Vacuum lifters help to improve efficiency and safety in the heavy lifting industry. They offer unique advantages that result in more efficient handling and a safer work environment. The handling possibilities of vacuum lifters are endless. They can lift, turn, move, and put loads down again with ease. Even if the load weighs tens of tons. Vacuum lifting can be useful during production, storage, transhipment, and construction.
All Aerolift vacuum lifters are custom made. Therefore these machines are a perfect fit for your lifting operation. Have you become curious about what a vacuum lifter can do for you? Request an offer by clicking on the button below.
Request enquiryVacuum handling is one of the safest lifting methods! Unlike other lifting methods, the vacuum lifter offers visible and audible safety features. This way the operator always knows if it is safe to lift. Moreover, the operator stays at a safe distance during the complete lifting process, ensuring a safe working environment. It doesn’t matter if you lift 80 kgs or 80 tons, with an Aerolift vacuum lifter you can be absolutely sure it is safe to lift.
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Vacuum lifters offer unique benefits compared to other lifting methods. Below we give a complete overview of all the benefits:
The Aerolift vacuum lifters are applied in many different industries to improve efficiency and safety. Thanks to our many years of expertise, we understand your process. Enabling us to produce vacuum lifters that meet the highest standards. And come up with vacuum lifting solutions for the complete lifting operation at your company.
Watch our vacuum lifters in action in the video gallery.
Aerolift’s vacuum lifters work as follows. By removing the air between the suction pad and the product to be lifted, a vacuum is created. Due to the difference in air pressure under the suction pad and the material a firm connection is established. The Aerolift vacuum lifters solely operate with a high vacuum between 80% and 100%. This means almost all air is removed and the created attachment is extremely strong. You’ll be able to lift tens of tons with a suction pad surface of just one square meter and a 100% vacuum. Curious about how vacuum lifting exactly works? Read our article about vacuum handling.
For one project we developed a vacuum lifter that is used to lift the heavy steel plates of a windmill tower. This vacuum lifter can lift steel plates that weigh 85 tons. Check out the project case.
A product needs to meet three requirements to be able to lift it with vacuum lifters:
The ES series from Aerolift expands the portfolio of vacuum lifting devices ideal for the safe and flexible lifting of heavy loads from 3 to 20 tonnes. These standardised, modular devices offer a cost-effective solution for a wide range of lifting requirements in industries such as construction, manufacturing and logistics. Thanks to their modular design, the lifting devices can be easily adapted to different load sizes and shapes and can be easily integrated into existing lifting systems. Integrated safety features such as overload protection and visual alarms ensure safe and reliable operation and enable the economical handling of heavy materials.
Download ES series brochureBriefly, operating our vacuum lifters works as follows:
Attachment, lifting, turning, detachment, all movements of the vacuum handler can be carried out with a push of a button. This enables the complete handling operation to be performed by one person, even if the load weighs tens of tons! Moreover, no one needs to be near the products during handling. The operator stays at a safe distance during the complete lifting process. This offers great advantages, especially in situations where products are highly stacked. Read more about reducing the need of working at height.
Aerolift vacuum lifters are applied in many different industries and types of situations. Over decades we developed expertise in all sorts of situations. Therefore, the Aerolift lifting solutions are used during production, storage, transhipment, construction, and many more applications. Thanks to our expertise we are able to add decisive added value to any situation, regardless of the industry. We look at the bigger picture and come up with complete lifting solutions to optimise efficiency and safety in the work area. Any product with an airtight surface can be lifted by vacuum, which means our customised lifting solutions can be used for many applications:
Demould, lift, turn, and move precast concrete products with a vacuum lifter. Moreover, demoulding is already possible after 8 to 10 hours and the surface of the product stays untouched because no embeds are required. Besides this, the divided surface pressure of the suction pad(s) reduces the risk of cracks.
Aerolift’s vacuum lifting devices are designed to be used in the complete lifting process of precast tunnel segments, from production to construction. During production the vacuum lifters demould, lift, turn, and move tunnel segments and keystones. And our vacuum lifters are also used to handle the segments through the tunnel boring machine (TBM) and place the segments in the tunnel wall. All without any kind of damage to the segment.
Both magnetic and non-magnetic metals are suited for a vacuum lifting device. Small sheet metals with a thickness of one millimetre and heavy steel plates up to tens of tons are lifted with ease and without damage or deformation. Our vacuum lifters can also be used during operation at extremely high temperatures. Read more about sheet metal handling and lifting steel plates.
Aerolift vacuum lifters are used for the complete lifting process from plate to pipe, and even coated pipe. Attachment and detachment are done from a safe distance. The complete lifting cycle goes easily and quickly. It is even possible to lift multiple pipes by the same vacuum lifter. And no one needs to take the risk of climbing a stack of pipes, which means that it offers more safety and efficiency.
The wind energy industry demands safe and precise lifting, with products tens of meters long. Due to the divided surface pressure of a suction pad and the strong vacuum connection, a vacuum lifter will lift and move the long products easily without damage.
The Aerolift vacuum lifting devices for paper reels are mainly used in automated paper mills. Attachment is done in seconds, the paper reel is lifted and moved without damaging the paper.
Aerolift designs customised lifting solutions. We look at the situation and come up with the most efficient vacuum lifter. Lifting multiple products at once often means increased efficiency. Think of a vacuum pipe lifter that lifts exactly the number of pipes that fit in one layer on a truck. Or a vacuum lifter to demould and lift multiple precast products at once. All to optimise the lifting situation and boost efficiency.
Most often vacuum lifters operate in combination with overhead cranes, gantry cranes, reach stackers, forklifts, and so on. The vacuum lifter will perfectly match the interface of the other machine. Even with the most complex interfaces the Aerolift vacuum lifters operate impeccably. For instance, we have also developed a vacuum lifter as part of a tunnel boring machine.
Depending on the design it is also possible to use a vacuum lifter standalone.
We distinguish between the self-priming vacuum lifter and the non-self-priming vacuum lifter. The self-priming vacuum lifter operates without any power supply and creates its vacuum by using the weight of the load. A non-self-priming vacuum lifter uses an external source of energy. This powered vacuum lifter consists of at least a vacuum pump and a suction pad. Most Aerolift vacuum lifters are powered with electric, diesel, or battery.
Aerolift designs vacuum lifters at customer request. This means we don’t have vacuum lifters that are ready for use. All lifters are custom made. Result: the time to engineer and build a lifter takes several weeks. If you require a vacuum lifter immediately, we also have some vacuum lifters for rent.
Read more about vacuum lifter rentalWould you like to know more about the possibilities of purchasing or renting vacuum lifting machines for your industry? Please contact our customer service, we are happy to help!
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