DE9106619U1 - Plastic small pallet - Google Patents

Description

Augsburg, 23 May 1991 Reference number: GI.2827

Giwa GmbH
Gewerbestrasse 4, 8851 Westendorf

Plastic pallet

The invention relates to a plastic pallet.

This is in particular, but not exclusively, a so-called quarter pallet according to the Euro standard, i.e. a pallet with a quarter of the base area of a so-called Euro standard plate. Such pallets are intended for palletized transport and palletized storage of goods, in particular foodstuffs, where the stack quantity corresponding to a Euro standard pallet would be too large, for example for mustard, mayonnaise, tomato ketchup, ready-made sauces and many other similar goods, including in the non-food sector. The quantity of such goods on a Euro standard pallet would be too large for a quick sale and the goods, which in many cases only have a relatively short shelf life, would remain in the store for too long. In such cases, in order to meet the customer's desire for fresh goods, small pallets are advantageous, both for the delivery of these goods and for setting them up for sale in a supermarket for self-service by customers.

Small pallets are well known and are often made of cardboard. It goes without saying that these small cardboard pallets are only suitable for single use. On the one hand, their mechanical strength is not sufficient for reuse, and on the other hand, such a pallet is known to be sensitive to moisture and suffers damage, for example when it is loaded or unloaded in the rain or

by leaking liquid from defective packaging, for example milk or juice cartons or similar, or if it is placed outside on wet ground or stored in damp buildings, even if only temporarily. The cardboard small pallets are nevertheless widely used as disposable pallets because they are cheap to produce. In the same way, there are also wooden or chipboard small pallets, which are also only used as disposable pallets and are therefore not very durable. However, due to the enormous demand - with currently estimated around 25 million deliveries per year - huge amounts of waste are generated, amounting to around 100,000 tonnes per year, which in turn requires considerable landfill space and, since such disposable pallets often end up in waste incineration, represents a significant environmental burden.

It would therefore make sense to use reusable pallets as small pallets.

The use of a plastic pallet has already been tried for this purpose. This consists of a plate with a smooth surface and a partially open cross-lattice-shaped middle section and four molded cup-shaped feet that extend downwards from the plate and are each rectangular in cross section and taper downwards, which enable empty pallets to be stacked in a space-saving manner with the feet placed inside one another.

However, this well-known plastic pallet has proven to be less than satisfactory in handling operations and essentially does not meet the expectations that the transport sector has of a small pallet not only as a means of transport but also as a means of presenting goods.

The invention is therefore based on the object of creating an improved, reusable plastic kie in pallet.

This object is achieved according to the invention by the small plastic pallet characterized in claim 1 and further developed in the subclaims.

The pallet according to the invention offers numerous advantages.

Boxes or similar items stacked on the pallet cannot slip even if, during transport by forklift truck, jerky starting or setting down movements occur, which cannot always be avoided, or if tight corners are taken, where the smooth pallet surface could easily cause the load to slip and possibly fall off, which is very annoying. The anti-slip design on the underside of the pallet feet means that the pallet remains stable even on smooth floors.

The underside of the pallet plate can also be provided with an anti-slip surface to prevent the ^pallet from slipping on the forklift stack. Due to the combined measures - on the one hand, preventing the load from slipping on the pallet and on the other hand, preventing the pallet from slipping on the forklift stack - transport and loading processes can be accelerated considerably, as the forklift driver can drive faster, accelerate faster and brake faster, and overall does not have to maneuver as carefully without running the risk of the pallet or load becoming detached.

The arrangement of the feet allows forklift forks to be driven under from all four sides. On a Euro-standard quarter pallet, two of the four feet are directly at the pallet corners and the other two feet are offset inwards from the relevant narrow side of the pallet towards the middle of the pallet, so that the two forklift forks can reach under on either side of these inwardly offset feet, while with feet arranged at the corners, the gap remaining along the pallet's length would be too narrow to accommodate the forklift forks.

The large-sized pallet feet of the inventive
Pallets ensure stability and tipping safety, and due to their large corner bevels they still allow the forklift to easily pass under without placing too great demands on the forklift driver's accuracy, since if the forklift is not driven under very precisely the corner bevels
The feet themselves ensure the correct alignment of the forklift fork and the pallet.

