WO2010057586A1

WO2010057586A1 - Plastic pallet

Info

Publication number: WO2010057586A1
Application number: PCT/EP2009/007986
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tapio Harmia; Peter Stegmaier
Original assignee: Aks Kunststoff Systeme Gmbh & Co. Kg
Priority date: 2008-11-19
Filing date: 2009-11-06
Publication date: 2010-05-27
Also published as: EP2358603B1; DE102008058238A1; EP2358603A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a plastic pallet (1) made preferably from a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic. It is formed by a corrugated sheet gutter and rib structure that is braced by crosswise running partition walls. This results in a lightweight and highly resilient structure that can be produced in one piece.

Description

M A S Systems Gesellschaft für KunstStoffprodukte mbH, Hellerweg 26/2, 73728 Esslingen

Plastic pallet

The invention relates to a plastic pallet for transporting goods and for storage of goods.

For the transport of industrial goods and food or other general cargo, wooden pallets with unified dimensions are often used today. Alternatively, pallets made of plastic have been proposed to replace wooden pallets, at least in part. For example, DE 10 2005 004 839 A1 discloses a plastic pallet with the dimensions of a standardized EURO pallet.

This pallet is made of a fiber-reinforced plastic. It has a plate body in honeycomb construction, are attached to the bottom of feet. The plate body is formed closed on all sides. Especially he has a continuous closed top. It consists of at least two plate halves, which are connected by a large parallel to the top weld.

The plastic material insert is relatively high for such a pallet.

Furthermore, a plastic pallet is known from EP 0 945 356 A1, which has an upper upper side completely closed plate body with a lower-side honeycomb structure.

Again, there is a relatively high material usage, if the desired strength is to be erected.

Also, WO 94/10051 discloses a plastic pallet with the upper side closed, two-part plate body. The plate body consists of two honeycombed plates, which are connected to each other, for example, welded.

US 6,357,366 B1 discloses a pallet based on a footed plate. The plate is formed by a honeycomb body made by welding two flat honeycomb plates. A similar concept is also disclosed in US 2003/0110990 A1.

It turns out that the material used in the realization of such plastic pallets is relatively high. The use of materials can not be easily reduced because the pallets are subject to considerable loads during operation, which they have to cope with. Thus, considerable load carrying capacity and bending stiffness are expected.

On this basis, it is an object of the invention to provide a plate that can be finished with little use of material.

This object is achieved with the pallet according to claim 1:

The plastic pallet according to the invention has a plate body having on its upper side a rib structure consisting of mutually preferably parallel downwardly open hollow ribs, wherein between the ribs at the top open grooves are formed, in which web walls are arranged. Thus, both the top and bottom of the plate body are "open." In other words, both its underside and its top are interrupted several times, and its upper plane is defined by the preferably flat tops of the ribs, preferably in a common plane lower side is determined by the preferably defining a common plane, preferably flat undersides of the flat bottoms.

Due to the combination of ribs and gutters, the plate body can have a corrugated structure in cross section, similar to, for example, a corrugated sheet with a suitable rib cross section, for example trapezoidal cross section. The wave structure causes a high bending stiffness with respect to the longitudinal direction of the ribs and grooves. The gutters and / or the accessible from below the interior spaces of the ribs are preferably provided with web walls. The web walls cross the upwardly open channel or the downwardly open channel. Rib. Preferably, the gutter traversing a gutter wall is aligned with the two adjacent, the respective adjacent rib crossing web walls. The web walls thus form web wall chains which extend transversely to the rib structure over the entire plate body. The web walls provide great flexural rigidity in a direction transverse to the ribs and gutters.

This concept increases the bending stiffness of the plate body and its load capacity and thus results in a total plate body that can be produced with little material.

A further weight saving is possible if the plastic material is completely or partially foamed by physical and / or chemical processes. The art - fabric range is then formed by a preferably fiber-reinforced foam body. The foaming of the plastic body may, if necessary, be limited to certain selected zones.

In addition, the web walls, especially if they are arranged obliquely and substantially striving away from the disk center, give a production-technically significant advantage. The plastic pallet can then be injection-molded using only a few sprues, for example with just a single central sprue. Like the ribs and channels, the web walls also form flow paths for the plastic propagating from the disk center. The Shape of the plate body is free of undercuts, so that it can be produced with a simple injection mold, which manages with little or no moving moldings. The proposed geometry leads both to a high flexural rigidity and load-bearing capacity of the panel body with a low use of material as well as to favorable and simple production conditions with regard to an injection molding process which is considered for the production, for example. The same applies when using a transfer molding process or a pressing process.

