AU776023B2

AU776023B2 - A pallet

Info

Publication number: AU776023B2
Application number: AU27012/00A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Lloyd Seeney
Original assignee: ALGEN HOLDINGS Ltd
Current assignee: ALGEN HOLDINGS Ltd
Priority date: 1999-02-02
Filing date: 2000-02-02
Publication date: 2004-08-26
Anticipated expiration: 2020-02-02
Also published as: AU2701200A; WO2000046113A1

Description

WO 00/46113 PCT/NZ00/00006 It is also known to manufacture component parts of pallets from plastics material with the parts being assembled in a manner similar to timber pallets. While the use of plastics materials reduces the problem of hygiene, because the parts are initially separate, they must be robust and this can result in a pallet which also suffers from excessive weight. In addition, the labour content involved in the assembly means that such pallets still suffer from a disadvantage of excessive assembly cost.

Another important requirement of pallets is that they should be stackable in that the pallets can be stacked so when not in use, the amount of space taken during such storage operations or when transporting empty pallets is minimised.

Another disadvantage with pallets formed from component parts of timber and/or plastics materials is because such pallets are generally of a substantial weight, they contribute significantly to the cost of transporting and stacking the pallets. Consequently, the cost of shipping goods on such known pallets is higher than desirable, particularly when the pallets are to be returned empty to the point of dispatch. Such latter costs are usually added to the cost of transportation.

It is apparent that the design of a successful pallet must take into account various parameters. The pallet must be light, it should have considerable strength to withstand rough handling during its life and it should be formed from durable and hygienic materials.

In addition, the pallet must be constructed so it can be utilised with forklift vehicles both .WO 00/46113 PCT/NZOO/00006 of the low lift and high lift variety and also so that it can be readily adapted to other means of lifting as is known in the art.

Generally, therefore, a pallet consists of a top surface which forms the platform to support goods, with the top surface being separated from a bottom surface by side members and by intermediate reinforcing ribs or the like which extend between the top surface and the bottom surface to provide adequate reinforcement against wracking. Such reinforcing ribs must also be positioned and shaped to leave an adequate space for the forks of a forklift vehicle to engage the pallet below the top surface.

PRIOR ART Various arrangements have been proposed for the construction of load supporting pallets. One such construction is disclosed in UK Patent Specification 900,810 which describes a pallet having an upper and lower platform formed of a paper or cardboard stock which are separated by a number of spacer posts formed of spirally wound paper tubing. The spacer posts are secured in place by cups which secure the posts to the platforms. While the materials used in the construction of such a pallet are comparatively inexpensive, nevertheless the assembly of the pallets is time consuming and the longevity of the pallets depends upon the material from which the pallet is formed.

UK Patent specification 1,266,467 discloses another form of pallet construction which consists of a platform constructed of corrugated cardboard supported by feet in the shape of cups formed of a plastics material.

WO 00/46113 PCT/NZ00/00006 UK Patent Specification 1,186,685 discloses a four way pallet having a platform of corrugated cardboard which is strengthened by joists of a rectangular cross section which include interior diagonal bracing.

WO Publication 95/32901 discloses a pallet having an upper surface reinforced on the underside by a number of structural members formed from a plastics material. The structural members are connected together by fasteners and are connected to channels on the underside of the upper surface. The fasteners are attached to the structural members after the members have been formed and the assembly of such a panel is complicated and therefore the cost of manufacturing the panel is comparatively high.

European Patent Specification WO 452 726 discloses a pallet which has a planar face and a number of ribs which extend longitudinally on one side of the planar face and formed integrally with the planar face by a continuous extrusion method.

It is apparent a need exists for a lightweight pallet which has component parts formed of a plastics material in a simple moulding operation, which can easily assembled and which exhibits the desired degree of strength and durability.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved pallet which is constructed essentially from a plastics material which will exhibit advantages over known forms of pallets and which will also provide the public with a useful choice.

