US20050172867A1

US20050172867A1 - Light weight expendable metal pallet

Info

Publication number: US20050172867A1
Application number: US11/036,770
Authority: US
Inventors: Mew Yap; Luck Ng
Original assignee: E Pack Ventures Sdn Bhd
Current assignee: E-PACK VENTURES Sdn Bhd; E Pack Ventures Sdn Bhd
Priority date: 2004-01-16
Filing date: 2005-01-14
Publication date: 2005-08-11

Abstract

A lightweight, low cost and expendable metal pallet comprises of a plurality of cellular core structures, which are sandwiched between two thin metal plates, namely the deck-plate and bottom-plate, to form a composite load-bearing panel unit. An angle-frame collar is joined to the perimeter edges of the deck plate to form a tray-base cargo-stacking platform. The cellular core structures are spaced to allow access openings for pallet lifting via the two or four sides of the pallet.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the pallet which is a portable, horizontal, rigid platform used as a base for assembling, storing, stacking, handling and transporting goods.
Pallets are constructed from a number of materials, primarily wood, metal, plastic and corrugated fiberboard

BACKGROUND

The majority of the world's usage of pallets is constructed from wood. This is due to the properties of wood that make the pallet reusable and repairable. Due to heavy deforestation, wood continues to become a scarcer and more valuable commodity. The cost effectiveness of using wood for pallet making is fast being eroded. New regulations regarding waste disposal have increased disposal fees of wooden pallets. Changing attitudes towards environmental issues and corporate responsibilities are leading companies to re-examine their pallet usage and management strategies. The issue of global warming due to deforestation and efforts from both government and non-government organizations (NGOs) to control the use of tropical timber are exerting much pressure against the continual usage of wooden pallets.
For the purpose of transoceanic shipment and long distance transportation of products where the pallet is intended for a single trip handling from shipper to receiver, the wood pallet is becoming an expensive and eco-unfriendly piece of equipment.
The introduction of the returnable, reusable pallet system where metal pallets are used for transoceanic shipments has provided a partial alternative. The returnable metal pallets upon reaching the receiver, is unloaded, collected, packed and shipped back to the shipper. The returnable metal pallet concept is cheaper on a pallet cost per unit load basis due to the multiple reuse of the pallet, but the cost of collection, packing and return shipment of the empty pallets is still high. The logistics and costs of returning the empty pallets thus become the major factors in determining the viability of the returnable metal pallet concept for each and every receiver's destination. Issues of custom laws pertaining to the import and export of the metal pallets are other factors of concern.
Existing prior art metal pallets are too expensive to be used for single trip transoceanic shipment These metal pallets are designed to be reusable and are built to last, the characteristics required for economic justification for their high materials and construction costs. The following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,112,854, 4,485,744, 4,697,529, 5,367,960, 6,095,292 and 6,510,801 are cited for references.
There is therefore a need of a pallet that is low cost and expendable to serve as an alternative to the disposable wooden pallet and returnable metal pallet for transoceanic shipment and long distance transportation of cargo.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of this invention is to provide a metal pallet that is low in cost both in terms of materials and manufacturing expenses and is economically justifiable to be expended with after its intended single trip use for transoceanic shipment and long distance transportation of cargo.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight yet structurally strong metal pallet that is able to handle any load that a wooden pallet or returnable metal pallet could handle.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a metal pallet to serve as an economical and environmental friendly alternative to the wooden pallet and returnable metal pallet for transoceanic shipment and long distance transportation.
Independent Claim 1 defines the invention. The dependent Claims 2 to 11 recite preferred features. In accordance with the invention the metal pallet as shown in FIG. 1, is rendered expendable by producing the pallet from a cost effective high strength-to-weight ratio sheet metal design. Two thin metal sheets namely the deck-plate 2 and the bottom-plate 3, are used to sandwich a lightweight, thin vertical walls 5, and cellular metal structure core 1 to form a composite load-bearing unit as shown in FIG. 2, that is capable of taking high loads.
A collar 4 is fixed to the top four edges of the deck face sheet or deck-plate 2 to strengthen the shearing and bending loads carrying capacities of the pallet. The deck face sheet or deck-plate 2 is the load-bearing plane of the pallet.
In a preferred embodiment, the cellular core structures 1 are with cross-sections of polygon profiles as shown in FIG. 5(a) and 5(b) with their plurality of angles 6 or sides 7 either in closed or opened configurations. The two cross-section faces 8 of the core structures 1 as in FIG. 4 are joined to the deck-plate 2 and bottom-plate 3 respectively.
In another preferred embodiment, the cellular structures 1 shall have vertical walls 5 that are perpendicular to the deck-plate 2 and bottom-plate 3.
According to yet another preferred embodiment, the deck-plate 2 and bottom-plate 3 of the pallet are of full-faced plate coverage 10 and are bonded together by the core structures 1 to form a uniform composite panel.
According to another feature of the light weight pallet, the optimum utilization of the load bearing capability of composite structure, permits the use of thin sheet metal for its construction and according to the present invention is economically advantageous. The thin metal sheet deck-plate 2 and bottom-plate 3 of the pallet are constructed of steel sheets with thicknesses from about 0.30 mm to 1.5 mm, and the cellular core structures are constructed of steel sheets with thicknesses from about 0.3 mm to 1.5 mm.
In yet another feature, the cellular core structures 1 are spaced to allow access openings 9 for pallet lifting from the two or four side positions of the pallet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cellular core structure 1 sandwiched between two face sheets, forming a composite loading panel.
FIG. 3 is the cross section view of the invention.
FIG. 4 is the perspective view of the cellular core structure 1 unit.
FIG. 5(a) shows some typical polygon structure profiles with closed-end configurations, and FIG. 5(b) shows the same but with opened-end configurations.
FIG. 6 shows a plurality of bottom-plate profile combinations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The lightweight expendable metal pallet according to the present invention is illustrated by the perspective view of FIG. 1. A plurality of cellular structure 1 units forms the core of the pallet.
The cellular core structures 1 are sandwiched and bonded between two thin metal plates, namely the deck-plate 2 and the bottom-plate 3 to form a composite load-bearing unit.
A collar 4 in the form of an angle-frame is joined to the top four sides of the deck-plate 2 to provide added shearing and bending load capacities to the pallet. The angle-frame collar 4 together with the deck-plate 2 form a tray base that serve to help cargo stacking and arrangement.
The core structure unit as illustrated by FIG. 4 has a cross-section of a right-angled alphabet ‘S’ configuration. The positioning of each and every core structure units relative to the deck and bottom plates is not limited to the orientation as shown but each can be rotated and varied.

