Vacuum lifter

A vacuum lifter apparatus for lifting sheet material articles, comprising an upper chassis and a lower suction plate, the suction plate having a plurality of laterally adjacent portions and the upper chassis having at least one air outlet for conveying vacuum pressure to the suction plate along a plurality of air flow paths through the chassis and suction plate to provide suction lifting pressure to an upper surface of said articles to be lifted, wherein:

• the suction plate comprises a lower side and an upper side, the suction plate having a substantially hollow interior between said lower and upper sides, the upper side of the suction plate being affixed to the chassis, and the suction plate lower side providing a downwardly oriented planar suction lifting surface for making contact with the upper surface of said articles, and said suction lifting surface comprises for each of the laterally adjacent portions of the suction plate corresponding laterally adjacent portions of the suction lifting surface, each of said portions of the suction lifting surface comprising a plurality of orifices through which, in use, air is drawn along said airflow paths to provide a suction lifting pressure;
• the chassis is separated at intervals from the suction plate upper side to provide a plurality of air chambers between the chassis and suction plate, each air chamber being configured to convey said vacuum pressure to a corresponding one of said portions;
• and
• each of the laterally adjacent portions of the suction plate has a portion that extends laterally away from a corresponding one of said air chambers, and the substantially hollow interior of the suction plate providing lateral airflow whereby, for each of the laterally adjacent portions of the suction plate, suction lifting pressure is provided to the laterally adjacent portions of the suction lifting surface from each corresponding air chamber.