GB2100666A

GB2100666A - Chipboard laminate used as spacer blocks in pallets

Info

Publication number: GB2100666A
Application number: GB08119335A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kenneth David Waller
Original assignee: TRIESSE Ltd
Current assignee: TRIESSE Ltd
Priority date: 1981-06-23
Filing date: 1981-06-23
Publication date: 1983-01-06
Also published as: GB2100666B

Abstract

A chipboard laminate comprises layers 3 having edges lying in a common plane and secured together by a common edge member (5) extending across the surface of the edges and adhering thereto. The laminate can be cut-up into blocks (7) which form spacers between the upper (23, 25) and lower (19, 21) surfaces of a pallet. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Chipboard laminates This invention relates to chipboard laminates, and is particularly, but not exclusively concerned with laminates in elongate form from which may be produced blocks in laminate form which are suitable for incoporation as spacing members in pallets.

Pallets as are commonly used in industry comprise portable, usually wooden, platforms which are used to facilitate the handling of stacked goods by giving sufficient ground clearance. A common form of pallet comprises two load bearing surfaces, one of which carries the goods to be transported, and the other of which is in contact with the ground or with the floor of a transporter. The two load bearing surfaces are separated, and secured to, opposite sides of several blocks, and conventionally are secured to these blocks by means of nails. It has been usual in the industry to use planks or panels of wood to constitute the load bearing surfaces, which planks or panels may constitute soft wood.

However for the blocks which separate and secure together the surfaces, it has been usual to use blocks of elm. Elm has the peculiar property of being able to take numerous nails without splitting, a property which does not apply to soft woods which tend to split when more than a very few nails are inserted. Dutch elm disease has meant that the supply of elm blocks is somewhat limited, and the supply of other hard woods has been variable in quantity and quality. Accordingly, a requirement has recently come about to provide blocks which may be used in the construction of pallets, particularly those pallets which are termed four way entry pallets. These comprise planks or panels of wood, usually soft wood as load bearing surfaces and are separated by spacer blocks, rather than being closed along the length of opposed sides.They permit for example the forks of a forklift truck to be inserted under the upper load bearing surface from any of four directions of the pallet so facilitating loading and stacking of freight.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a chipboard laminate comprising two or more chipboard pieces arranged in laminar form and having edges laying in a common plane, the pieces being secured together by a common edge member extending across the surface of said edges and adhering thereto.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention the laminate is in elongate form, for example with a transverse cross section of some 3" X 3" (75mm X 75mm) and with a length of several feet. Such an elongate form is termed a section. An alternative form of the laminate is as a block, which may conveniently comprise portions of such a section cut substantially transversely to the longitudinal axis thereof to constitute blocks. Thus the section or elongate form of the invention may form the basis of the block form of the invention.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that chipboard generally comprises chips of wood or wood waste which have been impregnated with an adhesive resin and compressed into board form. The chipboard pieces comprising the laminate according to the invention conveniently are offcuts from larger portions of chipboard.

It has been known to secure chipboard pieces together in laminar form simply by adhering together the overlying faces of the chipboard. However such a technique requires large quantities of adhesive since, for example in the case where some five pieces of chipboard are secured together, there are four mating surfaces each of which requires a layer of adhesive. The present invention has the advantage that instead of adhering the mating surfaces of the chipboard together, the chipboard pieces are secured by an edge member which extends over the common edges thereof. Such an edge member may be in the form of an edge band, that is a relatively stiff member which is applied to the common edges of the laminarly arranged chipboard pieces and adhered thereto.A distinct glue may be used to secure the edge member to the common edges of the chipboard pieces, or alternatively the edge member may incorporate a layer of contact adhesive, which may optionally be heat hardenable.

It is particularly preferred that the laminate of the invention includes common edges at opposite sides of the laminate, and that an edge member is adhered to each of the two sommon edges. However the pieces of the laminate may be secured together by a single edge member.

In another form, the edge member may comprise a relatively flexible material which can be adhered to the common edge by rolling therealong, again optionally using a heat hardenable adhesive. Such a flexible edge member may comprise paper or card, which if desired may be overprinted with advertising matter.

In another embodiment of the invention, the edge member is constituted by a film of material which may be sprayed onto the laminarly arranged chipboard pieces and allowed to harden. In such a case, the film, which may be for example of polyvinyl alcohol, may have a strengthening member such as a piece of linen or other fabric placed on it before it is dried in order better to secure the edges of the chipboard pieces together. Of course the film may be applied by other means than spraying, and depending on its constitution does not necessarily require the strengthening or reinforcement member.

The laminates according to the invention have been found to be particularly suitable, when in block form, for use as pallet blocks.

