GB2179601A - Nestable roll pallet - Google Patents

Abstract

A trapezoidal base frame has upper 5 and lower 2 portions, the lower portion 2 providing the sides and front of the trapezium, while the upper portion 5, which is rigidly secured to the lower portion 2, extends across the rear side of the trapezium, which is the longer parallel side. The upper frame portion 5 extends forwardly from the rear of the trapezium, along a part of each side of the trapezium and in this way, a strong frame is provided. The pallet 1 also has a pair of sides 7 and a base 16 which may be adjusted between stored and in use positions so that, when they are in their stored configuration one roll pallet 1 may be stacked inside another. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Nestable roll pallet This invention relates to nestable roll pallets, for examplefor use in transferring goods from store to supermarket shelves usually carrying a large num berofthepalletsina lorry. Such palletsare designed to be pushed manually on theirwheels in the supermarket.

These pallets are generally constructed on atubularframe and are said to be ofthe "Z" frame or "A" frametype depending on the frame shape. The "A" frame pallet is constructed around a tube, usuallyofmildsteel,which is bent intoatrapezoidal shape with the base edge ofthe trapezium missing to allow nesting. This frame has been extensively used since, when nested, less space is required to storethe pallets than with theZ-frame.

Theframecommonlyhasa basewhichswings upwhen the pallet is not in use andfold-in sides which give a cage-like appearance to the pallet when it is being used. When the pallets are nested, their bases are folded up and the sides folded in, so that base and sides lie close to each other verticallyatthe rearoftheframe.

There are several problems commontothe priorart pal lets. The most serious is that the rear of thepalletisveryweakandeasilydamaged bythe rough treatment it commonly encounters. As explained above, the frame ofthe pallet is constructed by bending a piece of metal tube into a part-trapezoidal shape. The tube terminates at each end of the longer parallel edge of the trapezium (i.e. the rearofthe pallet). The ends ofthetube in one known pallet lie in steel channel sections to which the wheels are fastened.

Lighttubing is usedforthe cage-like sides and base (and, if provided, rearwall)ofthepallet,and vertical tubes forming uprights of the sides are secured to the steel channel sections. To provide a tie at the rear end of the pallet, a horizontal length of this lighttubing has been welded between the uprights to extend across the rearata level abovethe Frame so as to allow nesting. Thesewelds are weak points and the rear end of thins pallet is very susceptible to damage.

Afurtherproblemwith known palletsisthatintheir folded configuration most oftheirweight is attheir rear and theyshow a tendencytofall backwards. This is especially a problem when empty pallets are being transported in a lorry after a delivery has been made.

Furthermore, known roll pallets having an "A" frame, have a tendency to stick together with stacked.

The present invention aims to alleviate these problems.

According to the present invention there is provided a nestable roll pallet having a generally trapezoidal rigid frame mounted on wheels, which frame has a lower portion which provides the sides and the front of the trapezium (the front being parallel to but shorterthan the rear ofthe trapezium) and an upper portion which is rigidlysecured, e.g. by welding, to the lower portion and is a rigid member extending across the rear ofthe pallet (to form the rear of the tra peziu m) and forwardly from the rear along a part of each side of thetrapezium,thesaid upper portion being ata height two permit nesting of the lower portions of respective pallets.

By appropriate choice of the dimensions ofthe trapezium, sticking of the pallets can be reduced.

A compromise is reached between the optimum dimensions to stop the frames jamming together and those which give greatest stability to the roll pallet. Preferably, the vertical clearance between the front of one trapezoidal frame and the upper frame portion of another pallet into which the first is being stacked is also chosen to minimise sticking.

Theupperframeportion,which hasarearcross- piece and, rigid therewith, two forwardly extending arms, should be of high strength and is preferably a steel angle section with once flange extending vertically and the other flange inwardly with respect to the pallet. As well as greatly strengthening the rear of the pallet, this angle section has another advantage as explained below.

The rear ends of the lowerframe portion, which may be a bent square-section steel tube as in the known pallets, may be housed in channel sections also as in the known pallets, and the upper frame portion welded to the tops ofthe channel sections.

The upperframe portion not onlyformsthe fourth side ofthe trapezium, but also extends down the sides ofthe pallet, forming a construction which is much stronger than that where there is no significant rear part ofthe frame.

Surprisingly, the addition of the upperframe por- tion atthe rear of the pallet in the present invention has been found to improve the stability of the pallet remarkably. This may in partbe because the invention provides for a counterweight towards the front of the frame, and may shift the centre of gravity downwardly.

Roll pal lets are usually zinc plated for increased corrosion resistance and the most effective way to do this is by plating relatively small components of the pallet individually. In the present case the frame may be plated separately from the base and sides to which it will eventually be attached if a suitable arrangement is provided for fitting the sides to the frame later. Thus in one preferred embodiment of the invention there are spigots, preferably of circular cross section, secured on the upper frame portion which fit inside tubing from which the pallet sides are constructed. Thus the sides can be pushed down onto the spigots to assemblethe palletquicklyand easily.

