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Views: 70 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2023-05-11 Origin: Site
Suction cups are a common piece of equipment in the glass industry, but what exactly are suction cups? Can they stick to other materials, or just to glass?
Well, suction cups are versatile tools that can be used to lift all kinds of materials - and they can stick to more than one. Read on to find out why.
A suction cup in the glass industry is a cup used to lift large, heavy and therefore difficult to handle sheets or pieces of glass.
Sometimes referred to as suction cups, vacuum lifts, glass lifts, glass suction cups or glass suction cup tools, these handy and clever devices are a must in any glazier's toolkit as they are essential for manipulating glass and fitting panes of glass into window frames.
Suction cups work by manually pushing them against a surface and then pushing negative air out so that it adheres to the surface of the glass, creating a safe vacuum between the suction cup and the glass.
This vacuum is only safe for a certain period of time before the device starts to lose some pressure and therefore some safe and reliable suction.
Depending on what suction cup equipment you have will depend on the level of suction and the weight it can support, and how long the safe suction will last.
You can explore more about the lifting capacity of suction cups in our recent blog post on the strongest vacuum suction cups we have in stock at GGR Glass.
Suction pressure
As atmospheric air pressure will always try to equalise itself, when a vacuum is created and air is forced out, the air will naturally fill any missing voids.
The pressure is pushed against the air outside the suction cup and forces it to press itself against the flat sheet of glass. If the air can work its way under the edge of the suction cup, the seal will be broken and the suction cup will lose its suction power.
Glass suction cups are made of high quality, strong, resilient rubber. The elasticity allows them to be easily pushed against the hard surface of the glass, while the robustness of the rubber allows them to be sucked onto the glass steadily, powerfully and, above all, safely.
Depending on the suction cup device, some have specially designed levers or handles to aid suction and thus help establish a firm position.
Manual or machine-operated
Glass suction cups are usually manually operated, but you can get larger scale suction cups operated by hoists, machines and cranes. Hoist, crane and machine operated suction cups are particularly useful for commercial work and for lifting very large and heavy pieces of material.
