WO2008113922A2

WO2008113922A2 - Pallet kit of renewable material delivered in flat condition

Info

Publication number: WO2008113922A2
Application number: PCT/FR2008/000178
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marc Lanciaux; Benjamin Lanciaux
Original assignee: Bio Creation
Priority date: 2007-02-12
Filing date: 2008-02-12
Publication date: 2008-09-25
Also published as: EP2121461A2; WO2008113922A3; FR2912382A1; FR2912382B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a pallet kit (10), in particular made of a renewable material and delivered in a flat condition, characterised in that it comprises at least two skis (12) having a U profile including three members (6), i.e. two sides (16-1 and 16-2) and a bottom (16-3), as well as a bearing platform (14), said bearing platform comprising battens (22) and a film (24) for connecting the battens.

Description

PALLET TO BE MOUNTED IN RENEWABLE MATERIAL, UVRABLE TO PUT

The present invention relates to a pallet to be mounted, especially in renewable material, available flat.

For the packing of goods, it is customary to use pallets to stack the goods while having a flat support that receives these goods on the one hand and especially that allows the handling of all pallet / goods of somewhere else.

Indeed, handling is often done with a pallet truck or a forklift truck. There are known wooden pallets with rails or skis on which are arranged thick blades of wood.

Each spar consists of upper and lower wooden blades braced by studs also in wood, the links being of the nailing type. The wooden boards are positioned transversely to the longitudinal axis of the side members and provide the useful width to the pallet. These pallets are manufactured industrially in large series.

If the pallet has a given volume when used to support and / or store goods, this is acceptable. By cons another disadvantage is the delivery of empty pallets, ready to receive the goods at the place of use. The volume of these empty pallets is very important and the number of pallets that can be loaded for example on a truck at the road gauge is limited not by the weight represented but by their size. The truck carries a vacuum. Once the goods are removed from such pallets, the recipient must dispose of these supports in the form of pallets. These pallets can be burned in a wild manner which is strictly forbidden so they are pref erentially landfilled or recycled for new uses but this often has a cost, if only transportation.

There are also molded pallets that are attractive because they fit together because of their adapted shapes.

By cons, the amount of material is slightly reduced and if the volume gain is significant since in a cubic meter, can accommodate 50 nestable pallets against 7 wooden pallets for example, this gain is still insufficient.

It is also noted that if the pallets fit together because the studs of one enter the housing of the other, each pallet must therefore have the necessary housing for this interlocking. Also during use, the load is not supported at the right of these homes, disrupting the distribution of the load. It should also be noted that the pallet may comprise only studs and not side members such as skis, hence the impossibility of using these pallets in roller conveyors, in all cases the solutions are not very satisfactory because that the volume to be transported remains important.

There is also a demand from customers for half-pallets. This therefore requires users to store two references with the consequences that entails in terms of logistics. The carbon balance of the pallets of the prior art from manufacture to the end of life can not be in harmony with developments and regulations. There are pallets made from cardboard that can be compacted at end of life but the gain is limited because the new pallets are already mounted and glued, therefore volume and have the same consequences on the environment at the month for the first routing and for the different storages.

The object of the present invention is to provide a pallet deliverable flat and extremely easy to assemble by the user so as to reduce transportation costs both for the new pallet for destruction or for recycling and / or biodegradation from the used pallet.

A direct consequence is the improvement of the carbon footprint.

In addition, the architecture allows a substantial saving of material.

Having a pallet deliverable flat leads to extremely significant savings also in terms of prior storage for the manufacturer and storage for the user before use.

Finally, the pallet according to the invention is breakable which makes it possible to store only a reference and to be able, on demand, to have half-pallets.

In general, it is also possible to provide for the use of renewable or even biodegradable materials by molding the necessary parts.

The invention is now described in detail according to a particular embodiment, not limiting, this description being illustrated by the attached single drawing in which the figure shows a perspective view of the pallet according to the invention immediately before assembly. In this figure, the pallet 10 comprises at least two skis 12, in this case three skis 12-1, 12-2 and 12-3 and a support plate 14.

Each ski 12 is advantageously constituted by a U-shaped profile with three elements 16 including two sides 16-1 and 16-2 and a bottom 16-3.

These three elements are connected by a strip 18, in this case a strip 18-1 placed between the side 16-1 and the bottom 16-3 and a strip 18-2 placed between the side

16-2 and said bottom 16-3.

Each band is likely to be folded to form a hinge. Thus each ski 12 is available and storable flat and can be shaped instantly, without tools by simply folding at 90 ° of each side relative to the bottom.

