Horizontally supported planar surfaces – Industrial platform – Having plastic load-contacting surface
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-31
2003-05-20
Chen, Jose V. (Department: 3637)
Horizontally supported planar surfaces
Industrial platform
Having plastic load-contacting surface
C108S056100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06564725
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention is an article of manufacture. The invention broadly relates to an article of manufacture useful to support, store and aid in the transport of a load. The invention further relates to a platform that facilitates the storage and support of goods. The invention still further relates to a platform that facilitates the transportation from one location to another of goods supported and stored on the platform. The invention more specifically relates to a pallet.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Problems Solved
Persons involved in the art of material handling, such as manufacturers, shipping agents, warehouse operators, retailers and others, have long relied on platforms for supporting, storing, handling and shipping a wide variety of items, such as natural products and manufactured goods. Such platforms are known to be standard in shape and dimension and are referred to in the art as pallets. In a broad sense, pallets are ordinarily rectangular in shape and consist essentially of a storage deck and a support deck, wherein the storage deck and the support deck are spaced apart by, and rigidly connected to, an open frame. Goods are placed on the storage deck and the support deck is placed on some base, such as the ground, a rack system, as described below, or on some other pallet. The open frame employed to connect the storage deck to, and separate it from, the support deck thereby defines a space having sufficient distance between the decks to enable the insertion of lifting arms or tines into the defined space to facilitate lifting and moving the pallet and the goods stored and supported thereon. Such lifting arms can be those usually associated with pieces of equipment known in the art as forklifts and pallet jacks.
Pallets having goods placed thereon can be, and preferably are, stored in accordance with a method designed to maximize the use of available floor space. The art has, thus, developed a rack system which broadly features facing pairs of vertically extending columns. Each pair of columns is connected by a multiplicity of horizontal, vertically spaced, inwardly extending ledges to produce a vertical frame which resembles a ladder having multiple treads. Each horizontal ledge, i.e., each tread, faces, and is in alignment with, a horizontal ledge which is similarly connected to an opposite pair of vertically extending columns. The aligned horizontal ledges lie in the same horizontal plane. The horizontal separation between facing pairs of columns is substantially equal to or perhaps slightly greater than the width dimension of a pallet to thereby enable a pallet to be positioned between adjacent pairs of facing columns, wherein one edge of the pallet is supported by one of the mentioned inwardly extending ledges and the opposite edge of the pallet is supported by the aligned ledge on the opposite pair of columns. This method of storage has been referred to as open edge rack storage of loaded pallets. The rack system employed in this method has been referred to as an open rack drive-through system and pallets employed in the method have been referred to as rackable pallets.
It is evident that the entire weight of goods stored on a rackable pallet placed in an open rack drive-through system is supported between the two opposite edges of the pallet which are in contact with the mentioned ledges of the rack system. Accordingly, such a pallet must possess strength sufficient to support a substantial weight of goods placed on the storage deck thereof while preventing unacceptable bending or sagging, i.e., deflection, of the pallet between the supported edges.
A pallet is subject to rough handling over its useful life. The pallet must, therefore, possess sufficient flexibility to absorb impact in both cold and hot conditions without becoming brittle which could result in a shortened life.
A pallet not having goods placed thereon must sometimes be manually handled by an individual. Accordingly, the weight of the pallet itself becomes an important consideration from the view point of human labor required to safely handle it. In this regard, current government standards require two people to lift items weighing more than 50 pounds.
In view of the deflection and labor problems expressed above, a pallet to be placed in a standard open rack drive-through system is preferably about 48 inches long and about 40 inches wide. Furthermore, a pallet preferably weighs less than about 50 pounds and is preferably capable of supporting a load of about 2800 pounds while exhibiting minimal deflection at a point intermediate the supported edges thereof while in a standard open rack drive-through system.
In addition to the problems of weight and strength discussed above, a desirable pallet is durable and thus can endure the rigors of use over an extended period of time. Furthermore, a desirable pallet can be easily assembled after delivery to a point of use and can be repaired with spare parts. A desirable pallet can be conveniently cleaned to maintain the pallet in a sanitary condition.
It is, accordingly, clear that important problems involved with pallets include: weight, which is influenced by the quantity and type of material employed in the construction of the pallet; strength, which is influenced by the geometry and type of material employed in the construction of the pallet; flexibility and durability, which is influenced by the type of material employed in the construction of the pallet; cleanliness, which is influenced by the type of material employed in the construction of the pallet; and repairability, which is influenced by the design of the pallet and the relationship of the parts thereof.
The prior art has long experienced the use of wooden pallets. Wooden pallets, while being strong and providing satisfactory deflection properties, are, nevertheless, quite heavy and not easily handled by a single person. The useful life of a hard wood pallet is believed to be limited to a period of about five to eight shipments. Wooden pallets tend to splinter and break over the period of use.
The prior art has long sought to produce pallets which can provide the desirable features mentioned above and which can avoid the undesirable features of wood. Accordingly, Hale et al in U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,190 disclose a two-piece, snap-together, rackable pallet constructed of plastic materials, wherein the pallet can be repaired. Furthermore, the pallet of Hale et al can be constructed of different types of plastic material to meet the differing needs of each of the two pieces included in the pallet.
In addition, LeTrudet (U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,583), Apps et al (U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,677), John et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,529), Pigott et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,686), Gonzales et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,709), and Kreeger (U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,338) each disclose pallets comprised of a plastic upper member attached to a plastic lower member. The essential differences between these patents reside in the mode of separation of the upper member from the lower member and the mode of attachment of the upper member to the lower member.
Thus, LeTrudet features a system wherein protruding legs integral with the lower member are adapted to snap into openings in protruding legs integral with the upper member.
Apps et al feature a system wherein protruding legs integral with the lower member snap fit into recesses in the upper member.
John et al feature an intricate system comprised of a multiplicity of modular components which are interlockably assembled to form a pallet. More specifically, the pallet of John et al comprises an upper member comprised of four interlocking pieces and a lower member comprised of six interlocking rails to form a grid, wherein the upper and lower members are separated by spacing members which interlock with the upper member components and the lower member components.
Pigott et al disclose an intricate system of attaching an upper member to a lower member by a combination of six separate and six integral spacers which opera
Chen José V.
Weaver Thomas R.
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