The spigots may be four in numberi.e.twoforeach side.This arrangement is particularly convenientwhen the angle section mentioned above is used. Afurther advantage of the use oftwo pairs of spigots is that the strength ofthe pallet is increased relative to that of known pal lets which have only one spigot at each side oftheframe.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described byway of example with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which Figure lisa side elevation ofthe roll pallet embodying the invention, Figure2 is a plan viewofthe pallet of Figure 1 with a base in folded up position and showing a counter balancing bar at the front of the pallet, Figure 3 is a back elevation ofthis pallet showing the base in the folded position, Figure4 is a top view showing the sides in their folded-in position, Figure 5 is a side view showing two ofthe pallets of Figure 1 in the nested configuration, Figure 6is a plan viewshowing the two pal lets in the nested configuration, Figure 7 is a cross section indicating the way in which the fixed side members may befitted onto the angle iron by means of a spigot, Figure 8 is a plan view from above showing the base in the folded down position, Figure 9 is a plan view from below - also showing the base in the folded down position.

Figures 1 and 2 show a nestable roll pallet 1 ofthe invention which embodies several features of atypical priorart roll pallet. The roll pallet 1 hasa frame having a lowerframe portion 2which is constructed from a tubular piece of metal, for examplerectangularhollowsection (RHS) in mild steel. Suitable RHS for this purpose is 50.8 mmx 25.4 mm section. This tube is bent into a part trapezoidal shape and terminates at the corners ofthe longer parallel edge of the trapezium. The ends ofthetube are secured in channel sections 3 which extend in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis ofthe pallet. Suitable dimensions of the channel section are 63 mmx50 mix2.5 mm.The channel openings are to the inside ofthe pallet as shown most clearly in Figure 3 and an 8 mm diameter spacer rod is provided atthe upper edge ofthe opening. The rear wheels 4 ofthe pallet arefixedto a caster plate, which in turn is fixed to the lowerface ofthechannel pieces 3. The frontwheels are secured to the front ofthe lower frame portion 2 by means of a plate and four bolts.

To the upper surface ofthe channel pieces its firmly welded a rigid upper frame portion 5 which is also of mild steel, has an Shaped section and may be of 50 mm x 50 mm x 5 mm angle section.

Onearmorflangeofthe Lshapeisvertical andthe other extends inwardly of the pallet (see Figure 7). The upper frame portion 5 extends along the length of the channel pieces 3 for between 15 and 40% of the pallet length, and across the long rearside of the trapezium. It may be constructed by cutting length of so-called angle iron and welding them together at mitred corners to provide the rigid member shown. The wheel mountings 6, channel pieces 3,tube 2 and angle section 5 are secured together by welding.

The rigid upperframe portion 5 is above the level of the lowerframe portion 2, to permit nesting ofthe pallets one behind another (see FigureS). An appropriate clearance is chosen to minimise sticking together of stacked pallets. It provides great strength at the rearofthe pallet.

As shown in Figure 1 the sides ofthe pallet are in two parts, a longerfoldable side portion 7 and shorterfixed side portion 8. Both side portions are constructed from light metal tubing 9 of circular cross section. The tubing is bent into an essentially rectangular inverted U-shape and the ends are secured by welding a piece of tube or rod 10. The sides are strengthened by a plurality of cross members 11, and vertical members 12 which also act to retain goods within the pallet when it is in use.

The shorter fixed side member8 is securely fixed to the angle section 5, while the longer foldable side member7 is hinged to the shorterfixed sidemember8atthetopandonapin 13 welded to the angle section 5 at the bottom. The long foldablesidemembers7 maybefolded in as shown in Figure 4 and the pallets may be stored in a nested configuration (see Figures 5 and 6) withoutthe necessity of removing the side pieces 7 and 8.

A swing restraint is provided at each side ofthe frame and in a position slightly forward of the pins 13. These swing restraints hold the long foldable side members 7 in their folded configuration and preventthemfrom suddenly flying outwards when the pallets are unstacked. There is sufficient vertical play at the hinge and at the pins 13 to enable the long foldable side members to be raised and carried over the swing restraints when they are unfolded for use. As is apparentfrom Figure 6 the extent to which one folded pallet 1 can be pushed into a second on stacking is determined by the position at which the front of the upperframe portion 5 ofthe rearmost pallet abuts against the back of the upperframe portion 5 of the pallet in front. Thus, a relatively loose engagement of the stacked pallets may be ensured.