In such circumstances, the laminates may be some 3" x 3" x 3" In dimension, and used as blocks to go between the load bearing surfaces of a pallet. In particular, it will be appreciated that the or each edge member of the laminate as defined above serve to retain the chipboard pieces in laminar form during the construction of the pallet. It is conventional that the load bearing surfaces. that is the wooden pieces, of the pallet are secured together by nails, and the chipboard laminate is particularly suitable for taking such nails in large quantities without splitting or otherwise deforming. Thus when respective wooden struts or boards are nailed to the upper and lower surfaces of such a block, the nails, particularly those with ribs extending radially of their longitudinal axis, will tend to secure the pieces of chipboard together.In this case the edge member is no longer required to establish a solid block, but of course it is retained in position unless deliberately removed. On of the advantages of the invention is that the block is in the form of a solid entity through which nails may be driven until the pallet has been constructed. Of course another advantage is that the chipboard pieces which comprise the laminate may be generally offcuts of larger pieces of chipboard which would otherwise go to waste. Moreover the securing together of the chipboard pieces by the edge member is economically advantageous since reduced quantities of adhesive, for example a resin such as a urea resin, are required compared with the case where the chipboard pieces are secured together by adhering adjacent mating faces.

If the laminates according lo the invention are intended for use in the manufacture of pallets, then as has been mentioned hereinbefore, the common edges of the chipboard pieces may be secured together by a common edge member formed from for example paper or card and an adhesive. Such a laminate would tend to deform when exposed to weathering including rainwater, and so would not be useful for non-expendible pallets. However when required for pallets which will be used repeatedly, and between and during use subjected to weathering, it is preferred to adhere the common edges of the chipboard pieces by an adhesive film which, after hardening, is waterproof.

With regard to the above-mentioned use of the laminates as structural members of pallets, another aspect of the invention comprises a pallet including a first surface to receive freight and a second surface, spaced from the first, to contact, in use, the ground or a transporter body, and spacing means comprising a plurality of blocks formed from or comprising a chipboard laminate as hereinbefore defined, to which each of said surfaces is secured.

It will be appreciated that in general the surfaces of the pallet will be secured to the blocks by means of nails passing through the surfaces into the blocks. By way of example, the pallet may have first and second surfaces being 1 x 1.2 metres, and the block may be 75mm cubes. There may be nine such blocks disposed between the two surfaces, so constituting a four-way entry pallet.

According to another aspect of the invention there Is provided a method of producing a pallet as defined above which comprises securing a first load bearing surface in spaced relationship to a second load bearing surface by passing nails from said surfaces into a spacing member comprising a block formed from or comprising a chipboard laminate as hereinbefore defined, the nails passing into or through the block in a direction which is substantially normal to the laminar surfaces of the laminate.

Preferably the method includes a preliminary step of providing a chipboard laminate in elongate form and cutting said elongate laminate into block form, the cut surfaces thereof being substantially normal to the laminar surfaces of the laminate and substantially normal to the common plane of the chipboard piece edges.

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a chipboard laminate according to the invention in elongate form; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a chipboard laminate according to the invention in block form; Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of a part of a pallet according to the invention showing how opposed wooden runners are secured together though a laminate block; Figure 4 is a perspective view from below of a pallet according to the invention; and Figure 5 is a cross-section through such a pallet from one side.

Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown a chipboard laminate in elongate form, generally designated 1, which laminate comprises four chipboard pieces 3 arranged in laminar fashion. The chipboard pieces have a common edge plane and are secured together along this plane by an edge member 5 which in the embodiment shown comprises a strip of paper or cardboard adhered to the chipboard piece edges by a contact adhesive. Indeed, in the embodiment shown two edge members are provided at opposed common planes of the chipboard pieces extending along the length of the elongate laminate. The edge members may be applied to the assembled chipboard pieces for example from a roll and with the application of pressure, optionally with heat hardening.

Referring to Fig. 2 there is shown a chipboard laminate in block form, generally designated 7. It will be seen that the chipboard pieces 3 are not necessarily of the same thickness. Again, in accordance with the invention, the pieces are secured together by the edge members 5, rather than as has conventionally been the case, by providing adhesive between the mating laminar surfaces 9 of adjacent pieces. Such a block 7 may be used in the construction of a pallet, one constructional feature of such a pallet being shown in Fig. 3. Here two wooden boards 11 and 1 3 constituting upper and lower load bearing surfaces respectively are secured to the block 7 by means of nails 1 5 which are driven into the block in a direction substantially normal to the overlaying faces of the chipboard pieces 3.The chipboard pieces 3 may be compressed together prior to application of the edge member 5 to secure them in the configuration as shown. The insertion of the nails 1 5 serve to hold the chipboard pieces together once the assembly has been constructed. This is assisted by the provision of ribs 1 7 on the nails which serve to grip the substance of the chipboard. Thus once the nails have been driven home the dge members 5 are no longer required to hold the chipboard pieces into block or elongate form.

