JP7492275B2 - palette - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a pallet on which containers can be placed.

When transporting a large amount of liquid, a container containing the liquid is transported by truck or the like and placed on a pallet at the destination. The liquid is then drained from the container on the pallet. The liquid is drained from an outlet provided near the bottom end of the container. In order to ensure that no liquid is left in the container, when the amount of liquid in the container becomes low, a person manually tilts the container to tilt the bottom of the container toward the outlet, and the remaining liquid is drained from the outlet (see Patent Document 1).

In recent years, highly concentrated liquids have been transported in containers in order to reduce transportation costs. Because highly concentrated liquids have high viscosity, it is becoming increasingly important to tilt the container when discharging such liquids from it.

JP 2000-128284 A

However, the container with the liquid still in it was heavy, making it difficult to tilt by hand.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a pallet that allows containers placed on it to be easily tilted.

The present invention includes the following embodiments:

[1] A pallet comprising an upper platform on which containers are placed, and a lower platform which is disposed below the upper platform and has a lower end which is a contact surface, and which can be in a parallel state in which the upper platform is parallel to the lower platform, and an inclined state in which the upper platform is inclined relative to the lower platform, a support shaft is provided at a location rearward of the center in the fore-and-aft direction of the upper platform, and the inclined state is realized by raising a front portion of the upper platform which is a portion forward of the support shaft and lowering a rear portion of the upper platform which is a portion rearward of the support shaft, a feed screw is connected to the front portion of the upper platform at an upper connecting portion and is connected to the lower platform at a lower connecting portion, and the distance between the upper connecting portion and the lower connecting portion changes as the feed screw rotates, and the change in distance causes the front portion to be inclined relative to the lower platform. A pallet which changes from the parallel state to the inclined state, a handle is attached to the feed screw, the feed screw rotates by turning the handle by hand, the handle is attachable and detachable to the upper end of the feed screw, the upper end of the feed screw is below a mounting surface on which the container is placed on the upper platform , the upper connecting portion includes a support unit which rotatably supports the feed screw, and the lower connecting portion includes a nut into which the feed screw is fitted, even when the feed screw rotates, the feed screw does not move in its extension direction relative to the support unit, and the length of the portion of the feed screw below the nut changes as the feed screw rotates inside the nut.

[2] A pallet according to [1], in which, in the parallel state and the tilted state, the upper connecting part is in front of the lower connecting part, and the feed screw is tilted.

[ 3 ] The pallet according to [1] or [2] , wherein in the parallel state, the angle between the contact surface of the base and the feed screw is greater than or equal to 30° and less than or equal to 50°.

With the above pallet, containers placed on the upper platform can be easily tilted by turning the feed screw.

A view of a pallet with containers on it, seen from the left. The pallet is in a horizontal position. A view of the upper platform from above. View of the base from above. A front view of the hinge. Front view of the upper connector. Front view of the lower connector. A view of a pallet with containers on it, seen from the left. The pallet is inclined. Pallet viewed from the left. Pallet in horizontal position. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the lead screw and its surrounding area with the handle attached. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the lead screw and its surroundings with the handle removed. Cross-sectional view of a container.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pallet 10 of the embodiment has a container 60 placed on it. The pallet 10 has an upper platform 20 on which the container 60 is placed, and a lower platform 30 that is provided below the upper platform 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper base 20 is formed by welding together multiple L-shaped steel members. The upper surfaces of each L-shaped steel member lie on a single plane, which becomes the support surface 12 on which the container 60 rests. The upper base 20 is roughly rectangular when viewed from above.

Stoppers 21 are provided on both the left and right sides of the rear end of the upper platform 20. The stoppers 21 are walls provided along the corners of the upper platform 20. The stoppers 21 prevent the container 60 on the upper platform 20 from falling when the upper platform 20 is tilted, as described below.

In FIG. 1, the vertical length of the stopper 21 is shorter than the vertical length from the mounting surface 12 of the upper base 20 to the lower end of the lower base 30 (the ground surface 13 described below), and in a preferred embodiment, the length is less than half the vertical length from the mounting surface 12 to the ground surface 13. In addition, a recess 22 that is cut out in a rectangular shape when viewed from above is formed in the center of the left-right direction of the front end 19 of the upper base 20.

