Strostkovy
Titanium
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2017
I have the issue of trying to load single sheets of metal off of a pallet and on to a plasma table (or just somewhere else to get to where we need it) so I built this monstrosity:
(The cage is off of the forklift because I have to get into the engine a lot until I finish all of the repairs and the cage is very heavy to take on and off. I will put it back on once I get a pallet rack set up and have cause to lift anything above four feet.)
There are eight suction cup assemblies. Each assembly is made from a regular 8" suction cup for material handling that had a little thumb pump and handle on it. I took the handle and pump off, and bolted them to the steel frame you see in the picture. I ran a tee from the suction cup that goes to a vacuum gauge (one per cup, very, very helpful) and to another tee which leads to a diaphragm pump and release solenoid (one per cup).
You can audibly tell if all of the pumps are pulling a good vacuum, and the gauges all read 18 in Hg or better. It is impossible to activate the release valve while the pumps are on, so chances of accidental dumping are low.
Each suction cup is floating so that when you set the frame down on the metal each one sits flush on the plate. Currently the pumps are powered from the forklift, but I think I'm going to get a battery and remote so you can drop it off to move regular pallets and pick it back up more easily. I ran out of vacuum hose so the gauges are mounted on each pump. As soon as more hose arrives I will put all 8 gauges where the forklift operator can see them. I will likely also add some mirrors around the edges so you can clearly see where the edges of the sheet will line up, so that getting on and off the forklift is minimized, and messing with the sheet after placement is minimized.
Some possible questions and/or concerns:
Why not magnets?
-Magnets don't work on stainless or aluminum, and can pick up more than one sheet.
What if a suction cup comes loose?
-Each suction cup is independent so you still have 7 holding the load, which is well within the safety margin on this.
What if you lose power?
-The suction cups use diaphragm pumps, which have a built in check valve. Since the pumps can't bypass when off, it takes over three minutes for the sheet to be at risk of dropping.
What if you need to pick up scratched/dirty metal
-This works perfectly fine on plywood, drywall, and OSB, so it would have to be pretty bad metal. But you can know for sure by looking at the vacuum gauges and being sure there are no leaks.
The pump current consumption is around 5-6A depending on how much air they are moving. Total cost was just over $600, but I had a fair amount of steel left over. The tubing the forks slide into is pretty tight, but you can just suction the whole thing to the concrete floor and back up.
I've picked up a sheet of 5' x 10' 10 gauge steel, bounced it as hard as the hydraulics would let me, and jumped around on it and can't get anything to budge. I picked up 20 gauge SS and tried to bend it from under the suction cup and could not.
Like any load, you should still keep it as low as reasonable and never be under it.
I'm not sure if I was thorough or scatterbrained, but I used paragraphs, so at least I tried. Kind of.
(The cage is off of the forklift because I have to get into the engine a lot until I finish all of the repairs and the cage is very heavy to take on and off. I will put it back on once I get a pallet rack set up and have cause to lift anything above four feet.)
There are eight suction cup assemblies. Each assembly is made from a regular 8" suction cup for material handling that had a little thumb pump and handle on it. I took the handle and pump off, and bolted them to the steel frame you see in the picture. I ran a tee from the suction cup that goes to a vacuum gauge (one per cup, very, very helpful) and to another tee which leads to a diaphragm pump and release solenoid (one per cup).
You can audibly tell if all of the pumps are pulling a good vacuum, and the gauges all read 18 in Hg or better. It is impossible to activate the release valve while the pumps are on, so chances of accidental dumping are low.
Each suction cup is floating so that when you set the frame down on the metal each one sits flush on the plate. Currently the pumps are powered from the forklift, but I think I'm going to get a battery and remote so you can drop it off to move regular pallets and pick it back up more easily. I ran out of vacuum hose so the gauges are mounted on each pump. As soon as more hose arrives I will put all 8 gauges where the forklift operator can see them. I will likely also add some mirrors around the edges so you can clearly see where the edges of the sheet will line up, so that getting on and off the forklift is minimized, and messing with the sheet after placement is minimized.
Some possible questions and/or concerns:
Why not magnets?
-Magnets don't work on stainless or aluminum, and can pick up more than one sheet.
What if a suction cup comes loose?
-Each suction cup is independent so you still have 7 holding the load, which is well within the safety margin on this.
What if you lose power?
-The suction cups use diaphragm pumps, which have a built in check valve. Since the pumps can't bypass when off, it takes over three minutes for the sheet to be at risk of dropping.
What if you need to pick up scratched/dirty metal
-This works perfectly fine on plywood, drywall, and OSB, so it would have to be pretty bad metal. But you can know for sure by looking at the vacuum gauges and being sure there are no leaks.
The pump current consumption is around 5-6A depending on how much air they are moving. Total cost was just over $600, but I had a fair amount of steel left over. The tubing the forks slide into is pretty tight, but you can just suction the whole thing to the concrete floor and back up.
I've picked up a sheet of 5' x 10' 10 gauge steel, bounced it as hard as the hydraulics would let me, and jumped around on it and can't get anything to budge. I picked up 20 gauge SS and tried to bend it from under the suction cup and could not.
Like any load, you should still keep it as low as reasonable and never be under it.
I'm not sure if I was thorough or scatterbrained, but I used paragraphs, so at least I tried. Kind of.