Horizontally supported planar surfaces – Industrial platform – With load-confining means
Patent
1999-03-30
2000-09-19
Wilkens, Janet M.
Horizontally supported planar surfaces
Industrial platform
With load-confining means
108 5717, B65D 1944
Patent
active
061196045
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a pallet comprising a load receiving surface with supporting joists, said pallet having removable lateral supports that protrude upwardly from said load receiving surface.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Pallets are widely used for packaging and stacking of various kinds of goods, typically individual items or packages that may be stacked in a stable manner or fixated relative to the pallet by winding with e.g. steel or plastics bands. Pallets are advantageous for transportation since they have modular dimensions and are thus configured for optimal utilisation of the space in trucks, containers or cargo wagons. Pallets are often involved throughout the entire distribution chain, all the way from manufacturer to consumer.
Various pallet dimensions and types have been developed, and in particular for use in connection with the production of Christmas trees and decorative greenery, a pallet system has been developed that consists of a so-called transport pallet on which Christmas trees and decorative greenery are transported to the retailer, and a so-called forest pallet on which the less solid transport pallet is positioned during its transport and packaging on the growth site in the forest. This system is described in further detail in DK patent No. 169 147, and in addition to said pallets it also describes a method of packaging Christmas trees and decorative greenery in a compressed manner.
In order to minimise packaging waste, it is a current desire that pallets are to be returned to the manufacturer following discharge of their loads at the retailer's. However, the above-described transportation pallet is not very suitable for reuse since, although removable, its lateral elements cannot be packed away during the transport back to the manufacturer and therefore the empty pallet and its lateral elements take up comparatively much space during this return transport.
However, the transport pallet used in practice is forwarded to the retailer without use of lateral supports, the pallet and the Christmas trees or the decorative greenery merely being wound with a plastics or steel band. However, this presents the drawback at the retailer's that all Christmas trees or all the decorative greenery is discharged from the pallet at the same time when the windings are cut. However this is contrary to the retailer's wish that discharge from the pallet may be effected continuously.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the present invention to provide a pallet with lateral supports which may be packed away thereby accomplishing a pallet which does not consume considerably more space than an empty pallet without lateral supports. In the packed state, the lateral supports must moreover be so positioned that they are not readily able to slide away from the pallet during transport.
This object is obtained by configuring the pallet described above in such a manner that the load receiving surface is provided with indentations of a configuration that corresponds substantially to the shape of the removable lateral supports, whereby said lateral supports may be arranged in the indentations when removed from the pallet.
By providing the load-receiving surface of the pallet in this manner, it is possible to arrange the lateral supports in the indentations of the load-receiving surface where they will be more or less secured.
By configuring the pallet in such a manner that the lateral supports consist of posts, and by providing the load-receiving surface with longitudinally extending grooves of a width that corresponds to the width of the posts, it is obtained that the posts may be arranged in the grooves of the load-receiving surface and thus be secured during transport of the unloaded pallet.
According to a particularly simple embodiment, the posts consist of wooden planks whereas the load-receiving surface consists of corresponding wooden planks arranged at mutual distances that correspond to the width of the planks. Hereby the grooves in the load-receiving surfa
REFERENCES:
patent: 2471693 (1949-05-01), Lilienfeld
patent: 3626872 (1971-12-01), Cully
patent: 4068599 (1978-01-01), Sapp et al.
patent: 4571141 (1986-02-01), Gieson
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