As shown in Figures 2 and 4, tubular members 23 extending in the left-right direction are fixed to the left and right sides of the underside of the upper base 20. The tubular members 23 are members that constitute the hinge 11, which will be described later.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 5, two support members 24 extending in the front-rear direction are provided at the front of the underside of the upper base 20. The front ends of these support members 24 protrude into the recesses 22 of the upper base 20 when viewed from above. These support members 24 are channel steels that open downward. In both the left and right channel steels, as shown in Fig. 5, a support tube 26 is provided between the left and right side walls 25. The support tube 26 is located near the front end of the support member 24. The support tube 26 is part of the upper connecting portion 14, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 3, the base 30 is formed by welding together several L-shaped steel members. The underside of each L-shaped steel member is on a single plane, which becomes the contact surface 13 (see FIG. 1). The base 30 is rectangular when viewed from above.

Two support members 37 extending in the front-rear direction are provided at the front of the upper surface of the base 30. As shown in FIG. 6, these support members 37 are channel steels that open upward. In both the left and right channel steels, a support tube 39 is provided between the left and right side walls 38. The support tube 39 is part of the lower connecting part 15, which will be described later.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, a protruding rod 29 that protrudes upward is provided at the front end of the lower base 30. This protruding rod 29 abuts against the underside of the upper base 20 in a parallel state, which will be described later, and supports the upper base 20.

As shown in Figures 1 and 3, two support walls 31 are provided on each of the left and right sides of the center in the front-to-rear direction of the lower base 30. The support walls 31 have an upper end 34 at the center in the front-to-rear direction and an inclined portion 35 that gradually becomes lower in both the front and rear directions from the upper end 34. A protrusion 36 protrudes upward from the inclined portion 35 behind the upper end 34.

As shown in FIG. 4, a tubular member 32 is fixed to the left and right sides of the upper end 34 of the support wall 31. A single support shaft 33 passes through the inner diameter side of these two tubular members 32. The support shaft 33 is a rod-shaped member that extends in the left-right direction. The support shaft 33 is fixed so that it cannot rotate relative to the two tubular members 32.

The tubular member 23 on the upper base 20 side is disposed between the left and right tubular members 32. The support shaft 33 passes not only through the two tubular members 32 but also through the inner diameter side of the tubular member 23 on the upper base 20 side. Here, the tubular member 23 on the upper base 20 side is rotatable about the support shaft 33. The support shaft 33 and the tubular members 23, 32 constitute the hinge 11. Such hinges 11 are provided on both the left and right sides of the lower base 30.

Because the upper base 20 and the lower base 30 are connected by the hinge 11 in this way, the inclination of the upper base 20 relative to the lower base 30 can be changed. Specifically, the upper base 20 can be parallel to the lower base 30 (see FIG. 1), and can be inclined relative to the lower base 30 (see FIG. 7). Furthermore, the inclination angle in the inclined state can be changed continuously. Here, the inclination of the upper base 20 relative to the lower base 30 means, to be precise, the inclination of the mounting surface 12 of the upper base 20 relative to the ground surface 13 of the lower base 30. The inclination angle means the angle between the mounting surface 12 and the ground surface 13.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the tilted state, the portion of the upper base 20 in front of the support shaft 33 (this portion is referred to as the "front portion 27") rises, and the portion of the upper base 20 behind the support shaft 33 (this portion is referred to as the "rear portion 28") falls.

As shown in FIG. 1, the support shaft 33 of the hinge 11 is provided at a location rearward of the center of the upper base 20 in the front-rear direction. The specific position of the support shaft 33 in the front-rear direction is preferably between the center of gravity of the container 60 when it is filled to capacity with liquid and placed on the upper base 20 in a parallel state, and the center of gravity of the container 60 when the liquid has decreased to 20-30% of its capacity on the upper base 20 tilted to its maximum tilt angle. Expressed numerically, for example, the length L1 (see FIG. 8) in the front-rear direction from the front end 19 of the upper base 20 to the position of the support shaft 33 is preferably 55% to 65% of the total length L2 (see FIG. 8) in the front-rear direction of the upper base 20.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front portion 27 of the upper platform 20 and the lower platform 30 are connected by a feed screw 40. The feed screw 40 is connected to the upper platform 20 at the top by the upper connecting portion 14, and is connected to the lower platform 30 at the bottom by the lower connecting portion 15. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the feed screw 40 is provided in the center of the pallet 10 in the left-right direction.

