Rectangular suction pad
GUME manufactures custom rectangular vacuum suction pads to drawing or sample. From the tooling concept to the tested production part, your rectangular suction pad is produced entirely at our site near Rosenheim. We work with you to design the suction geometry, lip contour and connection side to suit the workpiece that the suction pad is intended to hold.
- Customised production
- Batch sizes 1 to 1 million units.
- Express production from 2 weeks
- 100% Reliability & proactivity
Rectangular vacuum cups
made to measure
A round suction pad uses only a fraction of the available area on narrow or elongated workpieces. The rectangular suction pad positions its sealing line along the workpiece contour, thereby using a significantly larger effective suction area. This results in higher holding forces at the same negative pressure or a lower negative pressure requirement for the same load. We manufacture each of the following designs to your dimensions, in the appropriate Shore Hardness and with the connection geometry of your system.
The basic version with a flat sealing lip picks up plane-parallel workpieces such as sheet metal, panels or cardboard boxes with short cycle times, as the small internal volume is quickly evacuated.
Flat rectangular suction pad
Profiles, mouldings, frames and tube sections often offer only a few millimetres of contact width. An elongated suction geometry with a narrow lip reliably seals against these workpieces without protruding over the edge.
Elongated rectangular suction pads
Internal transverse bars limit the suction depth of thin workpieces such as foils, veneers or sheet metal. The workpiece rests on the bars, remains flat and is not deformed when placed down.
Rectangular suction pad support ribs
Two circumferential sealing lips build up the vacuum in two stages and maintain it even if the outer lip allows minor leaks on rough or slightly textured surfaces.
Rectangular suction pad double lip
Benefits of rectangular suction grippers
Whether a suction pad is round, oval or rectangular determines the achievable holding force and the number of gripping points required for flat and angular workpieces. The rectangular suction pad utilises a given base area almost completely and places its sealing line against the edge of the workpiece.
- Higher holding force in the same space: the rectangular suction pad fills a given footprint defined by length and width almost completely and also utilises the corner areas. With an identical envelope area, the rectangular suction pad therefore has more effective sealing surface.
- Better surface coverage of angular workpieces: panels, sheet metal, wood and sandwich panels, glass panes, cardboard boxes and packaging can be gripped accurately and close to the edge, right into the corners of the workpiece contour.
- Gapless arrangement in gripper fields: In area grippers and suction gripper systems, rectangular suction pads can be arranged densely in a grid pattern, with virtually no gaps. Oval suction pads inevitably leave unused spaces between them in the grid.
- Directed holding force along the longitudinal axis: Like the oval suction pad, the rectangular suction pad absorbs higher shear and moment loads in the longitudinal direction, but maintains this advantage with a larger effective area.
- Secure holding of narrow workpieces: strips, profiles and struts can be gripped individually with an elongated suction pad without the lip needing to seal beyond the workpiece edge.
Rubber and silicone rectangular suction cup -
individually made by GUME
- In-house toolmaking: Fully internal manufacturing process
- Express production possible: first samples already available in 2–3 weeks
- Flexible sizes and quantities
- Custom production from single items to large-scale series
The right material
for your rectangular suction cup
Tailored to your requirements, we manufacture your rectangular suction gripper from a range of rubber and silicone compounds. We process all commonly used elastomers in every Shore hardness, ensuring that your custom-made rectangular suction gripper meets the requirements of your application in terms of both geometry and material properties.
NBR rectangular suction pad
For handling oil-wetted sheet metal, stamped and machined parts between -30 °C and +110 °C, without the lip swelling under oil contact.
EPDM rectangular suction cup
When used outdoors, rectangular suction cups made of EPDM retain their shape even under ozone, UV and weather conditions from minus 50 °C to plus 130 °C.
Silicone rectangular suction cup
In the food and hygiene sectors, silicone rectangular suction pads lift baked goods, packaged goods and hot workpieces from -50 °C to +220 °C and, upon request, are also FDA-compliant or metal-detectable.
HNBR rectangular suction cup
If process temperatures rise above the NBR range for oil-contaminated workpieces, this rectangular vacuum suction cup maintains its restoring force up to +150 °C
FKM rectangular suction cup
Resistant to solvents, oils and chemicals, this rectangular suction pad handles components at temperatures of up to +220 °C.
CR rectangular suction cup
In the case of components for the automotive and construction sectors, this design combines weather and ozone resistance with high mechanical load-bearing capacity and operates from -40 °C to +100 °C.
Do you have questions about
rectangular suction cups?
We're here to help.
When is a rectangular suction cup a better choice than a round suction cup?
Whenever the workpiece geometry is elongated, narrow or has to be gripped close to the edge. On a 40 mm wide profile, a round suction pad only achieves a small sealing surface, whereas a rectangular suction pad utilises the entire available length. Even with large, flat workpieces, a rectangular suction geometry reduces the number of gripping points required.
Does a rectangular vacuum suction cup prevent thin workpieces from bending?
Yes, provided the version with support bars is selected. The bars support the workpiece within the suction area and limit deformation during evacuation. We design the bar height and bar spacing to suit the flexural rigidity of your workpiece.
Why does the long side of a large rectangular suction pad lift off under load?
As the edge length increases, the bending stiffness of the sealing lip decreases, meaning that lateral forces or an eccentric centre of gravity can locally open the sealing line. We address this in the design with a stiffer lip root, a reinforced suction pad back or a vulcanised-in stiffening element along the long side.
Are there rectangular suction cups with bellows too?
Yes. We manufacture rectangular bellows suction cups with one or more folds, thereby combining the level compensation of a bellows suction cup with the contour-close sealing surface of the rectangular design. This version is suitable, amongst other things, for picking up deep-drawn sheet metal and shaped packaging.
Are custom tools worthwhile for small quantities of rectangular suction pads?
Often yes. We manufacture custom rectangular suction pads starting from a batch size of 1, and tool costs remain manageable for small production runs due to the aluminium mould design. This is offset by shorter setup times on the gripper, less scrap thanks to secure workpiece handling, and the elimination of compromise solutions involving multiple round suction pads.
When is a rectangular suction pad preferable to an oval suction pad?
For square, plane-parallel workpieces with a requirement for maximum sealing surface. The rectangular suction pad also utilises the corners of the envelope curve and thus achieves a higher holding force than the oval suction pad in the same installation space, which loses surface area at the rounded ends. The near-edge pick-up of sheet metal, plates and glass panes as well as the seamless grid arrangement in area gripping systems also speak in favour of the rectangular design. The oval suction pad retains the advantage if the sealing lip is to be subjected to more even loads without corner areas or if the workpiece has a rounded, elongated contour.
How quickly will I receive a custom-drawn rectangular suction cup?
The standard delivery time including tooling is around eight weeks. Through our express production, we deliver sample parts in about two weeks and begin serial production from the fourth week. The prerequisite is an approved drawing or CAD dataset.
