EP3204306B1 - Supporting structure for loading goods onto a pallet, resulting assembly, and method for loading said pallet - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the field of storage and transport of objects on pallets, and relates more particularly to a support structure for the loading of goods on a pallet for storage and / or transport, to the assembly thus produced, and the method of loading the pallet by means of such a support structure.

Furthermore, when filling freight containers, it is often necessary to superpose pallets loaded (and packaged in a protective film and maintenance of the goods on said pallet). However, stacking of loaded pallets is not always possible if the loading of these pallets includes fragile goods and / or if the upper part of their load does not have a horizontal surface (in the case of loading parcels of irregular size by example). This results in either a deterioration of the goods transported or an incomplete filling of the container. To complete the loading of the container and fill up the empty spaces as much as possible, packages or additional goods are then stacked above the packaged pallets already stored inside the container. However, this filling operation is carried out manually at the same time during the loading of the container and during its unloading, often requiring the use of stepladder and a large handling time.

Many devices have been proposed to facilitate the loading of pallets, most consist of support structures in the form of "box" with one or more foldable or partially removable faces, between the walls of which the goods are loaded. These boxes have several disadvantages. First of all for the loading: the operator is embarrassed in his movements by the erected walls which he must circumvent to fill the box. Moreover these boxes according to their constituent material, are not always stackable if the loaded goods have a significant weight. Crates whose walls fold back were proposed, but these are often cumbersome and heavy. Finally these boxes are "recorded" and the carrier must bring them back to their point of departure; they should not therefore be bulky, even folded, so as not to clutter trucks or containers with unused media.

To allow an optimal filling of the container, and therefore the superposition of at least two loaded pallets, it has been proposed in the document US 2013/0284687 a support structure comprising vertical uprights cooperating with the lower pallet and equipped with spacers or support means of the upper pallet. The means for fixing the uprights to the lower pallet are inserted in the space between the loading floor of said pallet and its base. Such space is generally provided for positioning the forks of a pallet truck for handling said pallets. However, if, in this housing space, the wood of the pallet is deteriorated, even slightly (for example by wear due to the repeated use of such amounts, or a bad insertion of the fastening means, or for any other reason) or if this space is closed partially (by the presence of a nail, a point ...) the means of fixing the amount can not be inserted correctly. The amount of the structure then becomes inoperative, and the goods already stored and stacked on the pallet must be transferred to another pallet. This results in a loss of loading time.

Moreover, the fastening means of these amounts must cooperate exactly with the space between the upper floor of the pallet and its base. This space can be of different shape according to the types of pallets, such support structures are specific to the type of pallet used. For example, the bracket-shaped uprights brand MaxiMate® currently marketed by the company @VANCE are adaptable only on European pallets, and require two kinds of angles to equip a pallet: a pair of "left" angles and a pair of "straight" angles. Sorting these angles before assembly is sometimes long and tedious.

In addition, the fastening means of these brackets easily emerge from their housings when the pallets are transported with certain types of pallet truck forks, such as, for example, the electric pallet truck with stacker carrier (TEAPG).

In addition, the uprights in the form of angles, as described above, or presented in the documents FR 2,329,527 , FR 2.748.729 or JP 2000 095244 , are positioned overlapping the corners of the pallets, increasing by several centimeters the outer dimension of each pallet loaded. However, the current dimensions of the containers for road or maritime transport are such that they house (in width and in length) an integer number of standardized pallets, with no space lost between them. The use of these bracket-shaped support posts can then reduce at least one pallet each row in the container, again creating dead volumes to be filled manually.

An object of the present invention is therefore to overcome all or some of the above disadvantages, by providing a support structure for loading goods on a pallet storage and / or transport that is independent of the type of pallet used.

Another object of the invention is to provide a support structure for the loading of goods allowing the superposition of several pallets, without damaging the goods loaded on the pallet (s) lower (s).

Another object of the invention is to provide a support structure for loading goods that can be easily assembled and dismantled and whose constituent elements have a small footprint in the disassembled state and easy sorting.
Another object of the invention is to provide a support structure which allows easy and secure loading of goods, regardless of the type of goods, by improving the conditions and the filling time of the containers.

• un premier plateau, dénommé plateau inférieur de chargement desdites marchandises,
• un second plateau, dénommé plateau supérieur,
• une pluralité de montants, sous forme de profilés de type cornières dont les extrémités sont équipées de moyens de liaison avec d'une part le plateau inférieur et d'autre part le plateau supérieur, lesdits moyens de liaison étant sous la forme de platines disposées transversalement aux montants, la platine inférieure formant pied du montant à l'état dressé dudit montant, chacun des plateaux inférieur et supérieur comportant des zones de logement respectivement des platines inférieures et des platines supérieures desdits montants, le plateau inférieur étant sous la forme d'un cadre polygonal, de forme générale plane, dont les bords sont relevés par rapport au plan général du cadre polygonal pour ménager les zones de logements des platines inférieures équipant les extrémités des montants, l'assemblage des plateaux et des montants constituant l'armature extérieure du chargement des marchandises, ladite armature étant positionnable entièrement au-dessus de la face supérieure de la palette, et démontable après usage.

