SLAPP Clamp

Watch the product video

WHAT IS IT?
Safe Lightweight Adjustable Pressing Palletlifter - the SLAPP Clamp is a safe, lightweight alternative to brick forks.

Product Demo

Below is the product demo for the SLAPP Clamp, which demonstrates how the product can be used in a step-by-step guide. Use the '<<' and '>>' buttons to step through the demo.

The Problem

During the installation of precast concrete products, Beresford's Flooring Ltd experienced the daily problem of ensuring product stability when lifting pallets of slip bricks from delivery vehicles using site craneage.

Many sites do not have pallet forks available, resulting in compromised standards of load stability and risks to the health and safety of site personnel.

Standard brick forks are large and heavy, making them awkward in use and difficult to manhandle. Precast concrete erectors generally travel to site in vans loaded to capacity with personnel and equipment. This prohibits the ability to carry brick forks as a standard item of equipment.

Beresford's spent several months looking for alternative apparatus. The main criterion in this search was to ensure the equipment was small / lightweight and capable of lifting 1.00 tonne. This would enable transportation to site with the erection team and ease manhandling on site and in / out of the fixing van.

Beresford's Flooring was disappointed to discover there was nothing available. Chris Massey (Beresford's Flooring Ltd MD) decided to use the company's thirty years of lifting experience to develop a new lifting device to suit its needs. After 18 months and the evolution of many prototypes, the SLAPP Clamp was born.

Our Solution

The SLAPP Clamp started life as just a steel box section "H lifting beam" with a chain attached to the end of each of the four legs. This worked well until the pallet being lifted was either badly or unevenly stacked, making the load unstable. After many trials and design amendments, the self clamping mechanism was developed. Still using the original "H lifting beam" with the chains on each leg, a separate "U" section was introduced, with chain shorteners permanently attached via sprung blocks on the newly introduced inner section.

The process of lifting the load is simple (see the Product Demo above for a step-by-step guide):

Slide the lightweight tines through the pallet and lower / lift the SLAPP Clamp on top of the load.
Connect the four chain hooks to the tines and shorten the chains as tight as possible using the adjuster clutch. The chains should be equal in length and this has been made easier by colour coding the chain links.
The load can now be lifted and because the weight is being transferred through the clutch, the "U" Section is pulled down on top of the load. This securely clamps the item being lifted, compressing the materials into position.

Key Features of the SLAPP Clamp

Roll your mouse over the links below to view 'pop up' images illustrating the features of the SLAPP Clamp.

Here is more information about the key features of the SLAPP Clamp:

Safe Working Load of 1.5 Tonnes.
The "H" section is 1200mm long, so can accommodate all "Euro" and "Standard" pallets.
Additional hook attachments on tines to suit "Euro" and "Standard" pallets Serrated tines to ease insertion through wrapped pallets.
The chains can be adjusted to suit all depths to a maximum of 1100mm.
Colour coded chain links to ensure equal leg length.
Securely clamps down on the item being lifted, ensuring load stability.
The amount of compression transferred through the "U" section onto the top of the load can be adjusted by moving the shortening clutch along the "U" arm.
Hooks have been provided into the sides of the H section to accommodate a safety net.
When not in use, the inner "U" section springs back inside the outer "H" section making the whole clamp only 6" wide ensuring ease of storage.
Four carry handles provided into the top of the clamp to ease manhandling.
Compact lightweight design ensures ease of transportation / storage.
Reduced overall lift weight increases safety factor for any given radius.

Customer Feedback

The logistics of organising delivery / collection of brick forks to sites around the country has proved extremely problematic. Each erection team can now easily carry a SLAPP Clamp in their van, ensuring the safe unloading of palletised materials.

The SLAPP Clamp was invented primarily to solve a Beresford's problem. The interest generated on site since its introduction has convinced us that the product should be offered throughout the construction industry.

Tower crane drivers have been particularly enthusiastic, stating that the lightweight nature of the product would enable heavier loads to be lifted at full radius (the SLAPP Clamp weighs 60 kg compared to over 200kg for conventional brick forks). Other feedback has reported that the SLAPP Clamp is easier to position on loads stacked on uneven ground, as you do not have to try and twist forks into place. One Site Manager even borrowed a SLAPP Clamp to move mortar tubs, as the clamping action made the lifting process both safer and faster.