BE1023595B1 - Improved corrugated cardboard pallet - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a corrugated cardboard pallet containing an envelope placed around an internal pallet structure, which includes a central portion forming the top of the pallet, side panels bonded to the central portion forming the sides of the pallet, and outer side panels bonded to the side panels. flaps that also form the bottom of the pallet. The side panels are provided with corresponding recesses for the formation of notches in the corners of the pallet formed by the side panels. These ensure an anchoring of foil placed around the pallet so that the goods placed on the pallet can be safely transported.

Description

Title: IMPROVED GOLF CARDBOARD PALLET SITUATION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to pallets in corrugated cardboard used for the transport of goods.

More in particular, the invention relates to openings arranged in the corners of corrugated cardboard pallets. Such notches ensure that the shrink film placed to anchor goods on the pallet adheres to the pallets and the goods placed on the pallet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the transport sector it is customary to use pallets to transport and stack goods. Wooden pallets are traditionally used for this. Wooden pallets have a number of economic and also ecological disadvantages: after all, they stand for deforestation and are characterized by their heavy weight, which causes them high transport costs - certainly in air freight. Ergonomics and hygiene are other important disadvantages. Corrugated cardboard pallets were recently introduced; they are a sustainable alternative to the wooden pallets. Corrugated cardboard pallets are lighter in weight and meet the increasing demand of users for sustainable, hygienic, ergonomic and reliable products.

Pallets consist of different parts.

The upper part is the part that can be observed visually from above when the pallet is on a horizontal surface and forms the top of the pallet, hereinafter referred to as the upper part.

The lower part is the part in contract with the land; it forms the bottom of the pallet, hereinafter referred to as the bottom part.

To reinforce the assembled corrugated cardboard pallet, the top part and bottom part are connected to each other via a globally enveloping envelope part. This envelope consists of a central part forming the top of the pallet and side panels adhered to the central part forming the sides of the pallet and outer flaps adhered to the side panels, also forming the bottom of the pallet. Hereinafter referred to as the envelope.

A pallet can be transported or transported because the protruding "arms" of a fork lift or pallet take the pallet together with the goods placed on it.

With a four-way pallet, this is possible both via the longitudinal and the transverse sides. With a two-way pallet, this is only possible via either the longitudinal or the transverse side.

In order to make the above technically possible, notches must necessarily be made in a four-way pallet both on the longitudinal side and on the transverse side in the side wall. These notches must be dimensioned and positioned in such a way that the arms of a pallet or fork lift can receive the pallet with the goods stacked on it via these notches, and this at the option of the user both via the longitudinal side or via the transverse side.

In the case of a two-way pallet, the above applies mutatis mutandis.

In this case, the arms of the pallet or fork lift must only be able to pick up and transport the pallet via one side (in each case along the longitudinal or transverse sides).

In the case of a pallet, the arms are provided with wheels at the bottom.

These ensure that after inserting the arms into the pallet and jacking up the pallet by pressing the arms against the top of the pallet, the pallet can be transported or moved with these wheels turning over the ground.

To this end, these wheels must maintain permanent contact with the ground or floor. This is achieved by providing notches in the underside of the pallet. These notches are therefore technically necessary so that the wheels of a pallet can stay in contact with the ground and the pallet can be transported or moved in this way.

In addition to these technical requirements, the additional requirement is that a pallet must be as strong and rigid as possible, with a minimum of material costs.

This requirement also imposes mandatory technical-functional requirements and limitations when designing a pallet. For that reason, for example, longitudinal and / or transverse legs are arranged internally in the pallet between the top and bottom. As a result, the storage capacity of a pallet is substantially increased with minimal use of materials.

To stack, stabilize, protect and transport goods, shrink or stretch film is applied around the goods placed and around the pallet. The wrapping of the stretch film to anchor the placed goods on the pallet can be done according to techniques known per se by the skilled person. For example, a wrapping machine can be used for this as available at Rajapack (www.rajapack.be).

By heating shrink film, it starts to tension around the goods; this allows the goods to be transported or stored easily and safely. A possible way to heat shrink film is by using a shrink gun. This shrink gun works on propane gas with an adjustable kilo Watt strength and is also available at Rajapack (www.rajapack.be). Figure 7 illustrates goods placed on a (wooden) pallet, anchored via a (shrink or stretch) foil applied by winding.

Examples of such corrugated cardboard pallets according to the prior art are shown, inter alia, in European models 002393728-0001 and 002393728-0002 filed with the EU IPO. Such pallets are also described in the international PCT patent application filed with WIPO published on August 20, 2015 under the international publication number WO 2015/121700 A1 in the name of Palletkraft Europe LTD.

