AU2019237156A1

AU2019237156A1 - Method for preparing stacks of percolation block elements for transportation on a pallet suitable for sea containers

Info

Publication number: AU2019237156A1
Application number: AU2019237156A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Otto P. Graf
Original assignee: Otto Graf GmbH Kunststofferzeugnisse
Current assignee: Otto Graf GmbH Kunststofferzeugnisse
Priority date: 2018-03-23
Filing date: 2019-03-21
Publication date: 2020-11-19
Also published as: AU2021107601A4; AU2021107601B4; EP3543168A1; WO2019180139A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for preparing stacks of percolation block elements for transportation on a pallet suitable for sea containers, comprising the following steps: providing a pallet suitable for sea containers; providing a stack or multiple stacks, each having a plurality of percolation block elements stacked inside one another and a final percolation block element, wherein the percolation block elements each have a base wall with a square base surface or a rectangular base surface, wherein the percolation block elements are designed to be constructionally identical per stack; and horizontally arranging the one stack or the multiple stacks on the pallet suitable for sea containers.

Description

Method for preparing stacks of percolation block elements for transportation on a pallet suitable for sea containers

The present invention relates to a method for stacking percolation block elements, ready for transport, on a pallet suitable for sea containers according to claim 1.

Prior art

It is known that, for transport in a high cube sea container, percolation block elements with a base area of 80 cm x 80 cm are arranged on three juxtaposed pallets, so as to make the best use of the internal width of the sea container, so that each of the two outer pallets has arranged thereon an upright stack of 34 percolation block elements and the middle pallet has arranged thereon three horizontal stacks one on top of the other, each with six percolation block elements. This means that two pallets of approx. 80 cm x 80 cm and one pallet of approx. 80 cm x 73 cm are required. The loading and unloading of the pallets prepared for transport is laborious, since three pallets have to be moved. Also the packing and unpacking of stacks of the middle pallet require more effort than that of the lateral pallets.

EP 2 980 328 Al discloses percolation block elements comprising a base wall with a square base area, the base wall having hollow columns connected thereto. The columns are configured and arranged such that, in the case of two identical and identically oriented percolation block ele ments, the columns of the upper percolation block element can be inserted into the columns of the lower percolation block element, and a stack of percolation block elements can be formed. In addition, percolation block elements comprising a base wall with a rectangular base area are disclosed. This kind of percolation block element consists of two identical percolation block ele ments, each comprising a base wall with a square base area and arranged side by side with the same orientation.

Sea containers, also referred to as ISO containers, can be defined by the ISO standard 668.

Task

The present invention is based on the task of allowing percolation block elements to be efficiently stacked, ready for transport, for transportation with a sea container.

Solution

This task is solved by the method according to claim 1. Preferred embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims.

The method disclosed by the present invention and used for stacking percolation block elements, ready for transport, on a pallet suitable for sea containers comprises the following steps:

- providing a pallet suitable for sea containers,

- providing a single stack or a plurality of stacks, which each comprise a plurality of percolation block elements stacked into one another and a final percolation block element, wherein each of the percolation block elements comprises a base wall with a square base area or a rectangular base area, and wherein the percolation block elements have an identical structural design per stack, and

- horizontally arranging the single stack or the plurality of stacks on the pallet suitable for sea containers.

A square base area, as a special case of the rectangular base area, is explicitly mentioned as a possibility of demonstrating a difference to the rectangular, non-square base area. When the term "rectangular" is used in the following, this is to be understood as meaning that something is rec tangular but not square. If rectangular is intended to comprise also square, this will be explicitly mentioned.

It may be the case that a single pallet suitable for sea containers is provided for arranging the single stack or the plurality of stacks. This entirety of pallet and stack/stacks may also be referred to as transport unit. Such a transport unit may also comprise a securing equipment for securing the stack or the stacks in position on the pallet and/or a transport plate or base plate arranged on the respective final percolation block element. A sea container may be loaded with one or a plu rality of transport units.

The horizontal arrangement on a single pallet allows easy packing and unpacking, since only one orientation of the stacks is given. In the sea container the available floor space can be used optimally (> 90%). A pallet packed in this way can also be loaded and unloaded in an economical manner.

The term final percolation block element refers to the percolation block element having stacked therein another percolation block element, the final percolation block element being, however, not stacked into any other percolation block element.

A percolation block element may have a base wall with a square base area of 80 cm x 80 cm, the base area having connected thereto a plurality of hollow columns. Alternatively, a percolation block element may have a base wall with a rectangular base area of 100 cm x 50 cm, 120 cm x cm or 160 cm x 80 cm, the base area having connected thereto a plurality of hollow columns. For the embodiments having a square base area or a rectangular base area, the columns may have a length of 37.1 cm starting from the upper side of the base wall. A stepped top at the end of the column may have a length of 1.7 cm. The thickness of the base wall may be 4 cm. The hollow columns allow the percolation block elements to be stacked into one another, with an operating distance of 2 cm being formable between an underside of a first base wall and an upper side of a second base wall.

