FR2694739A1 - Pallet with stable stacking feature - has four feet with location notches and stop plates arranged at corners to give stable stacking in both loaded and empty states - Google Patents

Abstract

The pallet uses a sheet metal platform which is welded onto a square formed chassis (4). It has four feet (9) which are in contact with the ground and have a sufficient height to allow handling by a fork lift truck. The platform is sized to allow four cages to be arranged on it as a load in two parallel rows. The cages are held in place by stop plates (7, 8) with a thin section. These are located on the top of the chassis and positioned at the four corners. The flat area of each foot which is in contact with the ground (10) has an external step (11), formed by a notch. The step is designed to engage with the corner of a cage loaded on top of the pallet. The step has a depth (13) which allows it to engage in the stop plate when the pallets are stacked without the cages. ADVANTAGE-Is light and durable.

Description

The present invention relates to pallets adapted to allow their stable stacking, in particular in the loaded state. More particularly, it relates to such pallets designed so that they can be stacked, both when empty, and loaded with one or more beds of crates, empty or full, and stacked together, the stack obtained being provided in vertical stability and without be able to present deviations due to any lateral sliding. This is obtained from the fact that these pallets have feet adapted to cooperate with the upper edges of the crates, or the top platform of these pallets when it is empty, by means of a support and engagement action. preventing lateral movement in any direction, both on pallets and on crates.

In the current technique, in particular for handling full or empty crates, which can be stacked together with the bottom of each upper crate engaged in the upper edges of the immediately lower crate, pallets are used which consist of an upper platform resting on elongated skids, or feet with footings on the ground, provided with sufficient height to allow the engagement under this platform of the forks of an elevator. In most cases, these known pallets are made of wood or metal, in general galvanized steel, therefore very heavy to handle and, moreover, their platform is provided with very thick stops for wedging and peripheral holding of the crates. Lateral counter-displacement of these which are commonly grouped by four units. Of course, these pallets, when they are thus loaded each with four pallets which cannot slide sideways in the event of a slightly pronounced imbalance, can be stacked on several levels but, being given that their skates, or the soles of their feet, bear on the corresponding upper edges of the crates and are devoid of any means allowing them to be aligned vertically and preventing their sliding or lateral movement under the unpredictable jolts caused by the elevator during handling, the stacks produced offer no guarantee stability because deviations from the vertical can occur and cause a certain imbalance. In addition, since the self-weight of these known pallets is very high, this influences the height of the stacks that can be carry out the risk of crushing the lowest crates of each stack.

Thus, it must be recognized that these handling pallets currently used have many drawbacks from the point of view of their weight, their storage, their handling, as well as their stacking in the empty state or in the loaded state. and that there has been a need to design lighter pallets which are specifically adapted for handling in particular rigid plastic crates and for placing them in a stable stack, perfectly vertical and without risk of displacement by lateral sliding under unpredictable shaking, whether these pallets are empty or loaded with empty or full crates.

Consequently, the object of the present invention is to provide pallets suitable for handling crates and eliminating most of the drawbacks of current pallets while presenting, although lighter since they are made of aluminum, such good reliability, as well as the advantages stated above.

In accordance with the present invention, the pallets forming the subject thereof, made entirely of aluminum and each constituted by a tiled platform welded to a chassis of quadrangular shape in tubular profiles provided with reinforcements or intermediate longitudinal and transverse stiffeners at its sides, and comprising below at least four feet of support on the ground of sufficient height for the engagement of the lifting forks of a lifting device, this pallet having suitable dimensions to be able to group on its platform four crates arranged side by side in two rows parallel and held peripherally in the position of non lateral displacement by thin retainers located on the top of the chassis, at the four angles thereof as well as in the middle of its sides, and being remarkable in that the sole, or flat part, of support on the ground of each of its four feet is provided with me ns an external step formed by a withdrawal in the direction of the chassis and relative to the plane of the planar part, this step being adapted, when maneuvering pallets loaded with crates, to bear on the corresponding edge of one of the crates near the outer corner thereof situated substantially in line with the retainer of the corresponding corner of the chassis, while the flat part of this sole is adapted to engage within this corresponding edge, according to a depth equivalent to the riser of the step, and constitute a retainer for maintaining in a stable position a pallet stacked last.

