DE29700816U1 - Pallet for picking up and transporting small parts, especially precision mechanical turned and milled parts - Google Patents

Description

OTTE & JAKELSKl"'' " " PATENT ATTORNEYS

PETER Ol It, DIPL.-ING, MASTER IN SCIENCES APPUOUiES

DR. JOACHIM ÜAKELSKI, dipl.-phvs.

3017/J/wi
09 .01.1997

HERION-WERKE KG, Stuttgarter Strasse 120, 70736 Fellbach

Pallet for holding and transporting small parts, especially precision turned and milled parts

Description

The invention relates to a pallet for receiving and transporting small parts, in particular precision mechanical turned and milled parts.

Turned and milled parts or small parts that are machined in other ways are in most cases subject to a large number of consecutive machining operations. Between individual machining steps and after completion of all machining steps, the machined parts must be thoroughly cleaned. In most cases, this is done by washing in chlorinated hydrocarbon washing systems and subsequent vacuum drying at

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relatively high temperatures, which can reach up to 130 ⁰ C.

In known processing processes, the small parts are fed to the next processing step, i.e. a machine tool, on a plug board, for example. After processing in this processing step has been completed, the small parts must be removed from the machine tool and placed on a washing sieve, for example, for cleaning so that they can be fed into a chlorinated hydrocarbon washing system. Handling the small parts to be processed in this way is labor-intensive, time-consuming and therefore also costly. In particular, it also hinders very fast machine processing of the small parts.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide a pallet of the generic type for transporting small parts, in particular precision-mechanical turned and milled parts, which on the one hand enables unproblematic transport of the small parts from and to different processing stations and on the other hand enables effective cleaning of the small parts after different processing processes in known chlorinated hydrocarbon washing systems in the simplest possible way and with the least possible effort.

This object is achieved according to the invention in a pallet for receiving and transporting small parts, in particular precision-mechanical turned and milled parts of the type described above, in that the pallets contain plastic injection-molded parts made of a solution-

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medium-resistant and temperature-independent plastic and comprise one or more receiving compartments, each of which has through openings for liquids in at least one of its boundary surfaces.

By designing the pallets as plastic injection-molded parts made of a solvent-resistant and temperature-insensitive plastic with one or more receiving compartments, each of which has openings for liquids in at least one of its boundary surfaces, it is particularly advantageous to enable the transport of small parts to be processed in the receiving compartments and, on the other hand, to enable them to be cleaned without problems in chlorinated hydrocarbon washing systems.

The design of the pallets from plastic has the great advantage that the pallets have a low weight. In addition, plastic injection molded parts can be produced particularly cost-effectively, even in large quantities. They also have high strength, low moisture absorption and high chemical resistance. The design of the receiving compartments and an opening in at least one of their boundary surfaces also makes it easy and therefore particularly advantageous to clean the small parts to be transported in the pallet, for example in a chlorinated hydrocarbon washing system.

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In principle, the pallets designed as plastic injection molded parts can have a wide variety of shapes that can be adapted to any situation, for example to the transport containers that accommodate them. A particularly advantageous embodiment provides that the pallets have spacer/grip elements on their outer edge in such a way that they can be inserted precisely into known transport containers, preferably so-called small load carriers (KLT), and can be easily removed from them.

The spacer/grip elements enable, in a particularly advantageous manner, on the one hand, the exact positioning of the pallets in the transport containers, and on the other hand, they also allow the pallets to be removed from the transport container in a particularly simple manner.

Particularly with regard to cost-effective production and high strength and dimensional stability, the pallets are advantageously made of one of the following materials:

Polypropylene sulfide

Polypropylene sulfide with glass fiber filling

Polypropylene sulfide with rock powder filling.

These materials have high strength, high dimensional stability up to temperatures of approx. 170 ⁰ C, low moisture absorption, high resistance, in particular high chemical and thermal durability against chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents even at higher temperatures.

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, for example at temperatures around 13 0 ⁰ C, which are preferred for cleaning purposes.

As far as the design and arrangement of the continuous openings in the boundary surfaces of the receiving compartments are concerned, a wide variety of designs are conceivable here too. A particularly advantageous design provides that the receiving compartments have sieve-like openings in their base. In this way, a particularly efficient cleaning of the small parts arranged in the pallets in chlorinated hydrocarbon plants is possible, since cleaning agents, especially those injected from above, can flow away quickly.

In order to transport several pallets in a single transport container, for example a small load carrier (KLT), it is advantageously provided that the pallets have feet on the outer lower floor area, which come into contact with at least one, preferably two, boundary surfaces of a receiving compartment of an underlying pallet in order to stack the pallets on top of one another. In this way, a quick and easy stacking of several pallets in a transport container, preferably in a KLT, and thus the simultaneous transport of several pallets and the small parts arranged in them, as well as their cleaning, can be achieved.

