Miniature vacuum suction cups
Mini vacuum suction pads to your drawing, with suction faces from just a few millimetres in diameter. As a manufacturer of mini vacuum suction pads, we design the corresponding moulds in our in-house toolmaking department and manufacture the suction pads at our location near Rosenheim in Bavaria.
- Customised production
- Batch sizes 1 to 1 million units.
- Express production from 2 weeks
- 100% Reliability & proactivity
Miniature vacuum suction cup in various designs
When handling tiny parts, the suction cup operates with suction areas of just a few square millimeters and holding forces in the range of a few newtons. Any deviation in lip contour, wall thickness, or demoulding has a direct impact on process reliability. We therefore optimise small vacuum suction grippers for your specific component: suction area geometry, lip cross-section, internal volume, Shore Hardness and connection thread.
Flat suction cup for plane-parallel minute parts such as SMD components, lead frames, small glass plates, optics or film offcuts. The low internal volume shortens the evacuation time and allows short cycle times with a high number of cycles.
Mini flat vacuum suction cups
Compact bellows geometry in miniature format that compensates for height differences in the tenth-of-a-millimetre range. The axial lifting movement when applying the vacuum supports removal from blisters, trays and workpiece carriers.
Mini bellows suction cup
Elongated suction geometries for narrow components such as pin headers, spring contacts, printed circuit board strips or flat ribbon sections. The adapted contour fully utilises the available component width and increases the sealing surface compared to a round suction pad of the same size.
Mini oval suction pad
We manufacture asymmetric sealing lips, moulded stops, centring contours or integrated spacers as completely bespoke solutions according to your design data.
Special shapes to drawing
Metallic nipple or threaded insert in M3, M4, M5 or a custom design, integrated seamlessly during the vulcanisation step. The vacuum channel runs tightly through the metal part, eliminating the need for an additional adhesive or screw connection.
Mini vacuum cleaner with attachment
Moulded internal ribs or a vulcanised-in support ring keep the thin wall open under high negative pressure. We recommend this design for small diameters in continuous operation with a high vacuum.
mini vacuum with support structure
Clip-on miniature suction cups for manual handling pens in laboratories, prototype construction and test fields, matched to the cone diameter of your tweezers system.
suction tip vacuum tweezers
Benefits of a custom-made mini vacuum suction pad
When handling tiny parts, a standard suction pad rarely covers the actually available contact area. A miniature vacuum suction gripper designed specifically for the component increases the usable sealing surface while simultaneously reducing the stress on the workpiece surface.
- Sealing surface matching the component contour: the suction lip follows the actually available contact surface, which maximises the holding force within a tightly restricted component geometry.
- Short evacuation times: The low internal volume of a mini vacuum generator is evacuated quickly and allows cycle rates that cannot be achieved with larger vacuum generators
- Mark-free handling: Our compounds contain no migratable components, meaning that even polished optics, coated contacts and visible components can be handled without leaving marks
- Burr-free sealing lip: We deburr delicate lip cross-sections cryogenically, because even a burr of just a few hundredths of a millimetre opens up a significant leakage path in small suction areas.
- Defined contact force: By means of Shore hardness and lip cross-section, we limit the force acting on the small part during initial contact, which prevents displacement in the feed system
- Connection without adapter chain: thread and nipple sit directly in the suction pad, which saves installation space and reduces leakage points in the gripper head
Miniature vacuum suction cup -
individually made by GUME
- In-house toolmaking: moulds are created internally, with no external waiting times
- 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 miniature vacuum suction pads
For small suction areas, the compound determines not only the chemical resistance, but also the formability of the delicate lip. We select the material together with you based on the component surface, ambient temperature and cleanliness requirements.
The operating range from minus 50 °C to plus 220 °C and FDA compliance make silicone the standard choice in medical technology, semiconductor manufacturing and cleanroom environments.
Oil-contaminated small parts from stamping, embossing and forming processes can be securely handled with NBR, as the compound remains dimensionally stable upon contact with mineral oil and fuel. Application range minus 30 °C to plus 110 °C.
Components that are painted, bonded or coated after handling benefit from a silicone-free EPDM compound with high resistance to water, detergents and ozone. Operating range from minus 50 °C to plus 130 °C.
We cover hot components from soldering and drying processes as well as contact with solvents and aggressive media with FKM, which can withstand temperatures up to plus 220 °C continuously.
The high coefficient of friction of natural rubber secures tiny parts against lateral slippage during rapid placement movements.
Abrasive cut edges and stamping burrs on sheet metal and printed circuit board parts put a heavy strain on the sealing lip. Vacuum suction pads made of polyurethane achieve the longest service lives due to their high abrasion resistance.
Design of mini vacuum scution cups
The design of a mini suction pad is subject to different constraints than that of a large vacuum suction gripper, because holding force, internal volume and wall thickness are simultaneously reaching their lower limits.
