FR2496054A1 - Pallet for handling purposes - has rectangular frame with supports for horizontal sides and verticals assembled as module - Google Patents

Abstract

The pallet has four cross pieces (7,8,9,10) forming the sides of a rectangular frame. There are four angled supports (1,2,3,4) to fix and assemble the cross pieces. These have housings to receive the cross piece ends. A centre cross piece (11) joins the opposite sides. This uses central supports (5,6), with several housings for the centre and side pieces. The supports have a thrust shoe and a plate in which are the housings for the cross pieces (7,11). A shutter rigidly joins the shoe and plate. The supports are of parallelepiped shape.

Description

HANDLING PALLET
The present invention relates to handling pallets.

Pallets are widely used in all shops and for all types of products. As accessories, they must be relatively inexpensive.

For this reason, most handling pallets, manipulated by forklifts, are made of pieces of wood nailed to the side members to form a real floor.

However, such conventional wooden pallets, if they are inexpensive, are prone to damage and their construction is imprecise. In particular, they do not have sufficient "rectangularity" to authorize their use on automatic transport chains for palletized products. This use is only allowed if the pallets have a fairly high dimensional accuracy, good orthogonality of the sides. These qualities are relatively easy to obtain if conventional fitting techniques are used, but the price of the pallet is relatively high. High prices could be accepted only for returnable pallets.

The object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive pallet, which may be a "lost" pallet, but which also has good dimensional qualities which make it suitable for use on automatic packaging and transport palletized product boxes. .

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a relatively light pallet, of simple construction, stackable and which offers on its four sides a possibility of passage of the fork of a forklift.

To achieve these goals, the pallet according to the invention comprises at least the following elements
- four crosspieces to form the sides of a rectangular openwork frame.

- four corner support studs for assembling and fixing the
sleepers, arranged at the corners of the frame, said corner support studs
having a plurality of housings for receiving the ends
said sleepers adjacent to said corner support pads.

In its preferred embodiment, the pallet further comprises
- a central crosspiece connected to two opposite sides of the frame by means of
two middle support studs,
- said median support pads have a plurality of housings
to each receive, on the one hand, one end of said crosspiece
median and on the other hand the passage of a cross member forming one of said
opposite sides of the frame.

The corner support pads and the median support pads are each made up
- a support sole
- an assembly part or plate, in which all are provided
the housing intended to receive the assembly or the passage of
sleepers
- a bracing rigidly connecting the support sole to the plate.

The assembly part or plate of each support stud, of generally parallelepiped shape comprises
- a through housing directed along one of the sides of the support pad,
- And a plurality of housings, parallel to each other, directed according to a
direction perpendicular to the direction of the through housing.

Preferably also the support pads are produced by molding a thermoplastic material.

Vertical or "raised" walls may be provided along the upper outer edges of the support studs to prevent the load from sliding on the pallet, in a manner known per se.

Depending on whether it is a corner support pad arranged along a first diagonal of the pallet, along a second diagonal of the pallet, or even a median stud, the shape of the extension will be different (a or two walls, the second can be to the left or right of the first).

However, and this is a great advantage of the invention, despite these minor differences in the extensions, the angle or median support pads can be made from the same mold, in which plates are provided. removable for selective molding of the sides of the extensions.

Preferably, the crosspieces are wooden slats. They can be, for example, force-fitted into the corresponding housings of the support pads or else stapled into the walls of said housings.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description of a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the object of the invention, accompanied by a drawing in which
- Figure 1 is an overall perspective view of an example of
realization of the pallet according to the invention.

- Figure 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the
support pad for the pallet according to the invention.

The pallet in FIG. 1 comprises six support pads 1 to 6, connected or crossed by five crosspieces, referenced 7 to 11.

On the one hand, four support pads 1 to 4, also called corner support pads are connected by four crosspieces 7, 8, 9 and 10 to form a rectangular frame.

On the other hand, two support pads 5 and 6, called median support pads, are crossed respectively by the cross members 8 and 10 of the rectangular frame, and are connected by a cross member 11, called the middle cross member.