In Fig. 4 is shown a pallet incorporating the construction of Fig. 3. Thus the pallet comprises nine blocks 7 arranged as spacers between in use a lower load bearing surface comprising wooden members 19 and 21, and an upper load bearing surface comprising wooden members 23 and 25. The pallet as shown is of four-way entry type which permits the forks of a forklift truck to be inserted between the two load bearing surfaces via the spaces between adjacent blocks 7, the approach being possible from four directions.

The wooden members 15, 21, 23 and 25 are secured to the blocks 7 by means of nails 1 5 driven through the wood and through the blocks in a direction which is generally normal to the mating faces of the chipboard pieces making up the laminate. If required, the edge members 5 of the blocks used may carry printed matter, for example advertising the manufacturer or the pallet owner.

Fig. 5 is a view of the pallet of Fig. 4 from one side, showing the arrangement of the blocks and the load bearing surfaces, and also a selection of the nails used in construction.

Of course other securing means such as screws or bolts could be used if required, but nails are preferred for reasons of economy and ease of construction. It will be seen that in Fig. 5 the central block has two edge members 5 on opposed common edges of the block, whereas the outer blocks have only a single edge member 5 each. It is preferred to have two edge members per block, but a single edge member will serve to hold the chipboard pieces together before and during construction. If the pallet is intended for reuse then it is preferred that the edge members 5 comprise a waterproof film, for example formed from polyvinvyl alcohol, optionally with a linen or other fabric reinforcement.

Referring again to the elongate form of laminate shown in Fig. 1, this may be constructed by assembling the chipboard pieces in laminar fashion so that they have edges lying in a common plane, and thereafter applying the edge member thereto. As mentioned above the edge member may be delivered to the common edges from a roll and be contact adhered or heat adhered thereto. Alternatively a relatively stiff edge member may be applied in piece form, again using some form of adhesive such as contact adhesive, a heat hardenable resin or any other adhesive means. The provision of the laminate in elongate form makes it possible to supply pallet manufacturers with easily handled lengths of material which can be cut off to required block sizes to suit the pallets under construction.

Claims

1. A chipboard laminate comprising two or more chipboard pieces arranged in laminar form and having edges lying in a common plane, the pieces being secured together with a common edge member extending across the surface of said edges and adhering thereto.

2. A chipboard laminate according to claim 1, in which said common edge member takes the form of an edge band that is a relatively stiff member which is applied to the common edges of the laminarly arranged chipboard pieces and adhered thereto.

3. A chipboard laminate according to claim 1 or 2, in which a distinct glue is used to secure the edge member to the common edges of the chipboard pieces, or the edge member incorporates a layer of contact adhesive, which is preferably heat hardenable.

4. A chipboard laminate according to claim 1, in which the edge member comprises a relatively flexible material which can be adhered to the common edge by rolling therealong.

5. A chipboard laminate according to claim 4, in which the flexible edge member is made of paper or card material.

6. A chipboard laminate according to claim 1, in which the edge member is constituted by a film of material which is applied, preferably by spraying, onto the laminarly arranged chipboard pieces and allowed to harden.

7. A chipboard laminate according to claim 6, in which the film has a strengthening member placed on it before the film has dried.

8. A chipboard laminate according to claim 6 or 7, in which the film is made of waterproof material.

9. A chipboard laminate according to any one of the preceding claims, and cut-up into a plurality of blocks suitable for use as spacer blocks in a pallet.

10. A chipboard laminate according to any one of the preceding claims and including common edges at opposite sides of the laminate, in which a respective edge member is adhered to each of the common edges, or a single edge member is adhered to both of the common edges.

11. A pallet including a first surface to receive freight, a second surface spaced from the first surface to contact the ground or other support surface, and spacing means separating the first and second surfaces and comprising a plurality of spacer blocks to which each of said surfaces is secured: in which each spacer block comprises a chipboard laminate formed from two or more chipboard pieces arranged in laminar form and having edges lying in a common plane, the pieces being secured together by a common edge member extending across the surface of said edges and adhering thereto.

1 2. A pallet according to claim 11, in which the first and second surfaces of the pallet are secured to the spacer blocks by means of nails.

1 3. A pallet according to claim 11 or 12, including nine spacer blocks arranged between the first and second surfaces so as to form a four-way entry pallet.

1 4. A method of making a pallet according to claim 11, comprising securing a first load bearing surface in spaced relationship to a second load bearing surface by passing nails from said surfaces into spacing members formed from said spacer blocks, the nails passing into or through the blocks in a direction which is substantially normal to the laminar surfaces of the blocks.

1 5. A method according to claim 14, in which the spacer blocks are formed by cutting from a chipboard laminate in elongate form, the cut surfaces being substantially normal to the laminar surfaces of the laminate and substantially normal to the common plane of the chipboard piece edges.

16. A chipboard laminate according to claim 1 and substantially as herein before described with reference to, and as shown in the accompanying drawings.