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Large-format ceramics is an unfavourable combination: heavy per area, thin in section, brittle at the edge and with a surface that accepts vacuum only reluctantly.
Take panels off the kiln car or the line, inspect, turn and place them on the despatch stack. By hand it happens in pairs, gripped at the edges, with the typical brief sag in the middle – exactly where the panel is most likely to crack. On setting down it has to lie flat, or the stress transfers to the layer below.
With thin large formats it is not about holding force per cup but about distribution. Eight to twelve cups on a frame beam carry the panel at so many points that it does not sag between them and the bending stress stays below the critical limit. Positions are calculated from the format, not judged by eye – and the beam follows the panel contour.
Unglazed and fine-pored ceramics draw air. Holding force drops noticeably, and a cup sized for a dry surface fails. So we size with a markedly increased safety factor, choose soft, large-area sealing lips and test holding time on an actual sample. A vacuum reservoir compensates brief dips in generation, a warning device reports the pressure drop.
Many panels have to be turned for visual inspection. A damped swing axis in the beam whose pivot lies in the panel centre of gravity turns that into a finger movement: the operator turns, the device holds, the panel stays put in any intermediate position. Without that axis every inspection becomes a two-person job – and every setting down an opportunity for edge damage.
The jointed arm for millimetre-precise handling.
View device Lifting equipment · BalancersWeightless handling – floating instead of lifting.
View device Lifting equipment · Conveyor systemsThe whole area covered – in X and Y.
View deviceYes, but with different sizing. Porous surfaces draw air and reduce holding force; we work with a markedly increased reserve, use soft large-area lips and test holding time on a sample. A vacuum reservoir belongs there in every case.
The deflection calculation answers that. At twelve millimetres thickness and three metres length, eight to twelve points are usual. What matters is not the number but the distribution: even, with sufficient edge distance.
Sliding cup arms with detents. For every format occurring the setting is determined once and labelled; changing over then takes under a minute without tools.
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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