A pallet suitable for sea containers may be considered to be a pallet having a rectangular or a square transport area, in the case of which two opposed sides have a length that is 2% to 3% shorter than the internal width of the sea container. With an internal width of 233 cm, the length of the two opposed sides could be between 226.01 cm and 228.34 cm. The height of the pallet may be between 13 cm and 15 cm.

Thus, with a pallet width of 80 cm, a stack of 32 percolation block elements having a square base area could be arranged horizontally on the pallet. With a pallet width of 160 cm, a stack of 32 percolation block elements having a rectangular base area could be arranged horizontally on the pallet. In both cases, the stack may additionally be provided with a transport plate or a base plate having a thickness of 4 cm, so as to protect the column tops during transport. Such a stack would have a length or height of 225.4 cm. The transport plate or the base plate preferably has a struc tural design similar to or identical with a base wall of the percolation block element.

Sea containers suitable for use are standard 20'/1CC containers (internal width 2.33 m, door height 2.28 m, internal length 5.89 m), standard 40'/1AA containers (internal width 2.33 m, door height 2.28 m, internal length 12.01 m), or high cube containers 40'/1AAA (internal width 2.33 m, door height 2.56 m, internal length 12.01 m). In the case of a high cube container 40'/1AAA, three stacks of percolation block elements with a square base area can be arranged one on top of the other on a pallet and 15 pallets with this kind of load can be arranged in the sea container, i.e. a total of 1440 percolation block elements.

The arrangement known from the prior art only allows 1290 percolation block elements with a square base area to be accommodated in the sea container making use of 15 pallets. By means of the arrangement according to the present invention, 11% more percolation block elements can be arranged in a sea container.

A first layer of the single stack or of the plurality of stacks can be arranged on the pallet such that one of the respective four outer sides of each of the percolation block elements comes to lie on the transport area of the pallet.

Due to the fact that the outer sides rest on the transport area, the stack can be supported in a tilt proof manner on the basis of the support surface and in view of the fact that the larger weight fraction of the stack is given by the base areas, while the columns, which do not rest on the transport area, make up the smaller weight fraction of the stack.

A second layer of the plurality of stacks can be arranged on top of the first layer in such a way that a respective one of the four outer sides of the percolation block elements of the second layer comes to lie on a respective second one of the four outer sides of each of the percolation block elements of the first layer.

In the case of a plurality of stacks, a first stack can be arranged in a first layer directly on the pallet, i.e. on the transport area of the latter, and a second stack can then be arranged horizontally on the first stack, and both stacks may here have the same orientation. If transport in a high cube sea container is intended, a third layer can be provided on the basis of the door height of the sea container.

In the case of percolation block elements having a square base area, a pallet width of 80 cm allows three stacks to be arranged on the pallet, one on top of the other, in three layers for transport in a high cube sea container.

The provision of a stack or of a plurality of stacks may comprise arranging a transport plate or a base plate on the respective final percolation block element. The transport plate or the base plate can protect the column tops during transport. In addition, the transport plate or the base plate can increase the stability of the stack.

The method may further comprise securing the single stack or the plurality of stacks in position on the pallet by means of securing equipment. The securing equipment may comprise pallet straps or PP strappings.

The figures enclosed show exemplarily and for a better understanding aspects of the present invention.

Fig. 1 shows an arrangement of stacks of percolation block elements on three pallets according to the prior art,

Fig. 2 shows the arrangement of the percolation block elements stacked, ready for transport, on a pallet suitable for sea containers,

Fig. 3 shows a top view of the upper side of a percolation block element,

Fig. 4 shows a top view of the lower side of a percolation block element,

Fig. 5 shows a side view of stacked percolation block elements,

Fig. 6 shows a flowchart of a method for stacking percolation block elements, ready for transport, on a pallet suitable for sea containers, and

Fig. 7 shows schematically twelve transport units.

Fig. 1 shows an arrangement of stacks 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 of percolation block elements 1, which com prise a base wall with a square base area, on three pallets 3, 4, 5 according to the prior art. For transport in a high cube sea container, the percolation block elements 1 with a base area of 80 cm x 80 cm are arranged, for making the best use of the internal width of the sea container, on the three pallets in such a way that each of the two outer pallets 3, 5 has arranged thereon an upright stack 6, 7 of 34 percolation block elements 1 and the middle pallet 4 has arranged thereon three horizontal stacks 8, 9, 10 one on top of the other, each with six percolation block elements 1. The stacks 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 of percolation block elements 1 each comprise a transport plate 2 or base plate 2, i.e. two pallets 3, 5 of approx. 80 cm x 80 cm and one pallet 4 of approx. 80 cm x 73 cm are required. The loading and unloading of the pallets 3, 4, 5 prepared for transport (i.e. the pallets 3, 4, 5 loaded with the stacks 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) is laborious, since three pallets 3, 4, 5 have to be moved. Also the packing and unpacking of stacks 8, 9, 10 of the middle pallet 4 requires more effort than that of the lateral pallets.