Preferably, openings are incorporated into the floors and / or the tops of the grooves or ribs. These openings are preferably formed as punched holes. This has the advantage that, on the one hand, the weight of the board is reduced and recyclable material which can be used in the form of the stamped waste for the production of said plastic pallets is obtained. On the other hand, the injection molding process is favored in the production. There are no binding or flow seams.

Furthermore, there is the advantage that liquids which have reached the pallet can run freely through the openings. Preferably, the openings are arranged in rows along the entire longitudinal extent of the ribs or channels. The shape of the openings can be chosen appropriately.

The web walls and the side walls of the ribs and grooves are preferably formed without interruption. Not necessarily, but preferably the ribs and gutters have a uniform wall thickness. The wall thickness of the side walls of the NEN and ribs can match the wall thickness of the floors and tops of the plate body as well as the wall thickness of the web walls. This optimizes the flow properties of the plastic in the manufacturing process and provides sufficient stability of the plate body with low material usage.

Preferably, feet are molded onto the plate body. The feet can be an integral part of the plate body and merge seamlessly and seamlessly into these. Preferably, the feet are formed by both top and bottom open hollow structures. This can be achieved by the feet having sidewalls extending downwardly from the underside of the panel body, which pass into a lower surface from which an elevation extends upwardly. The space between the elevation and the insides of the feet is open at the top. The interior of the survey is preferably open at the bottom. The survey may have a final with the ribs upper side. As a result, the upper bearing surface of the plastic pallet is formed by the tops of the ribs and the upper side of the feet. Also, the wall thicknesses of the feet and the optionally provided therein indentation or survey can be determined uniformly and in accordance with the wall thickness of the ribs and gutters.

Preferably, the plastic pallet is formed of a fiber-reinforced plastic. For this purpose, a reinforced by long fibers thermoplastic is preferably used. The long fibers have a majority of a length of preferably more than 2 mm. The long fiber content can be selected appropriately on the plastic. For example, he can be 20% up to 30%. The plastic pallet can be produced by processing glass fiber reinforced plastic rod pellets. These are melted (plasticized) in a suitable extruding machine. The fiberglass length after press processing is, for example, 1.5 mm to 4 mm.

Preferably, as mentioned, a central sprue, a so-called controlled hot runner gate, is provided. The plastic pallet originates from the central sprue as a one-piece part without binding and flow seams. The above-mentioned web walls form flow channels. Preferably, a uniform uniform wall thickness of, for example, 2 mm is provided. By slightly truncated pyramidal design of the feet and possibly provided therein survey the pallet is stackable.

The plate body preferably has a trapezoidal corrugation in cross-section, wherein the feet are preferably formed on the grooves, which form ribs as viewed from the underside of the plate.

In addition to the structure discussed so far, the middle rib may be provided with a center wall which serves as an additional flow channel and serves for plastic distribution in the manufacturing process. From the middle wall then branch off the web walls.

In each of the ribs or other structures, such as in the web walls, a local preferably elongated reinforcement may be arranged, for example in the form of steel profiles or plastic composite profiles. Such an art Fabric composite profile is preferably formed from the same plastic as the rest of the range and can, for example unidirectional long fibers, for example, over the entire length of continuous fibers (glass fibers, carbon fibers, plastic fibers or natural fibers) have.

The pallet can be provided as a EURO pallet, as a so-called half pallet or as a quarter pallet. Dimensions deviating from the EURO pallet shape are possible.

Preferably, the plastic used is an olefin such as PE, PP or others (e.g., PA, PA6, PA66). Instead of glass fibers, all or some other fibers, such as carbon fibers, aramid fibers, polymer fibers, PET fibers, viscose fibers, natural fibers, such as e.g. Hemp, flax, sisal or jute, or metal fibers are used. Metal fibers can also be used, for example, specifically to avoid static charges or as electronic signal transmitters, for example for pallet recognition.

Further, the pallet can be made of other plastics such as PBT, PS, ABS or recycled material. Furthermore, the thermoplastics can be mixtures of different plastics and possibly filled with fillers. Suitable fillers are talc, calcium carbonate, wood flour, wood fibers or the like in question (WPC - Wood plastic composite). Duroplast materials can also be used as plastics.

Antistatic plastic pallets can be obtained according to the above concepts, when the plastic for Conductivity improvement carbon black is admixed or if intrinsically conductive plastics is used. If direct contact with food is considered, appropriately approved materials are used as plastics.

The examples presented are merely selected forms of embodiment of the invention.

Further details of advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the drawings, claims or description. The description is limited to essential aspects of the invention and other circumstances. The drawing complements the description. Show it:

FIG. 1 shows a plurality of stacked plastic pallets stacked one above the other and taken from the stack, in a perspective view obliquely from above,

FIG. 2 shows one of the plastic pallets according to FIG. 1, in a perspective view obliquely from above,

3 shows the pallet according to FIG. 3, obliquely from below, FIG.

