After many years on the market, the vacuum press continues to be a machine for the manufacture of molded parts. This is undoubtedly the supreme discipline of this machine. However, reducing them to this application gives away the huge range of other possible applications of this machine.
By sucking off the air below the membrane creates a pressure difference to the ambient air pressure outside. The ambient air presses from outside on the membrane. The diaphragm passes this pressure on to the workpiece. The diaphragm only has the function of sealing between the higher outside air pressure and the reduced pressure inside. This results in the captivating property of this machine. Always the same pressure per cm² regardless of the size, shape or thickness of the workpiece. As a result, the vacuum press is ideally suited for the flat pressing of uneven materials such as old wood or fissured wood boards.
Especially for sensitive coating materials like HPL the vacuum press offers unbeatable advantages. Anyone who has to process high-gloss laminate in a conventional veneer press knows that every chip, every grain of dust, adhesive tape or glue residue on the press plates inevitably leads to imprints in the finished surface. The systemic nature of the platen presses, squeezing all elevations until they are flush with the rest of the press surface, causes these problems. This is where the vacuum press has its unbeatable advantages. As previously described, the pressure of a vacuum press is always the same. In practice, this means for the user that it does not matter for the pressing result, whether glue residues hang on the membrane, adhesive tapes were used for fixing or chips are lying on the workpiece. Even pieces of cloth placed in front of the sharp HPL corners to protect the membrane do not cause any marks. Among the aforementioned advantages is the property that vacuum lowers the boiling point of water. When using oil-lubricated vacuum pumps, this effect is so strong that comparable pressing times to heated veneer presses can be achieved without the use of energy-intensive heating. A veneer press consumes on average 12 – 15 kW while a vacuum press does the same job with 0.1 – 0.15 kW.
Use the advantages of vacuum technology for your creativity!
