Patent ID: 8827252

Claim:
An apparatus for manufacturing parts made of composite material, said apparatus configured to transport the parts from station to station within a manufacturing plant, a compaction device configured to compact the composite material, and the apparatus comprising: a sling having a substantially concave surface and at least one hollow portion formed on the concave surface, wherein a surface of the at least one hollow portion includes holes; a connector, for a vacuum source, disposed on the sling; and at least one strip of porous material, which is made of resilient semi-closed foam having semi-closed cells that are porous in an uncompressed form and that block a flow of air in a compressed form, wherein said semi-closed are not fully evacuated in the compressed form, the at least one strip of porous material secured to the at least one hollow portion and projecting out of the hollow portion so as to project from the concave surface in both the uncompressed form and in the compressed form, wherein the at least one strip of porous material includes through-holes, separate and distinct from the semi-closed cells, arranged to correspond with the holes in the at least one hollow portion surface, in the at least one strip of porous material compressed state, when the semi-closed holes block the flow air there-through, wherein the sling is configured to pick up and transport at least one compaction device through application of the vacuum source via the through holes of the at least one strip of porous material in the compressed state, wherein said porous material in the compressed state exerts a sealing action between the sting and the compaction device.