The construction of the pallet plate as a diagonal grid body with a completely or partially closed top cover plate with ridge-like surface elevations as a slip brake or, if necessary, without a cover plate, whereby the upper edges of the
Gratings must be designed with anti-slip ridges

results in a stable yet lightweight
Pallet construction that is easy to handle, a minimum
of dead weight, and when empty by nesting the hollow feet with their conical cup shape
can be stacked to save space.

Particularly advantageous is the design of the top of the
Pallet plate with a, on which the pallet long sides
intersecting pallet center axis, to the feet
mirror-image arrangement of shallow depressions, which

correspond to the outer contour and the dimensions of the lower foot ends, so that pallets can be oriented alternately
can be stacked on top of each other by attaching the pallet to
the lower ends of their feet engage in the flat recesses and thus correctly centered and slip-proof on

the pallet underneath. In this way

In self-service supermarkets, several pallets can be stacked on top of each other to sell goods from the pallet
so the pallet loaded with the goods can be placed on two
or three empty pallets placed underneath,

in order to place the goods on the loaded pallet at a height that is comfortable for the passing customer,
that the customer firstly sees the goods better and secondly
can be taken away without having to bend down.

Preferably, the pallet according to the invention has insertion slots or the like formed in the edge area of its pallet plate, which serve to insert or otherwise attach display boxes or the like that are used to advertise the goods or to decorate them in an attractive way. Such display boxes that completely or partially enclose the goods stacked on the pallet therefore only need to have corresponding tabs on their lower ends due to the boxes being punched accordingly, in order to be able to effortlessly put them on the pallet and also remove them again.

The pallet according to the invention is suitable for production from recycled plastic, which in turn can contribute to waste prevention.

The small pallet according to the invention is briefly described below in some embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 the pallet in side view,

Fig. 2 the pallet in top view,

Fig. 3 the palette in bottom view,

Fig. 4 a variant of the

Palette in top view, and

Fig. 5 another variant

the pallet in top view.

Figures 1 to 3 show a pallet according to the invention in side view, top view and bottom view. It consists of a plate 1 with four molded feet 2, the feet being designed as hollow cups tapering conically downwards in the manner shown in Figure 1, which are open at the top and each have a water drain in their bottom wall.

running opening 3.

The arrangement of the feet 2 can be seen in Fig. 2 and 3. Accordingly, two feet (on the left in the drawings) are located at the corners assigned to a narrow side of the panel, while the other two feet are arranged offset from the other narrow side of the panel towards the center of the panel on the adjacent long sides of the panel. The four feet each have a relatively large cross-section and each have a large corner bevel 2a, which each form an angle of approximately (or more) with the adjacent long side of the panel and are oriented towards the narrow side of the panel from which the relevant feet are offset.

The plate itself consists of a thin cover plate 6 and an underlying grid structure 5 connected to the cover plate 6, consisting of intersecting grid webs, which each run diagonally and thus give the plate optimal strength and rigidity. Fig. 4 shows a variant in which the top of the plate 1 is only partially closed, namely in the outer area by cover plate areas 6a, while the middle area is formed by an open grid structure 5 which in turn continues under the cover plate areas 6a, with the grid upper edges in the middle area running essentially flush with the cover plate areas 6a.

As can be seen from Fig. 2 and 4, the top of the plate 1 has four flat recesses 8, which are arranged and oriented in mirror image to the four feet 2, intersecting the longitudinal center sides of the plate and which correspond in size and shape to the lower ends of the feet 2, so that a second pallet can be placed on the pallet plate 1 with the lower ends of its feet 2 engaging in these flat recesses 8, with the two plates placed on top of one another then oriented in opposite directions. The purpose of this measure was already mentioned in the introduction.

- 7
very love.

To ensure slip resistance, the top of the cover plate 6 or the cover plate areas 6a in the variant according to Fig. 4 are provided with ridge-like surface elevations 7, which have relatively sharp edges, only need to be low in height and can be arranged in any order, either as shown, crossing each other or in another way on the surface, in order to prevent boxes placed on the plate from slipping. In the variant according to Fig. 4, the central area of the plate, which is designed as an open grid, can be provided with corresponding ridges on the upper edges of the grid.