Fig. 2 shows the arrangement, according to the present invention, of the percolation block ele ments 1 having a base wall with a square base area, which are stacked, ready for transport, on a pallet 14 suitable for sea containers, the percolation block elements 1 being arranged in three stacks 11, 12, 13 positioned one on top of the other and each stack 11, 12, 13 comprising a transport plate 2 or base plate 2.

The three stacks 11, 12, 13 are arranged in three layers, the first stack 13 being arranged in a first layer on the pallet 14 in such a way that a respective first one of the four outer sides of the base wall of each of the percolation block elements 1 comes to lie on the transport area 16 of the pallet 14. Also one of the four outer sides of the transport plate 2 or the base plate 2 comes to lie on the transport area 16 of the pallet 14. The second stack 12 is arranged in a second layer on top of the first layer in such a way that a respective one of the four outer sides of the base wall of the percolation block elements 1 of the second layer is positioned on a respective second one of the four outer sides of each of the percolation block elements 1 of the first layer.

Fig. 3 shows a top view of the upper side 1a of a known percolation block element 1. The perco lation block element 1 has a base wall 17 with a square base area, which has connected thereto a plurality of hollow columns 18. The columns 18 may be conical in shape with an oval cross section and each of them has a column top 19 at the end facing away from the base wall 17 (cf. Fig. 4). A percolation block element 1 has an axial symmetry of 180° when rotated about a rota tional symmetry axis of the base area, the rotational symmetry axis being perpendicular to the base area of the base wall 17 and passing through the point of intersection of the two 45° diago nals D11, D12 of the base wall 17. The columns 18 are arranged in such a way that they are mirror symmetrical with respect to both center lines M1, M2 of the base wall 17 and not mirror-symmet rical with respect to both 45° diagonals D11, D12 of the base wall 17. When a mirror image is formed at the two 45° diagonals D11, D12 of the base wall 17, a column top reception unit 20 comes to lie at the position of a column 18 and a column 18 comes to lie at the position of a column top reception unit 20. The column top reception units 20 are provided between the col umns 18 in the structure 21 of the base wall 17.

Fig. 4 shows a top view of the underside 1b of a percolation block element 1, with the hollow columns 18 extending perpendicularly away from the underside 1b of the base wall 17. The col umn tops 19 are provided with a through-hole 22 allowing water to pass through this hole 22 and the hollow columns 18.

Fig. 3 and 4 illustrate that the column top reception units 20 and the columns 18 are configured and arranged in such a way that, when two identical percolation block elements 1 are arranged such that they are rotated relative to each other about an axis of rotation by 90°, the column tops 19 of the upper percolation block element 1 can be inserted into the column top reception units of the lower percolation block element 1, and that, when two identical percolation block ele ments 1 are oriented in the same way, the columns 18 of the upper percolation block element 1 can be inserted into the columns 18 of the lower percolation block element 1.

Fig. 5 shows a side view of twenty percolation block elements 1 stacked into one another. This stacking possibility results from the fact that the columns 18 of the percolation block elements 1 are configured and arranged such that, when the percolation block elements 1 are identical and identically oriented, the columns 18 of a percolation block element 1 arranged above can be in serted into the columns 18 of a percolation block element 1 arranged therebelow. Between an underside 1b of a base wall 17 arranged above and an upper side 1a of a base wall 17 arranged therebelow, a stacking distance D1 is obtained in the illustration.

The stacked percolation block elements 1 are arranged on a transport plate 2, which has feet 23 on its underside 2b, so that e.g. the fork of a forklift truck can be inserted under the transport plate 2. On the upper side 2a, the transport plate has 2 openings into which the column tops 19 of a percolation block element 1 can be inserted. Between the underside 1b of the base wall 17 and the upper side 2a of the transport plate 2, a distance D2 is obtained.

The square base area may have a size of 80 cm x 80 cm. The columns 18 may have a length of 37.1 cm starting from the upper side 1a of the base wall 17. The column top 19 may have a length of 1.7 cm. The thickness of the base wall 17 may be 4 cm. Due to the hollow columns, the perco lation block elements 1 can be stacked into one another, and the stacking distance D1 of 2 cm can be formed between an underside 1b of a first base wall 17 and an upper side 1a of a second base wall 17. It follows that, with a width of 80 cm of the pallet 14, it would be possible to arrange a stack of 32 percolation block elements 1 horizontally on the pallet 14. A transport plate 2 or base plate 2 may have a thickness of 4 cm, so as to protect the column tops 19 during transport. Such a stack 11, 12, 13 would have a length or height of 225.4 cm.