In detail, as shown in Fig. 5, Fig. 9, and Fig. 10, the upper part of the feed screw 40 is supported by the support unit 41. As shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10, the support unit 41 includes a housing 42 and a bearing 43, and the feed screw 40 is fitted into the bearing 43. With this configuration, the feed screw 40 is rotatable on the inner diameter side of the fixed housing 42. Note that even if the feed screw 40 rotates, the feed screw 40 does not move in its extension direction relative to the support unit 41.

As described above, the upper base 20 is provided with two support tubes 26, one on the left and one on the right. As shown in Figures 2 and 5, the support unit 41 is disposed between the left and right support tubes 26. Axle members 44 are fixed to the left and right sides of the housing 42 of the support unit 41. These axle members 44 are inserted into the inner diameter sides of the left and right support tubes 26. The axle members 44 are rotatable inside the support tubes 26. When the axle members 44 rotate inside the support tubes 26, the angle of the support unit 41, which is fixed to the axle members 44, relative to the upper base 20 changes.

As shown in FIG. 5 etc., the support tube 26 fixed to the upper base 20, the support unit 41 attached to the feed screw 40, and the shaft member 44 fixed to the support unit 41 and capable of rotating inside the support tube 26 constitute the upper connecting portion 14.

As shown in Figures 6, 9, and 10, a nut 45 is fitted to the feed screw 40 below the support unit 41. The feed screw 40 can move in its own extension direction relative to the nut 45 while rotating inside the nut 45.

As described above, the lower base 30 is provided with two support tubes 39 (see Figures 3 and 6). Also, as shown in Figure 6, shaft members 46 are fixed to the left and right sides of the nut 45. These shaft members 46 are inserted into the inner diameter sides of the left and right support tubes 39. The shaft members 46 are rotatable inside the support tubes 39. When the shaft members 46 rotate inside the support tubes 39, the angle of the nut 45 fixed to the shaft members 46 with respect to the lower base 30 changes.

As shown in FIG. 6 etc., the support tube 39 fixed to the lower base 30, the nut 45 attached to the feed screw 40, and the shaft member 46 fixed to the nut 45 and capable of rotating inside the support tube 39 constitute the lower connecting part 15.

As described above, in the upper connecting portion 14, the shaft member 44 fixed to the support unit 41 can rotate inside the support tube 26 fixed to the upper base 20. Also, in the lower connecting portion 15, the shaft member 46 fixed to the nut 45 can rotate inside the support tube 39 fixed to the lower base 30. The support unit 41 and the nut 45 are each provided on the feed screw 40. Due to this structure, when the inclination angle of the upper base 20 relative to the lower base 30 changes, the shaft members 44, 46 rotate inside the support tubes 26, 39, and the inclination angle of the feed screw 40 can change.

As shown in Figures 1 and 7, in the parallel and inclined states, the upper connecting part 14 is in front of the lower connecting part 15. Therefore, the feed screw 40 is inclined in a direction such that the upper end 47 faces forward. The inclination angle of the feed screw 40 in the parallel state, i.e., the angle between the contact surface 13 of the lower base 30 and the longitudinal direction of the feed screw 40, is preferably 30° or more and 50° or less.

The upper end 47 of the feed screw 40 protrudes above the support unit 41. However, the upper end 47 of the feed screw 40 is below the mounting surface 12 of the upper base 20 whether the upper base 20 is in a parallel or inclined state. Also, when viewed from above as in FIG. 2, the upper end 47 of the feed screw 40 is within a predetermined distance in the front-rear direction from the front end 19 of the upper base 20. The predetermined distance here is 1/20 or less of the length of the upper base 20 in the front-rear direction. The length of the portion above the support unit 41 does not change even when the feed screw 40 rotates.

As shown in FIG. 9, the upper end 47 of the feed screw 40 is provided with a handle 50 for manually rotating the feed screw 40. The handle 50 is provided with a knob 52 that is gripped by the operator. The handle 50 is circular with a hole 51 at the center. The upper end 47 of the feed screw 40 is shaped to fit into the hole 51. Therefore, the operator can fit the hole 51 of the handle 50 into the upper end 47 of the feed screw 40, and the handle 50 can be attached to the feed screw 40 only by fitting the hole 51. The operator can also remove the handle 50 from the feed screw 40. No fixing device is required to fix the handle 50 to the feed screw 40.

