Bellows suction cup made to measure
At GUME you receive custom-made bellows suction pads tailored to your requirements. As a manufacturer of bellows suction pads, we begin with tool design and use it to produce the vacuum suction pads at our location between Rosenheim and Munich.
- Customised production
- Batch sizes 1 to 1 million units.
- Express production from 2 weeks
- 100% Reliability & proactivity
Custom-made bellows suction cup
designed to fit your workpiece
We manufacture each bellows suction cup to individual customer requirements. The number of convolutions, sealing lip geometry, Shore hardness, internal diameter and connection are tailored to your application. Functional elements such as support rings, filter screens or a metal connection nipple are permanently bonded into the component during the vulcanisation process, providing you with a ready-to-install bellows suction cup.
Compact design with minimal stroke for plane-parallel workpieces and fast cycle times thanks to low internal volume.
Bellows suction cup, 1.5 folds
The all-rounder among bellows suction pads: compensates for moderate height differences and is suitable for most handling tasks in packaging, assembly and automation.
Bellows suction pad 2.5 bellows
High stroke and large height compensation for curved, angled or varying-height workpieces – e.g. in car body manufacturing or when handling deep-drawn parts.
Bellows suction cup 3.5 / 4.5 folds
Additional internal ribs prevent the bellows from buckling under load and enable the safe lifting of heavy workpieces even with a large stroke.
Bellows suction cup support ribs
A metal connecting nipple or threaded insert is vulcanised directly into the rubber during the vulcanisation process – forming a rubber-to-metal bond without the need for subsequent bonding or screw fastening.
Bellows suction cup with insert
For narrow, elongated workpieces such as profiles, strips or sections of pipe, where a round bellows suction cup cannot achieve a sufficient sealing surface.
Oval bellows suction cup
Rectangular or asymmetrical suction cup designs for workpieces where a round suction cup does not provide a reliable seal – as a complete, bespoke bellows suction cup manufactured to your drawings.
Bellows suction pads special designs
Benefits of bellows suction cups
Bellows suction pads are often used when the application requires more than just picking up a flat, plane-parallel surface – such as when handling curved, unevenly elevated or particularly sensitive workpieces.
- Height compensation via a pleated structure: handling workpieces of varying heights or tolerances where a flat suction cup does not provide a reliable seal
- Integrated lifting function: When a vacuum is applied, the bellows contracts axially and automatically lifts the workpiece, thereby eliminating the need for a separate Z-axis on the gripper
- Adaptation to curved contours: Particularly suitable for handling bottles, cans, car body panels, deep-drawn parts and thermoformed components
- Gentle workpiece gripping: the soft lip contacts sensitive surfaces carefully, making it suitable for glass, painted visible parts and thin-walled plastic parts
- Tolerance of slightly porous surfaces: the larger lip contact area compensates for minor leaks, making the bellows suction cup the right choice for cardboard, wood, textiles and uncoated packaging
Vacuum suction pad with bellows geometry -
individually made by GUME
- In-house toolmaking: Complete manufacturing process carried out in-house
- Express production possible: first samples already available in 2–3 weeks
- Flexible sizes and quantities
- Custom production from single items to large-scale series
Materials for your bellows suction cup
The choice of material determines how a bellow suction cup reacts to temperature, contact with media, surface finish and dynamic load. Depending on the application, we manufacture bellow suction cups from various rubbers, tailored to the workpiece, environment and process requirement.
Resistant to water, steam, UV light and ozone. Oil, grease and fuels are not suitable for EPDM.
The standard for oily and greasy workpieces. Suitable for mineral oils, cooling lubricants and industrial greases.
More resistant to mechanical stress than NBR and more heat-resistant. Suitable for use in environments involving heat, ozone and dynamic stress.
Designed for high temperatures, fuels, oils and corrosive media. Used when NBR or HNBR are not sufficient.
High elasticity, good resilience and high tear resistance. Not suitable for use with oil, fuels or in conditions of prolonged exposure to the elements.
A general-purpose rubber with moderate resistance to oil, ozone and weathering. A technical compromise between SBR and NBR.
A cost-effective solution for standard dry applications. Wear-resistant, but with limited resistance to chemicals and the elements.
Silicone bellows suction cup with excellent temperature flexibility. Suitable for food processing and hygienic applications.
Fluorosilicone combines temperature resistance with better media resistance. More resistant to fuels, oils and solvents.
How many convolutions does
a bellows suction cup require?
The number of convolutions is the most important design decision for the bellow suction cup. It simultaneously influences stroke, stability, cycle time and positioning accuracy. More convolutions mean greater height compensation – while at the same time increasing the internal volume, evacuation time and the risk of buckling sideways under load.
01 / 04
Hub vs Stability
Each additional convolution increases the axial stroke, but reduces the lateral rigidity. A high number of convolutions tends to buckle under heavy or laterally accelerated workpieces. For a large stroke combined with a high load, we therefore recommend support ribs or vulcanised support rings.
02 / 04
Cycle time
As the number of folds increases, the internal volume to be evacuated grows, and with it the evacuation time. For short cycle times, the smallest number of folds that still reliably covers the required height compensation should always be selected.
03 / 04
The fewer the wrinkles, the higher the requirement for the positioning accuracy of the gripper.
Low stroke means little reserve against tolerances in the workpiece, approach path or robot path. With heavily fluctuating workpiece heights or imprecise pre-positioning, a higher number of folds is usually more economical than more complex gripper mechanics with an additional Z-axis.
04 / 04
The more folds, the stronger the interaction with the Shore hardness.
A low Shore hardness enhances both the adaptability of the lip and the risk of the bellows buckling. The number of convolutions and the Shore hardness should therefore always be designed together – a 5.5-convolution suction pad in 30 Shore A behaves fundamentally differently from the same pad in 60 Shore A, even with identical geometry.
