DE9400733U1 - Oktabin palette - Google Patents

Description

The innovation concerns a pallet for carrying containers for bulk goods, in particular octatainers and bags.

As is well known, octatainers are standardized containers made of cardboard for holding bulk goods and have an octagonal floor plan. The standards and dimensions can be found, for example, in the WPW standard sheets of Europa Carton Aktiengesellschaft. Pallets are used to transport these octatainers and also the standardized bags for bulk goods. These are constructed in accordance with the draft standard of the AK Paletten in the VCI/APME (Association of the Chemical Industry, Germany or Association of Plastic Manufacturers in Europe). In particular, reference is made to the "Specification for Chemical Pallets (CP), and in particular to the dimensional drawings with specifications CP3, CP8 and CP9.

Pallets generally consist of wooden parts that are connected to one another using nails or staples. The standards cited state that the use of waste wood or inferior wood as raw material is excluded. However, wood as a raw material is becoming increasingly valuable. In the Federal Republic of Germany alone, 1.4 million tons of sawn wood are used annually to build pallets. Furthermore, the wood used must not be impregnated.

The wood absorbs moisture, so that at least certain parts of the pallet are exposed to rot. Through capillary action, wood constantly releases this moisture to the goods placed on the pallet. In particular, containers made of cardboard or jute fabric, for example, become damp. This leads to the packaging "softening" and the loss of its contents. Wood also splinters very easily when hit, for example by the forklift trucks used to transport the pallet.

The aim of the innovation is to show a pallet that can be made entirely from recycled and recyclable plastic and thus does not waste valuable

Wood is required which does not absorb moisture and is suitable for rough handling by forklift trucks.

The pallet according to the innovation is characterized by a one-piece upper deck section made of plastic for supporting a container placed thereon, by a one-piece lower deck section made of plastic, which upper deck section is connected to the lower deck section via pallet block sections made of plastic, the upper deck section being formed as one piece with at least one part of the respective pallet block sections and the lower deck section being connected to at least one further part of the respective pallet block sections, which upper deck section is profiled on its upper side by projections and has further projections protruding from its upper side at least next to corner areas to prevent a container resting on the upper side from slipping, and which upper deck section has reinforcing ribs protruding on a lower side.

The innovation is explained below using the

Drawings, for example, explain in more detail. It shows:

Figure 1 shows a section through part of a pallet,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the part of the pallet shown in Figure 1,

Figure 3 shows a design of a welded pallet block,

Figure 4 shows a section similar to that of the figure with a formation of a snap-locked pallet block, and

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of a pallet with an emptying opening that can be closed with a slide.

The entire range consists of a polyethylene recyclate, advantageously e.g. from HDPE from recycled canisters or barrels, mixed e.g. with

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HDPE residues from garbage containers or bottle caps. This polyethylene is produced in large quantities from canisters and barrels that are no longer used, and it has been recognized that this plastic, mixed with easy-flowing garbage container material, is very useful for recycling in the production of these pallets. If a pallet has to be discarded due to damage or normal wear and tear, for example, it can be returned to the production process for new pallets, i.e. recycled again.

The preferred pallet described here is a so-called octabin pallet, which is intended for the octatainers mentioned and described above and also bags, i.e. containers for bulk goods.

Figure 1 and Figure 4 show a longitudinal section through half a pallet and Figure 2 shows a top view of a quarter of the entire pallet.

The pallet has an upper deck section 1, the surface dimensions of which correspond to the supporting surface that is determined by the deck boards on conventional pallets (see, for example, the well-known VCI specifications for pallets CP3, CP8 and CP9).

Reinforcing ribs 8 cast in one piece protrude from the lower side of the upper deck section 1. The upper deck section 1 is supported on the pallet skids 2 via pallet blocks or pallet block sections 3, 4, which will be discussed in more detail below. These pallet skids 2 correspond in their dimensions to the floor boards of the known pallets mentioned above. Because there is also a one-piece cast relationship between the pallet block sections and the skids 2, the term skid sections 2 of the pallet is used in this description. In order to prevent the containers standing on the upper deck section 1, e.g. cardboard octatainers, from sliding off,

the upper deck section 1 has an anti-slip profile arranged over its entire upper side. This consists of small conical tips 5, here for example at a height of 0.5 to 1 mm.

As a further safeguard against a container standing on the upper deck section 1 slipping, long, rib-shaped projections 1 and 7 projecting upwards are formed next to the corner areas of the upper deck section 1.