Claims

1. A lightweight metal pallet as shown in FIG. 1 comprising of a plurality of cellular core structures 1 sandwiched and joined between the two thin face metal plates called the deck-plate 2 and the bottom-plate 3, forming a composite load bearing unit, and an angle-frame collar 4 joined to the top four edges of the deck-plate 2 forming a tray-base load bearing platform.

2. A lightweight metal pallet according to claim 1, wherein the cellular core structure 1 units have vertical walls 5 with cross-section profiles of a right-angled alphabet ‘S’ configuration as shown in FIG. 4.

3. A lightweight metal pallet according to claim 1, wherein the cellular core structures 1 have vertical walls 5 and with cross-section profiles of a polygon with its plurality of angles or sides either in closed-end configurations as shown in FIG. 5(a) or opened-end configurations as shown in FIG. 5(b).

4. A lightweight pallet according with claim 2, wherein the cellular core structures 1 are all of similar or different cross-section profiles and sizes.

5. A lightweight pallet according with claim 2, wherein the top and bottom cross-sectional faces 8 of the cellular core structures 1 are joined to the deck-plate 2 and bottom-plate 3 respectively.

6. A lightweight metal pallet according to claim 1, wherein the deck-plate 2 and bottom-plate 3 are of full-faced plate coverage 10.

7. A lightweight metal pallet according to claim 1, wherein the said angle-frame collar 4 is fabricated from angle sectionals and joined to the four side edges of the deck-plate 2.

8. A lightweight metal pallet according to claim 1, wherein the said angle-frame collar 4 is formed by a 90 degrees folding of the four side edges of the deck plate 2.

9. A lightweight metal pallet according to claim 1, wherein the deck-plate 2 is of full-faced plate coverage and the bottom-plate is broken into segments, strips and pieces with a plurality of combinations as shown in FIG. 6.

10. A lightweight metal pallet according to claim 1, wherein the deck-plate 2 and bottom-plate 3 are constructed from thin steel plates of thicknesses from about 0.3 mm to 1.5 mm.

11. A lightweight metal pallet according to claim 1, wherein the cellular core structures 1 are constructed from thin steel plates of thicknesses from about 0.3 mm to 1.5 mm.

12. A lightweight metal pallet according to claim 1, wherein the cellular core structures 1 are constructed from a material selected from the group consisting of

a) Aluminum

b) Alloys

c) Molded plastic polymers

d) Composites

13. A lightweight metal pallet according to claim 1, wherein the cellular core structures 1 are spaced to allow access openings 9 for pallet lifting from the two or four sides of the pallet.

14. A lightweight pallet according to claim 3, wherein the cellular core structures 1 are all of similar or different cross-section profiles and sizes.

15. A lightweight pallet according to claim 3, wherein the top and bottom cross-sectional faces 8 of the cellular core structures 1 are joined to the deck-plate 2 and bottom-plate 3 respectively.