A variant of such corrugated cardboard pallets is also described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,582, published on February 29, 2000 in the name of MOOgilvie et al. robustness and robustness at the height of the side panels and in particular at the corner points.

A drawback of the corrugated cardboard pallets in current form is that the shrink film or stretch film cannot fulfill its usual protective function. The reason for this is that the foil does not sufficiently connect the goods placed on the pallet to the pallet. After all; due to the smooth corners and surfaces on the sides of the corrugated cardboard pallet, the shrink film shifts upwards, releasing it from the pallet. The consequence of this is that the goods placed on the pallet slide off.

The usual way of anchoring the goods on the pallet cannot be sufficiently achieved because the foil does not sufficiently connect the goods placed on the pallet to the pallet.

There is therefore a need for a corrugated cardboard pallet in which the disadvantages mentioned above do not occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has for its object to provide a solution to the aforementioned and other disadvantages in that it provides a pallet and a method as described in the independent claims.

Preferred embodiments of the pallet and the method are shown in the dependent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With the insight to better demonstrate the characteristics of the invention, a few preferred embodiments of a pallet according to the invention are described below as an example without any limiting character, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The following is shown in these drawings:

Figure 1 shows a composite corrugated cardboard pallet according to the prior art;

Figure 2 shows the bottom part of the pallet;

Figure 3 shows the upper part of the pallet;

Figure 4 shows the envelope of the pallet;

Figure 5 shows a detailed view of the recess in the side panel at the corner;

Figure 6 shows a composite pallet (10) according to the invention with the notches in the corners;

Figure 7 shows a composite wooden pallet (10) according to the state of the art with goods and foil placed around it;

Figure 8 shows a composite corrugated cardboard pallet (10) with a box placed on it according to the 'Click and Go' principle;

Figure 9 shows a construction drawing of the unequal quadrangle as a notch; Figure 10 shows a pallet (10) with a notch in the form of an unequal quadrangle;

Figure 11 shows a pallet (10) according to the invention with a wrapped foil.

Reference characters are used in these Figures to refer to the following components: assembled pallet; 11 bottom part; 12 upper part; 13 envelope; 14 central portion of the envelope that forms the top of the pallet; 15 side panels attached to the central portion; 16 outer flaps attached to the side panels; 17 the corners of the pallet; 18 the recesses in the side panels; 19 the notches in the corners formed by the side panels; 20 shrink-wrap around the placed goods and the pallet

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The inventors have surprisingly determined that the aforementioned problems do not occur when using a pallet according to the invention.

The pallet (10) according to the invention is made of cardboard or corrugated cardboard and comprises an envelope (13) placed around an internal pallet structure. This envelope contains a central part (14) which forms the top of the pallet side panels (15) attached to the central part (14), which form the sides of the pallet, and outer flaps (16) attached to the side panels (15) ), which also form the bottom of the pallet.

The feature of the invention is that the side panels (15) are provided with recesses (18) for forming notches (19) in the corners (17) formed by the side panels (15) of the pallet (10).

We refer to figures 2, 3 and 4 as an illustration.

The recesses (18) are preferably arranged 'correspondingly' in the side panels at the point where they together form the corners of the pallet.

Two corresponding recesses (18) then form one notch (19) for each corner.

To illustrate this, we refer to the attached figure 5.

Further preferred for these "corresponding" recesses (18): preferably the top and bottom of the left and right side panel recesses which together form an angle in height such that the notch of the left side panel formed in the corner point the right-hand side panel extends further Preferably, the width of the recesses in the left-hand and right-hand side panels is also made the same.

The shape of the notch as determined by the corresponding recesses can vary as long as the foil can anchor in it and the rigidity of the pallet is not compromised. The notch must be minimal in terms of dimension because each notch weakens the rigidity of the pallet. remain functional, in the sense that it must be possible to anchor the foil. The inventors have carried out tests with notches in the form of a triangle, a keyhole and an uneven quadrangle. As a preferred embodiment, the unequal quadrangle is chosen as shown in Figure 9.

This uneven quadrangle is also shown in Figures 10 and 11.

The top of the notch in the form of such uneven quadrangle is then characterized in that the top of the notch runs horizontally, from the recess in the left-hand side panel, continuing to the recess in the right-hand side panel.

The underside of the notch is then formed by sloping lines, which run for both the left and right side panels from the recess [18) in the side panel sloping at the bottom to the corner point. In particular, Figure 10 shows the notch [19] formed in this way.

Figure 9 shows a further preferred embodiment of the invention in which one of the two side panels that together form an angle extends beyond the corner point to the bottom of the corresponding other side panel.

The corner is then formed with the continuous portion of the one side panel folded over against the other side panel.

