GB2043549A - Wheeled pallets - Google Patents

Abstract

A load carrier in the form of a wheeled pallet includes a loading bed 1 of rigid plastics material detachably supported upon a chassis 2, the members of which are of box construction. The chassis includes a braking mechanism which when operated prevents rotation of at least one of the castor wheels. The load carrier is light, easy to maintain and clean and relatively simple to construct. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in load carriers The present invention relates to load carriers and in particular to wheeled pallets which are used for transporting goods such as boxes or other packages from a warehouse to a shop.

It is known for a wheeled pallet to comprise a generally rectangular loading deck or bed arranged to run on four castors, one at each corner. The bed may carry wall members for containing a load on the bed and also means for braking one or more of the castors.

A wheeled pallet should meet the following requirements: (a) It should be as light as possible taking into consideration the strength necessary to carry its load.

(b) It should be easy to maintain.

(c) The loading bed should be easy to clean for the purposes of hygiene when food is being carried.

(d) The construction of the wheels pallet should be simply so that manufacturing costs are kept to a minimum.

(e) The wheeled pallet should include a braking mechanism.

It is the aim of the present invention to meeting these desiderata.

According to the present invention, a load carrier comprises a loading bed of rigid plastics material detachably supported upon a chassis arranged to run on four castors, one at each corner of the chassis, the chassis supporting a device for braking at least one of the casters.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, reference being made to the Figures of the accompanying diagrammtic drawings in which: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a load carrier in the form of a wheeled pallet; Figure 2 is a detail partly in cross-section and with a part shown in plan view of a brake mechanism forming part of the wheeled pallet of Fig. 1; and Figure 3 is a schematic side view illustrating a bed forming part of the wheeled pallet of Fig. 1 about to be attached to a chassis also forming part of the wheeled pallet of Fig.

1.

As shown, a load carrier in the form of a wheeled pallet comprises a loading deck or bed 1 of rigid plastics material and a chassis 2 arranged to run on four castors 3, one at each corner of the chassis 2.

The bed 1 is generally rectangular in plan view and has depending side flanges 4 from which extend inwardly spaced locating lugs 5.

At each end of the bed 1 is a depending flange 6 from which extend two spaced resilient latching lugs 7.

The chassis 2 is generally rectangular in plan view and comprises two side members 10 and two end members 11, 11'. Intermediate the end members 11, 11' are two spaced cross members 12, 12' one adjacent to and parallel with each end member 11, 11'. The side, end and cross members are of box construction and attached one to another by fillet welds.At each corner of the chassis 2 extending between an end member 11, 11' and its associated cross member 12, 12' is a castor support plate 1 3. At the front end (the right hand end as shown) of the wheeled pallet, each caster 3 is attached to an individual support plate 1 3 by a single stud and nut fixture 1 4. The inner side edge of each castor support plate 1 3 is turned up to form a vertical wall 1 6 extending for and aft of the chassis 2.

The chassis 2 at its rear end supports a brake mechanism which includes a brake pedal 20 movable between a raised operative position and a lower inoperative position. The brake pedal 20 is firmly attached to a cross shaft 21 extending between and supported for rotational movement by the side members 10 and passing through holes in the vertical walls 1 6. Over each rear caster support plate 1 3 a flat is machined in the cross shaft 21 to form a cam 22.

For convenience only those parts of the brake mechanism for one rear castor wheel will now be described. However, it will be understood that these are duplicated for the opposed rear castor wheel.

Extending across the cam 22 is a lever plate 23 which is supported at one end by a bolt 9 anchored in the rear end member 11.

