1. Field of the Invention
Pallets have been used for many years as supports a wide variety. Pre-packaged in separate small units and secured atop individual pallets, goods can then be lifted and moved around with the use of fork lift trucks. Traditionally, pallets have been made entirely of wood, but such combination are not only expensive to construct but also bulky to store and difficult to recycle. There is a need for low cost, easy to store and recyclable pallets. Pallets which can be easily fabricated in a wide range of custom sizes are also highly desirable.
2. Description of Related Art
Only a few inventors have disclosed pallets which approach the ideal, i.e., a pallet which can be formed when needed and otherwise be stored in a configuration in which it has only the thickness of a thin sheet of material, thereby saving storage and transportation costs. Among the pallets which represent an attempt to achieve this ideal is a foldable corrugated pallet assembly disclosed by Ogilvie, Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,582, issued Feb. 29, 2000, hereafter referred to as “Ogilvie”.
Made from two precut and folded corrugated sheets, Ogilvie's pallet assembly is formed by rotating an upper frame member through 90 degrees relative to the lower frame member, and then placing it upside down over the lower frame member. So placed, ribs, which are formed in the upper frame member by a pleat-like folding of one of the corrugated sheets, extend perpendicularly to ribs which are formed in a like fashion in the lower frame member. Ogilivie's pallet assembly is completed by locking the ribs of the lower frame member into slots defined by the ribs of the upper frame member; and the latter ribs in turn are locked into slots defined by the ribs of the lower frame member. Glue is used to keep the pleat-like folds of the ribs in tack.
The object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight pallet which can be shipped as flat sheets, whether precut or not, and which can be economically assembled as needed by the user.
A further object is to provide such a pallet whose assembly does not require the use of glue or any fasteners other than those which are an integral part of the flat sheets themselves, thereby making the assembly and recycling much easier.
A still further object with the present invention is to provide such a pallet which requires substantially less material to form the same size pallet as do prior art combinations.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an improved pallet assembly made from two precut and folded frame members in which the upper frame member is rotated 90 degrees relative to the lower frame member and placed upside down over the lower frame member, both frame members defining column elements which in the pallet assembly are aligned side by side in pairs. So aligned, the column elements form a plurality of columns, each column having one column element from the upper frame member and one column element from the lower frame member. Preferably, each column element defines a self-locking tab which comprises both a barbed arrow-shaped fastener and a slot for receiving the tip of a second such fasteners. In the completed pallet assembly, the barbed tip of each such fastener on a column element of the upper frame member is held within a slot defined by a contiguous column element from the lower frame member. Similarly, the barbed tips of the fasteners on column elements of the lower frame member are held within slots in contiguous column elements of the upper frame member.
In the preferred embodiment, each barbed arrow-shaped fastener on an individual column element is nestled within a portion of a cutout which becomes a slot defined by this same column element when the barbed tip of the fastener and its shaft are dislodged from the cutout, in preparation for the tips being inserted into a similar slot defined by a contiguous column element.
Shipped as a pair of flat sheets made from corrugated paper board, plastic, or even ductile metals, the frame members can be formed and assembled manually or with the use of a relatively inexpensive machine. In addition, each of these sheets defines a plurality of self-locking tabs, independent of the column elements, which, in the completed pallet assembly, further lock the frame members together to form a rigid pallet, Thus neither material-consuming pleats nor glue nor any fasteners other than those which are an integral part of the flat sheets themselves are required in the fabrication of the improved pallet assembly. The saving on material alone over Ogilvie's combination amounts to about 20% for the same size pallet.
The pallets of this invention can be made of any length, width and thickness size without a cost penalty. Further the pallet can be made from a wide variation of materials including corrugated paper, sheet and corrugated plastic, and even ductile metals. An additional advantage can be had in a square pallet in which the pallet is constructed of two identical sheets of flat material, each being precut with the same pattern of cutouts, except for one of the sheets defining openings for receiving the wheels of a jack pallet, when the latter is needed.
In the drawings, an improved pallet assembly is indicated generally by the reference numerical 10. Preferably rectangular in footprint, the pallet assembly 10 is fabricated by folding each of two precut sheets to form the upper and lower frame members 11, 12, respectively. The sheets 11, 12 can be made a variety of materials including corrugated paper board, plastic or ductile metals or the like. The sheets of material are first scored and punched as shown on
The sheets 11, 12 are scored with five types of patterns as best illustrated in
Among the features of each column element 20 are a notch 21 and a key 22 on its distal end sized for a close fit in a notch 21 cut in the sheets as shown in detail on
The pallet is assembled when two sheets 11, 12 with their columns elements in raised position as shown in
Further features of each column element 20, 20′ include a locking tab 40 whose cutout roughly resembles a horizontally disposed “H” (
This locking mechanism utilizing the tabs 40 can be activated manually for small applications or when a large demand for pallets, with the use of a machine tool 50 as illustrated in
The final step of assembling the pallets is the assembly of end closures 30 as shown on
It is understood that those skilled in the art may conceive modifications, additions, and deletions and/or changes in the preferred form described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and its equivalents as set forth in the following claims.