In this way the firmness of the corner point is strengthened. One of the two side panels runs around the corner point, as a result of which the firmness of the corner formed increases in itself. If this is not applied, the ends of the left and right side panels only touch each other. at the height of this corner. This gives a less strong angle.

When the preferred embodiment is used wherein one of the side panels extends around the corner, the recess in that side panel serves correspondingly adapted to form the desired notch in the corner itself. Both the "left" and "right" recess (18) should then be provided in this side panel; in the corresponding side panel only half of the notch (19) should be arranged, in particular the left or right recess (18).

We refer to figure 9 as an illustration of this.

The notches (19) are designed in such a way that they are suitable for anchoring a foil arranged around the entire pallet (10).

After all, the unexpected advantage of the invention is that by arranging these notches, the foil wrapped around the pallet and the goods automatically adhere or anchors in these notches, and therefore does not "slide" upwards. The goods placed on the pallet thus remain firmly anchored on the pallet via the wrapped foil.

A stretch film, a shrink film or any other film with a functionally equivalent effect can be used as foil.

For a wooden pallet, the storekeepers are obliged to turn the foil around a leg of the pallet into a knot.

In contrast, when using the method and the pallet according to the invention, the foil can be wrapped immediately around the goods and the pallet. As a result of the notches provided in the corners, the wrapped film remains stuck because it hooks up there. This saves an important amount of time and is also extremely safe.

The notches [19] according to the invention prevent the film thus wrapped around the loaded pallet (10) from crawling upwards through the smoothness of the corrugated cardboard pallet (10) and in this way 'detaching' from the pallet. goods themselves remain wrapped and thus strengthened in themselves, but they are no longer anchored towards the pallet and can, for example, easily slide off the smooth top of the corrugated cardboard (10) during transport. This problem is surprisingly prevented by the presence of the notches (19) in the pallet (10), characteristic of the invention.

Reference is made to Figure 11 as an illustration.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the internal structure of the pallet (10) comprises an upper part (12) and a bottom part (11). See figures 2 and 3 for illustration.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the height of the recesses [18) is included between V * and half the height of the side panels.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the width of the recesses (18) is included between half and twice the height of the recesses.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the recesses in the side panels, which together form the notch in the corners, are located in the upper part of the pallet, calculated from the ground, or calculated from the bottom part of the pallet. we go to figure 10.

The invention also relates to a method for fixing goods on a pallet (10) of cardboard or corrugated cardboard according to the invention.

This method includes the following steps; - placing the goods on the pallet (10); - applying foil (20) around the placed goods and the pallet (10); - anchoring the goods placed on the pallet (10) by means of the foil. The feature of the method is that the foil is anchored to the pallet (10) in that the foil is clamped in notches (18) in the corners (17) of the pallet (10), formed by corresponding recesses (18) in the side panels (15) from the pallet (10).

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the foil is applied around the placed goods and laterally around the pallet (10).

According to a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, the foil is wound from bottom to top and the first wrapping is started from just below the pallet surface.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, when a shrink film is used, the film shrinks as a result of a heat treatment of the film, for example under the influence of a film gun.

The recesses (18) in the side panels (15) of the pallet (10) can be provided in a method known per se to the person skilled in the art; for example by punching out the (corrugated) cardboard in the side panels.

Claims (8)

CONCLUSIONS Pallet (10) made of cardboard or corrugated cardboard, comprising an envelope (13) placed around an internal pallet structure, the envelope comprising: - a central part (14) forming the top of the pallet, - at the central part (14) ) side panels (15), forming the sides of the pallet, and - outer flaps (16) adhered to the side panels (15), also forming the underside of the pallet, characterized in that the side panels (15) are provided with recesses ( 18) for forming notches (19) in the corners (17) of the pallet (10) formed by the side panels (15). Pallet (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the notches (19) are suitable for anchoring a foil (20) arranged around the pallet (10). Pallet (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the inner pallet structure comprises an upper part (12) and a bottom part (11) Pallet (10) according to claim 1,2 or 3, characterized in that the height of the recesses (18) is comprised between% and half the height of the side panels (15). Pallet (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the width of the recesses (18) is comprised between ½ and double the height of the recesses (18). Pallet (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the recesses (18) are located in the upper half of the side panels (15), calculated from the bottom part (11) of the pallet Method for attaching goods to a pallet (10) made of cardboard or corrugated cardboard, comprising the following steps: - placing the goods on the pallet (10); - applying foil (20) around the placed goods and the pallet (10); - anchoring the goods placed on the pallet (10) by means of the foil; characterized in that the foil is anchored to the pallet (10) in that the foil is clamped in notches (18) in the corners (17) of the pallet (10), formed by recesses (18) in the side panels (15) of the pallet (10). Method according to claim 7, characterized in that the foil is arranged around the goods placed on the pallet (10) and laterally around the pallet (10).