It is also possible to design the entire plate 1 as a grid construction with intersecting diagonal grid bars, similar to the central area of the variant according to Fig. 4, whereby the grid bars are then connected to a surrounding edge 4 or the feet. Here too, the upper edges of the grid can be provided entirely or partially with anti-slip ridges. The rigidity of such a plate is, however, not as good as in the variants according to Figs. 2 and 4, but the troughs 8 shown in Fig. 2 for stacking pallets on top of one another can still be provided 5.

The underside of the plate and the undersides of the bottom walls of the feet 2 are, without this being specifically shown, also designed to be slip-resistant by means of suitable profiling, as already explained at the beginning.

In the embodiment according to Fig. 5, the plate 1 is provided with an upwardly projecting edge 4, which can manage the load on the pallet, preferably in conjunction with ridge-like or other anti-slip surface profiles of the cover plate 6, as can be seen from Fig. 2, or possibly also alone.

In addition, the plate 1 in all embodiments preferably has at its periphery, preferably at all
four sides, slots 9, to display boxes on which
By means of appropriate punching, tabs that protrude downwards are formed so that they can be easily placed on the pallet.

Claims (17)

Augsburg, 23 May 1991 Application file: GI .2827 Applicant: Giwa GmbH, Westendorf Protection claims 1. Small plastic pallet, in particular Euro standard quarter pallet, with the following features: - it consists of a plate (1) which is at least partially designed as a lattice structure, - four feet (2) are integrally formed on the plate, each of which is designed as a cup that tapers conically downwards and is open towards the top of the plate, - the top of the plate is provided with a surface profile (4, 7) that prevents the load from slipping. 2. Pallet according to claim 1, in which two of the four molded feet (2) are arranged at the plate corners formed between a narrow side of the plate and the adjacent long sides of the plate, and the other two feet are arranged adjacent to the long sides of the plate at a distance from the other narrow side of the plate. 3. Pallet according to claim 1 or 2, in which the feet (2) each have an approximately square cross-sectional basic shape, the length of the sides, measured in the connection area with the pallet plate, being in the range of a quarter of the narrow side length of the pallet. 4. Pallet according to claim 2 or 3, in which the feet (2) each have a large-area corner bevel (2a) which to the long side of the panel adjacent to the respective foot and to the narrow side of the panel which is occupied by the feet there. - 10 is spaced apart, is oriented towards. 5. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 4, in which the underside surfaces of the feet (2) are equipped with an anti-slip surface profile. 6. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 5, in which the bottom walls of the cup bodies forming the feet (2) are provided with a water drainage opening (3). 7. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 6, in which the surface profile of the plate (1) has a circumferential edge (4) which projects upwards relative to the rest of the plate surface. 8. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 8, in which the anti-slip surface profile of the pallet plate (1) has ridge-like surface elevations (7) on the upper side of the plate. 9. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 8, in which the plate (1) of the pallet is formed by a relatively thin cover plate (6) with a reinforcing grid (5) made of crossed grid webs formed on the underside. 10. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 8, in which the pallet plate (1) is formed by a grid (5) surrounded by an edge and made up of intersecting grid webs which are connected to the edge or the feet. 11. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 8, in which the pallet plate (1) is designed as a grid body (5) surrounded by an edge made of intersecting grid webs, which is only partially closed at the top by cover plate areas (6a) and is otherwise essentially flush with these cover plate areas with its grid upper edges. 12. Pallet according to claim 10 or 11, in which the anti-slip surface profile of the pallet plate is completely or partially formed by ridges on the upper edges of the grid. 13. Pallet according to one of claims 7 to 12, in which the grid webs of the grid structure (5) are oriented in diagonal directions with respect to the pallet plate. 14. Pallet according to claim 2 and one of claims 3 to 13, in which the top of the pallet plate has four flat depressions (8) corresponding to the outline contour and the dimensions of the lower ends of the feet (2), which correspond to the arrangement pattern of the four feet, but are arranged in a mirror image of this with respect to the plate center axis intersecting the plate's long sides, in order to be able to place a second identical pallet with the opposite orientation on the pallet in a slip-proof manner. 15. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 14, in which the underside of the pallet plate is provided with an anti-slip surface profile. 16. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 15, in which the edge region of the pallet plate is equipped with insertion slots or the like for fastening display boxes or the like. 17. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 16, consisting of recycled plastic.