Wood panels to cutter, 360° rotating vacuum lifter

In this shop, wood panels and cement boards are moved from the stack onto the cutting table many times per shift. They weigh roughly 100 kg to 400 kg, they are large, and some have to be stood upright or flipped before they go down. It used to take three or four people to carry one, which was tiring and chipped the edges.

The tricky part is the surface. Raw wood and cement board are usually dusty, and some panels have a textured checker pattern, nothing like smooth glass or steel. A standard lifter leaks and does not hold well. FullSharp chose a vacuum lifter with large suction cups that seal on dusty, textured faces, hung under a jib crane with an electric hoist running along the boom.

The lifter rotates and tilts a full 360 degrees. The operator picks up a flat panel, lifts it, stands it up or turns it to the right cutting direction, swings the boom over the table, lowers it and releases. One person handles the whole cycle.

Wood panel loading onto a cutting machine with a jib crane and a 360 degree rotating vacuum lifter

Jib crane with electric hoist and a 360 degree rotating, tilting vacuum lifter next to the panel cutter.

Installed equipment

Jib crane: floor-mounted column beside the cutter, a rail-type boom for the hoist trolley, swinging to cover both the panel stack and the machine table.
Electric hoist: smooth lifting and lowering with a pendant control.
360 degree rotating vacuum lifter: two large suction cups on a frame that rotate and tilt the panel 360 degrees, with a vacuum gauge so the operator can watch the holding force.

Key specifications

Lifting capacity100–400 kg
LoadsWood panels, cement boards, dusty panels, textured checker-pattern panels
Functions360 degree rotation, 360 degree tilting
Supporting equipmentJib crane + electric hoist
ApplicationLoading panels onto the cutter, unstacking

What the shop gained

One operator

No more three or four people carrying a single panel, fewer back strains and pinched fingers.

Difficult surfaces

Dusty and textured panels are held securely without cleaning them first.

Right cutting direction

Rotate and tilt in the air, then set down, instead of flipping panels by hand on the table.

See more FullSharp vacuum lifting pads and vacuum lifting for wood, stone and steel panels. Send FullSharp your panel size, thickness, weight and a few photos of the surface for a free survey.