In principle, the storage compartments themselves can have a wide variety of sizes and shapes. The storage compartments are advantageously adapted to the small parts that are to be inserted into them.

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09.01.1997

Further features and advantages of the invention are the subject of the following description and the drawings of some embodiments.

In the drawing show:

Fig. la, b, c various views of a first embodiment of a pallet according to the invention;

Fig. 2 a, b, c, d various views of a second embodiment of a pallet according to the invention;

Fig. 3 a, b, c, d various views of a third embodiment of a pallet according to the invention and

Fig. 4 a, b, c, d different views of a fourth embodiment of a pallet according to the invention.

The embodiments of pallets for transporting small parts shown in Fig. 1 to 4 each comprise a substantially rectangular housing 10 with rounded corners, in which separate receiving compartments 20 are formed by webs 11 that run essentially at right angles to one another. In the bottom of the receiving compartments 20, sieve-like openings 30 are provided that allow liquids to pass through.

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The pallets have spacer/grip elements 12 on their outer edge so that they can be inserted precisely into known transport containers - in the case of the pallets shown in Fig. 1 to 4, these are so-called small load carriers (KLT) - and can be easily removed from them again. On the one hand, these spacer/grip elements 12 hold the pallets in the KLT in a vibration-proof manner, and on the other hand, the cutout 13 formed between two opposing spacer/grip elements 12 serves to easily remove the pallets manually or mechanically, whereby either the hand of an operator or a corresponding handling tool can reach through the cutouts 13 under the spacer/grip elements 12 and in this way the pallet can be removed from the KLT.

The pallets also have feet 14 on their outer lower base area, which come into contact with two adjacent boundary surfaces of a receiving compartment 20 of an underlying pallet in order to stack the pallets on top of one another. This ensures that when several pallets are stacked on top of one another, lateral displacement of the stacked pallets is largely excluded.

In addition, the pallets have additional feet 16, preferably arranged in the middle area, for stabilization, which in particular prevent deformation of the floor when the pallets are loaded with heavy small parts.

The size of the receiving compartments 20 is adapted to the small parts to be processed. For example,

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09.01.1997

The pallet shown in Fig. 1 has four relatively large, rectangular receiving compartments for larger small parts to be machined, whereas the pallets shown in Fig. 3 and 4 have a plurality of square (Fig. 3) or rectangular (Fig. 4) receiving compartments for smaller turned or milled parts. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, several narrow and long receiving compartments are provided for narrow and long turned parts, for example.

The pallets are plastic injection molded parts made of a solvent-resistant, temperature-insensitive plastic. Polyphenylene sulfide with/or without glass fiber/rock powder filling has proven to be particularly advantageous. This plastic is very strong, has a high dimensional stability up to temperatures of approx. 170 ⁰ C, has low moisture absorption and has very good chemical and thermal long-term resistance to chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents, even at higher temperatures of, for example, approx. 130 ⁰ C, which are preferably used for cleaning purposes. Pallets made from these materials do not warp, especially when they are repeatedly run through a perchloroethylene washing system, for example.

Due to the pallets explained above, it is possible in a very advantageous way to transport small parts to be processed between different assembly stations in known transport containers (KLT) and at the same time to subject these small parts to chlorinated hydrocarbon washing systems, for example perchlorethylene

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Washing systems, which are very common in metal-cutting production, can be used for cleaning without the small parts having to be removed from the pallets. The sieve-like openings in the base of the pallets also enable the small parts stored in the pallet to be cleaned quickly and very effectively, as cleaning agents injected from above can quickly flow away.

Claims (6)

3017/J/wi 10 09.01.1997 HERION-WERKE KG, Stuttgarter Straße 120, 70736 Fellbach. Protection claims 1. Pallet for receiving and transporting small parts, in particular precision turned and milled parts, characterized in that the pallets are plastic injection-molded parts made of a solvent-resistant, temperature-insensitive plastic and comprise one or more receiving compartments (20), each of which has through-openings (30) for liquids in at least one of its boundary surfaces. 2. Palette according to claim 1, characterized in that on its outer edge spacer/grip elements (12) are provided in such a way that they can be precisely inserted into known transport containers, preferably small load carriers (KLT), and can be easily removed from them. 3017/j/wi 11 09.01.1997 3. Pallet according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it consists of one or more of the following materials: - Polypropylene sulphide - Polypropylene sulphide with glass fibre filling - Polypropylene sulphide with rock powder filling. 4. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the receiving compartments (20) have sieve-like openings (30) in their base. 5. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that feet (14) are arranged on its outer lower base area, which feet come to rest on at least one, preferably two, boundary surfaces of a receiving compartment (20) of an underlying pallet for stacking several pallets on top of one another. 6. Pallet according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the size and shape of the receiving compartments (20) are adapted to the small parts to be inserted into them.