Fig. 6 shows a flowchart of a method for stacking percolation block elements 1, ready for transport, on a pallet 14 suitable for sea containers.

In step 100, a pallet 14 suitable for sea containers is provided. In step 101, a single stack 11, 12, 13 or a plurality of stacks 11, 12, 13, which each comprise a plurality of percolation block elements 1 stacked into one another and a final percolation block element 1, is provided, each of the per colation block elements 1 comprising a base wall 17 with a square base area or a rectangular base area and the percolation block elements 1 having an identical structural design per stack. Subsequently, in step 103, the single stack 11, 12, 13 or the plurality of stacks 11, 12, 13 is arranged horizontally on the pallet 14 suitable for sea containers.

Horizontally arranging 103 may comprise in step 104 arranging the single stack 11, 12, 13 or the plurality of stacks 11, 12, 13 in a first layer on the pallet 14 such that a respective first one of the four outer sides of the base wall 17 of each of the percolation block elements 1 comes to lie on a transport area 16 of the pallet 14.

In step 105, remaining stacks 11, 12, 13 of the plurality of stacks 11, 12, 13 can be arranged in a second layer on top of the first layer in such a way that a respective one of the four outer sides of the base wall 17 of the percolation block elements 1 of the second layer comes to lie on a respec tive second one of the four outer sides of each of the percolation block elements 1 of the first layer.

If further stacks 11, 12, 13 remain after step 105, they can be arranged accordingly in a third, fourth, etc. layer.

Step 101, in which the single stack 11, 12, 13 orthe plurality of stacks 11, 12, 13 is provided, may additionally comprise the step of arranging 102 a respective transport plate 2 or a base plate 2 on the final percolation block element 1. The transport plate 2 or the base plate 2 may have feet 23.

In step 105, the single stack or the plurality of stacks 11, 12, 13 may be secured in position on the pallet 14 by means of securing equipment 15.

Fig. 7 shows schematically, viewing the base areas of the percolation block elements, twelve transport units, i.e. the entirety of pallet and stacks, comprising different stacks each with a large number of percolation block elements stacked into one another and a final percolation block ele ment. In the illustration, it is assumed that the rectangular base area corresponds in size to two square base areas.

In the following, the specifications "rectangular" and "square" refer to the base area of the base wall of the respective percolation block elements of a stack. "2x" refers to the fact that two such stacks are arranged in the respective layer.

200 204 208 1. layer rectangular rectangular 2x square 2. layer rectangular 2x square rectangular 3. layer 2x square rectangular rectangular

201 205 209 1. layer rectangular 2x square 2x square 2. layer 2x square rectangular 2x square 3. layer 2x square 2x square rectangular

202 206 210 211 1. layer 2x rectangular 2x square rectangular 2x rectangular 2. layer 2x square 2x rectangular 2x rectangular rectangular 3. layer --- --- --- --

203 207 1. layer 2x square rectangular 2. layer 2x square rectangular 3. layer 2x square rectangular

Claims

1. A method for stacking percolation block elements (1), ready for transport, on a pallet (14) suitable for sea containers, the method comprising the following steps:

- providing (100) a pallet (14) suitable for sea containers,

- providing (101) a single stack (11, 12, 13) or a plurality of stacks (11, 12, 13), which each comprise a plurality of percolation block elements (1) stacked into one another and a final perco lation block element, wherein each of the percolation block elements (1) comprises a base wall (17) with a square base area or a rectangular base area, and wherein the percolation block ele ments (1) have an identical structural design per stack,

- horizontally arranging (103) the single stack (11, 12, 13) or the plurality of stacks (11, 12, 13) on the pallet (14) suitable for sea containers.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of horizontally arranging further comprises: arranging (104) the single stack (11, 12, 13) or the plurality of stacks (11, 12, 13) in a first layer on the pallet (14) such that a respective first one of the four outer sides of the base wall (17) of each of the percolation block elements (1) comes to lie on a transport area (16) of the pallet (14).

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: arranging (105) remaining stacks (11, 12, 13) of the plurality of stacks (11, 12, 13) in a second layer on top of the first layer in such a way that a respective one of the four outer sides of the base wall (17) of each of the percolation block elements (1) of the second layer comes to lie on a respective second one of the four outer sides of each of the percolation block elements (1) of the first layer.

4. The method according to one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of providing a single stack (11, 12, 13) or a plurality of stacks (11, 12, 13) comprises: arranging (102) a respective transport plate (2) or a base plate (2) on the final percolation block element (1).

5. The method according to one of the claims 1 to 4, further comprising: securing the single stack or the plurality of stacks (11, 12, 13) in position on the pallet (14) by means of securing equipment (15).