he growth in building work in port installations at both a regional and national level has motivated the need, on the part of the successful contractors, to develop diverse mechanical devices for a variety of tasks involving the handling of large loads. The handling of large, heavy cement blocks in stockyards constitutes a critical stage in terms of logistics tasks during the manufacturing process.

Since gravity-actuated grips usually present a highly defined design point in terms of working range, outside of which the forces of the grip are considerably modified, the need to have different equipment for handling different sized blocks supposes a problem from the economic perspective, firstly due to the need for increased investment in equipment and secondly as a result of the costs associated with downtime due to having to change the device.

In the present case, the aim of this in-house R&D&I project was to develop a device capable of overcoming the above limitation. The result of said project was a new grip design, patented by NATEC Ingenieros as a utility model, capable of operating within the constraints of the UNE-EN 13155 Standard in a working range corresponding to blocks of between 30 and 45 Ton.

The work encompassed the design, simulation of working conditions, complete engineering of the equipment, to the drawing up of the technical compliance report with respect to the UNE-EN 13155 Standard "Cranes, Safety, Removable Load Lifting Equipment" and Machinery Directive DC 98/37/CE.