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This is a record of a document published elsewhere, first published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, as US-5735512-A, on 7 April 1998. OpenTechnical did not first disclose it. The identifier, hashes and timestamps below record what this library served and when, not when the material became public. View the original.

OT-2026-000003225

Portable leveling vacuum tool

Published
Permanent URL
Classification
Tools & Tooling › Clamping Tools
Inventors
WADDELL JOHN L
Assignee
NORTHWEST PRODUCT DEV L L C
Original source
US-5735512-A, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, 7 April 1998
Document SHA-256
e1e2d300c81bd4d03a68e5d4775c2ca68920accbcc9548a164a18bedfd513cef

A portable leveling vacuum tool to align a substantially flat top surface of a plurality of workpieces in a coplanar orientation. The vacuum tool includes a pair of parallel frame rails spaced apart from each other to define an intermediate area therebetween. The frame rails have substantially flat, coplanar bottom surfaces that define a planar reference surface against which the top surfaces of the workpieces are positioned. One or more vacuum cup assemblies are movably mounted to the frame rails using a support plate adjustably movable along the length of the frame rails to separably retain the frame rails adjacent to one another and allow selective longitudinal positioning of the vacuum cup assemblies along the frame rails. The vacuum cup assemblies each have a vacuum cup positioned in the intermediate area and adapted to engage a top surface of a workpiece to hold the workpiece against the reference surface. The vacuum cup is movable in two directions relative to the support plate, and moveable in three dimensions relative to the frame rails. Stiffening members are connectable to the frame rails to inhibit flexing of the frame rails.

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Abstract

A portable leveling vacuum tool to align a substantially flat top surface of a plurality of workpieces in a coplanar orientation. The vacuum tool includes a pair of parallel frame rails spaced apart from each other to define an intermediate area therebetween. The frame rails have substantially flat, coplanar bottom surfaces that define a planar reference surface against which the top surfaces of the workpieces are positioned. One or more vacuum cup assemblies are movably mounted to the frame rails using a support plate adjustably movable along the length of the frame rails to separably retain the frame rails adjacent to one another and allow selective longitudinal positioning of the vacuum cup assemblies along the frame rails. The vacuum cup assemblies each have a vacuum cup positioned in the intermediate area and adapted to engage a top surface of a workpiece to hold the workpiece against the reference surface. The vacuum cup is movable in two directions relative to the support plate, and moveable in three dimensions relative to the frame rails. Stiffening members are connectable to the frame rails to inhibit flexing of the frame rails.

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Publication information

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Citation

OpenTechnical Publication OT-2026-000003225, “Portable leveling vacuum tool,” published September 15, 2026 at 19:52:09 UTC, https://opentechnical.org/p/OT-2026-000003225.

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Terms

This record reproduces a document published elsewhere and is provided for reference and study. Rights in the original remain with its owner. See the publication policy.