While potatoes might be easy to pick up from your plate, vacuum handling them, in thin plastic bags, presents a very different challenge. In honour of National Potato Day, Simmatic are taking a closer look at their vacuum power for potatoes application, where VMECA’s Magic Grippers provided the perfect solution.
Vacuum Power for Potatoes
The Challenge
How do you reliably pick and place 2.5kg bags of potatoes when the bags are made from thin-walled plastic film?
Thin, flexible packaging can be notoriously difficult for conventional gripping systems. The packaging can collapse, move or allow air to leak around the gripping surface, thus making reliable automated handling a challenge.
This is where VMECA’s Magic Gripper comes into its own, providing an effective and reliable vacuum solution for handling these tricky potato bags.
Simmatic’s Solution: Vacuum Power for Potatoes
For this application, we used VMECA’s Magic Grippers fitted with P48-S3 vacuum cups.
The result: A a flexible and efficient vacuum gripping solution designed to securely pick and place bags while helping to prevent damage to the packaging.
One Magic Gripper. Endless applications
Potato bags are just one example of where Magic Grippers can make a difference. However, their versatility extends far beyond this application. VMECA Magic Grippers are designed for pick-and-place applications across a wide range of industries and products, providing a flexible solution for many different handling requirements.
Magic Grippers can also be used for handling:
- Bags
- Films
- Foils
- Food products
- Trays
- Cans
- Jars
- Bottles
- Packets …and so much more.
If an application involves gripping, moving, holding, lifting, pushing, pulling or positioning, there’s a good chance VMECA’s vacuum solutions can help…
Why choose a VMECA Magic Gripper?
Unlike traditional vacuum systems, which can require extensive pipework and fittings, VMECA Magic Grippers generate vacuum directly at the point of use. As a result, the gripper only needs to evacuate the air between its built-in vacuum cartridge and the cup face, providing an almost instant vacuum response as soon as compressed air is supplied.
Furthermore, the compact design allows the gripper to be sized specifically to the application. Rather than relying on an oversized system, you can select a solution that delivers the required performance while avoiding unnecessary energy consumption.
Finally, where high vacuum flow is required, the Magic Gripper body enables full-bore flow, helping to eliminate the restrictions that can occur with conventional pipework and fittings.
Your UK VMECA Vacuum Specialists
At Simmatic, we’re proud to be UK distributors of the complete VMECA range of vacuum products.
We don’t just supply the components, we’re here to help you find the right vacuum handling solution for your application. Whether you’re automating the handling of food, packaging, bottles, trays or something a little more unusual, our team can help you explore the options available.
A More Sustainable Approach to Vacuum Handling
Performance isn’t the only consideration when choosing automation equipment. What happens to the equipment at the end of its working life matters too?
One of the advantages of the Magic Gripper design is that it can be redeployed onto different machinery, rather than being scrapped when a machine reaches the end of its service life.
And if redeployment isn’t possible, a recent study found that around 95% of the materials used to manufacture the Magic Gripper are recyclable. That means that when a machine or robot eventually becomes obsolete, the end-of-life impact of the Magic Gripper can be kept to a minimum.
Need Help with a Pick & Place Application?
Get in touch with Simmatic on: 01299 877770 or email sales@simmatic.co.uk To discuss your application requirements. You can also explore our range of pneumatic and vacuum handling products online.
Finally, if you’re celebrating National Potato Day, enjoy the spuds – just remember that when it comes to automatically picking up a 2.5kg bag of them, there’s a little more to it than meets the eye!
Happy National Potato Day! 🥔
Vacuum Power for Potatoes…
