VACUUM GRIPPERS
What Is a Vacuum Gripper?
Vacuum grippers are among the most versatile tools in robotic automation. They handle delicate products without damage, adapt quickly to different shapes and sizes, and integrate easily with collaborative and industrial robots. For manufacturers running high-speed packaging, palletizing, or pick and place lines, the right vacuum gripper can significantly improve throughput while reducing manual labor and product loss.
Why Choose Vacuum Grippers for Robotic Automation?
Versatile Handling
A single vacuum gripper handles many product shapes, sizes, and materials without changeover, which reduces tooling cost and complexity.
Gentle on Products
Suction based gripping holds fragile and delicate items such as glass, cartons, and packaged goods without surface damage.
Lightweight and Fast
Low tool weight maximizes robot payload and speed, which improves cycle times on high throughput production lines.
Printed for Performance
We design and 3D print every gripper as an optimized structure, keeping material only where the application needs it. Each tool is up to 30 percent lighter than a conventional aluminum end effector while maintaining durability, and can be customized to meet specific requirements.
Lower tool weight frees up robot payload, enables faster cycle times, and reduces energy consumption on high throughput production lines.
Our Vacuum Gripper Range
Spider Gripper
A lightweight, multi-point vacuum gripper engineered for fast and flexible pick and place. The spider-arm configuration adapts to varied product shapes without a tool change, making it ideal for high-speed handling on cobots and industrial robots.
Explore the Spider Gripper
Area Surface Gripper
A multi-point vacuum gripper built for flat, fragile, and irregular surfaces. It delivers consistent vacuum contact across large product faces, making it the right choice for palletizing, packaging, and logistics automation across European production lines.
Explore the Area Surface GripperBrowse Our Full Product Catalogue Online
See our complete range of end of arm tooling, compare specifications side by side, and request a quote, all from one interactive catalogue.
Every Gripper Ships Tool-Change Ready
All of our vacuum gripper models are equipped with a tool changing system that allows quick and easy exchange between end-of-arm tools, improving flexibility and efficiency in automated operations. One robot can move between products, formats, and tasks without downtime for manual refitting. Pair them with the Integrated Vacuum Tool Changer (IVTC) for automatic changeover with onboard vacuum generation, or the Manual Tool Changer (MTC) when a fast manual swap is enough.
IVTC A
A lightweight design optimized for small automation cells and faster motion.
IVTC AX
A reinforced structure for higher lifting capacity and extended durability in demanding production environments.
Both configurations share the same integrated vacuum generation and control system, ensuring reliable and consistent operation across all tooling setups.
Vacuum Gripper Applications
NEED A VACUUM GRIPPER FOR YOUR ROBOT LINE?
Request a QuoteWhat Is a Vacuum Gripper
A vacuum gripper is a robotic end effector that holds a product with negative air pressure instead of mechanical fingers. A vacuum source pulls air through suction cups or a foam sealed plenum, the pressure difference presses the product against the gripper, and the robot can move it at speed without clamping force. Because the hold is distributed and gentle, vacuum grippers dominate pick and place, palletizing, and depalletizing tasks where products are boxed, bagged, flat, or fragile.
Anubis Robotic Tooling builds two complementary vacuum gripper families. The Area Surface Gripper (ASG) surrounds the product with a full vacuum surface, and the Spider Gripper (SPI) places individual vacuum points exactly where support is needed. Together they cover the vast majority of robotic handling applications on European production lines.
Why 3D Printed Vacuum Grippers Outperform Aluminum
Every Anubis vacuum gripper is produced with industrial selective laser sintering, an additive manufacturing process that builds the gripper body as a single sealed part. Air channels are printed directly inside the structure, so there are no drilled galleries, fewer fittings, and fewer places for leaks to develop over years of cycling.
The result is a vacuum gripper system up to 30 percent lighter than a comparable machined aluminum tool. On the robot, lower tool weight translates into faster accelerations, longer reach within the same payload budget, and in many cells the option to specify a smaller, less expensive robot for the same throughput.
- Monolithic printed body with internal air channels and fewer leak points
- Up to 30 percent lighter than machined aluminum equivalents
- Geometry tailored to the product, not limited by machining constraints
- Fast iteration for time sensitive automation projects
- Suction cup arrays or EPDM foam sealing to suit the surface
How to Choose the Right Vacuum Gripper
Selecting a vacuum end effector comes down to four questions. Answer them for your product and the right configuration usually selects itself, and our engineering team confirms the choice against samples before anything ships.
What surface does the product offer?
Smooth cartons and panels seal easily with suction cups. Textured, dusty, or irregular surfaces often grip better against EPDM foam on a full surface plenum.
How is the weight distributed?
Rigid, evenly loaded products can be held at a few points with a Spider Gripper. Flexible, fragile, or unevenly loaded products want the distributed support of an Area Surface Gripper.
How fast is the cycle?
High speed picking and palletizing reward the lightest tool that still holds the product securely, which is where the SPI excels.
How many product formats run on the line?
One or two zone control lets a single vacuum gripper cover several formats, and quick change tooling handles wider product mixes without compromise.
| Application Benefits |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Palletizing | ||
| Offset load over 5 kg | ||
| Gripper over 390 mm | ||
| Lighter and more cost effective | ||
| Uses foam or suction cups | ||
| Suction cup array over 8 | ||
| 8 suction cups or fewer |
Vacuum Gripper Solutions Across Europe
Anubis Robotic Tooling supplies vacuum gripper solutions to manufacturers, packagers, and robotics integrators across Europe, including the Netherlands, Germany, France, and the Benelux region. Whether you need an industrial vacuum gripper for palletizing, a vacuum gripper for cartons on a packaging line, or a custom vacuum handling system for an unusual product, we configure the tool around your samples, validate the grip, and support integration with the robots already in your facility. Preconfigured models keep lead times short, and fully custom geometries are available when the application demands them.
Explore the Vacuum Gripper Range
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a vacuum gripper used for?
A vacuum gripper holds products with negative air pressure so a robot can move them quickly and gently. Typical uses include pick and place of cartons and trays, palletizing and depalletizing at end of line, and handling flat goods such as glass, wood, sheet metal, and plastic panels.
How does a vacuum gripper work on a robot?
A vacuum source, usually an ejector or pump, removes air through suction cups or a foam sealed plenum. Atmospheric pressure then presses the product against the gripper. Zone valves and sensors let the robot confirm the grip, pick selectively, and release cleanly at placement.
Which vacuum gripper is best for my application?
Products that need support across their whole face, such as glass, thin panels, or fragile multipacks, suit the Area Surface Gripper. Rigid products that can be held at discrete points, such as cartons and trays in high speed picking or palletizing, suit the lighter Spider Gripper. Surface texture, weight distribution, cycle speed, and format count decide the configuration.
Why are 3D printed vacuum grippers lighter than aluminum ones?
Additive manufacturing builds the gripper as one sealed part with internal air channels, so material only exists where the structure needs it. That removes the solid stock, drilled galleries, and extra fittings of machined tools, cutting weight by up to 30 percent while keeping stiffness in the load paths.
Which robots are Anubis vacuum grippers compatible with?
Our vacuum grippers mount on collaborative and industrial robots from all major brands. A Printed Robot Flange adapts the tool to your flange pattern, and quick tool change options connect grippers to shared vacuum supply tooling for fast changeovers.
Do you supply vacuum grippers across Europe?
Yes. Anubis Robotic Tooling supplies and supports vacuum gripper solutions across Europe, including the Netherlands, Germany, France, and the Benelux region. We handle configuration, grip validation against product samples, and integration support for European production lines.
