FR2805522A1 - Multi-purpose plastic pallet has raised rim round upper deck and bosses on lower one to keep stacked trays from moving sideways - Google Patents

Abstract

The pallet consists of lower (1) and upper (5) decks joined by blocks (8). The upper deck has a raised rim (6) round at least part of its periphery, and the lower one has a series of bosses (3) at its corners and along some of its cross-members (2). The bosses are positioned to prevent side slip between two pallets stacked with facing lower decks.

Description

The present invention relates to a multi-purpose palette.

It is known that, in general, the term "pallet" designates supports made of various materials, such as wood, metal or plastic, which are intended to support loads so as to be able to easily lift and move them using a forklift.

Such pallets are most often formed by an upper floor and a lower floor, joined by studs to allow the passage between them of the forks of forklifts or pallet trucks. It is also known to produce the lower floor in the form of crosspieces connecting the lower parts of different studs.

It is also known to place a vertical rim at the periphery of the upper floor which delimits a surface capable of receiving a plurality of packages or containers of smaller dimensions, as they are known by the name of "Galia containers".

The present invention aims to achieve a pallet which can be indifferently placed on the ground to receive the forks of a forklift, serving as a support for a plurality of containers, such as those known under the name of Galia bins , possibly superimposed in several layers, either to be placed above a plurality of such containers to hold them in place, being in the same position as the lower pallet or in the inverted position.

pallet according to the invention is also such that if the lower floor of a pallet is applied against the lower floor of another pallet, these two pallets cannot move laterally with respect to each other.

pallet according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises in combination a rim on at least a part of the periphery of the upper floor and a plurality of bosses on the lower face of its lower floor, arranged in such a way that two pallets placed above above and below laterally maintain a stack of containers such as Galia bins and that two pallets placed lower floor against lower floor are integral vis-à-vis lateral forces.

In a first embodiment of the invention, the bosses are arranged at the four corners of the lower floor as well as for example along at least some of the crosspieces connecting the studs to constitute the lower floor. According to the invention, the spaces left between the bosses are located in line with the walls of the containers of different sizes which can be stacked on a pallet to keep them laterally.

In another improved embodiment of the invention, the patented pallet allows the easy use of pallet trucks while avoiding any risk of the containers tipping between the crosspieces which constitute the lower floor of a pallet placed above 'a stack of containers.

We know, in fact, that the forks of the pallet trucks are introduced between the two floors, thanks to rollers of small diameter which must easily cross the crosspieces of the lower floor, the total height of the forks of the pallet truck having to be less than the relatively low height. of space between the two floors.

The pallets currently used which do not have bosses, have lower crosspieces of a thickness which is sufficiently 'pick to be able to be crossed by the rollers of the pallet trucks, while being sufficiently resistant to withstand the mechanical stresses which are imposed on the pallet.

However, the fact of placing bosses in accordance with the invention protrude below the lower floor has the consequence of raising above the ground the upper face of the sleepers of the lower floor, which makes them difficult to pass by the rollers of pallet trucks , and is a drawback which makes it difficult to move pallets of this type using pallet trucks.

The present invention also relates to a multi-purpose pallet of the type comprising a lower floor composed of crosspieces and an upper floor, which are joined by studs, characterized in that it has, in combination, the following characteristics: the face upper of the upper floor is provided with a vertical rim on at least part of its periphery, the lower face of the lower floor is provided with bosses, the arrangement of which is such that a) all of these bosses can be placed at the interior of the space delimited by the rim of the upper floor of an identical pallet, b) the bosses are located in places which allow the pallet to be placed at the top of a plurality of receptacles, such as those known as "Galia tanks", so as to avoid any lateral movement of the latter, and that one can place one on top of the other ux identical pallets in a position where their two lower floors are applied against each other, the bosses nesting in each other to avoid any lateral movement of a pallet relative to the other, at least some of the sleepers of the lower floor having capacity for deformation on their parts which must be crossed by the rollers of a pallet truck, so that this deformation allows the engagement of the rollers of the pallet truck in the interval between the two floors of the pallet.

In accordance with the invention it is advantageous to produce the pallet in injection molded plastic, for example high density polyethylene or in another material having similar mechanical characteristics.

According to the first variant of the invention, the crosspieces which are deformed to allow the rollers of the pallet truck to pass do not have, at this point, bosses at their lower part and have their bevelled edges, so as to allow the engagement of the rollers of the pallet truck and to be able to deform and bend during the passage of said rollers.

According to this variant, the middle part of the cross member flexes as a whole, enough to allow the passage of the pallet truck roller, but without it being compulsory, the central part of the cross member comes to bear on the ground.