WO 00/46113 PCT/NZ00/00006 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, one form of the invention comprises a pallet formed essentially of a plastic material including a substantially rectangular platform having opposing longitudinal ends and opposing lateral ends and an upper surface and an undersurface, characterized in that; two opposing longitudinal sides of the platform are formed into box section walls which depend from the under surface of the platform and in that; the pallet also includes at least one channel member secured to the undersurface of the platform said channel being positioned between the two box section walls and in that; a base member is secured to the channel and to the box section walls to form a base which is substantially coplanar to and spaced from the platform.

Preferably at least two tunnels are formed between the platform and the base to allow the entry of the forks of a fork lift vehicle.

Preferably the base member is attached to the pallet by rivets.

Preferably the base member is formed of more than one component.

WO 00/46113 PCT/NZO/00006 Preferably the box section walls are constructed by forming two sets of bend lines on the undersurface of the platform of the pallet, one set of the bend lines being located substantially parallel to a first longitudinal edge of the sheet and the second set of bend lines lying substantially parallel to the second longitudinal edge of the sheet, and wherein after folding, the longitudinal edge of the sheet is fused to the undersurface of the platform to form the box section wall.

Preferably the bend lines in each set of bend lines are substantially equidistantly spaced from each other.

Preferably the channel is substantially U shaped and the free longitudinal edges of the channel are fused at to the undersurface of the platform.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a top plan view of a pallet constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention.

Figure 2 is an front view of one side of the pallet illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the pallet illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a view of a detail illustrating one step in the formation of the pallet.

WO 00/46113 PCT/NZ00/00006 Figure 5 is a view illustrating a further stage in the formation of the pallet.

Figure 6 is a view illustrating a yet further stage in the formation of the pallet.

Figure 7 is a view illustrating a formed edge of the pallet following the stages illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6.

Figure 8 is an exploded three quarter view from below of the component parts of the pallet.

Figure 9 is a three quarter view from below illustrating an assembled pallet prior to final assembly.

BEST MODE OF PERFORMING THE INVENTION The pallet as depicted is formed by a moulding process of a plastics material.

Preferably the material is a polypropylene sheet which is strong, and wear and damage resistance and is also recyclable. One particularly suitable material is a fluted material, that is, it consists of a sandwich like structure having a core of flute like formation surfaced on each face by a polypropylene sheet. It will be apparent other forms of plastic sheeting material can be employed with the essential requirements that the sheet be tough, light weight and resistant to wear and tear and the effects of corrosion, weather and other elements that could degrade the integrity of the pallet.

WO 00/46113 PCT/NZOO/00006 The pallet has a platform 20 which is substantially planar and rectangular in shape and as illustrated, the upper surface is substantially planer. The platform 20 surmounts a base which consists of a number of component parts as will be further described below.

The platform 20 is preferably formed from a single sheet of the plastics material which is bent or moulded into shape to form an upper surface 20a and an undersurface A number of bend lines 21 are formed in the undersurface 20b the bend lines being located adjacent two opposite longitudinal edges of the sheet, one set of the bend lines being illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6. These bend lines 21 lie parallel to each other and are preferably but not necessarily equidistantly spaced from the longitudinal edge of the sheet and from each other. The purpose of the bend lines is to sheet to be bent about the bend lines to enable a box section wall 23 to be formed on two opposite edge of the platform as can be seen more readily in Figures 2 7, 8 and 9. The actual bends in the platform are formed by a suitable bending machine which also includes means to fuse the end 22 to the undersurface of the platform where indicated at 24 in Figure 7. The arrows in Figure 4 indicate the outside edge 22 and the approximate location of where the edge 22 will be sealed to the under surface of the platform.

