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A 19 mm chipboard panel measuring 2,800 × 2,070 weighs around 75 kilograms. Two people can move it, one cannot – not because of the weight but because it bends, tips and slips from the hand at the edge. In a joinery that ties up a second person at every cut who would otherwise be at the machine.
Take the top panel off the flat stack, guide it level over the machine table, lay it against the stop. The panel is large and flexible; lifted at one side it often brings the next one with it, because dust and coating make them cling. On the table it has to lie flat, otherwise the machine's vacuum clamping does not hold. And the surface matters too: melamine, veneer and lacquered panels must not take marks, because they stay visible in the finished piece.
A cup beam for panels carries six to ten cups on two longitudinal rails, adjustable to the largest and the smallest format in use. For coated surfaces we use soft, non-marking cups of large diameter; they hold at lower contact pressure and leave nothing behind. For raw chipboard and MDF – porous and continuously drawing air – we allow reserve in suction capacity instead of working to the limit values in a data sheet.
Two panels clinging together are the commonest nuisance in panel handling. What works is a slight tilt while lifting off: the beam raises one side first, the second panel releases and stays put. Where that is not enough, a stripper or an air blower at the edge of the stack separates them. Both are simpler and more reliable than a sensor that reports the problem without solving it.
Panel stack, machine and stacking point form a rectangle, usually six by four metres. An area rail system of main and cross girders covers exactly that and lets the beam travel to any point – with no slewing movement, for which a cutting shop has no room. A slewing jib crane is the cheaper answer where work happens only between stack and machine; as soon as the stacking point joins in, the rail system is the right choice.
Weightless handling – floating instead of lifting.
View device Lifting equipment · Crane systemsWide reach by slewing around the column.
View device Lifting equipment · Conveyor systemsThe whole area covered – in X and Y.
View deviceYes, if suction capacity is designed for it. Raw chipboard and MDF are porous and draw air continuously; the pump has to keep up. We therefore calculate with reserve rather than the limit value from a data sheet, and use cups with a soft, wide sealing lip.
Most effectively by tilting slightly while lifting off – the second panel releases by itself. A stripper at the edge of the stack or a blower that gets air between the panels helps as well. Sensors report the problem but do not solve it.
Do not reckon with the price of the unit but with the second person tied up: at 150 panels a shift that is several hours of working time a day missing elsewhere. In most joineries the payback is therefore under two years – before counting the surface damage avoided.
One short conversation usually settles more than three quotations. Call or write — you will reach an engineer directly.
Start typing – for example “balancer”, “SAP” or “pipe stress”.
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