As shown in FIG. 2, when viewed from above, a portion of the handle 50 attached to the feed screw 40 is in a recess 22 formed in the front end 19 of the upper base 20, and the remaining portion of the handle 50 is forward of the front end 19 of the upper base 20. Also, when the upper base 20 is in a parallel state, the portion of the handle 50 attached to the feed screw 40 is at the same height as the support surface 12 of the upper base 20.

The lower part of the lead screw 40 extends below the nut 45. When the lead screw 40 rotates, it moves in its own extension direction relative to the nut 45. However, the location of the nut 45 is fixed to the location of the lower connecting part 15. Therefore, the length of the portion of the lead screw 40 below the nut 45 changes when the lead screw 40 rotates.

When the feed screw 40 rotates, the feed screw 40 moves in its extension direction, and the length of the portion of the feed screw 40 between the upper connecting part 14 and the lower connecting part 15 (hereinafter, this length will be referred to as the "point-to-point length") changes. The inclination of the upper base 20 relative to the lower base 30 changes with the change in the point-to-point length. The point-to-point length can also be considered the distance between the upper connecting part 14 and the lower connecting part 15.

In detail, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper base 20 is initially parallel to the lower base 30. Next, when the operator turns the handle 50 to rotate the feed screw 40 in one direction, the feed screw 40 moves upward, and the length between the two points becomes longer, as shown in FIG. 7. As the length between the two points becomes longer, the front part 27 of the upper base 20 rises. Since the upper base 20 is supported by the support shaft 33 of the hinge 11, when the front part 27 of the upper base 20 rises, the rear part 28 of the upper base 20 falls. In this way, the upper base 20 is inclined relative to the lower base 30. As the inclination angle of the upper base 20 relative to the lower base 30 increases, the position of the upper connecting part 14 moves backward and upward, and the inclination angle of the feed screw 40 relative to the ground surface 13 increases.

The inclination angle of the upper table 20 changes continuously with the rotation of the feed screw 40. The operator can arbitrarily determine the inclination angle of the upper table 20 by stopping the rotation of the feed screw 40. However, as shown in FIG. 7, when the rear portion 28 of the upper table 20 hits the protrusion 36 protruding from the support wall 31 of the lower table 30, the upper table 20 cannot be tilted any further. Therefore, when the rear portion 28 of the upper table 20 hits the protrusion 36 of the lower table 30, the inclination angle of the upper table 20 is at its maximum. The maximum inclination angle of the upper table 20 is preferably 15° or more and 35° or less.

The operator can set the inclination angle of the upper platform 20 to any angle greater than 0° and less than or equal to the maximum value (any value between 15° and 35°). However, the upper platform 20 is most stable when the rear portion 28 of the upper platform 20 hits the protrusion 36 of the lower platform 30 and the inclination angle is at its maximum.

The number of rotations of the handle 50 required to move the upper platform 20 from a parallel state to an inclined state with the maximum inclination angle is, for example, 15 to 20 rotations. The time required for an operator to rotate the handle 50 15 to 20 times is, for example, 10 to 15 seconds.

When changing the upper base 20 from an inclined state to a parallel state, the operator turns the handle 50 to rotate the feed screw 40 in the opposite direction to the one mentioned above. As the feed screw 40 rotates, the front part 27 of the upper base 20 moves down, and eventually the underside of the front part 27 of the upper base 20 hits the protruding rod 29. When the upper base 20 hits the protruding rod 29, the upper base 20 becomes parallel.

The position of the lower end 48 of the feed screw 40 changes as the feed screw 40 rotates. Specifically, when the upper base 20 is in a parallel state, the lower end 48 of the feed screw 40 is at the rearmost position within its movable range. As the feed screw 40 rotates and the inclination angle of the upper base 20 increases, the inclination angle of the feed screw 40 also increases, and the lower end 48 of the feed screw 40 moves forward. In addition, as the inclination angle of the upper base 20 changes, the height of the lower end 48 of the feed screw 40 from the ground surface 13 also changes. However, the lower end 48 of the feed screw 40 is always above the ground surface 13.

The specific material of the pallet 10 is, for example, stainless steel such as SUS304. The weight of the pallet 10 is, for example, 130 kg or more and 150 kg or less.

Container 60 is a container that holds liquid. As shown in FIG. 11, container 60 is composed of a rectangular box 61 and an inner bag 62 stored inside box 61. Inner bag 62 is a bag that is filled with liquid. Examples of liquids that can be filled into inner bag 62 include fats and oils, seasonings, cosmetics, detergents, chemicals, etc. Such liquids are filled in a state where they are more concentrated than usual. Container 60 filled with liquid weighs, for example, about 800 kg to 1200 kg.

