This invention relates to a pallet for storing or transporting goods.
Pallets are often used to store and transport goods. The pallets maintain the goods at a distance above the floor such that they can be readily lifted and moved by a fork of a lift truck.
Many different designs of plastic pallets are well known. One known plastic pallet includes an upper deck portion having an upper planar portion with ribs extending downwardly therefrom. A lower deck portion includes a lower planar portion having ribs extending upwardly therefrom. The upper ribs are secured to the lower ribs via hot plate welding.
The present invention provides a pallet having an upper deck portion having an upper planar portion and a lower deck portion having a lower planar portion. Ribs extend from one of the planar portions and are vibration welded to the other planar portion. A peripheral lip extends downwardly from the upper deck portion around the periphery of the lower portion.
In this manner, the entire upper deck portion, which includes the entire upper surface of the pallet, is vibration welded to the lower deck portion. Further, the peripheral lip of the upper deck portion hides any flash that might be generated by the vibration welding process.
A lower deck portion may include integrally molded columns extending downwardly as well as runners extending therebetween. The lower deck portion may include a peripheral wall around the periphery of the pallet, having a recess at an upper exterior edge thereof for accommodating flashing generated by the vibration welding process.
These and other features of the application can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.
A pallet 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in
The lower deck portion 14 includes a plurality of columns 20 extending downwardly and integrally molded therewith. The lower deck portion 14 further includes runners 22 extending between lower ends of the columns 20.
The upper deck portion 12 includes integral reinforcing ribs 38 protruding downward from the upper planar portion 16. An integral peripheral lip 40 extends downward from the periphery of the upper planar portion 16.
Also referring to
In the example embodiment, the upper deck portion 12 is integrally molded as a single part from a thermoplastic material via injection molding. Similarly, the example lower deck portion 14 is integrally molded as a single part from a thermoplastic material via injection molding.
In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes and jurisprudence, exemplary configurations described above are considered to represent a preferred embodiment of the invention. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope. Alphanumeric identifiers on method steps are for convenient reference in dependent claims and do not signify a required sequence of performance unless otherwise indicated in the claims.
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