Patent Application
20050092214
This invention pertains to the construction of pallets for the transporting and storage of loads and more particularly to pallets constructed, at least in part, from paperboard.
Virtually every business one can think of, from manufacturing to grocery stores to merchandizing, use pallets in some way or another.
Typically, pallets have been constructed from wood, plastic, metal or some combination thereof. The loaded pallets are usually moved from place to place by various transporting vehicles, such as forklifts or pallet-jacks, as is well known in the industry. These pallets are not only relatively expensive but create problems in disposal of used or worn-out pallets. Additionally, bug infestation creates a serious problem for the users of wood pallets. International regulations require that softwood and hardwood pallets must be made of heat-treated, or chemical pressure impregnated, lumber in order to prevent the spread of wood-borne insects. Obviously, this adds to the cost of the pallets.
Corrugated, or paperboard, pallets have an advantage over wood pallets in that corrugated pallets do not provide a nesting area or food source for the insects that eat or burrow into wood.
Corrugated, or paperboard, pallets are not new. Indeed an entire sub-class in the United States Patent and Trademark Office classification is directed to paperboard or cardboard pallets. Class 108 subclass 51.3 is entitled “Horizontally Supported Planer Surfaces, Formed from folded semi-rigid material (e.g., cardboard, etc.). A search of the prior art has uncovered the following patents: Des. 395,534; Des. 419,275; Des. 419,744; Des. 433,782; 4,850,284; 5,067,418; 5,272,990; 5,357,875; 5,427,019; 5,487,345; 5,520,120; 5,603,258; 5,672,412; 5,816,172; 5,881,652; 6,012,399; 6,135,030; and 6,354,229 B1.
Fiber wound cores are extensively used in many industries as the base upon which paper, cloth, carpet, paperboard and other materials are wound. Proper disposal of these cores also creates a problem. Indeed, Menasha Corporation, the assignee of the instant patent application, uses material which results in thousands of fiber wound cores each year that must be destroyed. Stripping residual paper or paperboard from these cores and feeding the cores through a shredder is a time consuming and costly operation. A better use for these used fiber cores is desirable.
One solution is to use the cores in the construction of pallets. For example, Carter U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,418 shows one type of pallet construction made from used fiber cores. However, this construction requires considerable cutting and modification of the used cores in the construction of a pallet. What is needed is a simpler construction that would nonetheless provide a pallet that was sturdy and could withstand the rigors of use. The present invention provides such a pallet.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a rigid load-carrying pallet that is constructed, at least in part, from used fiber wound, or solid fiber, cores.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pallet with a load supporting deck having top and bottom surfaces and with a plurality of runners connected to the bottom surface of the deck, each of the runners comprising a fiber wound core wrapped with corrugated paperboard.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a pallet wherein the solid fiber cores have cutouts to permit the entry of wheels of the pallet-jack.
These and other objects will be apparent from the accompanying description and from the drawings, of which:
While the invention described in this application is susceptible to various modifications and constructions, specific embodiments have been shown in the drawings and described in the specification by way of example and not by way of limitation. For example, the solid fiber cores could be replaced with cores of other materials, such as plastic. Also, while the cores are shown as hollow, this is not necessary and the cores could be solid. The present invention is intended to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.
Referring to the drawings, wherein like numerals represent like parts throughout the several views, there is shown a pallet generally designated by the numeral 10. As shown in
The pallet further comprises a bottom wall 18 made from at least one sheet of corrugated material and having an upper surface 20. The pallet also has a top wall, or deck, 22 which, as shown, is constructed from at least three sheets of corrugated material bonded together and which has a lower surface designated by 24. It should be understood that while, in the specific embodiment shown, the top wall is constructed of three sheets of corrugated material bonded together, that this is for the purpose of illustration only and that any number of corrugated sheets can be used depending upon the use intended for the pallet. The same is true with respect to the bottom wall, or deck. One, two or more sheets of corrugated material may be utilized in the construction of the bottom wall.
In one preferred embodiment shown in the drawings, the top deck is constructed from 1100-pound triple wall corrugated material, while the bottom surface is a single wall sheet of corrugated material.
As is best seen in
The top surface 26 of each of the runners 12 is attached, by gluing or some other suitable means to the bottom surface 24 of the upper deck. As shown in the drawings, the runners 12 are mounted in a spaced apart relationship to provide support for the deck.
As mentioned, the pallet may also include a bottom wall having a top and bottom surface. In the event that a bottom wall is used in the construction of the pallet, the upper surface 20 of the bottom wall 18 is also attached, again by gluing or other suitable means, to the bottom surface 28 of the corrugated wrapped runners 12. As is best seen from
Since the pallet shown in
