DE9314468U1 - Pallet made of two equal parts - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a pallet with an upper load-bearing element and a lower base element of approximately the same size, as well as several intermediate elements arranged laterally spaced apart from one another, forming fork insertion receptacles. Such pallets are irreplaceable in the transport sector. They can be used to store and/or transport evenly packaged goods. A pallet can, for example, hold a whole number of filled cement bags, plaster bags and the like, so that with the help of a pallet and, for example, a forklift, many bags can be moved from the warehouse to a transport vehicle and from there to the construction site in one operation.

It is obvious that in this particular embodiment the pallets must be extremely stable because the total load can be several hundredweight. The intermediate links create the necessary distance between the support element on which the sacks or similar are placed and the base element with which the pallet can be placed on the floor or a loading area, so that entry openings for the forks of a forklift are created on at least two opposite sides. Handling the pallet is, however, easier if there are fork insertion slots on all four sides. In addition, pallets are now standardized, with a distinction being made between so-called Euro pallets and chemical pallets; the latter are somewhat larger than Euro pallets.

The well-known pallets of the type described at the beginning are made of wood. The supporting element is not a wooden plate, but rather consists of several parallel wooden boards. The same applies to the floor element. The intermediate links are wooden blocks.

Wooden pallets have various disadvantages, such as their limited stability, their sensitivity to moisture and their relatively short lifespan due to rough operation and their constantly changing weight depending on the humidity.

The task is therefore to further develop a pallet of the type described at the beginning in such a way that the disadvantages described are avoided, whereby in particular the production should be inexpensive and the stability and durability should be high.

To solve this problem, the invention proposes that the pallet is designed with the features of the generic term of claim 1 in accordance with the characterizing part of this claim. Plastic is known to be a material that is quite resistant to external influences, guarantees a long service life and allows the production of precisely dimensioned pallets. In addition, this material is particularly suitable for inexpensive series production. In the present case, however, the plastic material cannot be pure, mixed plastic material, as is the case when recycling various types of plastic. In a suitable form, the two pallet halves can be manufactured using a pressing process at a relatively high specific pressure and a higher temperature adapted to the material, e.g. 200 - 300°C. This ensures the aforementioned dimensional stability as well as the high stability and rigidity of the pallet halves and after the entire pallet has been put together. In addition, this can be material that is generated during plastic recycling and can also be recycled

In this way, the plastics and plastic residues that currently accrue in large quantities from initial production can be recycled or reused, which helps to reduce the so-called mountain of waste. This is usually also associated with a low price for the raw material. In extreme cases, no costs are incurred in this regard; in fact, the exact opposite can be the case.

The free ends of the intermediate links must be designed in such a way that the intermediate link halves to be connected can be connected directly to one another without any further work and, if possible, without any reworking, whereby known joining methods for plastics can be used.

A particularly preferred variant of the invention provides that the base element with its intermediate link halves and the support element with its intermediate link halves are identical pallet halves. These two pallet halves can therefore be manufactured using one and the same mold. This reduces the costs for the molds. This also ensures that the two pallet halves can be joined together without any problems because they have absolutely the same dimensions in the connection area.

A further preferred embodiment of the invention consists in that the support element is a closed, flat,

rectangular plate which is provided with stiffening elements, in particular stiffening ribs, on its lower side when in use. The use of a flat, closed, rectangular plate for the supporting element has the advantage that, in contrast to the wooden pallets described, for example paper bags containing cement, plaster and the like cannot penetrate into the gap between adjacent boards and then be damaged during transport with a forklift. If a plate with stiffening ribs is provided, a smaller plate thickness can be selected compared to an equally load-bearing plate without stiffening ribs, without affecting the load-bearing capacity and stiffness. The advantage is a lower weight and the saving of plastic material.

In an analogous manner, a further development of the invention provides that the base element is a closed, flat, rectangular plate, which is provided with stiffening elements, in particular stiffening ribs, on its upper side during use. The advantages are exactly the same and, in addition, this creates the prerequisite for the production of identical pallet halves. The latter can be connected to one another in a very advantageous manner by means of mirror welding. For this purpose, corresponding

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Edges are provided which can be heated simultaneously with the help of the mirror and then pressed together.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is given in claim 6. This pallet is characterized by a high level of stability, but it only has fork insertion receptacles on two opposite long sides. The use of hollow boxes or so-called runners provides sufficient stiffening and stability as well as good load-bearing capacity for this pallet. In addition, this creates a closed contour on two opposite sides, in particular the narrow sides of the rectangular pallet. This is very advantageous in terms of cleaning. In addition, the intermediate links can be made completely smooth on the outside so that nothing can settle there, which makes cleaning the pallet easier. If the stiffening ribs on the support and base elements are omitted, the pallet is completely smooth on the inside and outside, which is particularly easy to clean and keep clean. The latter is particularly important in the food industry, for example the fishing industry. However, the omission of ribs requires the two plates to be made stable in another way, for example by having a corresponding wall thickness.

