CH622220A5 - Method for manufacturing a handling pallet - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to handling pallets which are usually used with forklifts, and which are also used to stack materials. The invention relates more particularly to a method of manufacturing pallets having an original construction.

Wooden pallets are already well known, but these pallets have a number of drawbacks. For example, the cost price of these pallets depends on the price of wood, which can be high in certain regions. These pallets also tend to break if not handled properly. These pallets are relatively high, around 150 mm, due to the thickness of the wood which constitutes the upper and lower floors, which is added to the 100 mm which must be left between the floors for a forklift truck.

It has been proposed to manufacture metal pallets using mainly strips of metal sheet with U-shaped section so that the mechanical strength is sufficient, or else using mainly large metal wire, rods or bars assembled by welding. . So far, all these proposals have not been successful, especially because of the high cost price which is inevitable, because the manufacture of these pallets requires a lot of manpower.

It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a metal pallet which is inexpensive and rapid. Another object of the invention is to provide an economical and safe metal pallet.

According to the invention, a method of manufacturing a handling pallet is proposed, consisting in folding a sheet of wire mesh so as to form a body which comprises a first floor and two side walls on the edges of this floor, fold inward the two outer parts of the sheet so as to form for the body at least one part of a second floor opposite the first floor, bringing the extreme edges of this sheet into contact with one other or with at least one area of the body thus formed, and to weld these extreme edges respectively to each other or to the body along the contact lines.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the extreme edges of the sheet are brought into line with one another and are welded to one another.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the method comprises the additional operation which consists in folding the sheet along the lines adjacent to the extreme edges of the sheet so that they come into contact with the first floor, the extreme edges then being respectively welded to the first floor so that the parts of the sheet which lie between each fold line and the adjacent extreme edge form an intermediate support for the body of the pallet.

According to this form of the invention, the fold lines are spaced from each other, and the method includes the operation of welding another sheet of wire mesh to the spaced portions of the second floor so as to fill the space that separates the fold lines and to complete the second floor.

Another embodiment of the invention comprises the introduction of elongated reinforcing elements between the first and the second floor, and the welding of these elements to the floors. According to this form of the invention, the reinforcing elements are made of wire mesh. According to another form of the invention, the reinforcing elements are rods of suitable shape.

According to another embodiment of the invention, metal reinforcing elements elongated are welded to the outer edges of the body.

In one form of the invention, the wire mesh sheet has a regular construction with meshes of uniform size.

In a preferred form of the invention, the wire mesh sheet has a regular construction with meshes of uniform size, except in the regions of the sheet which will form the sides of the body, regions in which the density of the mesh of the mesh is more big.

An important characteristic of the invention is that the main body of the pallet is made of wire mesh, so that the construction of a pallet requires the folding of the sheet and the fixing of the extreme edges of the sheet between them or to the body main by welding. It is therefore easy to mechanize, at least partially, the manufacturing, using a few simple templates or a folding machine.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 shows a sheet of wire mesh for manufacturing a pallet according to the invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a pallet during its manufacture according to the invention;

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fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a pallet according to the invention;

fig. 4 and 5 are schematic side views of two different variants of the palette of FIG. 3, the variants being constituted by the reinforcing elements provided between the upper floor and the lower floor, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are respectively a perspective view and an end view of another variant of the pallet according to the invention.

Fig. 1 of the drawings represents a sheet 10 of wire mesh comprising two pre-reinforced strips 12. The sheet 10 is preferably put in this form using an automatic electro-welding apparatus.

Fig. 2 shows an intermediate step in the manufacture of a variant of the pallet according to the invention. In this variant, the inner section of the sheet 10 of FIG. 1 so as to form a first floor 14 and lateral sides 16 which correspond to the reinforced strips 12. The two outer sections of the sheet 10 are then folded inwards so as to form parts 18 of a second opposite floor to the first floor 14. The two other parts of the sheet are then folded inward again so that they come into contact with the first floor 14, thus forming intermediate supports between the first floor 14 and the parts 18 from the second floor. This figure also shows another sheet of wire mesh 22. As shown in fig. 3, the sheet 22 is welded to the parts 18 so as to complete the second floor. The different contiguous and secant parts of the pallet are welded to each other along the junctions 24 of FIG. 3.

As will be appreciated, the palette which is shown in FIG. 3 is very simple to manufacture and requires only the folding of the sheet 10 and the welding along the junctions 24.

