Panel feeding at the saw
Place raw and cut panels from the stack onto the beam saw table without knocking the edge.
Industry
Panel handling for the wood and building materials industry
A raw chipboard panel covers more than five square metres and weighs forty kilograms. It is not hard to lift, it is hard to hold. Vacuum lifters and manipulators turn a two-person task into a one-person movement – and prevent the edge damage that occurs when setting down.
- Panel length in raw format
- 5600 mm
- Payload incl. suction pads
- 125 kg
- Swing from stack to vertical
- 90°
01 — Applications
Large, heavy, delicate – and still one person.
Typical handling tasks in Wood & building materials — and what they demand technically.
Loading CNC machining centres
Bring workpieces onto the machine table in the correct orientation and remove them after machining.
Window and door assembly
Swing, tilt and place frames and sashes into the fixture.
Glass and composite panels
Bring edge-sensitive elements from a horizontal stack into the vertical.
Building materials and precast elements
Move panels, blocks and elements in production and pre-assembly.
Order picking in builders’ merchants
Assemble containers and panels for despatch.
02 — What matters
What Wood & building materials demands of handling technology
Not the weight – the area
A raw panel measuring 5,600 by 2,070 millimetres can hardly be controlled by one person, even where its weight would allow it. The problem is leverage: the hands grip at two points, the panel bends, the edge hits the floor. A vacuum lifter grips across the surface, distributes the holding force and stiffens the part. That is why panel handling is the classic vacuum task – and one in which the number and layout of the suction pads decides, not the payload of the unit.
Pick up flat, set down upright
The most common sequence: the panel lies flat on the stack and has to go vertically into a rack, a fixture or a trolley. That ninety-degree swing is the movement that causes most edge damage and most back injuries when done by hand. A swing unit performs it under control and in one go.
Porous surfaces need more area
Raw chipboard, OSB and uncoated fibreboard are air-permeable. A pad that holds securely on coated stock loses vacuum here. The answer is more suction area and a more powerful pump, not more contact pressure. That is why we size suction beams for the worst surface that occurs – not the best.
Dust is an operating material
In woodworking, dust is everywhere, and wood dust can form explosive atmospheres. Where your explosion protection document defines dust zones we supply an explosion-protected version. Independently of that, filters, pads and bearings in this environment need a maintenance interval that matches the dust load – we write that into the operating instructions, not into a footnote.
03 — Device catalogue
Start the device finder
Equipment for Wood & building materials
Design, payload and reach — the shortlist for this industry.
Lifting equipment · Balancers
01
Skyline Rope Balancer
Weightless handling – floating instead of lifting.
View device
Lifting equipment · Crane systems
02
Slewing Crane Rope Unit
Wide reach by slewing around the column.
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Lifting equipment · Lifting axes
03
I-GO Lifting Axis
Compact power for vertical lifting.
View device
Lifting equipment · Conveyor systems
04
Rail System
The whole area covered – in X and Y.
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04 — Services
From analysis to inspection
01
Workstation Analysis
We look at the workstation before we talk about equipment.
View
02
Sizing & Custom Solutions
Load, reach, cycle time – plus grippers for anything without a catalogue entry.
View
03
Lifting Technology
Lifting equipment, manipulators and balancers for industry, medical technology and logistics.
View
05 — Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions from Wood & building materials
Do vacuum pads hold on raw chipboard?
Yes, if suction area and pump capacity are sized for it. Porous surfaces let air through; that is compensated by more area and more suction power, not by higher contact pressure. Tell us the worst surface that occurs and we design for it.
How large can the panels be?
The raw format of 5,600 × 2,070 mm is manageable with a suitable suction beam. What matters is less the length than the sagging: the longer the panel, the more support points the beam needs.
Can the unit raise the panel to vertical?
Yes. A swing device rotates the panel under control from horizontal to vertical – exactly the movement that causes most damage when done by hand.
06 — Applications
Tasks from this industry
Application
Loading film reels into the machine
Any crane can pick it up. The unit has to hit the shaft.
Read the case ApplicationPalletising sacks from the bagging line
Fifteen tonnes a day, sack by sack, with the back.
Read the case ApplicationSetting glass panes and glazing
Glass does not forgive a second attempt.
Read the case ApplicationLoading panels onto the CNC
Two people carry the panel. One of them carries only its size.
Read the case
07 — Guides
Read more
9 min
01
Sizing a manipulator
It is not the payload that decides, it is the moment.
Read the article
9 min
02
Ergonomics at the workstation
There is no limit value. There is a duty to assess.
Read the article
9 min
03
Grippers & lifting devices
The unit lifts. The gripper decides whether it works.
Read the article
Contact
We do not know your shop floor yet — but we know the task.
One short conversation usually settles more than three quotations. Call or write — you will reach an engineer directly.