In order to ensure that the hollow intermediate links are sufficiently stable, which is important not only in terms of their load-bearing capacity but also their robustness when picking up the pallet, a further development of the invention provides that they are stiffened by means of ribs which are arranged perpendicular to the supporting surface of the supporting element. They are therefore, like the hollow intermediate links themselves, subjected to pressure when the pallet is loaded.

An embodiment of the invention which is advantageous for handling the pallet is described in claim 8. It is known in principle, for example by designing the spacer blocks in the previously known pallet with a circular cross-section.

Another variant of the invention is given in claim 11. It has the advantage that this pallet can be picked up from all four sides. The tubular hollow bodies are cut parallel to the supporting surface of the pallet, preferably with an approximately rectangular cross-section. However, appropriate bevels can be made in order to create insertion bevels for the fork of the forklift truck. The intermediate links are expediently stiffened by means of ribs that run perpendicular to the supporting surface of the support element and are therefore also subjected to pressure.

Because these pallets are relatively smooth on their upper side and on their underside when in use due to the flat design of these two surfaces and the use of plastic material, they can be easily stacked on top of one another, but they can also slide sideways against one another relatively easily. In order to create an improvement in this respect, a further embodiment of the invention proposes that a protruding centering edge be provided on the supporting surface of the supporting element and a corresponding circumferential groove be provided on the underside of the base element, so that sideways slipping is prevented when empty pallets are stacked on top of one another. The centering edge and circumferential groove can also be attached in the opposite way. Of course, the centering edge is located on the very outside of the relevant surface. It does not have to be designed as a continuous edge, but rather it can be made up of individual strips that extend from one another.

Further embodiments of the invention and the advantages resulting therefrom are evident from the following description of an embodiment. The drawing shows this embodiment of the invention. Here, represent:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the underside of one pallet half;

Figure 2 shows a longitudinal section through the two pallet halves located at a distance from each other;

Figure 3 shows a longitudinal section corresponding to Figure 2 after the two pallet halves have been connected;

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the pallet analogous to Figure 2;

Figure 5 again shows a perspective view of the pallet analogous to Figure 3.

The pallet consists of two, preferably identical pallet halves, namely the upper pallet half 1 and the lower pallet half 2. The essential components of the upper pallet half are, for example, a supporting element 3 and intermediate link halves made in one piece with it, as shown in Figure 4. In the embodiment of the drawing, three intermediate link halves 5, 6 and 7 or 8, 9 and 10 are provided on both the supporting element 3 and the identical base element 4. All intermediate link halves are identical and each made in one piece with their supporting element or base element from mixed plastic that is not of the same type. In this respect, it is material that was obtained through plastic recycling or waste pieces from

plastic production, which in turn can be recycled.

In the embodiment, two adjacent intermediate links 11 and 12 or 12 and 13 form continuous fork insertion receptacles 14 and 15, respectively.

Both the support element 3 and the base element 4 are each closed, flat, rectangular plates, whereby the support element is provided with stiffening ribs on its lower side during use and the base element on its upper side during use. According to Figure 1, these are a large number of longitudinal ribs 16 and transverse ribs 17, which together form a uniform pattern of squares or rectangles. The top of the plate-shaped triangular element 3 forms a smooth, flat support surface 18 for the goods to be stacked or transported. The same applies to the support surface of the base element 4 if the two pallet halves 1 and 2 are identical. The two pallet halves 1 and 2 are connected to one another by mirror welding. More precisely, the front ends of the associated intermediate link halves 5 to 7 and 8 to 10 are welded to one another in this way. As a result, nothing can penetrate into the interior of the intermediate links II to 13, which is why there is no need for cleaning.

