DE9012442U1 - Pallet with replaceable bottom insert - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a pallet (2), consisting of a frame (4) and a bottom insert (6) detachably mounted in the frame (4), the frame (4) consisting of frame walls (8) of extruded hollow sections. The frame walls (8) have supporting webs (14), which project inwardly into the region enclosed by the frame (4) and are constructed as integrally moulded hollow sections, for supporting the bottom insert (6).

Description

5873/+II/b

REBO-PLASTIC QobH & Co. KG
Indtjstriestr. 3, 4925 Kalletal-Erösr

with replaceable. Floor insert

The invention relates to a pallet consisting of a frame and a base insert detachably held in the frame, whereby the frame consists of frame walls made of extruded hollow profiles.

Such pallets are used in particular to hold and store objects ready for removal, such as assembly parts, which are removed by an industrial robot for further processing. As a result, the pallets must be arranged or positioned very precisely relative to the robot so that the objects are also fixed in position and can be grasped by the robot. The objects are fixed within the pallet by the specially adapted base inserts, for example by placing them in corresponding receiving recesses or between elevations. It is therefore always necessary to use different base inserts to store different objects, so that it is desirable to replace the base inserts accordingly if the frame is to be used multiple times.

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A pallet of the type mentioned above is known from DE-GM 83 10 402. The base insert is attached to the frame using a snap-in connection. The frame walls are made of extruded hollow plastic profiles. This pallet has proven itself, but in some applications there is a need to be able to insert the base insert into the frame without a direct connection to the frame walls, thus making handling easier.

The invention is therefore based on the object of improving a pallet of the generic type in such a way that the base insert can be easily inserted into the frame, while still ensuring a safe,
precise and stable recording must be ensured.

According to the invention, this is achieved in that the frame walls have support webs for supporting the floor insert, which support webs are formed as integrally formed hollow profile sections and protrude inwards into the area enclosed by the frame.

Thanks to the design according to the invention, the base insert only needs to be inserted into the frame from above until it rests on the support bars. Replacing it is therefore particularly easy. Due to the design of the support bars as hollow profile sections, a high level of stability is ensured, so that even heavy objects can be stored in the pallet according to the invention.

In an advantageous further development of the invention, the support webs have, in their upper sides facing the floor insert, parallel to the frame walls

The base insert also has retaining lugs on its underside, which rests on the support bars, which preferably engage in a form-fitting manner in the grooves of the support bars. This increases stability, as any spreading of the frame walls to the side that may occur under load is prevented by the base insert or its retaining lugs engaging in the retaining grooves. On the other hand, a very precise positioning of the base insert relative to the frame and thus also an exact positioning of the objects stored in the pallet is achieved.

To further increase stability, it is advantageous if the base insert is additionally connected to the support webs via riveted joints. For this purpose, the design of the support webs as a hollow profile section is particularly advantageous in that the riveted joints can be designed as a blind rivet that extends through the base insert and through an upper wall of the support web into a cavity in the hollow profile section that forms the support web. The respective pallet or frame can therefore have a lower, continuous, flat base that is formed by the lower walls of the support webs and the lower end surface of the frame walls. The base is advantageously not affected by the rivet heads of the riveted joints, since these are arranged concealed within the respective cavity. In addition, the base is preferably arranged perpendicular to the planes defined by the frame walls, i.e. parallel to a floor area defined by the base insert. The smooth base of the pallet according to the invention is designed for

Stackability, which is described in more detail below, is an advantage, as damage to the lower pallet is almost impossible. Furthermore, the pallet can also be easily moved on a flat surface.

Further advantageous design features of the invention are contained in the documents and the following description.

The invention will be explained in more detail below using embodiments shown in the drawing. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a pallet according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view analogous to Fig. 1 of a second embodiment of the pallet according to the invention,

Fig. 3 shows a partial cross-section enlarged compared to Fig. 1 and 2 along the line III-III in Fig. 1 or in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a detailed view of an alternative embodiment as shown in Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 shows a reduced cross-section analogous to Fig. 3 of two stacked pallets according to the invention and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a corner area of the inventive

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ture of the pallet or frame in the direction of arrow VI as shown in Fig. 1 in a partially exploded view of frame components.

In the different drawing figures, equal parts

A pallet 2 according to the invention, shown in Fig. 1 and 2, consists of a frame 4 and a base insert 6 detachably held in the frame 4. The frame 4 is preferably rectangular and formed from four frame walls 8 arranged perpendicular to the base surface.