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Holding force
The theoretical holding force is calculated from the effective suction area, coefficient of friction and pressure difference. A round suction pad with an effective internal diameter of 6 mm achieves a horizontal holding force of around 1.7 N at 60 % vacuum. After deducting standard safety factors of 2 for static loads and 4 for dynamic loads, approximately 0.4 to 0.85 N of usable holding force remains. If this is not sufficient for your component weight, we can increase the diameter or distribute the load across multiple suction points.
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Leakage and vacuum generation
Small internal volumes are evacuated quickly, but also lose their vacuum just as quickly if there is a leak. When handling porous or structured tiny parts, we therefore recommend generating a vacuum with sufficient suction capacity rather than a high ultimate vacuum. The insert can be positioned in the middle of the wall, closer to the inside or closer to the outside. The position determines whether the bellows is stabilised preferentially against internal pressure or against negative pressure.
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Shore Hardness
Soft compounds from 30 Shore A adapt to uneven surfaces, but lose their dimensional stability sooner with small cross-sections. Compounds between 50 and 60 Shore A maintain the lip contour even at high negative pressure and rapid robot movements, and are the more common starting point for mini suction pads.
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Wall thickness and tolerances
Wall thicknesses of down to approximately 0.3 mm can be repeatably formed. Below that, the raw rubber no longer reliably fills the cross-section under pressure, which causes defects in the sealing edge. We align tolerances with the sealing function, not the overall contour.
Industries & Applications for miniature vacuum suction pads
Miniature vacuum suction grippers are used wherever a component becomes too small, too thin or too delicate for a mechanical gripper. In such cases, vacuum pick-up remains the only low-contact principle with sufficient process reliability. This initial situation is found in very diverse manufacturing environments.
Electronics and printed circuit board manufacturing
Assembly and testing of SMD components, connectors, spring contacts and printed circuit board strips, mostly in combination with antistatic or conductive compounds to protect the components from uncontrolled discharges.
Semiconductor and display manufacturing
Handling of wafers, dies, chips and glass substrates under cleanroom conditions, using low-outgassing and tempered silicone mixtures and without particle-generating abrasion edges.
Medical technology and laboratory diagnostics
Assembly of cannulae, small plastic parts, pipette tips and sensor elements, as well as the loading of microtitre plates in laboratory automation, implemented using FDA-compliant materials.
Do you have questions about
mini vacuum suction grippers?
We're here to help.
What is a mini vacuum suction pad?
A mini vacuum suction gripper is a vacuum suction pad with a greatly reduced suction area and dimensions, designed for handling very small, lightweight parts. It differs from the classical suction gripper not only in size, but also in design logic: wall thickness, internal volume and freedom from burrs determine its function to a greater extent than with large suction pads.
From what size do you manufacture mini vacuum ejectors?
The lower limit results from the wall thickness and demouldability of the respective geometry. We manufacture elastomer parts with wall thicknesses of less than 0.3 mm and component weights starting from 0.01 g, meaning that suction surfaces in the single-digit millimetre range can be produced.
What holding force does a miniature vacuum suction gripper achieve?
The holding force scales with the effective suction area. At 60 % vacuum, a suction pad with an inner diameter of 4 mm theoretically achieves around 0.75 N, while a 10 mm pad reaches about 4.7 N. After subtracting the safety factors for dynamic movements, only a fraction of this remains usable. If this is not enough, we distribute the load across multiple suction points.
Are mini vacuum suction cups suitable for cleanroom and ESD environments?
Yes. For semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, we use low-outgassing, heat-treated silicone compounds and, on request, supply antistatic or conductive compounds with a defined bleeder resistor. Which version is suitable depends on your cleanroom class and how the gripper is connected to the earthing concept.
Can mini vacuum suction pads with a metallic connection be supplied?
Yes. We vulcanise nipples and threaded inserts in M3, M4, M5 or custom designs to create a material bond. For mini suction pads, this is often the most space-saving solution, as a separate adapter interface in the gripper head is eliminated.
How can tiny parts be reliably placed down when switching off the vacuum?
When handling tiny parts, placing them down is the more critical phase than picking them up, as adhesion and electrostatic forces at the lip can be of the same magnitude as the component weight. We counteract this in the design through a low internal volume that quickly returns to ambient pressure when vented, as well as a narrow lip contact that limits the contact area with the component. In addition, we recommend a short blow-off pulse via the vacuum channel and, for plastic and film parts that build up strong static charges, an antistatic compound.
Can mini suction cups be coloured or marked?
Yes. The colouring is achieved via pigments in the compound, making it consistent throughout and resistant to abrasion. For miniature components, colour coding is usually the only practical means of identification, as the surface area is too small for printed or embossed lettering. This is frequently how our customers distinguish between Shore hardnesses or material variants that are geometrically identical and otherwise indistinguishable at the gripper head. For FDA-compliant and detectable compounds, the choice of colours is restricted because only approved pigments may be used. Alternatively or additionally, we emboss an identifier on the rear or connection area, provided the component geometry offers sufficient surface area outside the sealing surface.
