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Piab’s lightweight bag gripper, the LBG-50. | Source: Piab

Piab strengthens its grip on the palletizing solutions market with a lightweight bag gripper, the LBG-50. The new gripper lifts sacks and bags with weights of up to 110 lbs (50 kg). As it is a pre-engineered tool, valuable development time can be saved. 

An unavoidable challenge when defining a new bag gripping system in a palletizing line is to get the exact measurements to align with the conveyor rollers for a smooth lifting and releasing process. This demands time-consuming analysis and design and, later on, even more time for adaptation and adjustments.  
 
Furthermore, additional solutions may have to be considered, e.g., for slip sheet handling, which prolongs the implementation process and may interfere with the original set-up and purpose of the gripper. 
  
Piab’s newborn in the palletizing tool family, the lightweight bag gripper LBG-50, aims to solve all of that.  
 
“LBG-50 is the result of our long experience from developing custom palletizing End-of-Arm-Tooling (EOAT)”, Madeleine Sheikh, Product Manager at Piab Vacuum Automation Division, said. “What we have here is a complete pre-engineered bag gripper that is easy to install, adjust and maintain. It offers flexibility to fit any roller conveyor on the market, and slip sheets are handled just as easily by our vacuum-based upgrade option with Duraflex suction cups and COAX technology.” 
  
Handling sacks normally poses a challenge as they are heavy and flexible, yet with a surface that is sensitive to pinching, puncture or rough treatment. LBG-50 avoids that by providing a gentle but firm lift while a built-in top clamp plate secures the bag from above during motion. This, in turn, allows higher cycle speed. 
  
Both the arm and the framework of LBG-50 are made of aluminum, which makes it robust yet lightweight. Other positive features are flexible width and finger positioning and generous mounting options. Flexibility also goes for the valve package, which can be configured with either Discrete I/O, Ethernet/IP or Profinet.  
  
“LBG-50 will be built-to-order in both the EU and the US. We recommend consulting an Application Engineer to ensure the correct gripper selection before purchase”, Madeleine Sheikh said.