To this end, the present invention relates to a support structure for loading goods onto a storage and / or transport pallet, formed by the assembly of distinct / dismountable elements, comprising:

• a first tray, called the lower tray for loading said goods,
• a second plateau, called upper plateau,
• a plurality of uprights, in the form of angle-type profiles whose ends are equipped with connecting means with the lower plate and the upper plate, said connecting means being in the form of transversely arranged plates to the uprights, the bottom plate forming a foot of the upright upright of said upright, each of the lower and upper plates having housing areas respectively lower plates and upper plates of said uprights, the lower plate being in the form of a polygonal frame, of generally planar shape, whose edges are raised relative to the general plane of the polygonal frame to provide the housing areas of the lower plates equipping the ends of the uprights, the assembly of trays and amounts constituting the outer frame of the loading the goods, said armature being positionable entirely above the upper face of the pallet, and removable after use.

Thus said armature, positioned entirely above the upper face of the pallet, makes it possible to dispense with the presence or absence of space between the upper floor of the pallet and its base, and to overcome the shape of this space. The support structure is thus independent of the type of pallet used.

In addition, the plates forming the legs of the amounts are housed just below the lower frame forming the goods loading tray. They do not need to cooperate with the pallet supporting the whole.
According to an advantageous characteristic of the invention, the edges of the lower plate in the form of a polygonal frame are raised in the corners with respect to the general plane of said polygonal frame.
The upper plate is advantageously in the form of a polygonal frame, of generally planar shape, of peripheral dimensions identical to those of the lower plate, the edges of which, preferably in the angles, are raised with respect to the general plane of the polygonal frame for arranging the reception zones, in the upright state of the uprights, the upper plates equipping the ends of the uprights, the upper plate resting on said plates, between the uprights.
The top plate can receive a second pallet, without "crushing" goods already loaded on the first pallet equipped with a support structure according to the invention.
Advantageously, the peripheral dimensions of the lower and upper trays substantially correspond to the dimensions of the upper face of the pallet. If they are identical in shape they are easily stackable for their storage in the disassembled state. In the form of frames, that is to say trays hollowed out in their central part, they are of reduced weight.
Preferably the height of the uprights in the erected state is such that it allows the superposition of an integer number of pallets (for example 2) for their housing in a transport container, with a minimal loss of space. These amounts are advantageously all of identical shape, they are thus interchangeable (not requiring special sorting) and optimized manufacturing.

Preferably the angle-shaped uprights are positioned so that said angles are open towards the center of the structure, in the assembled state.
Advantageously, the upper plates equipping the ends of the uprights are provided with a positioning member and retaining the upper plate. This positioning and retaining member of the upper plate comprises for example a cooperating lug, in the mounted state of the structure, with a corresponding orifice of the upper plate.
Thus, the upper plate positioned between the uprights serves not only as a spacer between said uprights, but also for holding said uprights in the upright position, thus ensuring the stability of the entire structure once assembled.
The present invention also relates to a goods loading assembly comprising a pallet and a support structure as described above, the lower plate of said support structure resting on the upper face of the pallet, the lower plates of the uprights being adapted to housing, in the erected state of said amounts, between the raised edges of the lower plate and the upper face of said pallet.

More particularly, in the assembled state of the support structure, the upper plate is arranged parallel to the lower plate, assembled to the vertical uprights to form the outer frame of the goods loading, resting on the upper face of the pallet.

• pose d'une palette sur le sol ;
• positionnement d'un plateau inférieur sur la face supérieure de la palette ;
• empilement de marchandises sur ledit plateau inférieur ; puis
• positionnement des montants de type cornière verticalement, au niveau des quatre angles de la palette et de son chargement, par insertion des platines inférieures formant pieds desdits montants dans les logements ménagés entre les bords d'angle relevés du plateau inférieur et la face supérieure de la palette ;
• insertion du plateau supérieur entre les montants, au-dessus des marchandises, par placement des zones de réception dudit plateau supérieur sur les platines supérieures des montants ;
• enrobage de l'ensemble de la palette et de son chargement au moyen d'un film étirable entourant une partie supérieure de la palette et la structure support disposée sur cette dernière.