In order to fix the short fixed side members 8to the angle section 5 a set of fourspigots 14two for each short side member, is provided on the base of the angle section 5. These spigots 14 are of circularcrosssection, of 20 mm diameterandtubular or solid. Each spigotfits inside the tubing 9 from which the short fixed sides are made, as shown in Figure 7.

The pallet has a base 16 shown in its in-use position in Figures 8 and 9 and in its stored position in Figures 1 - 5. Like the side sections 7 and 8 the base is essentially rectangular and formed by bending a piece of light circular cross-section tubing 18. The base is reinforced and filled in bya plurality of cross members 20,22 which are metal rods.

The ends ofthetube 18 areweldedto a metal rod 24 whose length exceeds that of the edge of the rectangle to which it is attached. The ends ofthis rod 24 fit into slotted holes 26 in the side portions of the angle section 5, so that the base pivots up and is secured by latches 28 on the shorter fixed side members 8 when the pallet is not in use. Sincethe holes 26 are intheform of slotsthere is some vertical play in the holeswhich enables the base to be easily disengaged from the latch when it is folded down for use. In use the base is secured to the sides 7 at its front end by location catches 30.

Additionally, location brackets are provided on the base which prevent the foldable sides 7 from moving inwards when the pallet 1 is in use. Support brackets are also provided at the front of the base and hold the base in a horizontal position.

Figures 2 and 4 best showthe way in which a reinforcing counterweight may be provided at the front of the pallet 1 to counteract the tendency of the stored pallet 1 to fall backwards when nested.

The counterweight is simply a further piece of rectangular hollowsection tube 32 which iswelded tothe benttube2,perpendiculartothelongitudinal axis of the pallet 1 and towards the narrow, front end ofthe pallet 1. In addition to acting as a counterweight the tube 32 provides stiffening for thetubularsubframe2.

Thus the invention provides a pallet which is rela tively stable both when in use and when stored, which is constructed from components which are easy to zinc plate giving good corrosion proof inland, most importantly, which on account of its wrap around upperframe portion is significantly strongerthan previously known roll pallets.

Claims (10)

1. Nestable roll pallet having a substantially trapezoidal rigid frame, mounted on wheels, which frame has a lower portion which provides the sides and the front of the trapezium, the front being substantially parallel to but shorter than the rearofthetrapezium, and an upper portion which is rigidly secured to the lower portion and is a rigid member extending across the rear ofthe pallet and forwardlyfrom the rear along a part of each side of the trapezium, the upper portion being at a height to permit nesting of the lower portions of respective pal lets.

2. Nestable roll pallets according to claim 1 wherein the lower portion of the trapezoidal frame is of metal tubing, and the upper portion is an angle section, having one flange extending vertically and one inwardly with respect to the trapezoidal base.

3. Nestabie roll pallet according to claim 1 or claim 2 having, in addition to a frame, a pairof foldablesidesanda base, the base having a stored position and an in use position, the base lying in a substantially horizontal plane when in the in use position, and the foldable sides also having stored and in use positions so that, in their in use position, they are both substantially vertical and disposed on opposite edges ofthe base, while in their stored position they occupy substantially vertical planes which are substantially parallel to the plane of and in front ofthe stored base, the parallel planes occupied by the stored base and foldable sides when stored being also parallel to the rear ofthe trapezium and nearer to the rear ofthe trapezium then to its front.

4. Nestable roll pallet according to claim 3 in which the base and thefoldablesidesare moved between stored and in use positions by rotation about fixed axes ofthe pallet.

5. Nestable roll pallet according to claim 3 or claim 4wherein a counterweight is provided towards the front of the frame to stabilise the pallet when the foldable sides and the base are in their stored positions.

6. Nestableroll palletaccordingtoanyoneof claims 3to 5wherein thefoldable sides are rotatably mounted on substantially vertical fixed short sides which extend forwardly from the rear of the pallet.

7. Nestable roll pa l let accordi ng to claim 6 where- in the upperframe portion has two pairs of substantially vertical spigots, there being one pair of spigots on each forwardly extending part of the upper frame portion, and the fixed short sides being mounted on the spigots.

8. Nestable roll palletaccordingto anyoneofthe preceding claims wherein the upperframe portion extends forwardly at each side ofthetrape- zium in a direction parallel to the symmetry axis of the trapezium, and to an extent such that when two roll pal lets are stacked by pushing the front ofthe trapezoidal frame of the rearmost pallet into the rearofthetrapezoidalframeofthefront most pallet the position at which the rearmost pallet can be pushed no further forward is determined bytheabuttal ofthefrontoftheupperframe portion of the rearmost pallet against the back of the upperframe portion of the pallet in front.

9. Nestable roll palletaccordingto anyoneof claims 3 to 8 wherein each of the sides is engaged with the base against relative movement, when all of the base and the sides are in their in use positions.

10. Nestable roll pallet substantially as herein de scribedwith reference to the accompanying drawings.