GB2174973A - Disposable pallet - Google Patents

Abstract

A disposable pallet is folded from a single sheet of, for example, corrugated board to provide a plurality of legs of inverted truncated cone section which are prevented from collapsing about their fold lines 5-8 by joining flaps 17, 18 maintaining a fixed distance between the upper parts of each leg. The legs are formed with side walls 14, 15 and a base wall 16 by folding along the lines 5-8 which are parallel and at right angles to the lines of corrugation of the board. The flaps 17, 18 are formed by cut lines 13 which extend between the legs and are parallel to the fold lines. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Pallet This invention relates to a fork lift truck pallet made from foldable material such as cardboard, fibreboard or the like.

According to the present invention there is provided a pallet having a load supporting platform and a plurality of downwardly depending legs erected from a single sheet of cardboard or like foldable material in which the legs each comprise a pair of side walls foldably connected along preformed fold lines to the support platform and extending downwardly and inwardly towards one another, each pair of side walls being connected together at the base of the leg by a foot panel having a width narrower than the distance between the side walls in the plane of the supporting platform, and joining flaps maintaining the said distance between the side walls in the plane of the supporting platform and preventing the legs collapsing along the preformed fold lines.

There is thus provided a pallet which can easily be erected from a single flat sheet of material and which uses a minimum of material and can therefore be produced at low cost. The pallet is suitable to be used to transport a single load of goods and can be disposed of thereafter.

Because the side walls of the legs are inclined to one another the risk of collapse of the legs along the preformed fold lines under the weight of goods stacked on the supporting platform is prevented by the joining flaps maintaining a fixed distance between the side walls of the legs in the plane of the supporting platform.

The spacing between the legs can be chosen to allow the forks of a fork lift truck to pass below the supporting platform and between the legs. Conveniently the legs can be discontinuous in their longitudinal direction to leave gaps therebetween so that the forks of a fork lift truck can also be entered in the direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the legs. Thus the pallet can provide fourway entry for the forks.

When the legs are discontinuous in the longitudinal direction the joining flaps can lie in the plane of the supporting platform in the aforesaid gaps between the legs. Joining flaps in this position can be provided by sheet material lying between the discontinuous legs to overlap and be joined together to secure the desired spacing between the side walls of the legs.

Conveniently a pair of joining flaps can be provided at each of the gaps between the legs, the joining flaps each having a width corresponding to the distance between the side walls of the legs in the plane of the supporting platform and each pair of joining flaps being overlapped and secured together. By providing that the length of the distal edges of the joining flaps is greater than the gap between the legs in the plane of the supporting platform the underlying one of each pair of joining flaps can be abutted with one of the side walls of the leg. This provides for a positive amount of overlap of each pair of joining flaps and facilitates erection of the pallet from the flat sheet.

The pallet can be formed from corrugated fibreboard material. The material can be coated or impregnated with a water repellent or water resistant material. The pallets are light and easy to handle and can be made in various sizes including the conventional 1200 x 1200 cm size. The sizes and position of the legs can be chosen to suit the product to be carried on the supporting platform and the particular handling methods to be employed in the transport and handling of the loaded pallet.

Empty pallets can be stacked one upon another with the legs of one pallet entered into the legs of the pallet below to reduce the storage space required for the empty pallets below that necessary when pallets do not nest one within another.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank for forming a pallet; Figure 2 is a plan view of a pallet erected from the blank of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side view of the pallet of Figure 2 in the direction of arrow Ill; Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view along the line IV-IV; and Figure 5 is an end view of the pallet of Figure 2 in the direction of arrow V.

Referring to Figure 1 there is shown a blank 1 of corrugated fibreboard material in which the fluting is arranged to extend in the direction of arrow A.

The blank is provided with three sets 2, 3 and 4 of preformed crease lines, each set comprising four parallel crease lines 5, 6, 7 and 8. Each set of crease lines is interrupted by cut lines 9, 10, 11 and 12 substantially transverse to the crease lines and extending between adjacent cuts are cuts 13 in the longitudinal direction of the crease lines.

The blank can be erected to form a pallet as shown in Figures 2 to 5. The blank is folded along each set of crease lines 2, 3 and 4 so that the portions of the blank between crease lines 5 and 6 and between the lines 7 and 8 form the side walls 14 and 15 respectively of legs extending downwardly from the plane of the blank 1 which forms the supporting platform of the pallet. The pairs of side walls of each leg are connected together at their ends remote from the support platform by a foot panel 16 of the leg. As clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4 the width of the foot panel 16 is less than the distance between the side walls 14 and 15 in the plane of the supporting platform so that the side walls extend downwardly and incline towards one another away from the supporting platform.

The cut lines 9, 10, 11 and 12 together with cut lines 13 define joining flaps 17 and 18 in the gaps between the legs of each set 2, 3 and 4. These joining flaps lie substantially in the plane of the supporting platform but as the blank is folded on the crease lines 5, 6, 7 and 8 the flap 17 is overlapped over the flap 18 until the distal edge 19 of flap 18 abuts the inside of the side wall 14 of the respective leg. It will be noted that the cut lines 9, 10, 11 and 12 are somewhat'V' shaped in Figure 1 so that the distal edge 19 of the joining flap 18 is long enough to contact the side wall 14. The width of the joining flap 18 corresponds to the desired distance between the side walls 14 and 15 in the plane of the supporting platform. The joining flaps are secured together by any convenient means such as metal staples or stitches 20.

As can be seen in Figure 5 the discontinuities in the longitudinal direction of the legs form spaces 21 therebetween into which the forks of a fork lift truck may be entered. Similarly the spaces 22 between the sets of legs 2, 3 and 4 can receive the forks.

The erected pallets can be stood upon one another when empty with the legs of one pallet nesting at least partly within the legs of the pallet below so that the stacked height of a number of such pallets is less than the sum of the height of each of the individual pal lets.

Claims (8)

1. A pallet having a load supporting platform and a plurality of downwardly depending legs erected from a single sheet of cardboard or like foldable material in which the legs each comprise a pair of side walls foldably connected along preformed fold lines to the support platform and extending downwardly and inwardly towards one another, each pair of side walls being connected together at the base of the leg by a foot panel having a width narrower than the distance between the side walls in the plane of the supporting platform, and joining flaps maintaining the said distance between the side walls in the plane of the supporting platform and preventing the legs collapsing along the preformed fold lines.

2. A pallet according to claim 1, wherein the legs are discontinuous in their longitudinal direction to leave gaps therebetween so that the forks of a fork lift truck can be entered in the direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the legs.

3. A pallet according to claim 2, wherein the joining flaps lie in the plane of the supporting platform in the gaps between the legs.

4. A pallet according to claim 3, wherein the joining flaps are provided by sheet material lying between the discontinuous legs to overlap and be joined together to secure the desired spacing between the side walls of the legs.

5. A pallet according to claim 4, wherein a pair of joining flaps is provided at each of the gaps between the legs, the joining flaps each having a width corresponding to the distance between the side walls of the legs in the plane of the supporting platform and each pair of joining flaps being overlapped and secured together.

6. A pallet according to claim 5, wherein the length of the distal edges of the joining flaps is greater than the gap between the legs in the plane of the supporting platform, whereby the underlying one of each pair of joining flaps can be abutted with one of the side walls of the leg to provide for a positive amount of overlap of each pair of joining flaps and facilitate erection of the pallet from the flat sheet.

7. A stack of pallets, each according to the preceding claims, wherein the legs of one pallet enter into the legs of the pallet below to reduce the storage space required for the empty pallets below that necessary when pallets do not nest one within another.

8. A pallet substantially as herein described and shown in the drawings.