DK150739B - PALLE, ISAER FOR SINGLE USE - Google Patents

Description

150739

The invention relates to a pallet, in particular a pallet intended for single use and of the kind specified in the preamble to the patent claim.

Standardized pallets are widely used today. 5 for transport and storage of all types of goods. Such pallets are usually made of uneven boards and blocks. Such pallets suffer from the disadvantage of being heavy and difficult to handle, and they are also expensive to manufacture and handle, which is mainly due to their heavy weight, usually 30 to 40 kg. Wood has risen in price in recent years and therefore attempts have been made to produce pallets with a smaller weight and consequently less need for raw materials, which also means that the pallets become cheaper to use. It should be noted that the weight of the pallet in itself is of importance, since the freight costs are calculated from the total weight of the pallet load and the pallet. Furthermore, there are the handling and return freight costs. Attempts have been made to make corrugated cardboard, sheet metal and various types of foam plastic with or without reinforcements. However, such pallets have had no commercial success.

The above-mentioned known alternative pallets are mainly intended for goods of low weight or medium weight. An important characteristic of pallets, however, is that they must be able to be handled by fork lifters from all four sides, ie. a forklift truck must be able to lift the pallets from any of their sides, since a long forklift truck is capable of lifting several pallets at once. However, the prior art alternative pallet designs can normally only be lifted from two sides, which significantly limits their utility and is a financial disadvantage.

British Patent Specification 1,580,023 discloses a pallet intended for the loading of especially goods of an irregular shape, especially beer barrels, and therefore load bearing surfaces with curvature are provided. These barrels are placed across the base parts of the pallet into which pipes are attached e.g. using threaded rods and nuts for interconnecting the base 5 parts. The load plane consists solely of the upper surfaces of the base parts.

US Patent 3,654,877 discloses a pallet consisting of three longitudinal base pipes resting on the floor and a number of transverse pipes which together with the base pipes form the loading plane. The base tubes must have thin walls, since all three base tubes must be able to be stored in one another, and the transverse tubes are stored at least by the base tubes.

It requires complicated tools to design holes in the thin-walled base pipes for the transverse pipes, and fasteners in the form of e.g. dowels are necessary for the mutual attachment of the base tubes and cross tubes. Because the pipes are thin-walled, the mounted pallet cannot accommodate all existing loads, as a standard pallet must be able to load 1,000 kg without deformation.

Thus, this known pallet is expensive and difficult to manufacture and assemble, and also has a poor load-taking ability.

The object of the invention is to alleviate the disadvantages of the prior art, and this is achieved according to the invention in that the pallet is designed as defined in the characterizing part of the claim, thereby obtaining a highly flexible la step pallet with regard to both transport, mounting, disassembly and use, combining in particular the following features: low cost, low weight, non-space consuming when storing as it can be stored in separate parts which can be easily assembled at the loading site and easily destroyed if desired, e.g. by combustion to form non-toxic gases. The load-picking surface of the pallet is formed by the upper sides of the pipes and the upper surfaces of the footings, on which the load can be distributed, and these parts can be dimensioned to the necessary load without having to be unreasonably expensive.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing, which shows a specific embodiment of a pallet according to the invention seen in perspective.

The specific preferred pallet embodiment shown in the drawing consists of three footpieces 1, the two of which form the outer edges of the pallet. The pallet shown also has an intermediate footpiece 1. The footpieces 1 have two symmetrical recesses at a distance which correspond to the distance between the fork branches of a conventional standard forklift truck. The footpieces 1 are formed with a number of holes which are evenly distributed in and perpendicular to the length of the footpieces and located at a small distance from the surface of the footpieces or touching it. The foot pieces 1 are connected to each other by means of tubes 4 which pass through the holes 3. The tubes have an outside diameter such that they can be easily inserted through the holes 3 in the foot pieces. Therefore, a pallet according to the invention can be assembled in a simple manner using two, three or 20 more foot pieces 1 and a suitable number of pipes passing through the holes. In practice, tests have shown that the pallet according to the invention has remarkable stability, and there is no risk of a pipe accidentally falling out of its correct position due to the friction between the foot pieces and the pipes. The pallet according to the invention furthermore has some dia gonal stability which enables the pallet to withstand impact without damaging the footpieces and without any other deterioration.

It is preferred to make wooden footings, the fibers of which of course run substantially longitudinally of the footer core, but other materials may also be used. Examples of such materials are plywood, boards, etc. Furthermore, plastic materials can be used, and also deep-drawn sheets or cast aluminum.

The tubes 4 can be made of any inexpensive material, such as metal and plastics of various types, but for cost reasons it is preferred that the tubes be made of paper. Such tubes are conventionally made by winding paper webs around a core. When using waterproof glue, the finished pallet becomes weather resistant. Practical tests have shown that a suitable outside diameter of the paper tubes is 45 - 60 mm with a material thickness of 2 - 5 mm.

The height of the foot pieces is approx. 160 mm, and their thickness may vary considerably, e.g. between 20 and 100 mm, especially between 25 and 35 mm. With conventional pallet sizes and a pipe diameter of approx. 48 mm and a material thickness of 4 mm and a foot thickness of approx. 25 mm a pallet according to the invention will weigh approx. 6-8 kg. This, of course, results in a considerable reduction in the costs of handling and transporting goods.

The pallet according to the invention can of course be used more than once, but practical calculations have shown that a pallet according to the invention can be produced cheaper than the total cost of return, freight, return freight and repair and drying, which is common with a conventional pallet. This means that a pallet according to the invention can be disposed of after use without regard to financial considerations. The preferred material choice for a pallet i-25 according to the invention makes it easy to destroy it e.g. by combustion without the formation of toxic gases.

It can be seen from the above that the pipes and footings do not require specific fastening to each other. Due to the large number of tubes and the usually three foot pieces used, these parts will always be under a certain tension relative to each other, which means that the different parts are effectively fixed relative to each other, especially when the pallet is loaded . Of course, however, it is preferred that the tubes be matched as accurately as possible to the diameter of the holes 35 in the footings, which also facilitates the assembly of the pallet at the point of use. A specific way to accomplish this is to rub the inner surfaces of the holes after drilling the holes with a rotating scrub steel, e.g. a steel wire brush. With such treatment, a layer of free fiber ends is formed in the holes, which gives a small friction to the tubes. Furthermore, any dimensional changes that wood materials tend to undergo due to the moisture content of the ambient air will thus be compensated for.

As mentioned above, the footpieces and tubes are individually stored separately, which implies a significant reduction in the required storage space compared to conventional pallets. The parts are conveniently assembled by means of a simple clamping box in which the foot pieces (two, three or more) are placed on top of one another, after which the desired number of tubes is inserted through the holes. (In case of small loads, some of the pipes can of course be omitted). The free ends of the tubes are fixed and the gripping parts of the clamping box then move the upper foot pieces along the tubes to the intended position thereon. Of course, other devices for assembling the pallet according to the invention 20 can be used as needed in cases where appropriate.