FIG. 4 shows the pallet according to FIG. 2, in a perspective partially sectioned representation obliquely from above,

5 shows the pallet according to FIG. 2, in a sectioned perspective view obliquely from above,

6 to 8 detail views of Figures 4 and 5. FIG. 1 illustrates a stack which consists of a plurality of plastic pallets. These plastic pallets are identical to each other. They correspond to the plastic pallet 1 shown separately in FIG.

The plastic pallet 1 has a plate body 2, on the feet 3, 4, 5, 6 are formed. The feet 3 to 6 and the plate body 2 form a one-piece and seen from above as seen from below undercuts open thin-walled plastic component. It preferably consists of one

Glass fiber-plastic composite material wherein the plastic is PE or PP or PS or ABS or another preferably thermoplastic plastic. For fiber reinforcement serve glass fibers whose length is preferably between 1.5 mm and 4 mm, but if necessary, can also be chosen elsewhere. Additionally or alternatively, carbon fibers, aramid fibers, polymer fibers or other fibers may be used.

The integrally formed plate body 2 is divided from above seen in ribs 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, which are preferably arranged parallel to each other and at a distance. The ribs 7 and 11 are each longitudinally divided into ribs 7a and 7b and IIa and IIb, wherein in the remaining gap the feet 3 and 6 are arranged. Troughs 12, 13, 14, 15 are formed between the ribs 7 to 11. On the outside, the plate body 2 is closed by a peripheral edge 16. The ribs 7 to 11 are separated from the edge 16 via an all-round channel 17. The ribs 7 to 11 each have a preferably flat upper side 18, illustrated in FIG. 7, using the example of the rib 7b. All tops 18, all ribs 7 to 11 and the top edge of the edge 16 are preferably in a common plane defining the upper bearing surface of the pallet.

The grooves 12, 13, 14, 15, 17 each have a bottom 19, shown in Figure 2 on the example of the groove 17. The bottoms 19 of all grooves 12 to 15 and 17 are preferably in a common the underside of the plate body 2 marking plane ,

The bottoms 19 and tops 18 are each bounded by the side walls of the ribs and gutters. These side walls are preferably flat and surround the ribs 7 to 11, which are raised in relation to the bottom 19, both on the flanks of the ribs and on their end faces. Thus, the cross section through the plate body 2 follows a corrugated structure with a trapezoidal wave, as can be seen from FIG. 5 on the cut surface 20. While the trays 19 form a discontinuous but contiguous surface, the tops 18 of the ribs 7 to 11 define an interrupted, multi-sectioned surface which serves to receive the goods to be stored on the plastic pallet 1.

As FIG. 2 further shows, the plate body 2 has web walls 22, 23, 24 which travel away from a central sprue point 21. In Figure 2, only three walls of the gutter 13 are marked with the above-mentioned reference numerals. Further in alignment with said web walls 22 to 24 or parallel arranged web walls are arranged in all channels 12 to 15 and 17 to connect the ribs 7 to 11 under each other and with the edge 16. In addition, provided in the gutters web walls such as the web walls 23, 25 of the grooves 12 and 13th aligned with web walls such as the web wall 26 (Figure 3), which traverse the downwardly open internal spaces of the respective rib (here rib 8) enclosed therebetween. The web walls of the grooves 12 to 15 and 17 and the web walls of the ribs 7 to 11 thus form a plurality of web wall chains, which are oriented transversely and preferably obliquely to the ribs 7 to 11 and from the marked by the gate 21 center of the plate body 2 to its edge 16 run. For example, the web walls running centrally through the pallet body 2 are arranged at right angles to the ribs 7-11, while the other rib walls are preferably arranged at an acute angle of eg 30 °, 45 °, 50 ° or 60 ° to the ribs. The corresponding acute angle is preferably the same for all web walls.

As shown particularly in FIG. 3, preferably truncated pyramid-shaped feet 3, 4, 5, 6 extend away from the bottom 19. The side walls of the feet 3 to 6 merge seamlessly in one piece in a throat or rounding into the bottom 19. The respective lower surfaces 28 of the feet 3, 4, 5, 6 are preferably in a common plane. Starting from the bottom surface 28, in FIG. 2, by way of example, an elevation 29 extends upwards on the example of the foot 3, which elevation forms an invagination as seen from below. This survey 29 interrupts the lower surface 28, so that it can be seen from Figure 3, annular. The elevation 29 can also be seen in particular from FIG. Their top 30 is preferably flat and in turn is preferably in a common plane with the tops 18 of the webs 7 to 11 and the top edge 31 of the edge 16 (Figure 4 and Figure 7). The feet 3 to 6 are provided at their bottoms with at least one opening 31 opening on their lower surface 28. This opening 31 is preferably formed as a punched hole. In the cavities of the feet 3, 4, 5, 6 hineingeratene liquid can drain through this opening 31.