From Figure 2 it can be seen that the reinforcing ribs 8 are arranged in a pattern that crosses one another. In the areas enclosed by the reinforcing ribs 8, the upper deck section 1 is penetrated by an opening 9. A socket 40 is arranged under some of the openings 9. These sockets 40 serve to accommodate rubber plugs 41. These rubber plugs 41 can be inserted into the sockets 40 as required and protrude slightly curved above the top of the upper deck section 1 in order to further prevent the containers being carried from sliding off.

From Figure 1 it can be seen that basically the upper deck section 1, the reinforcing ribs 8 and the upper parts 3 of the pallet block sections form a one-piece, injection-molded object. Likewise, the skid sections 2 with the lower parts 4 of the pallet block sections form a one-piece, injection-molded object.

The upper part 3 of each pallet block section is formed from rib-shaped walls that protrude downwards from the upper deck section 1, whereby in the sectional view according to Figure 1 the walls 10, 11 are shown cut away and in the plan view according to Figure 2 there are further walls, i.e. in total the walls 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Some of the walls can be seen as extended ribs and further walls form self-contained, ring-shaped or hollow-cylindrical structures.

The lower part 4 of each pallet block section is formed in the same way from walls that protrude upwards in ribs from the pallet foot section 2, of which walls 15, 16 are shown in section in the sectional view according to Figure 1. All of these walls according to Figure 1 are butt-welded together, as is indicated in Figure 1 for walls 10, 15 and 11, 16. The welding point is designated by the reference number 36. The generally known mirror butt-welding process is used for welding. This results in a one-piece octabin pallet made entirely of recycled and recyclable plastic, particularly for octatainers. The openings 35 between the respective pallet block sections 3, 4 are obviously used to accommodate the forks of forklift trucks. It should also be noted that the outer area of the wall 15 at the bottom of the skid section 2 has a slightly recessed section 31. This allows the pallets to be safely stacked by the elongated projections 6, 7 next to the corner areas of the upper deck section 1 protruding into the space created by the recessed section 31 of the outer wall area.

Reference is now made to Figure 3. This shows a design in which the shear strength of the pallet block sections is increased in a direction parallel to the upper deck section, and in particular in the area of the butt-welded walls.

The upper part 3 of the pallet block section is formed by walls running downwards from the upper deck section 1, analogous to the design disclosed in relation to Figure 1, whereby the ring-shaped walls 17, 18 are identified in Figure 3. The walls 19, 20 are indicated in the lower part 4 of the pallet block section. The walls 17, 18 and 19, 20 are connected to the welding point 32 in a region of the pallet block section that is deeper than in Figure 1.

butt welded together. The wall 19 is raised and has a circumferential shoulder 25. It is clear that this wall 19 is a cup-shaped, circumferential design. The circumferential wall 17 is now butt welded to this shoulder 25. A known method is used for this, namely a mirror weld with internal, circumferential shear elements. The walls 17 and 19 are arranged and dimensioned in such a way that they are in contact with one another in some areas while exerting mutual pressure, thus having an increased wall thickness and thus increasing the shear strength mentioned.

Figure 4 shows an embodiment according to which the pallet is made in two parts and the two parts are connected to one another by a snap-lock device. Shown are the circumferential walls 21, 22 protruding from the upper deck section 1, which in turn form sections of a hollow cylinder. The hollow cylinder formed by sections of a hollow cylinder, the wall 21, has four flat side sections (see Figure 2). The inner wall 22 also forms a hollow circular cylinder. At the lower end of this wall 22, a catch 27 is formed, which has a locking surface 30 facing the upper deck section 1. The walls 23, 24 protrude from the skid section 2, which form one-piece sections of a hollow cylinder in an analogous manner. This wall 23 has an outer circumferential shoulder 26, on which the wall 21 rests flush. An inner wall 24 also protrudes from the skid section 2, which describes a circular cylinder. This wall 24 has another catch 27, the locking surface 29 of which faces the skid section 2 and rests on the locking surface 30. A snap lock is thus formed between the upper half 3 and the lower half 4 of the pallet. The locations of the locking surfaces 29, 30 of the catches 27, 28, the shoulder 26 and the ends of the wall 21, which lie on top of one another and engage behind one another, are such that

measure that in the locked state the walls 22,24 are constantly subjected to tensile stress and the walls 21,23 are constantly subjected to compressive stress, so that an inseparable locking of the two pallet parts is formed. Figure 5 shows a diagrammatic view of a pallet made of plastic. While, as is obvious to the expert, Figures 1-4 show a CP3 pallet (with 9 blocks), the design according to Figure 5 shows a CP8 pallet (with 12 blocks) with the variant that there is an emptying opening 33 in the middle of the upper deck section 1. The design of these pallets with this central emptying hole is known to be used when the container with the bulk material is a so-called "big bag". These big bags are, as is well known, tied up at the bottom so that the contents of such a bag can be emptied directly through the pallet after the lacing is opened at the bottom of the bag carried on the pallet. In the case of the pallet according to the design according to Figure 5, the emptying opening 33 can now be optionally closed by a slide 34, which is slidably mounted, for example, in the reinforcing ribs 8.

