Why Do You Need Glass Lifting Suction Cups

A glass lifting suction cup can be surprisingly used for a number of purposes that you might not even realise they can be used for. They are a great tool and are used to carry out jobs more safely than without them. In this article today we will be talking about glass suction cups and listing some of their uses of them too.

Whether you work in an industry with glass or not, this may be irrelevant as you may find suction cups are useful to own for other life uses.

What is a Suction Cup?

A suction cup - also known by different names including a suction lifter, vacuum lifter, glass lifter, glass suction pad and glass suction tool. This tool is designed to lift anything awkward to lift, manoeuvre or fit into place, this includes large sheets of material like glass, hard plastic, acrylic, marble, and stainless steel and can be fixed to other items too such as mirrors, appliances and furniture.

Glass suction pads can also be used to lift kitchen countertops, large floor tiles or pretty much any non-porous material with smooth surfaces - anything material or object like this a suction cup will be there to aid you with lifting.

Glass lifting suction cups are made out of high quality and strong flexible rubber to allow for them to be pushed onto a surface with ease and then create a strong and safe suction. They are often hand operated but you can get larger scale suction cups that are operated by hoist or machinery. If you are looking for a suction cup to lift a specific load or for more information of the strongest suction cups check out our blog post here.

How Do Suction Cups Work?

Suction cups work by using negative air pressure to adhere to any non-porous surfaces and thereby forming a partial yet very secure vacuum. The suction element is a lot like the suction motion from animals such as squids and octopuses, a naturally occurring suction technique which allows them to climb onto surfaces such as rocks.

Uses for Suction Cups

Suction cups are very useful when it comes to handling anything awkward to carry manually. Anything large and especially when some large panel of material has a tendency of breaking if not handled properly, extra care needs to be taken to avoid any breakage from happening - this is when glass lifting suction cups come into play, as the handles on them allow for easy carrying.

These tools are ever so popular and always being used in the glazing industry to lift glass panels and to fit glass windows, they come in so handy when lifting all different types of glass and other materials which we are going to share with you down below.

Fitting Windows

Glass is fragile, especially when vulnerable and in the form of a loose, large sheet, it is also sharp and can be a dangerous thing to handle and even worse if it shatters or breaks.
Professional window installers will only ever use a glass lifting accessories to lift a glass in order for them to carry out their work, a robust lifting device is always used. Glass can become slippery when wet too, so many glass lifting tools even have a built-in vacuum loss indicator to minimise the chance of the glass falling and breaking. Read more here for the essential tools for fitting a window.

Windscreen Glass Replacement

Glass lifters have evolved to carry out all sorts of important tasks safely and efficiently - this includes the replacement of car windscreens. These specialist glass lifters independently swivel to match all curved surfaces and the design of any windscreen, they are specially designed to lift curved glass.

Cleaning and Maintenance

Some large buildings with large windows will mean that they will only be able to be cleaned by trained window cleaners on ropes to access the windows. These people who access the windows in this way will be using glass handheld suction devices with a quick release feature to stabilise themselves and help them to carry out their tasks more efficiently.

Film Sets

One you might not think of is glass suction cups can have slightly less obvious uses, as they can be used to attach expensive video equipment on movie sets to moving vehicles in order to get the correct moving shots. The cups' secure suction will ensure the equipment is safe and means the shots which would be too dangerous to do by hand are obtained.

Fish Tanks

A suction cup allows for the effective making of aquatic fish tanks, with an effective adjustable suction device that can hold two pieces of glass together in time for the silicone seal to set and become watertight.

Heavy Objects

As well as glass suction tools being good for lifting large heavy and awkward panels of material, they can also be used to manoeuvre large and heavy objects like furniture or appliances. Fridges, washing machines, large heavy draws, and wardrobes all can be a nightmare to move in and around your home. Handheld suction cups with a lifting capacity of 125kg, certainly can make the job a lot easier with a dedicated handle.

Final Note

You can see from the list above, glass lifting or suction cups can be used in a wide range of different things, some obvious ways and some less obvious too - used to lift lots of different types of glass and for many different uses too.

Anything heavy is dangerous to lift, it can cause damage or stain on your body, especially your back. It is important to look after yourself when manual handling, particularly if you do a lot at work with lifting lots of heavy loads. Suction tools allow for the safe lifting of heavy loads without injuring your back.

Whether glass lifting cups are essential for you in your line of work, maybe you use them every day, it is clear that they can be used in an endless amount of ways and can be useful and make a range of jobs more effective and efficient. Check out our range of glass suction tools here at GGR Glass today, we have a range of suction cups available in lots of different shapes and sizes with a range of lifting capabilities too.