is assembled quickly and cheaply from the basic components (vacuum generators, hoses, lifting units, control units, suction pads) of modular JUMBO construction kit, with the swivelling unit PSE as an accessory. The compressed-air hoses are completely integrated into the lifting tube, which means that there is no danger that a hose catches on an obstacle and thus stops production. The vacuum tube lifter can be mounted on a wall-mounted or column-mounted slewing crane or on an overhead crane, as desired. It is also possible to mount the JUMBO on a mobile frame. Depending on the porosity of the workpieces to be handled, the vacuum is generated by a pump, a blower or an ejector. The actual vacuum tube lifter can handle loads of up to 300 kg with ease. If a pneumatic swivelling unit PSE is fitted, the maximum permissible load is 120 kg.

Vacuum tube lifter JUMBOERGO – more than
an important rationalisation module

Nolte-Möbel GmbH & Co. KG in 76726 Germersheim, one of Germany's leading manufacturers of cabinet systems, bedroom furniture and other items, uses a vacuum tube lifter JUMBOERGO PSE for handling large and heavy sheets of chipboard. The vacuum tube lifter is also used for loading a vertical saw and removing the finished parts. The material flow around the saw is much more efficient and the saw operator no longer has to lift the heavy sheets by hand.