Vacuum suction spider SSP in an assembly line for wooden boards

Coated wooden boards are transported along a new assembly line to an edgebander using a belt conveyor. After processing, the boards are to be automatically stacked on a pallet. Industrial robots are equipped with a vacuum spider from Schmalz for this purpose.

The vacuum suction spider SSP is equipped with suction cups that are specially designed for the wood industry. A double sealing lip on the inside of the suction cup results in an very tight seal on rough and smooth surfaces. The special structure of the bottom surface of the suction cup allows for extremely short cycle times and highly dynamic handling. The vacuum spider is protected by check valves on every suction cup. If only some of the suction cups are covered, the uncovered ones are switched off. This makes it possible to handle wooden boards with many different dimensions. The vacuum spider is made up of a number of individual components that are perfectly tailored to one another, which makes it possible to adjust the device individually for every process. Experienced system consultants at Schmalz design the vacuum system and test it in Schmalz’ testing facilities using the customer’s original workpieces.