Scott Equipment Company supports Joulin foam vacuum grippers, palletizing tools, custom gripping systems and related vacuum-handling products for manufacturers, OEMs, robot integrators and maintenance teams throughout North and South Carolina.
Joulin Foam Vacuum Grippers & Material Handling Systems
Joulin specializes in foam vacuum gripping for products that can be difficult for conventional suction cups, including porous, uneven, dusty, wrapped, irregular or variable-size loads. Its current offering ranges from compact standard grippers for robotic pick-and-place to large layer-handling tools, custom EOAT and complete stacker/destacker systems for the wood industry.
Foam Vacuum Handling Technology Since 1968
Joulin was founded in France in 1959. In 1968, founder Michel Joulin developed the company’s first foam gripper with independent self-closing valves to solve recurring material-handling problems. Joulin later expanded the technology into robotic EOAT and wood-industry automation, opened Joulin USA in Hickory, North Carolina in 2007, and joined the Piab Group in 2022.
High-Flow Foam Gripping
Joulin foam grippers generally operate with lower vacuum pressure and higher airflow than traditional suction cups. The large foam contact area and higher flow help compensate for leakage from porous, rough or irregular products.
Adaptive Handling Without Frequent Adjustment
Foam conforms to differences in product shape and thickness, while Joulin valve and metered-port technologies allow the gripper to accommodate changing product coverage, configurations and layer patterns.
Standard Products & Custom Systems
Joulin manufactures standard grippers, application-specific grippers, spare foams and complete material-handling systems, with design and manufacturing capabilities in both France and the United States.
Explore Joulin Vacuum Handling Solutions
Use these current product groups as a starting point for robotic picking, palletizing, depalletizing, layer handling, bag handling, lumber handling and other difficult vacuum applications.
MiniGrip, Safe & Light & FlexiGrip
Joulin’s compact grippers bring foam technology to smaller robotic and machine-handling applications. MiniGrip can retrofit into cup-style layouts, Safe & Light uses a lightweight all-foam concept for robot applications, and FlexiGrip offers modular round and square formats for rough, porous, twisted and uneven products.
Explore standard foam grippers →ExtruGrip & Plug & Pick
ExtruGrip packages Joulin foam-gripper technology in a rigid aluminum extrusion that can be configured up to 3000 mm long for partial or complete layer handling. Plug & Pick provides self-contained modular grippers that can move between products, slip sheets and pallets with little or no adjustment.
Explore ExtruGrip →Value Gripper & Bag Handling
Value Gripper provides an economical self-contained option for individual or grouped products, including twisted and uneven surfaces. Joulin’s Bag Handler and newer bag-gripper designs are engineered around flexible bags, shrink-wrapped loads and other products that benefit from a conforming foam sealing surface.
Explore bag handling →Palletizer Pro & Lumber Gripper
Palletizer Pro is designed to handle individual products, complete layers, slip sheets and pallets with the same foam tool. Lumber Gripper is optimized for dusty wood-industry environments and can handle rough boards, panels, random widths and uneven surfaces with configurable foam patterns and heavy-duty constructions.
Explore Palletizer Pro →Custom Foam Grippers & EOAT
For applications outside the standard range, Joulin can analyze product samples and specifications, test gripping concepts, and design custom foam grippers or complete EOAT. Available options include robot attachments, side bolsters, wiring, fieldbus integration and on-site startup support.
Explore custom grippers →Wood-Industry Stackers & Destackers
Joulin also manufactures gantry-based stacking and destacking systems for lumber and panel handling. Its current standard range spans systems from 150 kg to 5000 kg maximum capacity, with models configured for different payloads, speeds and degrees of turnkey completion.
Explore wood-industry systems →Help Select and Apply Joulin Vacuum Grippers
Our Sales and Technical Teams can help review product weight, porosity, surface condition, dimensions, layer pattern, required coverage, cycle time, vacuum generation, robot payload and release method. Scott Equipment Company can support the Joulin gripper and surrounding automation components while working with qualified robot integrators when a complete robotic cell is required.
Gripper Technology Selection
Compare valve gripper, metered-port, foam-valve and bag-gripper approaches based on product porosity, surface geometry, open-top conditions, available coverage and required airflow.
Robot & Palletizing Applications
Review tool weight, robot payload, product mix, layer configuration, partial-layer requirements, cycle time and release strategy for robotic or gantry-based handling.
Vacuum Generation & Maintenance
Coordinate internal ejectors, external blowers, filtration needs, foam type, EasyFoam replacement, hoses and spare parts around system performance and maintenance goals.
WBIYII Vacuum Assemblies
Coordinate Joulin grippers with vacuum generation, valves, sensing, mounting, cabling and related pneumatic hardware into repeatable WBIYII assemblies or installation-ready kits.
Selection note: Final vacuum-handling capacity depends on product weight, orientation, acceleration, porosity, surface condition, percentage of gripper coverage, vacuum technology, generator sizing and safety factor. For complete robotic systems, Scott Equipment Company supports the component and application-selection side and can coordinate with qualified integrators rather than positioning itself as the turnkey robot integrator.
Selection, CAD and Vacuum Technology Resources
Use these resources to select a standard gripper, review Joulin vacuum technologies, download literature and CAD data, and compare complementary vacuum-automation manufacturers.
Explore Supporting Automation Technologies
Joulin grippers commonly integrate with robots, pneumatic controls, sensors, machine controls and supporting mechanical or electrical automation hardware.
Handling Porous, Uneven or Variable Products?
Share the product dimensions, weight, surface condition, layer pattern, cycle time, available vacuum source and robot or machine details. Scott Equipment Company can help identify a Joulin foam-gripping solution and coordinate the supporting automation components.