As can be seen more particularly in Figures 8 and 9, the constructed platform includes two box section walls 23. Additional strengthening to the platform is preferably also provided by way of a U shaped channel 25. The channel is preferably formed of the same material as the platform and to assemble the channel to the platform, the channel as illustrated in Figure 8 is inverted and ie free longitudinal edges are fused at 26 (see WO 00/46113 PCT/NZ00/00006 Figure 6) to the under surface of the platform 20. If desired additional channels can be fused to the under surface of the platform, provided sufficient free space is left to form tunnels 29 into which the forks of a fork lift vehicle (not shown in the drawings) can engage.

The under surface of the platform also includes a base member which in a highly preferred form comprises the component parts 28a, 28b and 28c. The base member in the embodiment illustrated is composed of the three parts 28a, 28b and 28c. This will result in a pallet which is as light as possible but which also has adequate strength to enable it to perform satisfactorily during its service life. The base member however can consist of a single sheet or any desired number of component parts.

The component parts of the base member are attached to the channel 25 and to the walls 23 preferably by fusing or other form of adherence as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In the form illustrated, the base member parts are attached to the channel 25 and to the walls 23 by means of suitable rivets 27 (see Figure The rivets will preferably be formed of a non-corrodible material such as a plastic material but can be formed of any other suitable material such as a metal. Even if the base members are fused or adhered to the channel 25 and the walls 23, preferably a number of rivets or similar are also employed to form wear pads on the base of the pallet.

By reason of the present invention, a sturdy, light weight pallet is formed which is simple to manufacture and able to stand up to the rigours of the usual form of mishandling .WO 00/46113 PCT/NZOO/00006 and rough wear during its service life. In addition because it is formed of a plastics material, it can be simply cleaned and it is light in weight thereby reducing handling and transportation costs.

Although the drawings illustrate a pallet in which the underside of the pallet has the same outside dimensions at the platform, it will be understood that the shape of the pallet can be altered by a simple adjustment of the dimensions to enable one pallet to stack upon another when empty. In addition, cut outs, grooves or the like can be included either with the platform or with the underside of the pallet to assist in the ability of the pallets to stack.

If the pallet is formed of a material such as a fluted sheet, then preferably the edges of the sheets are sealed at the junction of the sheets with the outside edges of the walls 23 to prevent the ingress of debris into the interior of the sheet.

Having described preferred methods of putting the invention into effect, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, that modifications and amendments to various features and items can be effected and yet still come within the general concept of the invention. It is to be understood that all such modifications and amendments are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A pallet formed substantially of a plastic material and comprising: a substantially rectangular platform having a first surface and a second surface; a box section wall formed at each of the two opposing edges of the platform to project below the second surface of the platform, said wall having a longitudinal edge which is adhered to the second surface of the platform; the box section walls and the platform being formed from a single sheet of the plastic material; a channel member adhered to the second surface of the platform and located substantially parallel to the box section walls and being positioned substantially equidistantly between the two box section walls; and a base member secured to a surface of the channel and to the box section walls to form a base which is substantially coplanar to and spaced from the second surface of the platform.

2. A pallet as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least two tunnels are formed between the platform and the base to allow the entry of the forks of a fork lift vehicle.

3. A pallet as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base member is attached to the channel and to the box section walls by rivets. 05/07/04

4. A pallet as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base member is formed of more than one component.

A pallet as claimed in claim 1, wherein each box section wall is constructed by forming two sets of bend lines on the second surface of the platform, one set of the bend lines being located substantially parallel to a first longitudinal side of the platform and the second set of bend lines lying substantially parallel to the second longitudinal side of the platform, and wherein after folding, the longitudinal edge of the sheet is fused to the undersurface of the platform to form the box section wall.

6. A pallet as claimed in claim 5, wherein the bend lines in each set of bend lines are substantially equidistantly spaced from each other.

7. A pallet as claimed in claim 1, wherein the channel is substantially U shaped and is fused at to the undersurface of the platform.

8. A pallet substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 5 day of July 2004 Algen Holdings Limited Patent Attorneys for the Applicant PETER MAXWELL ASSOCIATES 05/07/04