You have questions about
Bellows suction cups
We have answers!
What is a bellows suction pad?
A bellows suction cup – also known as a convoluted suction cup – is a vacuum suction gripper with a folded, bellows-shaped body. Due to the folds, the suction cup contracts axially when a vacuum is applied, which produces height compensation and an integrated lifting function. In contrast to a flat suction cup, it is therefore particularly suitable for curved, unevenly high or delicate workpieces.
How many pleats do I need?
As a rule of thumb: the greater the required height compensation, the more convolutions. 1.5 convolutions are sufficient for plane-parallel workpieces with a minimal stroke; 2.5 convolutions are the standard for general handling tasks; 3.5 to 5.5 convolutions are used for heavily curved workpieces or larger tolerances. If you are still unsure about the exact design, we would be happy to advise you on the design of your bellows suction cup.
Can connection nipples or support rings be vulcanised directly in?
Yes. We vulcanise connection adapters (M5, G1/8, G1/4 or custom) as well as metallic support rings directly into the bellows suction pad. This creates a material-to-material rubber-metal bond that is significantly more robust and leak-proof than subsequently glued or screwed solutions. Post-processing on your side is eliminated.
Are mark-free bellows suction pads possible for painted surfaces?
Yes. When handling painted body parts, furniture fronts, high-gloss plastic housings or other visible components, the material choice of the bellows suction cup is crucial, as even small amounts of migratable components from the rubber compound – particularly plasticisers, oils or sulphur compounds – can cause permanent marks, shiny spots or chemical reactions with the paint surface after a short contact time. Our vacuum bellows suction grippers contain no migratable components and therefore leave no marks, even during long idle times and high cycle counts. Upon request, we also supply silicone-free compounds to avoid contaminating components that are to be painted, glued or coated after handling, as even the smallest amounts of silicone residue can lead to paint wetting defects, craters and adhesion problems.
Are custom bellows suction pads also suitable for the food or medical technology industries?
Yes. For hygiene-sensitive applications, we manufacture bellows suction pads from FDA-compliant silicone or other food-grade compounds. Upon request, we supply declarations of conformity in accordance with EC 1935/2004 and the FDA. Detectable compounds (metal-detectable silicone) are also possible.
What Shore hardness should a bellows suction pad have, and how does this affect holding force and deformation?
The Shore hardness determines how well the suction lip adapts to the workpiece and how much load the bellows suction pad can absorb. Soft compounds in the 30–40 Shore A range conform well to uneven or curved surfaces and are suitable for delicate workpieces, but tend to collapse under high load. Medium hardnesses of 50–60 Shore A are the standard for general handling tasks and offer a good compromise between adaptability and stability. Harder compounds from 70 Shore A are used for heavy workpieces and high accelerations, but require flatter workpiece surfaces because the lip can no longer compensate for minor unevenness.
Can I also reliably pick up porous workpieces such as cardboard, wood or uncoated packaging with a bellows suction pad?
Yes, bellows suction pads are actually more suitable for porous workpieces than flat suction pads, as the larger lip contact area compensates for minor leaks across the workpiece surface. It is important to have a suitably dimensioned vacuum generator that can continuously handle the volume flow caused by the porosity – in most cases, an ejector solution with a high suction rate rather than a high ultimate vacuum is the right choice. In addition, we recommend larger suction pad diameters to maximise the contact area, as well as a relatively soft lip that conforms to the fibre structure.
Are bellow suction cups suitable for wet, oily or flour-covered surfaces?
Bellows suction pads also work on wet, oily or floured surfaces, provided the material and lip geometry are suitably chosen. For oily metalworking workpieces, NBR is the standard material, as NR and EPDM swell and lose their shape when in contact with oil. For wet surfaces such as washed fruit or damp packaging, we recommend silicone with a slightly profiled lip that displaces water to the side. For floured or dusty workpieces from bakery production, a soft, wide lip has a self-cleaning effect, as the flour is displaced upon contact. In any case, we adapt the compound and lip geometry to your specific surface.
How many load cycles does a bellow suction pad typically achieve before it should be replaced?
The service life of a bellow suction pad depends heavily on the material, workpiece surface, stroke and cycle time, and therefore cannot be quantified in general terms. As a guide, bellow suction pads in general industrial use achieve several million load cycles, with NBR and PU compounds lasting longer on abrasive surfaces than soft natural rubber variants. Applications with a high stroke and many convolutions place more stress on the material than suction pads with 1.5 convolutions and plane-parallel workpieces. Temperature fluctuations, UV radiation and cleaning agents also influence the service life.
Is an additional suspension useful alongside the bellow, or does the bellow replace it completely?
The bellows itself takes on a resilient function and compensates for height differences through its stroke, but does not in every case replace a separate spring plunger. For workpieces with height tolerances that lie within the bellows stroke, the suction pad alone is sufficient. However, if larger height differences need to be compensated for than the bellows provides, or if the gripper is to be mechanically decoupled during approach, an additional spring plunger is advisable. We also recommend the combination in the event of hard approach movements or to protect sensitive workpieces from shock loads.
Can bellows suction pads be made antistatic or electrically conductive, for example for electronics manufacturing in the ESD area?
Yes, for electronics manufacturing and other ESD-sensitive areas, we manufacture bellows suction cups from antistatic or conductive compounds that dissipate electrostatic charges in a controlled manner, thereby protecting sensitive components from damage caused by uncontrolled discharges. Antistatic compounds reduce charging through increased surface conductivity, whereas fully conductive compounds with carbon black or carbon fillers feature a defined bleeder resistance. Which variant is correct depends on your ESD requirements and how the gripper is connected to the earthing concept.