On the other hand, and in accordance with the present invention, the chassis is provided with a central foot, the sole of which is flat to bear only on the edges of the four corners of the crates situated in the central part of their grouping, this sole being located in the same plane as the recessed part of the step of each of the other four feet.

Of course, if one wishes to ensure the ideal positioning of a pallet relative to the crates on which it rests, in addition to the provision of a support step at each corner foot, one can provide the sole of the central foot provided of four projections adapted to engage within the edges of the four central corners of the four crates grouped at a same depth as the flat part of the sole of each of the other four feet, each projection having a height substantially equivalent to that of the riser of a bleacher.

Furthermore, the four legs of the chassis can be provided located, on the width sides of the chassis, each near a corner thereof, but they can also be provided located on the length sides of the chassis in the same position close from the corresponding corner of the latter.

In addition, if it is desired that a pallet have a more balanced seat when it rests on a more or less flat ground, it is possible, without departing from the scope of the present invention, to provide eight feet situated two by two on the width and length sides of the chassis and the soles of which are fixed perpendicularly to each other at each of the corners of this chassis, their respective steps being supported, when stacking pallets loaded with four crates, both on the outer width sides and on the outer length sides of the edges of the crates, like the sole of the foot relative to the edges of the four corners of the crates located centrally.

In another embodiment and in accordance with the present invention, when it is desired that the pallets can be used with crates of different dimensions, but nevertheless grouped by four in the same dimensions on a pallet, the four corner legs of the chassis of the latter have their sole provided with two successive steps in the direction of the interior, the second interior step forming a kind of inverted niche between the exterior step and the flat part of the sole and being adapted to bear on the corresponding edge of a smaller crate, while the outer tier is adapted to bear on the corresponding edge of a larger crate, this arrangement of tiers and slots cannot be used, as has just been specified, only for the grouping of four identical crates on each pallet.

Other characteristics of the present invention will appear from the following description of several embodiments of pallets represented schematically in the attached drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 is a plan view of a pallet according to the invention;
- Figure 2 is an elevational view of the length side of the pallet
Figure 1;
- Figure 3 is an elevational view of the width side of the pallet of Figure 1;
- Figure 4 is an elevational view of the length side of a pallet
according to a second embodiment;
- Figure 5 is an elevational view of the width side of the second mode
of Figure 4; and
- Figure 6 is an elevational view of the width side of a third
embodiment of the feet of a pallet.

As noted in Figures 1 to 3, the pallet shown, in accordance with the present invention according to a first embodiment, is made entirely of aluminum and constituted by a platform 1 in sheet metal 2 (partially shown in Figure 1) comprising cavities 3 stamped and welded on a chassis 4 of rectangular shape made of tubular profiles and provided with reinforcements or longitudinal stiffeners 5 and transverse 6 in the middle parts of its sides. This pallet is dimensioned so as to be able to group on its platform 1 two rows of two crates, that is to say four crates, whose corners corresponding to the four corners of the chassis 4 are immobilized by means of angular retainers 7, and whose paired corners of two crates, in the middle parts of the four sides of the chassis, are also immobilized by 8 straight retainers, which are provided, like the angular 7 retainers, so ible height or thickness so as not to have to lift the full crates too much when unloading them from the pallet.

According to the present invention, the chassis 4 is provided below with four feet 9 for support on the ground, located near its four corners and provided with sufficient height to allow the engagement between them of the forks of a lifting device. Each of these four feet has a sole, or flat part, 10 of support on the ground provided with an external step 11 constituted in the form of an angle whose wing 12 of the chassis side is in a plane recessed with respect to the plane of the flat part 10 and intended, during stacking, to rest on top of the corresponding edge of a crate (not shown) while its other wing 13, on the side of the flat part 10, is located in within this corresponding edge and constitutes, with this flat part, an internal retainer for maintaining this foot in a stable position.