As can be seen in particular in Fig. 3, the frame walls 8 consist of extruded hollow profiles 10, in particular made of plastic. In order to detachably hold the base insert 6, the frame walls 8 now have support webs 14, which protrude inwards into the area enclosed by the frame 4 and are designed as one-piece hollow profile sections 12, for supporting the base insert 6. As a result, the base insert 6 only needs to be inserted into the frame 4 from above in the direction of the arrow 15 (Fig. 3). The support webs 14 have a high level of stability due to their design as hollow profile sections 12, which can be further increased according to the invention by dividing the hollow profile sections 12 into at least two hollow spaces 18 via at least one stiffening web 16, which runs approximately perpendicular to the base plane. The stiffening web 16 extends in one piece between an upper wall 20 and a lower wall 22 of the hollow profile section 12. The upper wall 20 and the lower wall 22 of the hollow profile section 12

are molded according to the invention directly onto an inner wall 23 of the hollow profile 10 forming the frame wall 8. The section ?.3a of the inner wall 23, which is thereby located between the upper and lower walls 70, 22 and parallel to the reinforcing steel 16, also advantageously contributes to a very high rigidity and stability of the support steel.

According to Figures 3 and 4, the support webs 14 have retaining grooves 24 running parallel to the frame walls 8 on their upper sides facing the base insert 6. These retaining grooves 24 are preferably formed by a bead-shaped course of the upper walls 20. The above-mentioned stiffening web 16 is preferably arranged in the area of these retaining grooves 24. Furthermore, the base insert 6 has retaining lugs 26 on its underside resting on the support webs 14, which preferably engage in the retaining grooves 24 in a form-fitting manner. The retaining lugs 26 can be designed as longitudinal webs or as web sections . naWöi &Igr;&tgr;&Lgr;&igr;-»&igr;-»&agr;&tgr;"» r? &tgr; q UaI -t-oaneä-t-&tgr;&agr; O A — nomBß P"-irr ^ —Alli~;h

be formed by a bead-shaped design in the edge area of the base insert 6.

Expediently, the lower walls 22 of the hollow profile sections 12 forming the support webs 14 together with the lower end surfaces 28 of the frame walls 8 form a continuous, flat base surface 30, preferably arranged perpendicular to the frame walls 8. According to Fig. 4, the base insert 6 can be bent in the edge region in such a way that a lower surface 32 is arranged essentially on the plane defined by the base surface 30 of the frame 4. Alternatively, Fig. 3 shows that the lower surface 32 of the base insert 6 is arranged on the plane defined by the upper surface 30.

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side of the upper wall 20 of the support webs 14 rests on a plane defined by

To further increase stability, according to Fig. 3, the base insert 6 is additionally connected to the support webs 14 via rivet connections 34, or via other connecting means, such as screw connections, plastic plugs or the like. Preferably, a blind rivet (hollow rivet) 36 is provided in each case, which extends through the base insert 6 and through the upper wall 20 of the support web 14 into the cavity 18 of the hollow profile section 12 forming the support web 14. As a result, advantageously no disturbing rivet heads or the like are arranged in the area of the lower standing surface 30. Rather, the flat standing surface 30 is guaranteed due to the concealed blind rivets 36. The rivet connection 34 is only indicated by a dash-dot line in Fig. 4. Furthermore, in the embodiment according to Fig. 3, it can be particularly advantageous to arrange the rivet connection 34 in the area of the bead-shaped retaining projection 26, so that a smooth surface of the base insert 6 is also achieved without disturbing rivet heads or the like.

In the embodiment according to Fig. 1, the floor insert 6 is designed as a continuous floor plate 38, which corresponds in terms of its size or surface shape to the area enclosed by the frame 4. Alternatively, the floor insert 6 in the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 consists of several, in particular two, floor cross members 40 extending parallel to one another between opposite frame walls 8. Both the floor plate 38 and the floor cross members 40 expediently have

not shown projections, elevations and/or depressions which serve for the precise positioning of objects which are also not shown. The floor cross members 40 preferably have raised projections arranged in such a chamber-like manner that the spaces formed between the projections ¹ are aligned in a direction perpendicular to the floor cross members 40. In this way, "similar objects" can be placed on the floor cross members 30, which are then precisely fixed and positioned between the cannon-like projections. It is also within the scope of the invention to attach appropriately designed receiving parts to the floor plate 38 or to the floor cross members 40 as separate individual parts in a detachable manner - e.g. "clipped on" using locking connections (not shown).