A drain outlet 63 is provided in the center of the lower rear end of the box 61 in the left-right direction. The drain outlet 63 is opened and closed by a lid 64. Inside the box 61, a recess 65 is formed that continues from the drain outlet 63. The recess 65 is recessed into the inner bottom surface 66 around it. The inner bottom surface 66 of the box 61 is gently inclined toward the recess 65. This allows liquid to flow along the inner bottom surface 66 toward the recess 65.

As shown in FIG. 11, two insertion openings 67 are provided side by side on the bottom of the box 61. These insertion openings 67 are the locations where the forks of a forklift are inserted. The insertion openings 67 are provided on the front, back, left and right sides of the box 61, so that the forks can be inserted from either side. The stoppers 21 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 8) of the pallet 10 described above are provided to avoid the locations of all of the insertion openings 67 so as not to block any of the insertion openings 67 on the front, back, left and right sides of the container 60 placed on the pallet 10. Therefore, although the container 60 is usually placed on the upper platform 20 from the front, it can also be placed from the rear or left and right.

The inner bag 62 is a bag made of resin. A filling port 68 is provided at the upper end of the inner bag 62. Liquid is filled into the inner bag 62 from this filling port 68. A discharge port 69 is provided at the rear lower end of the inner bag 62. The discharge port 69 is set in the discharge port 63 of the box 61. When the lid 64 on the discharge port 63 of the box 61 is opened and then the lid (not shown) on the discharge port 69 is opened, the liquid inside the inner bag 62 is discharged from the discharge port 63.

The container 60 is transported by truck with the inner bag 62 filled with liquid. At the destination, the container 60 is removed from the truck by a forklift and placed on the mounting surface 12 of the pallet 10. The container 60 is placed on the mounting surface 12 so that its rear end abuts against the stopper 21 of the pallet 10.

When liquid is discharged from the container 60, initially, the upper platform 20 of the pallet 10 is in a horizontal state, with the container 60 resting on its mounting surface 12. The worker first opens the lid 64 of the discharge outlet 63 of the box 61 that constitutes the container 60, and then opens the discharge outlet 69 of the inner bag 62 that is set in the discharge outlet 63. This causes the liquid in the inner bag 62 to begin to discharge from the discharge outlet 69. The upper platform 20 of the pallet 10 is kept in a horizontal state for a while after discharge begins.

As the liquid continues to be discharged, and the amount of liquid in the inner bag 62 decreases to about 20-30% of the capacity of the container 60, the discharge of the liquid slows down. At this point, the operator attaches the recessed handle 50 to the feed screw 40 and turns the handle 50 to rotate the feed screw 40 in one direction to tilt the upper base 20. Typically, the operator turns the handle 50 until the rear portion 28 of the upper base 20 hits the protrusion 36 of the lower base 30. This causes the tilt angle of the upper base 20 to reach its maximum value.

Here, the support shaft 33, which is the reference for changing the tilt angle, is located behind the center of the upper base 20 in the fore-and-aft direction, as described above. Therefore, the front portion 27 of the upper base 20 can be lifted with less force than if the support shaft were located in the center of the fore-and-aft direction.

In detail, when starting to tilt the upper platform 20 from a horizontal state, the force required to lift the front part 27 of the upper platform 20 is greater when the support shaft 33 is provided at the rear of the upper platform 20 than when the support shaft is provided at the center in the front-rear direction. However, when trying to further increase the tilt angle from a state in which the upper platform 20 is tilted to a certain extent, the force required to lift the front part 27 of the upper platform 20 is smaller when the support shaft 33 is provided at the rear of the upper platform 20 than when the support shaft is provided at the center in the front-rear direction. And, the maximum value of the force required at each moment from when the operator starts to tilt the upper platform 20 to just before the tilt angle reaches its maximum value is smaller when the support shaft 33 is provided at the rear of the upper platform 20 than when the support shaft is provided at the center in the front-rear direction. Therefore, although the container 60 is heavy because of the liquid inside, the operator can easily operate the handle 50 to lift the front part 27 of the upper platform 20 with his or her own strength.

