Tag: E-Vacs

EXAIR E-Vac Vacuum Generator Accessories: Overview

Published on by codybiehleLeave a comment

Vacuum systems are becoming more and more prevalent within manufacturing day by day. Vacuum powered lifts can make it easy to lift and move small objects like tiny coins to heavy steel plates. Vacuum chucks hold work pieces that could be marred by jaws or vises. And sealed vessels can be pressure tested or tested for leaks by pulling a vacuum on them. It’s pretty simple to pick out which vacuum generator that you need, but what about the accessories? There are so many different accessories to choose from such as mufflers, suction cups, hose, valves, and connections. The following is a quick overview of the different accessories that you can get from EXAIR along with your E-Vac vacuum generator.

Vacuum cups for E-Vac generators

Suction cups are a very common accessory that you need when using a vacuum system. Vacuum cups allow one to create a seal on the surface of the object that you wish to pick up and is what allows the system to lift objects. We offer four different kinds of vacuum cups to choose from stock; available are small and large Round, Oval, and Bellow styles. Round cups are more suited to being used on smooth, flat surfaces. Oval cups provide the most vacuum due to the larger surface area making them ideal for lifting heavy loads. The Bellows style is best suited for textured or uneven surfaces; the folds provide a collapsible area that allows the cup to compress and seal on an uneven surface.

EXAIR’s Standard and Straight Through Muffler

Next up is the mufflers; they muffle the sound generated by the E-Vac and quiet a working vacuum generator. There are two different types of mufflers from EXAIR that are available; these are the Standard and the straight through mufflers. The Standard muffler is designed to be attached to the discharge end of an in-line E-Vac and has a closed end. These are best suited for applications that are free from dust and debris. The straight through muffler is open all the way through and are more suited to applications were dirt, dust and debris is present. The straight through style also offers the best sound level reduction, up to 26 dBA.

Lastly the E-Vacs have an NPT threaded connection that will allow for a suitable connector to be properly installed. From here different connectors can be used to attach the various amounts of vacuum cups. The connectors provided are Push-In Connector Type Fittings of assorted styles available with our polyurethane tubing to make the installation and plumbing a cinch.

If you have any questions or want more information on EXAIR’s E-Vacs and their Accessories. Give us a call, we have a team of application engineers ready to answer your questions and recommend a solution for your applications.

Cody Biehle
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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E-Vac Generators, Cups and Accessories

Published on by EricKuhnash@EXAIR.comLeave a comment

When it comes to our E-Vac vacuum generators and creating a successful design for you application EXAIR has the fundamentals. EXAIR’s compressed air powered E-Vacs are designed primarily for pick and place operations but also have other uses such as evacuating liquids and gasses from containers and holding workpieces in place. E-Vacs come in different sizes including an Adjustable E-Vac in order to dial in your vacuum and vacuum flow. EXAIR E-Vac generators are engineered for high efficiency and minimizing air consumption.

In-Line E-Vac Generators are compact and easily mount at the point of use. They can held in place by screwing them directly to your rigid compressed air line or by using one of our mounting clips. There are 7 models used with porous materials, such as carboard, with vacuum levels up to 21″ Hg and vacuum flows up to 18.5 SCFM. There are also 7 models to choose from for non-porous materials, such as glass, with vacuum levels up to 27″Hg and vacuum flow up to 15.8 SCFM.

Adjustable E-Vacs (below) allow easy adjustment, simply loosen the locknut and turn the exhaust to increase or decrease the vacuum flow. There are 4 sizes with vacuum up to 25″Hg and vacuum flow up to 81 SCFM. They are Engineered for high efficiency and minimize compressed air usage by adjusting the vacuum level to the application.

EXAIR has four cup styles to match and accommodate just about any size shape and material. Let’s look at the cups available and their characteristics:

Round Cups come in small and large sizes and work well with smooth flat surfaces . The round cups hold up well with time and grip well to vertical surfaces. Round cups without cleats are more flexible and work well in applications that do not require lifting heavy loads. Round cups with cleats

Oval Cups provide the most vacuum due to having a larger surface area. Shape matters: this is especially true for oval cups which have a higher suction power compared to round cups. The are designed to handle heavy objects such as flat rigid sheet materials.

Bellow Cups have an accordion shape and designed for textured, uneven surfaces. The folds are called convolutions and provide a collapsible area allowing the cup to compress when it touches an uneven surface.

Once you have selected the style and quantity of vacuum cups you can review the EXAIR Accessories that will compliment your project. EXAIR offers a variety of mufflers, tubing, check valves, fittings that will make it easier to build your vacuum system.

If you have questions selecting what is right for your needs please contact me or any of our other Application Engineers to help answer your concerns. Visiting our website http://www.EXAIR.com and viewing our blogs, videos and product lines is easy and helpful but if you have questions please contact me Eric Kuhnash or any of our Application Engineers to help answer your concerns.

