GB2388100A

GB2388100A - A pallet leg and attachment means

Info

Publication number: GB2388100A
Application number: GB0209825A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Philip Garrod
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-04-30
Filing date: 2002-04-30
Publication date: 2003-11-05
Anticipated expiration: 2022-04-30
Also published as: GB2388100B; EP1499533A1; AU2003222999A1; WO2003093122A1; GB0209825D0

Abstract

A leg 11 for a pallet top 10 is in the form of a cup with a central column 14 which has a bore containing an internal formation 16 which engages with a formation 21 on a locking pin 18. The formations 16, 21 can be around half or less of the bore and shank 20 of the pin. Markings 31 can be included on the pin 18 and leg 11 to show the positions of the formations 16, 21. The formations 16, 21 can be parallel serrations lying in planes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bore and shank 20. The column 14 can be of a frusto-conical shape with a step 30 on the interior of the column below the formations 16 to abut with another leg when stacked.

Description

2388 1 00

1. I'PALLETSt' This invention relates to pallets and more particularly to an improved system for the provision of detachable pallet legs.

Pallets are in universal use for the transportation of goods. A pallet, usually a flat rectangular sheet of a wood substitute such as chip board or fibre board, needs to be provided with legs to lift it above the ground or above a subjacent pallet so that, for example, the fork of a forklift truck can be inserted below the pallet to lift it.

To provide pallet legs with high strength combined with low weight and to enable them to support pallets without damaging them it has been proposed e.g. in US-A-3,804,032 and US-A-4,425,852 that pallet legs should be cup-

shaped. EP-A-O, 487, 180 proposes a cup-shaped pallet leg which has a central, hollow column in the form of a frusto-cone inverted relative to the frusto-cone of the cup.

In all of these prior proposals, however, the method of attachment of a leg to a pallet requires making in the pallet a hole at least equal to the external diameter of the cup, formations at the periphery of the cup engaging the periphery of the hole releasably to secure the leg to the pallet. The making of a number - usually four - of such large holes in a pallet is undesirable especially in the case of relatively small pallets made of a fragile material such as cardboard.

Moreover previous proposals for methods of attachment have required that a particular leg can only be used for a particular thickness of pallet. The means of attachment cannot be adjusted to allow the same leg to be used on pallets of different thickness.

Principal objects of the present invention are to provide an improved system requiring the making of only relatively small holes in pallets and whereby the method of attachment is infinitely adjustable so that the same leg can be mounted on pallets of a range of thicknesses.

( 2. Another object of the invention is to provide a stronger connection of a leg to a pallet less likely to damage the latter in the event of mistreatment, for example if the leg is struck by the fork of a forklift truck in use.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method of attachment of a leg to a pallet whereby legs can be assembled and disassembled as rapidly as possible requiring a minimum of labour and skill and whereby disassembled legs can be stored occupying a minimum of space.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a pallet leg in the form of a cup having an internal column of generally the same height as the wall of the Q and a locking member separable from the cup, the locking member having a head and a shank and the column and shank having interengageable formations such that when the shank is passed through a hole in a pallet of smaller dimensions than the head and the formations on the column and shank are interengaged the pallet will be gripped between the head and the periphery of the wall of the cup.

In a preferred form of the invention said formations of the shank extend only around half or less than half of the circumference of the shank and said formations of the column extend only around half or less than half of the circumference of the column such that the formations will not resist axial movement of the shank relative to the column if relatively rotated 180 with respect to one another but such that when subsequently rotated into mutual engagement they will lock the shank and column against relative axial movement.

Preferably the said formations take the form of parallel serrations lying in planes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the column and to the longitudinal axis of the shank, the serrations of the Column and of the shank being similarly dimensioned so that serrations on the shank will closely fit between serrations of the column and vice versa.

Indicia are preferably provided on the head of the locking member and on the exterior of the cup which will inform the user of the angular relationship between the formations of the column and the formations of the shank.

( 3. The column may be a hollow frusto-cone upstanding from the centre of a base of the cup, the interior of the column may have a step below said formations of the column which will be abutted by the top of the column of another, similar leg when the two legs are stacked.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an isometric view of a sectioned pallet leg in accordance with the present invention, the sectional elevation being generally on the line I-I of Figure 2, together with an isometric view of the associated locking member; Figure 2 is a plan view of the leg shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross section of the shank of the locking member shown in Figure 1, the section being taken generally on the line II-II of Figure 1; Figures 4 & 5 show three stacked legs according to Figures 1 and 2 in sectional elevations taken in the plane I-I of Figure 2 but facing in opposite directions; Figure 6 illustrates a pallet fitted with four legs in accordance with the present invention, and Figure 7 is an exploded view of one corner of the pallet showing how the leg of the present invention is fitted.

Referring first to Figure 6, a pallet 10, which is a simple rectangle of a sheet material such as chip board or compressed cardboard, is supported in the regions of its four corners by four legs 11 (only three being visible).

Each leg 11 (Figures 1 and 2) is in the form of a cup from the centre of the base 12 of which there rises a hollow, frusto-conical column 13 the flat top 14 of which is in generally the same plane as the flared periphery 15 of the cup.