In addition, as the inclination angle of the upper base 20 increases, the liquid gathers at the rear of the container 60, and the center of gravity of the container 60 moves rearward. However, because the support shaft 33 is located behind the center of the upper base 20 in the front-to-rear direction, the support shaft 33 can support the weight of the container 60 and the liquid inside it.

By tilting the upper base 20, the liquid in the container 60 gathers toward the outlet 63, and the pressure of the liquid near the outlet 63 increases, causing the liquid to be forcefully discharged from the outlet 63. Then, by keeping the upper base 20 in an inclined state, most or all of the liquid in the container 60 is discharged from the outlet 63.

When the liquid has been discharged, the worker turns the handle 50 to rotate the feed screw 40 and return the upper platform 20 to a horizontal position. Next, the worker uses a forklift to remove the container 60 from the upper platform 20 of the pallet 10.

As described above, the pallet 10 of this embodiment is provided with a feed screw 40 that is connected to the front portion 27 of the upper platform 20 at the upper connecting portion 14 and to the lower platform 30 at the lower connecting portion 15. Rotation of the feed screw 40 changes the distance between the upper connecting portion 14 and the lower connecting portion 15, and this change in distance causes the upper platform 20 to change from a parallel state to an inclined state. Therefore, by rotating the feed screw 40, an operator can easily tilt a container 60 placed on the mounting surface 12 of the upper platform 20.

By tilting the container 60, even if there is a highly viscous liquid in the container 60, the liquid can be drained out of the container 60 to the very last drop.

Here, the front portion 27 of the upper base 20, which is the portion in front of the support shaft 33, rises, and the rear portion 28 of the upper base 20, which is the portion behind the support shaft 33, lowers, thereby achieving the tilted state. Therefore, the front portion 27 of the upper base 20 can be lifted with less force than when attempting to tilt the upper base by simply lifting the front portion without lowering the rear portion.

In addition, the support shaft 33, which serves as the reference for tilting the upper stand 20, is provided at a location rearward of the center in the front-to-rear direction of the upper stand 20. Because the support shaft 33 is located at this location, the front portion 27 of the upper stand 20 can be lifted with little force from the beginning to the end of the operation to tilt the upper stand 20. Therefore, the operator can easily tilt the container 60 placed on the mounting surface 12 of the upper stand 20 by simply rotating the feed screw 40 with little force.

In addition, because the support shaft 33 is located behind the center of the upper platform 20 in the front-to-rear direction, the support shaft 33 can support the weight of the container 60 and the liquid inside it even when the container 60 tilts and the center of gravity of the container 60 moves backward.

Here, if the length L1 in the front-to-rear direction from the front end 19 of the upper base 20 to the position of the support shaft 33 is 55% to 65% of the total length L2 in the front-to-rear direction of the upper base 20, the operator can tilt the container 60 particularly easily. Also, if L1 is 55% to 65% of L2, the support shaft 33 can firmly support the weight of the container 60 and the liquid therein, whether the upper base 20 is in a parallel or inclined state. And because the support shaft 33 firmly supports the weight of the container 60 and the liquid therein, the load on the feed screw 40 is small, and the force required to lift the front portion 27 of the upper base 20 with the feed screw 40 is small.

In addition, according to the pallet 10 of this embodiment, the container 60 can be tilted by tilting the upper platform 20, so that the liquid remaining in the container 60 can flow toward the drain outlet 63 even if the inner bottom surface 66 of the box 61 of the container 60 is not significantly tilted. Therefore, the height of the container 60 can be kept low.

In addition, because the feed screw 40 is inclined with respect to the ground surface 13 in both the parallel and inclined states, the feed screw 40 can be accommodated in a narrow space below the upper base 20. Therefore, the feed screw 40 does not get in the way when placing the container 60 on the mounting surface 12 of the upper base 20. Furthermore, because the upper end 47 of the feed screw 40 is below the mounting surface 12, the feed screw 40 does not get in the way when placing the container 60 on the mounting surface 12.

In addition, if the angle between the ground surface 13 of the lower base 30 and the feed screw 40 is 30° or more in the parallel state, the force of the feed screw 40 trying to rise is efficiently used to lift the front part 27 of the upper base 20. In addition, if the angle between the ground surface 13 of the lower base 30 and the feed screw 40 is 50° or less in the parallel state, the height of the upper base 20 relative to the lower base 30 can be lowered.