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In the exemplary embodiment, there are three intermediate links 11, 12 and 13. These are hollow boxes with a cross-section that is at least largely rectangular, two of which, namely the intermediate links 11 and 13, run flush with the associated edge of the support element 3. The same applies to the base element 4. In other words, the support surface 18 merges directly into the outer surface 21 or 22 of the intermediate link 11 or 13. The same applies to the long sides or edges of the support element and the base element. The third intermediate link 12 is placed exactly in the middle between the outer intermediate links 11 and 13, but is designed in the same way as them. Each intermediate link therefore consists of an essentially rectangular frame that protrudes vertically from the associated plate of an element and is closed on both sides by the plate, so that the hollow boxes mentioned are created. All intermediate links 11, 12, 13 are stiffened by means of ribs 23, the exact arrangement of which can be seen in Figure 1.

To form run-in slopes in the fork insertion receptacles 14 and 15, the two outer intermediate links 11 and 13 are rounded or bevelled at their inner corners. The bevelled surfaces are designated 24 and 25 or 26 and 27 in Figure 1. The middle intermediate link 12 accordingly has four bevelled surfaces 28 to 31.

It is easy to imagine that the middle area of each intermediate link 11, 12, 13 is missing, so that instead of one long intermediate link, two tubular intermediate links are created and in the example shown there are then six such tubular intermediate links. This means that this pallet is accessible to the fork of a forklift truck not only from its long sides, but also from its transverse sides.

In a manner not shown in detail, the support surface 18 can be enclosed on the outside by a raised edge, which forms a centering edge. Accordingly, an external circumferential groove is then present on the lower surface of the base element 4, the cross-section of which corresponds approximately to the cross-sectional shape of the protruding centering edge. The arrangement can also be reversed. In any case, with this centering device, the empty pallets can be placed exactly on top of one another, and they are secured against slipping sideways. The edge does not necessarily have to consist of one piece, but rather strip-shaped edge pieces can also be provided that extend from one another.

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Claims (13)

*13 " PROTECTION CLAIMS 1. Pallet with an upper load-bearing element (3) and a lower base element (4) of approximately the same size, as well as several intermediate members (11, 12, 13) located between them, forming fork insertion receptacles and arranged at a lateral distance from one another, characterized in that the base element (4) with the lower half (5, 9, 10) of the intermediate members (11, 12, 13) and the support element (3) with the upper half (5, 6, 7) of the intermediate members (11, 12, 13) are each made in one piece from non-pure mixed plastic material and both elements (3, 4) are permanently connected to one another via the intermediate members (11, 12, 13). 2. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the base element (4) with its intermediate link halves (5, 9, 10) and the support element (3) with its intermediate link halves (5, 6, 7) are identical pallet halves (1, 2). 3. Pallet according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the support element (3) is a closed, flat, rectangular plate which, at its lower side is provided with stiffening elements, in particular stiffening ribs (16, 17). 4. Pallet according to at least one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the base element (4) is a closed, flat, rectangular plate which is provided on its upper side during use with stiffening elements, in particular stiffening ribs (16, 17). 5. Pallet according to at least one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the two pallet halves (1, 2) are connected to one another by mirror welding. 6. Pallet according to at least one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by three parallel intermediate members (11, 12, 13) in the form of hollow boxes with an at least largely rectangular cross-section, two of which (11, 13) run flush on the outside with one edge (19, 20) of the plates of the support and the base element (3, 4), while the third intermediate member (12) is assigned to the middle of the pallet. 7. Pallet according to claim 6, characterized in that the hollow intermediate members (11, 12, 13) are connected by means of ribs ID (23) which are arranged perpendicular to the supporting surface (18) of the supporting element (3). 8. Pallet according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the inner corners of the outer, rectangular, hollow intermediate members (11, 13) and all four corners of the middle intermediate member (12) are rounded or bevelled (24 to 31) to form entry slopes for the forks of a forklift truck. 9. Pallet according to at least one of claims 4 to 8, characterized in that the stiffening ribs (16, 17) of the base and the support element (4, 3) run at least largely in the longitudinal and transverse directions of the rectangular plates. 10. Pallet according to at least one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that at least the majority of the ribs (23) of the intermediate members (11, 12, 13) are arranged in groups in a star shape. 11. Pallet according to at least one of claims 1 to 5 and 9, characterized in that the intermediate members are designed as tubular hollow bodies, with at least one intermediate member being assigned to each pallet corner and at least on the long An additional central intermediate link is attached to each pallet side. 12. Pallet according to claim 11, characterized in that the intermediate members are stiffened by means of ribs which run perpendicular to the supporting surface (13) of the supporting element (3). 13. Pallet according to at least one of claims 1 to 12, characterized by a protruding centering edge on the support surface of the support element (3) and a corresponding circumferential groove on the underside of the base element (4)