Of course, the mechanical strength and the weight of the pallet depend on the cross section of the metal wires which form the lattice, and also on the size of the meshes; it is possible to vary these dimensions at will so as to obtain any given range of mechanical strength.

As the sheet 10 is produced automatically by means of an electrofusion apparatus incorporating the reinforcement strips 12 placed in advance, the manufacture of the pallet is greatly simplified. In particular, the formation of the sheet 10 as shown in FIG. 1 eliminates the need to subsequently weld reinforcing wires or other elements to reinforce the sides 16 as shown in FIG. 2, which would constitute a long and costly operation.

Figs. 4 and 5 represent variants of the pallet according to the invention, that is to say elongate reinforcing elements which are welded between the upper floor and the lower floor 14. In FIG. 4, the reinforcing element is essentially a strip 26 of wire mesh which is welded in place substantially parallel to the lateral sides 16.

Now consider fig. 5: the reinforcing element 28 is a strip having a substantially V-shaped section, and is welded by its top 30 to one of the floors, and by its ends 32 and 34 to the opposite floor. As shown in this fig. 5, the reinforcing elements 28 can be staggered, so that the tops 30 are in turn welded to a floor and to the opposite floor.

The reinforcing elements which are shown in the drawings are given only by way of example, and other forms of reinforcing elements fall within the scope of the invention. For example, the reinforcing element may be a rod of suitable shape which goes from one floor to the opposite floor and which is welded to the two floors.

Figs. 6 and 7 show a variant of the pallet according to the invention, in which a sheet of wire mesh, substantially similar to that of FIG. 1, is folded mechanically so as to form a quadrilateral body having in section a substantially rectangular shape, as shown in FIG. 6. The main body of the pallet is thus obtained in a single operation, which consists of a platform 36 for load support, a base 38 and two reinforced zones 40 forming the side walls.

In the same way, three small rectangular sheets of wire mesh are folded into suitable rectangular sections, so as to form tubular support elements 42. Each element thus formed is completed by welding the zones together. juxtaposed terminals of the tablecloth. As shown in fig. 7, the three elements 42 are then introduced, at suitable intervals, into the main body, and welded in place. This allows for easy engagement of the tips of a forklift. The two juxtaposed end zones 44 and 46 (fig. 6) of the sheet are then welded to each other, so as to complete the pallet.

The three support elements 42 have a triple role:

a) they support the floor or pallet load support platform to prevent it from collapsing under the load;

b) they allow the easy introduction of the tips of the forks 40 of a forklift truck into the large free spaces they offer, and c) they give the whole structure the required mechanical strength and rigidity while leaving the pallet a minimum of elasticity, which makes it more resistant to damage-

45 accidentally by impact and handling.

The three support elements 42 which are provided in this embodiment can optionally be reduced to two (one on each side) or to only one (in the center), depending on the load support capacity and the other specifications of the pallet .

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2 sheets of drawings

Claims (10)

622,220 1. A method of manufacturing a handling pallet, consisting in folding a sheet of wire mesh so as to form a body which comprises a first floor and two side walls on the edges of this floor, inwardly folding the two external parts of the sheet so as to form for the body at least a part of a second floor opposite the first floor, bringing the extreme edges of the sheet into contact with each other or with at least one area of the body thus formed, and to weld these extreme edges respectively to each other or to the body along the contact lines. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it brings the extreme edges of the sheet in the extension of one another and in that they are welded to one another. 2 3. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that after having formed the second floor, the sheet is folded along lines adjacent to the extreme edges of the sheet so that these edges come into contact with the first floor, the edges extremities then being respectively welded to the first floor so that the parts of the sheet which lie between each fold line and the adjacent extreme edge form an intermediate support for the body of the pallet. 4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that the fold lines are spaced from each other, and in that another sheet of wire mesh is further welded to the spaced portions of the second floor so as to fill in the space between the fold lines and complete the second floor. 5. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it further consists in introducing elongated reinforcing elements between the first floor and the second floor, and in welding these elements to the floors. 6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that the reinforcing elements are of wire mesh. 7. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that the reinforcing elements are rods shaped so as to extend from one floor to another. 8. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that welded metal reinforcing elements elongated at the outer edges of the body. 9. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that one uses a sheet of wire mesh having a regular construction with meshes of uniform size. 10. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that one uses a sheet of wire mesh having a regular construction with meshes of uniform size, except in the regions of the sheet which will form the side walls of the body, regions in which the density of the mesh of the mesh is greater.