As can also be seen in Fig. 3, the hollow profiles 10 forming the frame walls 8 are advantageously divided into several superimposed cavities 44 via several stiffening webs 42 running in the longitudinal direction of the profile and parallel to the base surface in order to increase stability. The cavity 18 of the support web 14 adjacent to the frame wall 8 is separated from one of these cavities 44, namely from the "lowest" cavity 44 closest to the lower end surface 28, via the inner wall 23 of the hollow profile 10. Furthermore, the hollow profiles 10 advantageously have stiffening beads 50 on their inner sides 46 and also on their outer sides 48 - each with respect to the frame 4 - running in the longitudinal direction of the profile, in particular arranged in the area of the stiffening webs 42.

According to Fig. 1 and 2, at least two opposite frame walls 8 have elongated handle openings 52. According to Fig. 3,

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these handle openings 52 are preferably formed in the area between two adjacent stiffening webs 42 of the hollow profile 10 such that the stiffening webs 42 form the upper and lower boundaries of the handle openings 52.

The frame walls 8 can be permanently connected to one another in the corner areas of the frame 4, in particular by means of a material bond. In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown, however, the frame walls 8 are detachably connected to one another via connector elements 54, as is illustrated in Fig. 5. In each corner area of the frame 4, a corner connector element 54 is arranged, which consists of a corner body 56 that is adapted vertically to the right of the frame walls 8 and has plug-in projections 58 that point in two directions arranged at right angles to one another and engage in the cavities 44 of the height profiles 10 as well as in the cavities 18 of the support projections 14 from the open profile front side. Because this connection is also made in the area of the support projections 14 according to the invention, their stability is also increased to such an extent that even particularly heavy objects can be accommodated. The plug-in connector elements 54 can also be connected to the frame walls 8 via snap-in connections or by a material bond (then inseparable). The assembly of the frame 4 can be carried out very easily and quickly by the invention, in that only one frame wall 8 and one connector element 54 need to be plugged together in the direction of the arrows 59 shown in Fig. 6.

In a particularly advantageous development of the invention, the pallet 2 is stackable and is designed to be self-centering and self-fixing. This is achieved

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This is achieved according to the invention in that the frame 4 has guide webs 60 in the region of its upper and lower edges, each of which has a negative contour to one another (see in particular Fig. 3 and 5). The guide webs 60 run in the longitudinal direction of the frame walls 8 and each have a thickness corresponding to a maximum of half the thickness of the frame walls 8. One of the guide webs 60 is arranged in alignment with the outer side 48 of the frame walls 8 and the other guide web 60 with the inner side 46 of the frame walls 8. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the upper guide web 60 is arranged in the outer region and the lower guide web 60 in the inner region of the frame walls 8. It is particularly advantageous if the side surfaces 62 of the guide webs 60 of two stacked pallets 2 or frames 4 facing each other in the stacked state - as shown in Fig. 5 - are arranged at an angle such that the guide webs 60 taper towards their free ends. The guide webs 60 are dimensioned in terms of their width such that there is a lateral play of approximately 1 mm between the guide webs 60 of two stacked pallets 2 or frames 4. The guide webs 60 have an upper end surface 64 or the already mentioned lower end surface 28, with which they come to rest in the stacked state on flat support surfaces 66 of the other frame 4, which are adjacent to the guide webs 60.

This advantageous design ensures that when a pallet 2 is placed in the direction of arrow &oacgr;8 according to Fig. 5 on a lower pallet 2, a forced guide is carried out via inclined insertion surfaces (side surfaces 62 Jer guide webs 60) in such a way that the upper pallet, due to the inclined side surfaces 62 of the guide webs 60, is placed in

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The guide bars 60 are guided in the direction of the arrow 68 into an arrangement that is exactly aligned with the lower pallet (self-centering). This is particularly advantageous for the desired, precise positioning. The guide bars 60 thus facilitate both the slip-free placement and removal of the pallets 2.

As already mentioned above, the base 4 is preferably made of plastic. The base insert 6 is preferably also made of plastic or aluminum.

The invention is not limited to the illustrated and described embodiments, but also includes all embodiments that have the same effect within the meaning of the invention.

