NO152289B - DISTANCE ELEMENTS FOR TRUCK PALLETS - Google Patents

Abstract

A spacer element for pallets and comprising a tubular part, which has partly a series of pointed fastening tabs (3a), which are intended to penetrate into and connect the pipe part with a tire-forming part to the pallet, and partly a series at right angles to the fastening tabs bent stop means (3), which like. the fastening tabs are made in one piece with the pipe part itself. Ele-. The element is made of a thin-walled piece of plate which is given a polygonal tubular shape seen in cross-section by means of axially extending bending edges (7), which are located in boundary zones between fastening tabs (3a) and stop means (3). Each of the pipe wall portions, which are delimited by two adjacent bending edges (7), and which is connected to said stop means (3), extends at an angle to two other adjacent and on both sides thereof lying pipe wall portions (12).

Description

The present invention relates to a spacer element for loading pallets, which spacer element comprises a tubular part which at least at one end exhibits a series of essentially axially extended attachment tabs, which must penetrate into and connect the tubular part with a cover-forming part of the pallet, partly a series of support or stop members which extend at an angle, preferably at right angles to the attachment tabs, and which, like the attachment tabs, are made in one piece with the tube part itself, which has a cross-sectional polygonal tube shape formed by means of axially extended bending edges which are located in border zones between attachment tabs and stoppers.

Distance elements such as e.g. is known from US patent no. 3,641,948 (fig. 1 and 12) should be so powerful that they e.g. is capable of withstanding the stresses that occur in the form of blows or shocks from the fork arms that are inserted between

the relevant cover parts when lifting or delivery of the pallet. However, the distance elements according to the aforementioned patent are not assumed without the use of very thick plate material

and be able to fulfill these requirements due to the fact that the bending edges, i.e. the edges that are on both

sides of a single flat pipe wall section, only exceptionally contribute to the polygonal pipe shape of the element in question, namely exactly at a corner section which is formed e.g. at every third or every other attachment tab. This means that the part of the plate that extends between two first bending edges, which in reality contributes to the polygonal tube shape, gets a relatively very large surface and thereby becomes easily deformable when struck and bumped by a fork arm.

The present invention aims to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages as well as to provide a stronger and more economical distance element. This is achieved according to the invention by each one of the pipe wall sections, which are delimited by two adjacent bending edges, and which are connected to said stop member, extending at an angle towards two other nearby pipe wall sections located on both sides.

With reference to the attached drawings, a detailed description of an example of an embodiment of the present invention follows below.

Fig. 1 shows a partial section in perspective of the distance element

according to the invention,

fig. 2 shows a side view of one for the production of that in fig. 1

the element shown is a certain piece of plate in which a number of teeth are punched out,

fig. 3 shows a similar side view where every other tooth is bent

during formation of stopping organ,

fig. 4 shows an end view of the distance element according to the invention in a fully bent state,

fig. 5 shows a cut end part of an element according to a variant of the invention, and

fig. 6 shows a side view illustrating a loading pallet in which

it includes a distance element according to the invention.

The manufacture of the distance element according to the present invention comprises three working steps, namely punching, bending and welding. In fig. 2 shows how a piece of plate (1)

when punching is designed with two series of similar pg in all substantially triangular or pointed teeth 2, 2'. More specifically, each of these series 2, 2' comprises ten teeth. 3,

3, 3a, 3, 3a.... etc. At one end of the plate piece 1, a part 4 is left which at its opposite ends is missing

teeth or tooth-forming parts. More specifically, this part 4 is bounded above and below by straight limiting edges 5, whereby the distance between these limiting edges is essentially the same as the distance between the bottoms 6 between adjacent teeth 3, 3a. In practice, the sheet piece 1 can be made of galvanized steel sheet with a thickness of approx. 1 mm.

In fig. 3 shows how every other tooth in each of the tooth series 2, 2' is bent at an angle, namely at right angles to the web of the plate piece 1. More specifically, it is the teeth 3 which are bent in relation to the plate life and which form a stop or support member, while the intermediate teeth 3a are allowed to remain unaffected during the formation of attachment tabs, which are suitable for being driven into wood or similar material.