Furthermore, the bottoms 19 of the channels 12 to 15 and 17 are preferably provided with openings 32. These openings are preferably formed as punched openings. They are preferably arranged so that in each channel 12 to 15 and 17 in each separated by two web walls 22, 23 or 23 and 24 each chamber at least one such opening is arranged, thus can slip between the web walls liquids easily down.

Optionally, the top 18 and the top 30 may be provided with openings 33. These are in turn preferably designed as punched openings. These openings can be arranged in one, two or more rows in straight rows or in a zigzag. The same applies to the arranged in the bottom 19 openings 31st

As can be seen in particular from FIG. 3 but also from FIG. 5, at least in the middle rib 9, as required, but also visible in other ribs from below

Central walls 34 may be provided. Such a middle wall 34 is of particular importance for the middle rib 9. The web wall 34 passes through the casting point 21 and to a certain extent forms the origin of all the web wall chains extending obliquely to the edge 16, which can be seen in FIG. The middle web wall 34 can significantly assist the production of the plastic pallet 1 in the injection molding process. She works as material distribution channel over the plastic plasticized by heating can spread quickly and evenly. Large flow paths can be achieved with a small wall thickness, with which the plastic insert for the synthetic material pallet 1 as a whole can be minimized.

The production of the plastic pallet 1 is preferably carried out by injection molding. A closed mold formed from at least two mold halves is filled with plasticized glass fibers or plastic containing other fibers via a gate mark. After shaping and cooling of the blank, the openings 31 to 33 are punched into the corresponding surfaces 18, 19, 28. The openings may, as shown, be round or else shaped. They may be slit-shaped, oval and bounded in two or polygonal, degree or curvilinear. The punching waste is mixed with plastic pellets provided and plasticized again to make additional pallets. By a suitable choice of size and number of openings 31 to 33 of the material consumption for the production of plastic pallets 1 can be minimized without affecting their stability. On the other hand, because of the material recovery inherent in the process, it is possible to work with relatively large wall thicknesses of at least 2 mm or more, which accommodates the production in the injection molding process in particular when relatively large plastic pallets 1 are to be manufactured.

The presented plastic pallet 1 preferably consists of a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic. It is formed by a corrugated-gutter and ribbed structure stiffened by transverse web walls is. This results in a light weight in one piece manufacturable bare and highly resilient structure.

reference numeral

1 artfabric palette

2 plate bodies

3,4,5,6 feet

7-11 ribs

12-15 gutters

16 edge

17 gutter

18 top

19 floor

20 cut surface

21 sprue parts

22-27 web walls

28

29 survey

30 top

31 opening

32, 33 openings

34 web wall

Claims

Claims:

1. plastic pallet (1) for transporting goods and storing goods,

with a plate body (2) which has on its upper side an open-topped rib structure (7-11), which consists of open-bottomed hollow ribs

wherein between the ribs (7-11) grooves (12-15, 17) are formed.

2. Plastic pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that in the grooves (12-15, 17) and / or in the ribs (7-11) web walls (22-27) are arranged.

3. Plastic pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the ribs (7-11) each have a flat upper side (18).

4. Plastic pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the grooves (12-15, 17) each have a flat bottom (19).

5. Plastic pallet according to claim 3 and / or 4, characterized in that the ribs (7-11) and / or the bottom (19) with openings (32, 33) are provided.

6. Plastic pallet according to claim 5, characterized marked, that the openings (32, 33) are formed as punched holes.

7. Plastic pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that at least some of the web walls (22-27) in the grooves (12-15, 17) are arranged obliquely to the ribs (7-11).

8. Plastic pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the web walls (22-27) of a pallet center (21) are arranged striving away.

9. Plastic pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the pallet body (2) by an edge (16) is surrounded.

10. Plastic pallet according to claim 9, characterized marked, that the ribs (7-11) each end face in a

Distance to the edge (16) are closed by an end wall.

11. Plastic pallet according to claim 1, characterized marked, that on the plate body (2) feet (3-6) are integrally formed.

12. Plastic pallet according to claim 11, characterized in that the feet (3-6) are hollow and open at the top of the pallet.

13. Plastic pallet according to claim 11, characterized in that at least one of the feet (3-6) has a lower surface (28) and a from the lower surface (28) to oben extending elevation (29).

14. Plastic pallet according to claim 13, characterized in that the elevation (29) has a with the ribs (7-11) final upper side (30).

15. Plastic pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the plate body (2) including any existing feet (3-6) is formed seamlessly from a fiber-reinforced plastic.