Eric Kuhnash
Application Engineer
E-mail: EricKuhnash@exair.com
Twitter: Twitter: @EXAIR_EK

Custom Solution From Stock For A Pick And Place Application

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Even if you’re just a casual, infrequent reader of our blogs, you likely know that EXAIR Corporation is proud of our abilities to customize solutions for “out of the box” compressed air product applications. Oftentimes, this is offered as a custom engineered product, developed from a user’s specifications when one of our stock products just won’t work for one reason or another. For instance, when an exotic material of construction is required for heat or corrosion concerns, a special length or size is needed for space constraints, etc.

An Air Amplifier with a PTFE plug (left,) a curved Super Air Knife (center,) and a flanged Line Vac are just a few ways EXAIR has provided custom solutions.

Other times, though, we can use a stock product for something other than what everyone else uses it for.  We’ve sold Air Amplifiers for use in vacuum chucking, and pick-and-place applications – those are normally the realm of our E-Vac Vacuum Generators.  Speaking of E-Vacs, they’ve been used to deflate basketballs.

And speaking of E-Vacs (still,) I had the pleasure of helping a long-time customer solve a new problem in their growing manufacturing business.  They put their consumer products in blister packages, and recently converted one of the lines that picks & places the plastic “blister” onto the cardboard “backer” from two at a time, to six at a time.  They were using a Model 810003M E-Vac High Vacuum Generator, which worked fine, every time, with two Model 900762 1″ x 1/2″ Oval Vacuum Cups, but when they put four more of those Vacuum Cups on, they weren’t able to pick all six “blisters” every time.

These plastic blisters are smooth and non-porous, so this a “textbook” application for a High Vacuum Generator.  They’re also VERY lightweight, and were picked in a horizontal motion, so the 27″Hg that the Model 810003M can generate wasn’t actually necessary.  By replacing it with a Model 800003M E-Vac Low Vacuum Generator, the extra vacuum flow solved the problem, with no increase in compressed air consumption, which was critical for this area of their operation.

EXAIR E-Vac Vacuum Generators and Vacuum Cups are a reliable, low cost solution for most any pick & place application.

EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products can solve many of your industrial/commercial challenges.  Our catalog documents the ones they’re aimed at.  Others need to be addressed by knowledge and experience…and maybe a little theory to practice.  If that’s the case, call an EXAIR Application Engineer.  We’re here to help, and we’re pretty good at it.

What’s In A Name?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Well, a lot, actually…if that name is EXAIR. I wrote a blog just last week about how a set of Super Air Knives solved a MAJOR problem with a brand new aluminum sawing application – the company got those Super Air Knives on the recommendation of the Maintenance Supervisor, who had used them, with great success, at a previous company.

Even more recently, I had the pleasure of helping a caller from an engineering firm that specifies a wide range of our products for use in their OEM machinery:

*Air Knives & Nozzles for automated blow offs.
*Cabinet Cooler Systems for electrical/electronics heat protection.
*E-Vac Vacuum Generators for end-of-arm robotics “pick & place.”

Turns out, they use a good amount of compressed air in their manufacturing facility and (did I mention they’re an engineering firm?) they’re interested in implementing a facilities resource management program. For one part of this, they want to know how much compressed air they’re using, when they’re using it, and what they’re using it for. And when presented with a question about compressed air, they thought about EXAIR…and wanted to know more about the Digital Flowmeter.

EXAIR's Digital Flowmeter w/ USB Data Logger
EXAIR’s Digital Flowmeter w/ USB Data Logger

We discussed everything from theory of operation, to best practices for installation (location, position, etc.,) to accuracy, to getting the flow data…and we’ve got a few options for that:

*The Digital Flowmeter itself can output a 4-20mA signal, or there’s an optional RS-485 output board available.
*The USB Data Logger connects directly to the Digital Flowmeter and records flow rate data – about 9 hours’ worth if measured once a second; 2 years’ worth if measured every 12 hours. When removed from the Digital Flowmeter and plugged into your computer, you can use its software, or Microsoft Excel, to view & analyze the data.
*The Summing Remote Display offers instant indication of current flow rate, previous 24 hours’ air consumption, and cumulative total usage, all at the push of a button.

EXAIR's Remote Summing Display - see current flow rate, previous 24 hours' consumption, or total cumulative usage, at the push of a button!
EXAIR’s Summing Remote Display – see current flow rate, previous 24 hours’ consumption, or total cumulative usage, at the push of a button!

The latter turned out to be the best fit for my caller – the main supply header runs right past his office, and, if he can sell his facilities folks on it, he can install the Summing Remote Display on the wall, right next to his desk.  Easy as that.

EXAIR’s Intelligent Compressed Air Products have made a name for themselves in many places like this. Here at the factory, we’re all dedicated to spreading, and reinforcing, that reputation for excellence. If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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