It is noted that each side 16-1 and 16-2 of each ski has notches 20 evenly distributed on the free edge of each of said sides.

The material constituting each ski may be cardboard, thin wood of the plywood type or plates molded from a composition of renewable material such as starch with reinforcements integrated in the form of fibers. In the preferred embodiment chosen, each of the three skis 12 comprises these notches 20 on each of its sides.

The support plate 14 consists of slats 22 and a film 24 of connection and closure.

These slats are intended to be positioned transversely to the longitudinal axis of the skis, once shaped U. Each slat is disposed with its edge in the plane of the plate.

Each slat 22 is of a length corresponding to the width of the pallet and comprises notches 24 adapted to cooperate with the notches 20 so as to allow interlocking at half height. Thus, after interlocking, the upper edge of each slat 22 is dimensioned to come flush with the free edge of each side 16-1, 16-2.

The support plate 14 also comprises the binding film 26 as indicated above, which film is integral with the upper edge of each slat 22, for example by gluing. The bonding film 26 was shown with a partial tear and peeled off to reveal the slats. This binding film is such that it is stretched between two successive slats when the two slats are introduced into the notches 20 of the skis as shown in the single figure, see the slats 22 of the middle.

This binding film 26 is able to bend as shown in the single figure when two slats are pressed against each other, see the slats 22 of the rear of the pallet.

It can be seen that the entire tray 14 can thus be reduced in volume for storage or transport or for destruction or for return, by pressing the slats against each other; the connecting film folds into V e to fit between said slats.

The tray unfolds very easily, simply by exerting traction between the two end slats.

The slats 22 are then self-positioned, the notches 24 slats cooperating with the notches 20 on the sides of the skis. The notches are advantageously dimensioned to allow a snug fit.

The battens 22 are held so that the wafer is presented to the load and the moment of inertia which is proportional to the height at the power 4 is optimum. The slats can therefore be thin, a few millimeters to give an order of magnitude, the height being a few centimeters.

As for the film, it has only a limited mechanical role of bracing but also contributes to the editing.

It also ensures a continuity of the surface of the plateau, at least visual.

The height of the mounted skis, so the height of the sides, is adapted to the standardized heights of clearance, necessary for handling by the forks of a pallet truck or a loader. Skis, flat, represent a very limited volume since they are superimposed without any free volume lost.

Also, a cubic meter can store a number of 180 pallets according to the present invention, skis flat and slats folded, the number of 7 wooden pallets skis and pads and the number of 50 nestable pallets.

Advantageously, the slats are made of wood and the film is then paper, such as kraft paper, weight adapted to provide the desired strength and necessary, even kraft paper armed if necessary. Such a combination of materials ensures recycling conditions and selective sorting in the most simple and effective way that is the homogeneity of materials.

According to the invention, there is provided an improvement to the pallet to allow the extremely simple realization of half-pallets often required either in small numbers not requiring a specific command or storage and / or is very irregularly prohibiting forecasts .

This improvement is in the form of primers 28 and 30 breaking respectively formed on each of the skis and the binding film. Note that the break is parallel to the slats thus posing no problem. These fracture primers can take various forms such as a thinning creating a zone of weakness or, preferably, a seam whose thread is left in place in order to allow a manual pulling which causes a simultaneous cutting along the seam, along stitches. The cutting of the film may be identical or simpler with only a succession of wireless points if it is only kraft paper for example.

According to the present invention, the term film has been used to provide the concept of surface but flexible connecting strips of the slats would lead to the same technical effect and would therefore be a technical equivalent.

Claims

1. Pallet to be mounted, especially in renewable material, available flat, characterized in that it comprises at least two skis (12) with a U-shaped profile comprising three elements (16) including two sides (16-1 and 16- 2) and a bottom (16- 3) and a plate (14) supporting said support plate consisting of slats (22) arranged perpendicularly to the skis and a film (24) connecting said slats.

2. Pallet assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that each ski (12) comprises hinge means interposed between each side (16-1 and 16-2) and the bottom (16-3) so that each ski can take a flat storage position and a U-profile mounting position.

3. Pallet assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that the hinge means comprise a strip (18).

4. Pallet assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each side (16-1 and 16-2) comprises notches (20) for receiving the slats (22).

5. Pallet assembly according to claim 4, characterized in that each slat (22) comprises notches (24) adapted to cooperate by interlocking

the notches (20) of the skis.

6. Pallet assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the skis (12) and / or the film (26) of connection comprise breakers (28,30).

7. Pallet assembly according to claim 6, characterized in that the primers (28,30) rupture consist of a seam.

8. Pallet assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the slats (22) are made of wood and the film (26) binding paper kraft paper.