The humble suction cup, otherwise known as a sucker, was in use as early as 300 BC, as a medical implement. Gourds were used as suction devices to pull "bad blood" out of people suffering from illness or disease. While the medical efficacy of this may be in doubt, the fact that these were functioning suction cups is not. Over the years, suction cups have evolved and the Convum suction cups, available today, are the result of this evolution. Moreover, suction cups such as Convum suction caps, have been redesigned to create a continuous vacuum and no longer behave like the passive tools that, in the past, created only a partial vacuum.

Suction cups should not be unfamiliar to most people, as they are present in most households in one form or another. The simplest example of modern suction cup is the round rubberized suckers that can be stuck onto windows and other glossy surfaces, and usually feature hooks from which objects of daily use can be hung. A suction cup that is most familiar is the toilet plunger, which is essentially a stick with a big suction cup that can be used to unclog toilet plumbing.

Vacuum pads, on the other hand, are much more complex pieces of equipment that also have a greater variety of uses than suction cups. The difference is that while suction cups push the air out from the sides when pressed, the vacuum pad constantly pumps air out to maintain a complete vacuum. Two advantages can be derived from it:

a) No effort is required to place the vacuum pads;

b) vacuum pads adhere to a greater variety of surfaces than suction cups which require glossy surfaces.

Of course, in order to maintain the vacuum, an air compressor is used to  pump air through the vacuum pad. This requires energy, which means that vacuum pads are usually found in manufacturing units where they are part of the production process and where its energy usage is recovered through the profits generated. An interesting sidelight of the pads is that confectioners are using them to handle fragile breads without applying any pressure on the bread.

There are a great many uses for Convum suction cups and Convum vacuum pads. They are an illustration of just how far a simple concept - using gourds to suck bad blood out - can come. Today, many industries worldwide would have a difficult time coping without some form of suction cup or vacuum pad to work with.

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The uses for Convum suction cups and Convum vacuum pads are many and varied, as the example of the confectioner shows. If you find yourself in need of such versatility, there is only one place where to get it - DAS Services Inc