Suction cup picks up brittle lasagna sheets

By Jenny Eagle

- Last updated on GMT

The F-BXT suction cups. Picture: Piab.
The F-BXT suction cups. Picture: Piab.
Piab has developed a customized suction cup, which can pick up thin and brittle food items such as sheets of pasta used in lasagna or thin slices of cracker bread.

The F-BXT cup comes with an extra-long and thin lip to handle fragile products in the bakery sector and has no pockets in which dust and dirt can collect, and is easy to keep clean. 

Direct food picking

The cup is made of silicone approved for direct food picking, and is suitable for hygienic automated procedures for products such as lasagna sheets. 

Mike Tuohey, sales and marketing communications manager, Piab, said F-BXT meets stringent hygiene standards and is supplied with food grade fittings in either stainless steel or plastic, both materials that comply with FDA and EU 1935 regulations. 

The detectable, blue cup is suitable for use with visual inspection systems favored by the food industry​,” he said. 

The cup and its fittings also comply with metal detectors available on the market​. 

The combination of 2 ½ funnel-shaped bellows and a stable body with a large vacuum flow orifice enables a steady hold on products, even at high speed and in quickly accelerating systems​.” 

Established in 1951, Piab develops and manufactures a complete line of vacuum pumps, vacuum accessories, vacuum conveyors and suction cups for automated material handling and factory automation processes. 

Company acquisitions

In 2016, Piab acquired Kenos and Vaculex. 

Kenos is an Italian company which specializes in vacuum gripping systems and Vaculex, a Swedish company manufactures lifting systems based on vacuum technology.

Häla El Sheemy Washbrook, VP, marketing and communications, Piab, said at the time, Kenos, Vaculex and Piab move material from one place to another using vacuum technology and all three stand for top quality products that are well recognized in the market.

Our customers, both end customers and partners/distributors, have asked for these types of products and it was discussed whether we should develop something in-house, or through acquisition and we chose the latter​,” she said.

For our customers it means instead of working with a number of suppliers, we are in a better position to offer them a package of products, with the same high technological level on all products​.”

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