In fig. 1 and 4 show how the plate piece according to fig. 3 is given a cross-sectional polygonal tube shape by means of axially extending bending edges of two types, namely by showing on the one side first bending edges 7 which are situated in the boundary zones between the fastening tabs 3a and the stop members 3, and which on the other side exhibit second bending edges 8 which runs from the tips of the attachment tabs essentially parallel to the first bending edges 7. During this bending, it is ensured that the teeth 3, which form the stop members, are directed towards the center of the tube part, and furthermore that those with the attachment tab teeth 3a belonging to the parts of the plate life on the same manner is directed inwards towards the center of the pipe part, so that said second bending edges 8 are placed closer to the center of the pipe part than the first bending edges 7. After bending the plate piece according to fig. 4, the end part 4 is welded to the opposite end part by means of one or more welders 9 of an appropriate type.

In the example shown, the number of teeth 3, 3a in each series amounts to ten, which means that the number of two first bending edges 7 delimited and essentially flat pipe wall sections 12 amounts to five, and as a result of this the plate piece or pipe part receives a pentagonal shape . This cross-sectional shape, like other cross-sectional shapes of a higher order, i.e. with even more teeth or bending edges, is advantageous insofar as the number of stiffening, bent tube wall sections is large regardless of where a fork arm hits the distance element in question. Each part 12 is slanted in relation to two adjacent parts 12 on both sides of this.

In fig. 5 shows an alternative embodiment where several, specifically three other bending edges 8a, 8b and 8c

is connected with each individual pair of attachment tabs 3a. Of these bending edges, the two former point inwards towards the center of the element, while the latter, which extends from the tip of the tab, is directed outwards.

In fig. 6 finally shows schematically how a number (appropriately four placed in a corner) and with 10 designated distance elements according to the invention are arranged to mutually connect two tire-forming parts or discs 11, and to keep them at a distance from each other for the purpose to enable the introduction of a fork for a forklift between the relevant parts.

The advantages of the distance element according to the invention are several. With the cross-sectional polygonal tube shape, the element, as explained above, can be manufactured from relatively very thin and thus cheap plate while maintaining or even improvement of the element's holding strength properties both with regard to pressure load from the load on the loading pallet and with regard to impact or impact stresses from the truck fork in question. By the fact that the pipe wall sections that belong together with the attachment tab-forming teeth 3a are bent not only along the pipe section itself but also along the tab-like sections while forming continuous bending edges between opposite tooth tips, the teeth or attachment tabs obtain extremely good rigidity, so that despite small plate thickness can safely be pressed into the disc parts 11 without a tendency to bend. Another not insignificant advantage is that the stop members 3 are bent inwards towards the center of the distance element, whereby their usually sharp edges are bent within the pipe walls of the element, where they do not have the opportunity to damage e.g. hands or clothing of the staff handling the pallets.

The invention is of course not limited only to the embodiment shown here by means of description and drawings. Thus, it is e.g. possible to design a distance element with only a series of teeth, whereby the element is connected to a disk or cover part only at one end, while the other end of the element is designed so that it is suitable for direct support against the relevant substrate. Furthermore, the number of teeth in each series, as previously indicated, can be greater than precisely ten shown in the drawings.

Claims (6)

1. Spacer element for loading pallets comprising a tubular part which at least at one end exhibits a series of essentially axially extended attachment tabs (3a), which are intended to penetrate into and connect the tubular part with a tire-forming part (11 ) to the loading pallet, partly a series of supporting or stopping members (3) which extend at an angle, preferably at a right angle, towards the fastening tabs, which members, like the fastening tabs, are made in one piece with the pipe part itself, which has a cross-sectional polygonal tube shape which is formed by means of axially extended bending edges (7) which are located in boundary zones between attachment tabs (3a) and stop means (3), characterized in that each of the pipe wall sections (12) which are delimited by two adjacent bending edges (7 ), and which is connected to said stop member (3), extends at an angle towards two other pipe wall sections (12) located nearby and located on both sides thereof. 2. Distance element according to claim 1, characterized in that the pipe part has other bending edges (8), each of which runs between two pipe wall sections (12) extending at an angle to each other from the attachment tabs (3a) essentially parallel to the first-mentioned bending edges (7) while stiffening not only the pipe part wall itself but also the attachment tabs. 3. Distance element according to claim 2, characterized in that the second bending edge (8) runs substantially from the tip of the associated fastening tab. 4. Distance element according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that said second bending edges (8) are situated closer to the center of the pipe part than the first bending edges (7). 5. Distance element according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the number of pipe wall parts (12), which are bounded by two first bending edges (7), and which determine the polygonal shape of the pipe part, amounts to at least five. 6. Distance element according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that a plurality of other bending edges (8a, 8b, 8c) are connected to each individual fastening tab (3a).