Custom Lifting System Lifts and Repositions Five Different Aircraft Panels

Cynergy Ergomics, St. Louis, Mo., has recently installed a custom lifting system to lift, rotate, and reposition five separate commercial aircraft fuselage panels of differing sizes, weights and geometries. 

The panels, which weigh up to 2,500 pounds each, are lifted and then rotated either 90° or 180° before being placed into dunnage, a storage pogo, or the final assembly fixture. This PLC-controlled system is easy to operate as a push-button activates individual vacuum circuits, which have been optimized for individual panel geometry. Redundant safety features ensure that operators and panels remain safe in the event of power or component failure.

This below-the-hook vacuum lifter is supported from the existing overhead crane system. Using the radio control, a single operator can attach to each different panel, lift it from the transportation vehicle, rotate either 90° or 180° and place it appropriately.