 It goes without saying that this pallet structure is only described by way of nonlimiting example of the subject of the invention. It is possible, for example, without departing from the scope of the invention, to produce a pallet with two or more median crosspieces parallel to each other, requiring one or more pairs of additional median support studs, if the length of the rectangular frame of the pallet demanded. The example currently described with a single central crosspiece is perfectly suited to the so-called European pallet of 800 x 1200 mm.

In Figure 2, there is shown an embodiment of the support pad used.

Each support stud, angle or median, comprises four parts: a support sole 12, an assembly part 14, called plate in the rest of the text, a brace 13 connecting the support sole 12 and said plate 14, and finally, an upper part 15 called in the following text "enhances".

In the example presently described, all the support pads, angle or median, are identical, except as regards the upper part or raiser 15.

For this reason, the description of the support pads will be limited to that of the angle support pad referenced 4 in the drawing in FIG. 1. This angle support pad 4 is, moreover, identical in all respects, including the raises the corner stud 2 which is diagonally opposite it.

The support stud comprises a support sole 12, rectangular, of small thickness, connected to the plate 14 by means of bracing struts 13a, 13b, extending in planes perpendicular to the plane of the sole.

The number, arrangement, thickness and width of these spacers are calculated so as to maintain a perfectly rigid connection between the support base and the plate when the pallet is loaded.

In addition, there is provided between the spacers sufficient space to allow the passage of a strapping tool for the assembly constituted by the pallet and its load.

The plate 14, of parallelepiped shape, includes all the housings intended to receive the assembly of the ends of the crosspieces (corner studs-supports) or the passage of a crosspiece (central studs-supports).

It comprises a through housing 14a, directed in a first direction of the parallelepiped forming the plate, and three housings 14b, 14c, 14d, directed in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the through housing 14a, and separated from the latter by a wall 14e.

In the drawing of Figure 2, the through housing 14a is delimited by four walls. According to an alternative embodiment, not shown in the drawings, the external vertical wall (opposite the wall 14c) can be omitted; in such a case, the crosspieces are engaged laterally in the support stud.

As can be seen in the drawing in FIG. 2, the housings can be delimited laterally by simple arcs perpendicular to the wall 14e.

The sections, shapes, dimensions of the housings 14a to 14d are calculated so as to receive the passage of a cross member or else the assembly of one end of the cross member. Chamfers are provided in all the entry sections of the housings in a manner known per se, to facilitate the introduction of the sleepers.

The upper face 14f of the plate constitutes a bearing surface for loading the pallet.

The upper part 15 or enhancement, is formed differently depending on whether it is an angle support pad according to the first diagonal, according to the second diagonal or even depending on whether it is a median pad.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the corner support pads 2 and 4 are identical to the support pad shown in FIG. 2, namely, comprise two walls 15a, 15b, perpendicular to the upper face 14f of the plate, directed respectively according to the length and the width of the support pad.

These walls form the enhancement of the support stud and serve to hold the pallet load in position, in a manner known per se.

The angle support pads 1 and 3 are identical in all respects to the support pad of FIG. 2, except that the wall 15b is arranged along the opposite side of the support pad. The median support pads are identical in all respects to the support pad in FIG. 2, except that they only comprise one wall 15a, extending over the length of the support pad, to the exclusion of any wall 15b.

Preferably, the corner or median support pads are produced by molding in thermoplastic material, in polypropylene for example.

It goes without saying that depending on the loads for which the pallets are intended, the support pads may have a slightly different shape, without however the structure being fundamentally modified.

If the loads are greater than approximately 300 kg, the support pads will have a more massive appearance, in particular the various housings 14b, 14c, 14d, may be separated by solid walls.

On the other hand, we can provide thicker bracing struts, or in greater numbers.

As regards the crosspieces, they can be produced in the example described above, in the form of wooden slats which are force fitted into the corresponding housings. For more security in the blocking, it can be provided on the internal faces of the housings of the projecting ribs (not shown in the figures) extending in the direction of the sleepers which allow the wood to be crushed in the rib areas.