Claims (1)

5873/+II/b REBO-PLASTIC GmbH & Co. KG Industr i .-itr. 3, 4925 Kalletal-Erder Expectations 1. Pallet, consisting of a frame and a base insert detachably held in the frame, whereby the frame consists of frame walls made of extruded hollow profiles, characterized in that the frame walls (S) have support webs (14) which project inwards into the area enclosed by the frame (4) and are designed as integrally formed hollow profile sections (12) for supporting the base insert (6). 2. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the support webs (14) in their upper sides facing the base insert (6) each have retaining grooves (24) running parallel to the frame walls (8) and the base insert (6) on its side on the support webs
(14) resting underside preferably have retaining projections (26) engaging positively in the retaining grooves (24), wherein the retaining grooves (24) preferably t * t · each formed by a bead-shaped course of an upper wall (20) of the support web (14). 3. Pallet according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the hollow-iron sections (12) forming the support webs (14) are each divided into at least two cavities (18) by at least one stiffening web (16) which runs in particular approximately perpendicular to the floor plane, the stiffening web (16) preferably being arranged in the region of the retaining groove (24). 4. Pallet according to one or more of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the support webs (14) have lower walls (22) which, together with lower end surfaces (28) of the frame walls (8), form a continuous, flat standing surface (^O) preferably arranged perpendicular to the chamber walls (S). 5. Pallet according to one or more of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that
the support webs (14) are each formed with the upper wall (20) and the lower wall (22) onto an inner wall (23) of the frame wall (8) which is approximately perpendicular to these. 6. Pallet according to one or more of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the base insert (6) is connected to the support webs (14) via rivet connections (34). 7. Pallet according to claim 6, characterized in that the rivet connections (34) each have a blind rivet (36) which extends through the base insert (6) and through the upper wall (20) of the support web (14) into a cavity (18) of the support web
(14) forming the hollow profile section (12). 0. Pallet according to one or more of claims 1 to 7. characterized in that the base insert (6) is designed as a continuous base plate (38) with a surface shape that approximately corresponds to the surface enclosed by the frame (4). 9. Pallet according to one or more of claims 1 to characterized in that the floor insert (6) consists of at least two individual floor cross members (40) extending essentially parallel to one another between opposite frame walls (8). 10. Palette according to one or more of the ?..r Proverbs 1 to 9, characterized in that the frame (4) is rectangular and consists of four frame walls (8). 11. Pallet according to one or more of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the frame walls (8) are connected to one another in an inseparable manner, in particular by a material bond. -A- 12. Pallet according to one or more of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the frame walls (8) are detachably connected to one another, in particular via plug-in connector elements (54). 13. Pallet according to claim 12, *&Lgr; *« &Lgr; ·« ··· >Qi V% jw j»* ir .*» ·* -■» ^w ^* -i ^* W w% *^ ■4— ^ ·» £2 4 v% VAGVAIAA-WW ^CrVCIilli4CX V^ ft A AA ^ ** / V**·»·** ^ * * a plug connector element (54) with plug-in projections (58) engaging in cavities (44) of the hollow profiles (10) forming the frame walls (8) is arranged in each of the corner regions of the frame (4). 14. Pallet according to one or more of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the frame (4) is stackable and is designed in particular to be self-centering and self-fixing. 15. Pallet according to one or more of the claims
1 to 14, characterized in that the frame (4) has guide webs (60) in the region of its upper and lower edges, each formed in a negative contour to one another. 16. Pallet according to claim 15, characterized in that the guide webs (60) in the longitudinal direction of the frame walls (8), each have a maximum thickness of half the thickness of the frame walls (8) and are arranged in alignment with the outside (48) or the inside (46) of the frame walls (8), whereby their surfaces (62) facing each other in the stacked state are preferably arranged obliquely in such a way - 5 net that the guide webs (60) form an insertion bevel in the direction of their free ends y&&ngr;jungen. 17. Pallet according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that the guide webs (äO) are dimensioned in such a way that there is a lateral clearance of approximately 1 mm between the guide webs (60) of two stacked frames (4). 18. Pallet according to one of the several claims | 1 to 17, ^; characterized in that at least two opposite frame walls (8) have handle openings (52). 19. Pallet according to one or more of the claims 1 to 18, J characterized in that the hollow profiles (10) forming the frame walls (8) are divided into several superimposed hollow spaces (44) by several stiffening webs (42) running in the longitudinal direction of the profile and parallel to the base surface, the handle openings (52) preferably being formed in the area between two adjacent stiffening webs (42) in such a way that the stiffening webs (42) form the upper and lower boundaries of the handle openings (52). t 20. Pallet according to one or more of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that the hollow profiles (10) extending in the longitudinal direction of the profile, in the Borairh of the Uoratoi funoeatano (AO. \ an- · · ·· B) «■ at - arranged stiffening beads (50). 21. Palette according to one or more of 1 to 20, characterized in that the frame (4) and/or the base (6) consist of material.