The interior of an upper part of the column 13 is a cylindrical bore, open at the top of the column, the wall of which is formed with parallel serrations each lying in a plane to which the axis of the bore is perpendicular. As will be apparent from Figures 2, 4 and 5 these serrations extend only around half or less than half of the circumference

of the interior of the column 13, the wall 17 of the bore opposite to the serrations being plain.

Associated with the cup 11 is a pin-like locking member 18. This has a flat, disc-shaped head 19 and a shank 20. Serrations 21 similar to the serrations 16 extend along the shank 20 and extend only around half or less than half of the circumference of the shank, the remainder 22 of the the surface of the shank 20 be mg plain.

The shank 20 is dimensioned to be a sliding fit within the bore at the upper end of the column 13. Thus if the serrations 16 and 21 are angularly out of phase by 180 the shank 20 can move axially in the bore, but if the locking member is rotated until the serrations confront one another the serrations will interengage to lock the shank 20 against axial movement in the bore To assemble a leg 11 to the pallet 10 a hole 23 is made in the pallet 10 at a chosen location - usually near a corner - and the shank 20 of the locking member is passed through the hole 23 and into the serrated bore of the column 13 of the leg until the head 19 of the locking member pressed against the pallet 10 around the hole 23. The locking member 18 is then rotated to cause the serrations 16 and 21 to interengage, whereupon the pallet 10 will be gripped between the underside of the head 19 of the locking member and the periphery 15 of the leg. To detach the leg 11 the locking member 18 is rotated until the serrations 21 disengage the serrations 16, whereupon the shank 20 can be withdrawn from the column 13 and the leg 11 removed.

It will be appreciated that this method of attachment enables the same leg 11 to be used to support pallets of a range of thicknesses limited only by the length of the formation of serrations 21 on the shank of the locking member 18.

Evidently the serrations 16 and 21 could be replaced by screw threads extending all round the bore of the column 13 and all round the shank 20, but the provision of the serrations 16 and 21 enables a quicker and simpler assembly and disassembly operation. Bearing in mind the number of pallets in use, each requiring four legs, the saving in time and labour will be significant.

The present invention requires the making of a hole in a pallet only slightly bigger in diameter than the shank 20 of the locking member In contrast e.g. to the system of EP-A-0,487,180 the column 13 plays a part in supporting the pallet and the effect of a blow to the leg 11 is less likely to cause damage to the pallet around the periphery of the hole. The periphery of the hole 23 is sandwiched between the head 19 of the locking member and the top 14 of the column and the periphery IS of the cup will bear against an uncut area of the pallet.

In accordance with another preferred feature of the present invention there is a step 30 between the cylindrical bore having the serrations 16 and the frusto conical interior of the column 13 below the bore. When legs 11 are stacked (Figures 4 and 5) the flat top 14 of the column 13 of a lower leg will abut against the step 30 of the column 13 of a leg next above. This prevents insertion of one column 13 into another far enough to become jammed, making it difficult to separate the stacked legs.

The upper surface of the head 19 of the locking member 18 displays an arrow 31 lying generally in the median plane of the serrations 21 of its shank.

The outer surface of the cup 11 displays arrow marks 32 lying generally in the median plane of the serrations 16 of the leg 11. Emus when the arrow 31 is aligned with the arrow marks 32 the locking member 18 is locked to the leg 11 and when the arrow 31 points away from the arrow marks 32 the locking member 18 can be withdrawn from the column 13. The arrow marks thus give the user a clear indication of how to hold the locking member 18 so that it can be inserted or withdrawn as well as an indication, during use, of whether a leg 11 is locked to the pallet 10 or not.

It will be evident that indicia other than arrow marks such as 31 and 32 could be employed, such as coloured areas or protrusions.

Claims

6. CLAIMS:

1. A pallet leg in the form of a cup having an internal column of generally the same height as the wall of the cup and a locking member separable from the cup, the locking member having a head and a shank and the column and shank having interengageable formations such that when the shank is passed through a hole in a pallet of smaller dimensions than the head and the formations on the column and shank are interengaged the pallet will be gripped between the head and the periphery of the wall of the cup.

2. A pallet leg as claimed in claim 1, wherein said formations of the shank extend only around half or less than half of the circumference of the shank and said formations of the column extend only around half or less than half of the circumference of the column such that the formations will not resist axial movement of the shank relative to the column if relatively rotated 180 with respect to one another but such that when subsequently rotated into mutual engagement they will lock the shank and column against relative axial movement.

3. A pallet leg as claimed in either preceding claim, wherein the said formations take the form of parallel serrations lying in planes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the column and to the longitudinal axis of the shank, the serrations of the column and of the shank being similarly dimensioned so that serrations on the shank will closely fit between serrations of the column and vice versa.

4. A pallet leg as claimed in claim 3 as appendant to claim 2, wherein indicia are provided on the head of the locking member and on the exterior of the cup which will inform the user of the angular relationship between the formations of the column and the formations of the shank.

5. A pallet leg as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the column is a hollow frusto-cone upstanding from the centre of a base of the cup, the interior of the column having a step below said formations of the column which will be abutted by the top of the column of another, similar leg when the two legs are stacked.

6. A pallet leg substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.