A handle 50 is attached to the feed screw 40, and the feed screw 40 rotates when the handle 50 is turned by hand. Therefore, the operator can easily tilt the upper base 20 by simply turning the handle 50. Here, the handle 50 is detachable from the upper end 47 of the feed screw 40, so the handle 50 can be removed when it is not needed or gets in the way. In addition, since the upper end 47 of the feed screw 40 is below the mounting surface 12 of the upper base 20, the feed screw 40 does not get in the way when placing a container 60 on the mounting surface 12, etc.

In addition, when the upper table 20 is in a horizontal state, a portion of the handle 50 attached to the feed screw 40 is at the same height as the mounting surface 12, making it easy for the operator to operate the handle 50.

In addition, because the maximum inclination angle of the upper platform 20 is 15° or more, the liquid in the container 60 can be smoothly discharged. In addition, because the maximum inclination angle of the upper platform 20 is 35° or less, even if the stopper 21 of the upper platform 20 is low in height, the container 60 will not slide off when the upper platform 20 is tilted. And because the height of the stopper 21 is low, the pallet 10 can be easily transported and stored.

In addition, because the feed screw 40, which is turned by the worker's force, is used to tilt the upper platform 20, the pallet 10 can be made less expensive than when a motor or hydraulic cylinder is used. In addition, because the rotation of the feed screw 40 can be stopped at the worker's discretion, the worker can freely determine the tilt angle of the upper platform 20 when discharging liquid.

Various modifications can be made to the above embodiment. For example, the powder may be placed in the container 60. In the case of powder, the powder can be smoothly discharged by tilting the container 60 in the same manner as described above. In addition, the above container 60 has a recess 65 that continues from the discharge port 63, but such a recess 65 does not have to exist. In addition, in the above container 60, the inner bottom surface 66 of the box 61 is gently inclined, but the inner bottom surface 66 does not have to be inclined in this manner. In addition, a motor (not shown) may be mechanically connected to the feed screw 40, and the feed screw 40 may be rotated by the motor.

10...pallet, 11...hinge, 12...mounting surface, 13...ground surface, 14...upper connecting portion, 15...lower connecting portion, 19...front end, 20...upper base, 21...stopper, 22...recess, 23...tubular member, 24...supporting member, 25...side wall, 26...supporting tube, 27...front portion, 28...rear portion, 29...protruding rod, 30...lower base, 31...support wall, 32...tubular member, 33...support shaft, 34...upper end, 35...inclined portion, 36...projection , 37...support member, 38...side wall, 39...support tube, 40...feed screw, 41...support unit, 42...housing, 43...bearing, 44...shaft member, 45...nut, 46...shaft member, 47...upper end, 48...lower end, 50...handle, 51...hole, 52...grip, 60...container, 61...box, 62...inner bag, 63...discharge port, 64...lid, 65...recess, 66...inner bottom surface, 67...insertion port, 68...filling port, 69...discharge port

Claims (3)

A pallet comprising an upper platform on which a container is placed, and a lower platform disposed below the upper platform and having a lower end that is a ground contact surface, the upper platform being capable of being parallel to the lower platform and being inclined relative to the lower platform,
A support shaft is provided at a location rearward of the center of the upper stand in the front-rear direction,
The inclined state is realized by raising a front portion of the upper base that is a portion in front of the support shaft and lowering a rear portion of the upper base that is a portion behind the support shaft,
A lead screw is connected to the front portion of the upper base at an upper connection portion and to the lower base at a lower connection portion;
The rotation of the feed screw changes the distance between the upper connecting portion and the lower connecting portion, and the change in the distance changes the state from the parallel state to the inclined state,
A handle is attached to the feed screw, and the feed screw is rotated by manually turning the handle.
The handle is detachably attached to an upper end of the feed screw, and the upper end of the feed screw is located below a mounting surface on the upper stand on which the container is placed.
the upper connecting portion includes a support unit on which the lead screw is rotatably supported,
the lower connecting portion includes a nut into which the lead screw is fitted,
Even if the feed screw rotates, the feed screw does not move in its extension direction relative to the support unit,
The length of the lead screw below the nut changes as the lead screw rotates inside the nut.
A pallet characterized by: The pallet of claim 1, wherein in the parallel state and the tilted state, the upper connector is in front of the lower connector, and the feed screw is tilted. 3. A pallet as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein in the parallel state, an angle between the contact surface of the base and the feed screw is greater than or equal to 30° and less than or equal to 50°.

Images