Palamatic is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of vacuum tube lifting systems for handling wood products up to 350kg to the woodworking industry. With 35 years’ experience, thousands of its solutions are in use on a daily basis.
A Palamatic vacuum tube lifter uses a single power medium – vacuum – to grip and lift heavy or awkward loads. An electrical vacuum pump (or vacuum ejector pump) creates a vacuum level when a suction pad or gripping device is placed on an object load.
The resulting low pressure makes the tube contract vertically and the object load is lifted. The operator controls the vacuum flow using a simple finger-touch operating valve, making the work physically easier and safer. Increasing the vacuum draws air out of the tube and the load is lifted. Reducing the vacuum allows air to enter the tube and the load is lowered. It really is that simple.
The most common wood materials handled by Palamatic’s lifting systems include Trespa Jumbo boards, Spandrel panels, MDF, MFC, chipboard, wood, plywood, Sterling board, plasterboard and polycarbonate.
Palamatic’s longstanding customer, Ahmarra Door Solutions, has over 10 Palamatic vacuum lifters on-site for handling boards and doors up to 120kg. Ahmarra is one of the UK’s leading fire door manufacturers, and has been manufacturing door sets for over 25 years.
Vicky Boulton, Ahmarra’s marketing and compliance manager, offers an insight as to how Covid-19 has affected the requirements of the company’s customers: ‘‘Our core services include the design, manufacture, installation and project management of bespoke internal doorsets and glazed screens. We work closely with architects, contractors, interior designers and property developers to meet the bespoke requirements of their projects.
“Ahmarra’s diverse portfolio covers education, airports, commercial buildings/offices, healthcare, hotel and hospitality, social housing, student accommodation and luxury homes.
“Ahmarra has fared well during Covid-19, as we have been able to divert our manufacturing from the affected sectors such as housing, airport and construction sites, to priority sectors that continue to require doorsets, such as healthcare and schools.’’
Vicky explains how Palamatic’s lifting equipment has assisted Ahmarra’s operators: ‘‘The vacuum lifters make moving heavy door cores easier and quicker. It enables us to lift the door cores on and off the machinery and workbenches in our production facility. It’s also beneficial from a health and safety perspective, as it helps prevent our staff from the risks of repetitive strain and back injuries.”
Palamatic works closely with its customers to provide lifting systems that are fit for purpose, and keep operators and product safe.
Vicky adds: “We how found Palamatic to be very efficient and proactive. They offer Ahmarra good solutions for improving our lifting processes, which have been very beneficial enabling us to manufacture.”
Safety of the lifting system is always a priority. The combination of the lifting and gripping functions requires no special interlocks or devices. A quick-acting non-return valve and a suction-force-versus-lifting-force safety factor of 2.5 x prevent the load from being inadvertently dropped – even in the event of a mains power failure.
Applications Palamatic regularly provides equipment for include loading and unloading vertical panel saws, beam saws, dimension saws, flat-bed CNC stations, edgebanders and laminators, paint lines and tilt tables.
Palamatic is also often asked to rotate boards through 90° or 180° for loading and unloading purposes.
Another request the company receives is to grip doors by the edges, instead of using suction on the flat face – for example, to avoid wet paint/glue – which Palamatic’s systems can do with ease.
With a 22,000ft2 factory based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Palamatic is well placed to visit customer sites, and for customers to send in samples to test prior to Palamatic manufacturing a customer’s vacuum tube lifter. Palamatic also has a skilled field engineering team to install the systems, which will come in to train a customer’s operators.
Due to the high demand for lifting systems in the woodworking industry, Palamatic recommends companies take up a service contract to ensure their systems are kept in good working order. Contact Palamatic for further information, or to discuss a potential site visit.
01246 452054
[email protected]
www.palamatic.com