As shown in Fig. 2, the lever plate 23 passes through a hole 1 5 in the inner side of the end member 11 and at its opposite end the lever plate 23 has a key hole slot 24 which receives the head 25 of a plunger 26. The plunger 26 is mounted for sliding movement in a housing 27. The housing is externally threaded and is secured to and depends from the castor support plate 1 3 by a single fixture in the form of a nut 44. The housing passes through upper and lower castor bearing plates 28, 28' and contains a spring 29 which resiliently biases the plunger 26 towards one end of a flat link 30 which is supported at its opposite end by a plate 32 extending between forks 33 supporting the castor wheel 31. At the said one end the flat link 30 rests loosely on the periphery of the castor wheel 31.

The longitudinal axis of the plunger 26 is on the castor pivot axis.

It will be apparent, that when the pedal 20 is moved to its operative position the cross shaft 21 will be rotated into the position shown in Fig. 2 where the flat engages the underside of the lever plate 23. This will permit the plunger 26 influenced by the bias of spring 29 to engage the flat link 30 so that the link engages firmly the castor wheel 31 thereby braking said castor wheel. Since it is spring pressure only that causes the plunger 26 to engage the flat link 30, the braking load transmitted by the link 30 to the castor wheel 31 will always be the same.

When it becomes necessary to disengage the brake mechanism, the brake pedal 20 is moved to its lower inoperative position. This causes the cam 22 to raise that end of the level plate 23 with the key hole slot 24 receiving the head 25. The head 25 is engaged by the lever plate and raised against the bias of the spring 29 to relieve the braking pressure on the link 30.

The limit of movements of the pedal 20 is controlled by the underside of the end member 11 and a bracket 40 surrounding the pedal 20 and welded to the underside of the end member 11.

At each end of each side member 10 is attached a socket 42 for the receipt of side or end load containing members for the bed. 1.

The bed 1 is releasably attached to the chassis 2 by means of the latching lugs 7 which engage the end members 11, 11' as seen most clearly in Fig. 3. The lugs 5 engage the outer sides of the side members 10 to locate the bed 1 on the chassis 2.

It will be appreciated that the bed 1 can have a larger area than the chassis 2 subject only to the load that the bed 1 is required to support. This, together with the bed being made of plastics material, permits the wheeled pallet to be light and strong. The box construction of the side, end and cross members adds to the strength of the chassis 1 and makes the chassis simple to manufacture and maintain.

The bed 1, being made of plastics, is easy to clean and the fact that it is releasably attached to the chassis 2 eases maintenance problems.

The brake device is simple to operate, forms part of the chassis and provides a constant braking force on the castor wheels when operated.

Although latching lugs 7 have been referred to in the above described embodiment for releasably attaching the bed 1 to the chassis 2, fasteners such as bolts can be used together with the latching lugs 7 or by themselves for releasably attaching the bed 1 to the chassis.

In a modification, depressions can be formed on the upper surface of the bed 1 to aid in the location and stability of the pallets when stacked.

Claims (7)

1. A load carrier comprising a load bed of rigid plastics material detachably supported upon a chassis arranged to run on four castors, one at each corner of the chassis, the chassis supporting a mechanism for braking at least one of the castors.

2. A load carrier as claimed in claim 1, in which the chassis is generally rectangular and has opposed end and side members of box construction, cross members being provided parallel to the end members, each cross member being located adjacent and associated with an individual end member, and at each corner of the chassis extending between an end member and its associated cross member there is provided a castor support plate to which a castor is secured.

3. A load carrier as claimed in claim 2, in which each castor is secured to its associated castor support plate by a single fixture.

4. A load carrier as claimed in claim 3, in which the braking mechanism for said at least one castor includes a plunger mounted for sliding movement within a housing between an operative braking position and an inoperative position, the housing depending from the castor support plate and being secured thereto by means of a single fixture in the form of a nut.

5. A load carrier as claimed in claim 2, 3 or 4, in which the bed is detachably supported upon the chassis by means of resilient lugs which engage the end members of the chassis.

6. A load carrier as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 5, in which the bed is substantially rectangular and has a greater load bearing area than the area of the chassis.

7. A load carrier constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the Figures of the accompanying drawings.