The wooden slats can also be glued or rigidly fixed to the support-studs by any equivalent known means, such as keying, stapling (staple-type of joinery wood), stop screws, etc.

The crosspieces can also be hollow bars obtained by molding a thermoplastic material, such as polypropylene and connected to the support studs by any known fixing means.

They can also be made of any other material, fiberglass, light steel, aluminum, the choice of material depending essentially on the load given, the total weight of the pallet sought, and the price acceptable for the pallet.

As indicated above> the angle or median support pads are identical in all points, except the shape of the extension. This allows all the support pads to be produced on the same mold, in order to selectively produce the various constituent walls of the risers.

The same mold will also allow, by the play of a removable plate, to manufacture the support studs with pierced housing 14a perforated, described above in a variant.

The dimensions of the support soles 12 of the support pads are chosen so that the pallets can be "stacked". For this, the outer edges 12a and 12b of the support soles i2 are set back from the plane of the extensions 15a and 15b, (withdrawal visualized in the drawing in FIG. 2 by the dimension "e" 3, so that the soles d support of a pallet can come into contact with the upper faces 14f of the plates of the support pads of the lower pallet.

Claims (13)

1. Handling pallet characterized in that it comprises  - four crosspieces (7,8,9,10) to form the sides of a frame  openwork rectangular.  adjacent to said corner support pads.  (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d) to receive the ends of said sleepers  corner supports with a plurality of housings  fixing the crosspieces, arranged at the corners of the frame, the said  - four corner support pads (1,2,3,4) for assembly and 2. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises>  in addition, a central crosspiece (11) connected to two opposite sides of the  frame, by means of two mediating support pads (5,6,), said pads  mddians supports having a plurality of housings (14a, 14b, 14c,  14d) to each receive one end of said cross  median (11), and on the other hand, the passage of a cross member forming one  of said opposite sides of the frame. 3. Pallet according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized  in that the corner support pads and the median support pads (1 to  6) each consist of a support sole (12), a plate (14)  in which all the housings (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d) are provided  to receive the assembly or the passage of the sleepers (7 to 11), and a  bracing (13) rigidly connecting said support sole and said  platinum. 4. Pallet according to claim 3, characterized in that the plate (14) of  each support stud is of substantially parallelepiped shape, and  includes a through housing (14a) directed along one of the sides of the  stud, and a plurality of housings (14b, 14c, 14d) parallel between  them, directed according to the direction perpandicular to the direction of housing  crossing (14a). 5. Pallet according to claim 4, characterized in that the housing  through (14a) is open over the entire length of its outer face  to allow lateral engagement of the crossmember.  6. Pallet according to claim 4, characterized in that the different  dwellings (14b, 14c, 14d) are three in number and are separated from the  through housing (14a) by a wall (14e).  7. Pallet according to claim 3, characterized in that the bracing  ment (13) is constituted by a plurality of spacers (13a, 13b)  extending in perpendicular planes to the plane of the support sole  (12).  8. Pallet according to claim 3, characterized in that the studs  angle supports (1 to 4) further include an extension (15) consisting  by two walls (15a, 15b), perpendicular to the plane of the sole  support (12), directed upwards from the upper part of the  plate and extending along the two adjoining sides of the support stud located at  the outside in the pallet mounting position.  9. Pallet according to claim 3, characterized in that the studs  median supports (5,6) further include an extension (15) consisting  by a wall (15a), perpendicular to the plane of the support sole (12)>  directed upwards from the upper part of the plate, and  extending along the longitudinal side of the median support stud located at  the outside in the pallet mounting position. 10. Pallet according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in  that the support pads (1 to 6) are obtained by molding in material  thermoplastic, in particular polypropylene. 11. Pallet according to claim 10, characterized in that the crosspieces  (7 to 11) are formed by wooden slats. 12. Pallet according to claim 11, characterized in that the crosspieces  (7 to 11) are forcibly assembled in the housings (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d)  corresponding to the support pads (1 to 6). 13. Pallet according to claim 10, characterized in that the crosspieces  are fixed to the support studs by means of staples.