When the slider 34 is pushed in, the entire surface of the upper deck section 1 is available for carrying an octatainer. If the slider 34 is removed, the pallet is designed to carry a sack-like container. This means that one and the same pallet can be used for two different purposes, so that two different pallets are no longer necessary, which considerably reduces procurement costs and greatly simplifies storage and operational organization, thus also achieving considerable savings in terms of costs and time.

Claims (8)

• "44·· » Protection claims 1. Pallet for carrying containers for bulk goods, in particular octatainers and sacks, characterized by a one-piece upper deck section (1) made of plastic for carrying a container placed thereon, by a skid section (2) made of plastic with a number of skids, which upper deck section (1) is connected to the skid section (2) via pallet block sections (3; 4) made of plastic, the upper deck section (1) being formed in one piece with at least one part (3) of respective plate block sections (3; 4) and the skids of the skid section (2) being formed in one piece with at least one further part (4) of respective plate block sections, which upper deck section (1) is profiled on its upper side by projections (5) and has further projections (6; 7) protruding from its upper side at least next to corner areas to prevent a container resting on the upper side from sliding off, and which upper deck section (1) has protruding reinforcing ribs (8) on its underside. 2. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the protruding reinforcing ribs (8) are arranged in a patterned manner crossing one another and openings (9) are arranged in the areas of the upper deck section enclosed by the reinforcing ribs (8) which penetrate the same. 3. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in characterized in that the upper deck section (1), the pallet block sections (3;4) and the skid section together form a one-piece plastic body, in which the parts (3) of the pallet block sections (3;4) connected in one piece with the upper deck section (1) are welded to the other parts (4) of the pallet block sections (3;4) connected in one piece with the skid section (2). 4. Pallet according to claim 3, characterized in that the pallet block sections are formed by walls (10, 11, 12, 13, 14; 15, 16) projecting from the upper deck section (1) or skid section (2) and directed towards one another, which are butt-welded to one another at their free ends (36). 5. Pallet according to claim 3, characterized in that the pallet block sections are formed from a plurality of walls (17, 18; 19, 20) directed towards one another, each of which protrudes in the form of a rib from the upper deck section (1) or skid section (2), whereby at least two (18; 20) of the walls directed towards one another are butt-welded together and, in the case of at least two further walls (17; 19) directed towards one another, one wall (19) has a shoulder (25) to which the other wall (17) is butt-welded, which two further walls (17; 19) rest against one another laterally in regions in order to increase the shear strength of the pallet block sections (3; 4) welded together, exerting mutual pressure. 6. Pallet according to claim 2, characterized in that the pallet block sections are formed by several walls (21, 22; 23, 24) that protrude in ribs from the upper deck section (1) or the skid section (2) and are directed towards one another, that at least two (22; 24) of the walls directed towards one another each have a circumferential notch (27; 28) with a blocking surface (29; 30), the blocking surface (30) of the notch (28) of the wall (22) extending from the upper deck section (1) facing the upper deck section (1) and the blocking surface (29) of the notch (27) of the wall (24) extending from the skid section (2) facing the skid section (2), and that in the case of at least two further walls (21; 23) directed towards one another, one wall (23) has a circumferential shoulder (26) on which which the other wall (21) rests with its free end, the locations of the blocking surfaces (29;30) and the shoulder (26) being selected such · · are such that when the catches (27; 28) are snapped in, their locking surfaces (29; 30) engage behind one another and the walls (22; 24) formed with catches (27; 28) are subjected to a permanent tensile stress and the walls (21; 23) touching at the shoulder (26) of one wall (23) are subjected to a permanent compressive stress. 7. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized by an emptying opening (33) passing through the upper deck section (1) for emptying a container containing bulk goods that can be emptied through its base area, which is supported on the upper deck section (1), and by a flat slide (33) for optionally opening or closing the emptying opening (33). 8. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that it consists of a polyethylene recyclate.