In another variant of this embodiment, it is possible to produce, on the edges of the sleepers which must be crossed by the pallet truck rollers, parts in the form of fins which are joined to the body of the sleeper by a weaker area. thickness, so as to pivot so as to constitute a ramp for the passage of the rollers.

For this, it is also possible to make a short perpendicular slot on the edge of the crosspieces on either side of the passage of the rollers to facilitate their deflection.

According to another variant of the invention, there are below the sleepers, bosses of lesser height which allow a deformation of the sleepers downward which, although of lesser importance, nevertheless allows the passage of the rollers of the pallet trucks, due to the bevels which are made on the upper edges of the sleepers.

It can be seen that the pallet according to the invention can be used in a wide variety of ways by ensuring the lateral maintenance of a stack of pallets and receptacles such as Galia containers, while also allowing the use of pallet trucks whose rollers can despite the bosses engage on the sleepers of the lower floor.

In order to better understand the invention, we now describe by way of illustration and without any limiting character, several embodiments given by way of examples and represented in the appended drawing, in which - Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pallet superposition according to a first embodiment of the invention, - Figure 2 is a perspective view of a pallet superposition according to another embodiment of the invention, - Figure 3 is an elevational view showing the superposition of two sets of Galia containers each held by a pallet according to the invention arranged at their bottom part a pallet according to the invention arranged at their top part, - Figure 4 is a schematic view showing how according to the invention the rollers of a pallet truck can cross the sleepers of the floor thanks to their deformation, - Figure 5 is a schematic right view which corresponds to Figure 4, - Figure 6 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the cross member of the floor, - Figure 7 is a sectional view of another embodiment in which the cross members of the floor have bosses of lower height than the bosses which are arranged under the studs so as to allow a deflection of the cross member nevertheless sufficient for it to be crossed by the rollers of a pallet truck, and - Figure 8 is a schematic plan view d 'a cross member of the floor having fins to allow their deformation to cross the rollers of the pallet truck.

FIG. 1 shows four pallets according to the invention, stacked one on top of the other, the lower floor 1 of which is formed by cross members 2 which have bosses 3 at their lower part.

We also see in Figure 1 the upper floor 5 of the pallet which is constituted by a flat surface provided with flanges 6 which during stacking lodge in the peripheral recesses 7 of the periphery of the lower floor of the upper pallet which is thus maintained.

The lower 1 and upper 5 floors are joined by a series of studs 8. FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the pallet according to the invention.

At the bottom of the pallet stack shown in Figure 2, we find the elements of Figure 1 with, in addition, on the lower floor two sleepers 4 arranged on the short sides of the pallet and which connect the sleepers 2 which are parallel to the long sides of the pallet.

FIG. 3 shows diagrammatically how four pallets A, B, D as described with reference to FIGS. 1 or 2 can be used to hold and transport stacks of containers of smaller dimensions, such as for example Galia containers.

For this, a first pallet A is placed on the ground on which a stack of Galia 9 containers is placed, the shapes of which are determined to allow an assembly corresponding essentially to the horizontal surface of the pallet A.

As indicated above, the rim 6 located at the top of the pallet A laterally maintains the lower layer of the Galia tanks 9, the others are maintained up to the upper layer on which the second pallet B is placed in the inverted position, that is to say ie with the rim 6 directed downwards so as to frame the upper end of the Galia tanks which constitute the last layer.

In this way, a stack of Galia containers is obtained, which are held laterally and which can be easily moved with a forklift or pallet truck, the forks of which engage in the spaces between the pads 8 of the pallet A.

According to the invention, the bosses arranged at the lower part of a pallet have shapes and positions such that it is possible to apply two pallets B, C to one another so that the bosses of a pallet are located between the bosses of the other pallet which ensures lateral support of the two pallets B, C relative to each other.

FIG. 3 shows a second stack of Galia 9 trays which, as in the first stack, are held at the top by the head edge of a pallet D which has been turned over like pallet B.

We see that thanks to this arrangement it is possible at will to stack pluralities of Galia trays which are arranged between two pallets, one of which is turned upside down and to superimpose such assemblies so as to transport them all at once with a trolley. lift or pallet truck.

We also see in Figure 3 that to obtain this result it is necessary to have bosses 3 at the lower part of the lower floor 1 of each pallet otherwise the pallets B and C would not be joined vis-à-'efforts from one to the other.

The bosses in question also serve, when a pallet is placed above a stack of Galia trays in the same orientation as pallets A and C, to laterally hold the Galia trays of the stack. The bosses 3 are located inside the upper ends of the walls of the Galia tanks.