In addition, the chassis 4 is provided, in its lower central part, with a central leg 14, the flat sole 15 of which is intended to come, when stacked, to bear on the top of the edges of the four corners of the grouped crates (not shown). Note that this sole 15 is located in the same support plane as that of the step 11 and is not suitable for bearing on the ground like the flat part 10 of the other four feet.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, a second embodiment in accordance with the invention consists in providing the four feet 16 of the chassis 4 provided with a sole formed by a metal strip comprising a flat part 17 inwards and a part folded in step 18 outwards, instead of the angle of the first embodiment shown in Figures 2 and 3. Furthermore, the central leg 19, constituted in the same way as in the first embodiment , comprises a modification of its support sole on the edges of the four central corners of the crates grouped relative to the flat sole 15 in the sense that this sole 20 is provided with four projections 21 intended to engage each within each of these four central corners of the crates in order to constitute additional stops for immobilizing the latter in their grouped position and during the formation of a stack.

FIG. 6 represents a third embodiment of the four feet 22 of the chassis of a pallet adapted to support four crates having certain dimensions and to rest, in a stack, on the edges of crates having dimensions slightly reduced compared to those for which the steps 11 and 18 of the first embodiment and the second embodiment have been provided. Each of these feet 22 is provided with a sole comprising an internal flat part 23, an external step portion 24, of the same kind as that of the step 11 and, located between these two parts, a second step 25 in the form of an inverted crenel . This second tier 25 is intended, during stacking, to come into abutment on the edges of the crates of dimensions smaller than those on the edges of which the tiers 11 or 18 can bear. Note that, in this third embodiment, the central leg is of the same type as that 14 of the first embodiment.

Claims (6)

1.- Pallet for handling crates constituted by a platform (1) made of welded sheet metal on a chassis (4) of quadrangular shape provided with at least four feet of support on the ground of sufficient height for the engagement of the lifting forks of an elevating device, this pallet having suitable dimensions to be able to group on its platform four crates arranged side by side in two parallel rows and held peripherally in the position of non lateral displacement by retainers (7, 8) of small thickness located on the top of the chassis (4), at the four angles thereof and in the middle of its sides, and being characterized in that the sole, or flat part, (10) of support on the ground of each of its four feet (9) is provided with at least one external step (11) constituted by a recess in the direction of the chassis (4) and relative to the plane of the flat part, this step (11) being adapted, during 'a stacking operation of p fins loaded with crates, to bear on the corresponding edge of one of the crates near the outer corner thereof located substantially perpendicular to the retainer (7) of the corresponding corner of the chassis (4), while the flat part (10) of this sole is adapted to engage within this corresponding edge, at a depth equivalent to the riser (13) of the step, and constitute a retainer for maintaining in a stable position a pallet stacked in last place. 2.- Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the chassis (4) is provided with a central foot (14) whose sole (15) is flat to bear only on the edges of the four corners of the crates located in the central part of their grouping, this sole (15) being situated in the same plane as the recessed part of the step (11) of each of the other four feet (9). 3. Pallet according to claim 2, characterized in that the sole (20) of the central foot (19) is provided with four projections (2) adapted to engage within the edges of the four central corners of the four grouped crates along the same depth as the flat part (17) of the sole of each of the other four feet (16), each projection (21) having a height substantially equivalent to that of the riser of a step (18). 4. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the four feet (9) of the chassis (4) can be provided located, on the width sides of the chassis, each near a corner thereof but qu 'They can also be provided located on the length sides of the chassis in the same position near the corresponding corner of the latter. 5. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the chassis (4) is provided with eight feet located two by two on the width sides and the length sides of the chassis (4) and the soles (10) are fixed perpendicularly to each other at each of the corners of this frame, their respective steps (11) bearing, when stacking pallets loaded with four crates, both on the outer width sides and on the sides outer length of the edges of the crates, such as the sole (15) of the foot (14) relative to the edges of the four corners of the crates located centrally. 6.- Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the four legs of the frame (4) have their sole provided with two successive steps (24, 25) towards the interior, the second interior step (25) forming a kind of inverted niche between the outer step (24) and the flat part (23) of the sole and being adapted to bear on the corresponding edge of a smaller crate, while the outer step (24) is adapted to rest on the corresponding edge of a larger crate.