Le film étirable protège, stabilise et maintient l'armature et les marchandises entre elles, ainsi que la palette.Advantageously, no element of the support structure protrudes from the periphery of the pallet: in particular, unlike the amounts of the prior art, the amounts of the support structure according to the invention do not overlap the corners of the pallet. pallet; thus these loaded pallets of goods with the support structure according to the invention can be placed in a conventional container without loss of space, the loading in the container is then optimal.
In addition, since the elements of the support structure according to the invention are all arranged above the plane formed by the upper face of the pallet, all types of pallet trucks are able to move it to the loaded state.
The present invention also relates to the method of loading the goods on a pallet by means of the support structure as described above, this method comprising the following successive steps:

• laying a pallet on the ground;
• positioning a lower plate on the upper face of the pallet;
• stacking goods on said lower tray; then
• positioning the angle uprights vertically, at the four corners of the pallet and its loading, by inserting the bottom plates forming feet of said uprights in the recesses formed between the raised corner edges of the lower plate and the upper face of the pallet;
• insertion of the upper plate between the uprights, above the goods, by placing the reception zones of said upper plate on the upper plates of the uprights;
• coating the entire pallet and its loading by means of a stretch film surrounding an upper portion of the pallet and the support structure disposed thereon.

The stretch film protects, stabilizes and maintains the frame and the goods between them, as well as the pallet.

The amounts are all set up after loading the goods on the lower plate, they do not interfere with the placement of goods on this plateau. The loading time is thus optimized.
The assembly of the elements of the support structure is a simple embedding of the legs of the uprights under the raised corners of the lower frame, and the embedding of the upper plate between uprights erected on their upper plates; this assembly does not require any particular tool. The disassembly of the structure is also easy and fast and does not require any particular tool.

It has proved interesting to implement the method described above for the loading of pallets in transport containers. The tests carried out show that all the goods arrive in good condition, without any deterioration due to the superposition of the pallets. The filling and unloading time of the containers is also optimized, being able to be carried out almost exclusively by means of pallet trucks, without manual handling of the goods.

• La figure 1 est un schéma éclaté montrant les différents éléments constitutifs d'une structure support selon l'invention ;
• La figure 2 est un schéma en perspective d'une structure support selon l'invention à l'état assemblé, sur une palette ;
• La figure 3 est une vue en perspective de dessus d'un montant de la structure selon l'invention ;
• La figure 4 montre une vue de dessus d'un détail des bords d'un plateau de la structure selon l'invention ;
• La figure 5 est un schéma en perspective d'une structure support selon l'invention à l'état assemblé, entre deux palettes.

The invention will be better understood on reading the following description of an exemplary embodiment, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• The figure 1 is an exploded diagram showing the different constituent elements of a support structure according to the invention;
• The figure 2 is a perspective diagram of a support structure according to the invention in the assembled state, on a pallet;
• The figure 3 is a perspective view from above of an amount of the structure according to the invention;
• The figure 4 shows a top view of a detail of the edges of a tray of the structure according to the invention;
• The figure 5 is a perspective diagram of a support structure according to the invention in the assembled state, between two pallets.

As schematized on the figure 1 , the example of structure 1 support according to the invention consists of a lower plate 2, uprights 3 and an upper plate 4. The lower and upper plates have a recessed central portion and are presented in the general form of a frame.

The four corners of these frames are reinforced by plates 5, designated under the references 5A for the upper frame and 5B for the lower frame. These plates 5A and 5B have raised areas relative to the general plane of the frame. The uprights 3, in the erected state, each comprise a bottom plate 6 forming a foot and an upper plate 7 disposed substantially at its top.

In the assembled state of the structure, as visible on the figure 2 , the lower plate 2 rests on the upper floor 14 of a first pallet 13 resting itself by its base 15 on the ground. Between said upper floor 14 and the base 15 of the pallet 13 are formed, in a conventional manner, spaces 16 for inserting the forks of pallet trucks.

The uprights and the feet formed by the lower plates 6 of the uprights 3 are inserted into a housing formed between the corner plates 5B of the lower plate 2 and the loading floor 14 of the pallet. These 5B corner plates of the lower plate are raised by a height h (see details on the figure 4 ) value slightly greater than the thickness e of the lower plates 6 amounts.

It is clearly seen that the legs of the uprights 3 do not come to close the gaps 16, nor interfere with the insertion of the pallet truck forks into these spaces 16 during the handling of the pallet 13.

On the upper plates 7 of the uprights are positioned the corner plates 5A of the upper plate 4. The upper plates 7 of the uprights 3 are advantageously arranged between the flanges 10a and 10b of the bracket 10 forming the longitudinal portion of the uprights 3 with curved edges 9. These plates 7 are arranged slightly recessed from the top of the angle 10 allowing the upper ends of the wings 10a and 10b to be housed in notches 12 formed in the corners of the plate 4.