The shape and arrangement of the bosses placed below the lower floor can be different from those shown provided that on the one hand it allows lateral maintenance of the different types of containers which must be stacked and on the other hand that two pallets can be joined laterally applied against each other in the inverted position.

The existence of the bosses arranged according to the invention below the lower crosspieces has the consequence of raising the crosspieces from the lower floor, which can make them difficult to pass by the rollers of the pallet truck.

FIG. 4 shows schematically how this problem was solved according to a particular embodiment of the invention.

We find in Figure 4 the cross 4 schematically shown in cross section, To allow the roller 10 of a pallet truck to cross the cross 4 of the pallet bevels 4a on both sides of the cross 4 which is made of a material plastic such as high density polyethylene having sufficient deformation capacity to allow the lateral parts of the cross member to collapse in the ground direction when the pallet truck roller engages the cross member as shown in 10a, 10b, 10ç in the figure 4.

Found in Figure 5, which is a right view of Figure 4, the upper floor 5 of the pallet, the studs 8, the bosses 3 and the cross 4 with its bevels 4a.

There is shown schematically in broken lines the position that takes the edge of the cross 4 when passing the roller 10 of a pallet truck.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the rigidity of the central part of the cross member is sufficient so that it deforms little, while the edges 4a deform to allow the passage of the roller 10.

In a variant, it is possible to allow the central part of the cross-member 4 to collapse at the same time as its edges 4a to facilitate the passage of the roller 10 pallet truck.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the invention in which the edges of the cross-member 4 have, in addition to the bevel 4a, a recess 4c placed for example at their lower part to give them greater flexibility towards the bottom to facilitate the crossing of the cross 4 by the rollers of the pallet truck.

In the embodiment of Figure 7, there is the cross 4 having the bevelled edges 4a but which also has bosses 3a at the bottom which, although ensuring to a lesser extent the lateral support of two pallets placed sense upside down one on the other or Galia trays on which the pallet rests, allow the cross-member 4 a deformation downwards which is sufficient to ensure its crossing by the rollers of a pallet truck thereby avoiding excessive bending , plastic material constituting the pallet.

This embodiment achieves a compromise between the lateral support produced by bosses 3a and the constraints which are imposed on the crosspieces during the passage of the rollers, constraints which are limited by the support of the bosses 3a on the ground.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 8, which is seen from above, we find in section the studs 8 and the crosspiece 4 which is provided in the vicinity of its ends with two notches 4d which facilitate the downward bending of the lateral parts of the cross member during the passage of the pallet truck roller.

It is understood that the embodiments which have been described above are only given by way of illustration and that they may receive any desirable modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (9)

1. Multipurpose pallet of the type comprising a lower floor (1) and an upper floor (5), which are joined by studs (8), characterized in that it comprises' in combination a flange (6) on at least part of the periphery of its upper floor (5) and a plurality of bosses (3) on the lower face of its lower floor (1), arranged in such a way that two pallets placed above and below stacking containers (9) such as Galia bins laterally hold this stack and that two pallets (B, C) placed lower floor against lower floor are integral vis-à-vis lateral forces. 2. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the bosses (3) are arranged at the four corners of the lower floor as well as for example along at least some of the crosspieces (2) connecting the studs to form the lower floor. 3. Pallet according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the spaces left between the bosses (3) are located right on the walls of the containers (9) of different sizes which can be stacked on the pallet so as to hold laterally. 4. Pallet according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least some of the crosspieces (4) of the lower floor have capacity for deformation on their parts which must be crossed by the rollers (10) of a pallet truck, so that this deformation allows the engagement of the rollers of the pallet truck in the interval between the two floors (2, 4) of the pallet. 5. Pallet according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is made of injection molded plastic, for example high density polyethylene or another material having similar mechanical characteristics. 6. Pallet according to claim 4, characterized in that the crosspieces (4) which are deformed to allow the passage of the rollers of the pallet truck have their bevelled edges (4a), so as to be able to bend during the passage of the rollers of the pallet truck. 7. Pallet according to any one of claims 4 and 6, characterized in that the edges of the sleepers (4) must be crossed by the rollers of the pallet truck are provided with parts (4b) in the form of fins which are joined to the central parts of the crossmember by a zone of smaller thickness (4c), so as to pivot to form a ramp for the passage of the rollers. 8. Pallet according to any one of claims 4, 6 and 7, characterized in that notches (4d) perpendicular to the edges of the sleepers are made on either side of the passage of the rollers to facilitate the flexing of the edges. 9. Pallet according to any one of claims 4, 6, 7 and 8, characterized in that the underside of the sleepers has bosses (3a) of lower height than the other bosses (3) to allow deformation of the part central crossbars downward by limiting this deformation by the fact that the bosses (3a) come to bear on the ground.