Suction Cups Key Terms

Learn some basic suction cups key terms

By Mark Jenkins

Suction cups come in dozens of different shapes and sizes. While this means you have more variety when choosing one for your needs, it can also make coming to a final decision more time consuming. To avoid wasting time during the selection process and to avoid buying the wrong product altogether, consider learning suction cups key terms. They may not give you an exhaustive technical knowledge of suction cups, but they'll put you on the right path when buying them for your business.

Mushroom head

A mushroom head is a bulb that protrudes from the backside of a suction cup. There's a thin strip of space between it and the cap, allowing you to hang hooks, wires or other fixtures from it.
Try: To see different suction cups with mushroom heads, check out the selection at Adams Mfg. Company.

Bellows

Suction cups with bellows have at least one accordion-like bend in them. The design creates a vacuum seal in the cups, giving them extra staying power.
Try: You can view examples of bellows suction cups at VacMotion Inc.

Viton

Viton is an extremely heat-resistant rubber made by Dow. Manufacturers often use the material to make suction cups. Manufacturers can use the material for short periods of time at temperatures over 700 degrees F.
Try: Anver makes a few suction cups out of Viton.

Vacuum cup

Vacuum cups are a special kind of suction cup. With threaded screw holes embedded in them, you can attach them to high-power vacuum hoses and use them in heavy industrial applications. Depending on their strength, vacuum cups are suitable for a range of uses, from lifting sheets of glass to transporting metal components across a factory.
Try: Vi-Cas Manufacturing Company makes an extremely wide variety of vacuum cups.

Fitting

Certain suction cup manufacturers make fittings to go with their cups. You can use these bolt-like attachments to connect suction cups to vacuums and other devices.
Try: From bore diameters to thread sizes, learn more about suction cup fittings at Vaccon Company. The company makes nine different kinds of fittings with both male and female threads.

InHg

An abbreviation for inches of Mercury (Hg), inHg is a unit of pressure. Suction cup manufacturers sometimes rate the sticking power of their products in terms of inHg.
Try: PIAB discusses the effects of vacuum pressure in inHg on suction cups on its website.