One of North America's largest manufacturers of vacuum end of arm tooling and associated components. Designed and built in the USA & Canada.
The Squid is designed and build in North America by Vacuforce LLC. No other company in the USA can build and ship a universal vacuum tool as quickly as Vacuforce LLC.
The Squid is a modular design allowing many variables in construction. This image shows the top plate including the vacuum connection ports, in this case three equally spaced ports along its length. The top plate includes the mounting holes for connection to the end of arm tool which could be a robot arm or gantry robot.
The Squid has been developed to offer the vacuum user a universal end of arm vacuum tool. The Squid utilizes different “end effectors” such as vacuum cups, vacuum foam, orifice fittings and self closing valves. The choice of Squid is dependent on the application and user preference. Please contact Vacuforce to discuss the application.
Custom size and shape Squids are available to suit the customer application.
The illustration shown incorporates a Squid tool with 40mm diameter suction cups each connected to a cup fitting with a restricted orifice. Suction cups that are not sealed against the carton will have an air leak but because of the internal orifice restriction a vacuum blower will be sized correctly to overcome this "leakage" and therefore safely lift the load.
The illustration shown incorporates a Squid tool with 40mm diameter suction cups each connected to a Vacuforce self closing valve - model VFSC3/8. If the cup is not sealed against the load being handled the inrush of air through the cup will CLOSE the valve and therefore isolate that cup from the common vacuum source. An additional benefit of the self closing valve option is a higher vacuum level can be achieved as there is zero leakage but also a smaller vacuum blower/generator/pump can be used.
The Vacuforce self closing valve is adjustable and therefore can be used on products which are porous such as poor quality cardboard cartons. The valve rest position is under a spring force. Consequently high inertia or inverted positioning of the Squid will NOT inadvertently close the valve. The valve comes preset with 1mm ball movement which is ideal for the VFB40 single bellows cup. If larger cups are being used this distance can be INCREASED and if smaller cups are in use this distance can be DECREASED.
Vacuforce is a designer and manufacturer of vacuum pick & place components and tooling used in packaging, production lines and other corresponding industries across North America. We are based in Indianapolis, USA.