To further retain the plate 4 on the upper plates 7 of the uprights 3, are provided pins 8 protruding from the plates 7 adapted to be housed in orifices 11 formed in the corners of the plate 4.

Signs 17 for the visual control of the correct up and down positioning of the uprights and trays are provided on the upper surface (or in the thickness of the material) of the different elements forming the structure 1.

The various elements constituting this structure according to the invention are advantageously made of metal, in particular galvanized metal to prevent their oxidation when they are used for transport by sea. A frame and amounts are for example cut from the same sheet metal ( advantageously the cutting of the uprights 3 is carried out in the recessed central portion of the frame). The L-shaped angles of the uprights are obtained by folding of said sheet and the plates 6 and 7 are welded together at the ends of the bracket 10 between its two flanges 10a and 10b. The bearing of the corner plates of the frames are obtained by simple stamping.

The nature of the material and the thickness of the sheet used are such that the structure once assembled can accept a load of 1000 kg (including a second pallet, see below).

The figure 5 shows that such a rigid structure can receive on its upper plate 4, in the assembled state, a second pallet 20, the lower and upper trays being arranged parallel to each other.

This superposition of pallets can be carried out even if the entire volume formed by the support structure 1 is not completely filled with goods or filled with parcels 18 and bags 19 (shown schematically on the figure 5 dotted) of irregular shapes not filling the entire volume, without damaging said goods.

Claims (8)

1. A supporting structure (1) for loading goods onto a storage and/or transport pallet (13), formed by the assembly of separate/removable elements, comprising:

   - a first plate, called lower plate (2), for loading said goods,

   - a second plate, called upper plate (4),

   - a plurality of uprights (3), in the form of corner-type profiles, the ends of which are equipped with means for connecting on the one hand with the lower plate (2) and on the other hand with the upper plate (4),

   characterized in that said connecting means are in the form of platens arranged transversely to the uprights (3), the lower platen (6) forming the foot of the upright in the standing state of said upright, in that each of said lower (2) and upper (4) plates includes housing zones respectively for the lower platens (6) and upper platens (7) of said uprights (3), and in that the lower plate (2) is in the form of a polygonal frame, with a generally planar shape, the edges of which are raised relative to the general plane of the polygonal frame to arrange housing zones of the lower platens equipping the ends of the uprights, the assembly of the plates and the uprights making up the outer armature for the loading of goods, said armature being able to be positioned completely above the upper face of the pallet (13), and removable after use.
2. The supporting structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the edges of the lower plate (2) in the form of a polygonal frame are raised in the corners relative to the general plane of said polygonal frame.
3. The supporting structure according to one of claims 1 or 2,
   characterized in that the upper plate (4) is in the form of a polygonal frame, with a generally planar shape, with peripheral dimensions identical to those of the lower plate (2), the edges of which, preferably in the corners, are raised relative to the general plane of the polygonal frame to arrange receiving zones, in the standing state of the uprights (3), for the upper platens (7) equipping the ends of the uprights, the upper plate (4) resting on said platens, between the uprights.
4. The supporting structure according to any one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that the upper platens (7) equipping the ends of the uprights (3) are provided with a positioning and retaining member for the upper plate.
5. The supporting structure according to claim 4,
   characterized in that the positioning and retaining member comprises a lug (8) cooperating, in the mounted state of the structure, with a corresponding orifice of the upper plate.
6. An assembly for loading goods comprising a pallet and a supporting structure according to any one of the preceding claims,
   the lower plate (2) of said supporting structure resting on the upper face of the pallet (13), the lower platens (6) of the uprights (3) being able to be housed, in the standing state of said uprights, between the raised edges of the lower plate (2) and the upper face of said pallet (13).
7. The assembly according to claim 6,
   characterized in that, in the assembled state of the supporting structure, the upper plate (4) is arranged parallel to the lower plate (2), assembled to the vertical uprights (3) to form the outer armature for the loading of goods, resting on the upper face of the pallet (13).
8. A method for loading goods on a pallet using the supporting structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
   the method comprising the following successive steps:

   - placing a pallet (13) on the ground;

   - positioning a lower plate (2) on the upper face of the pallet;

   - stacking goods on said lower plate (2); then

   - positioning corner-type uprights (3) vertically, at the four corners of the pallet and its load, by inserting lower platens (6) forming feet of said uprights into the housings arranged between the raised corner edges of the lower plate (2) and the upper face of the pallet;

   - inserting the upper plate (4) between the uprights (3), above the goods, by placing receiving zones of said upper plate on the upper platens of the uprights;

   - covering the entirety of the pallet and its load using a stretchable film surrounding an upper part of the pallet and the supporting structure arranged on the latter.

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