Horizontally supported planar surfaces – Industrial platform – Stacking
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-19
2004-04-20
Chen, Jose V. (Department: 3637)
Horizontally supported planar surfaces
Industrial platform
Stacking
C108S051300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06722291
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention deals generally with the field of pallet design. Conventional pallets are by convention usually square and provide a means for allowing a forklift to extend thereinto to facilitate lifting of materials stacked on the pallet.
The present invention applies to that specific subset of such pallet supports used for transporting of horizontally oriented sheet material stacked vertically. Such material could comprise sheetrock, wallboard or plywood or any material which is generally sold for use mostly for construction in sheets of, for example, two or four feet wide and anywhere between four and twenty feet in length. However, most usually the sheet material is four foot in width and between eight and twelve feet in length. When stacked horizontally these materials such as wallboard can be extremely heavy and the present invention provides a new and improved means for facilitating handling of these very heavy vertical stacks of horizontally oriented sheet material utilizing a reusable and recyclable separation member positionable in arrays between sections of the stack.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The primary prior art to the present invention is shown in
FIG. 9
of the present application. The current state of the art separates sections of vertically stacked horizontally oriented sheet materials with items commonly referred to as slooters. This usage of slooters is most commonly with wall board or sheetrock. It is necessary to provide spaces in the vertically extending stack into which the arms of a forklift can extend to facilitate moving of portions of the stack by moving one or more individual sections at a time.
FIG. 9
shows the current state of the art method for this purpose. The multiple horizontally oriented sheets of sheetrock are separated by narrow strips of sheetrock or wallboard normally cut at the location of manufacture of the sheetrock. These items are all commonly referred to as slooters and five or six such items are stacked vertically to define approximately two and a half to three inches between sections of a sheetrock stack to facilitate handling thereof by a forklift.
With ⅝th inch thick wallboard normally five slooters will be stacked upon one another and used as spacers thereby achieving a spacing of two and a half to three inches. On the other hand, with wallboard which is ½ inch in thickness, five or six strips approximately two to three inches wide will be utilized to provide this same desired spacing. These pieces will be stacked vertically and spaced apart from similar stacks of pieces as shown in FIG.
9
. The present invention provides a reusable separation member which includes two planar support members for contacting the wallboard above and below the separation member as well as an interlocking cellular construction for maintaining these two planar support members separated from one another by approximately two and a half to three inches. In this manner the separation members of the present invention are effective in defining recesses for receiving the forks of lifting mechanisms which still being reusable.
Prior art configurations and constructions for use with vertical stacks of horizontally extending sheet members are commonly known as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,150,960 patented Mar. 21, 1939 to C. A. Bertel on an “Apparatus For Handling Bales And The Like”; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,779,487 patented Jan. 29, 1957 to F. D. Harris on a “Vehicle Mounted Handling Device For Pallet Stacks”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,127 patented Aug. 16, 1977 to C. E. Brossia and assigned to Adolph Coors Company on a “Slip Pallet And Divider Sheet”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,014 patented Dec. 27, 1977 to D. J. Sagmiller on a “Slipsheet Pallet Tool And Method”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,344 patented Sep. 26, 1978 to T. J. Ziemba on a “Fluid Pallet And A Method Of Stacking And Storing Goods”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,151 patented May 21, 1985 to M. R. Dill, Jr. on an “Article Separator For Materials Handling”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,252 patented Nov. 24, 1987 to V. D. Azzi and assigned to The Kingston-Warren Corporation on a “Storage Rack System”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,448 patented Dec. 29, 1992 to V. L. Flaig and assigned to Guardian Industries Corp. on a “Container For Shipping And Stacking Sheets Of Glass”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,019 patented Jun. 27, 1995 to S. E. Moorman and assigned to Georgia-Pacific Corporation on “Sheet Material Pallet With Wrap Around Deck”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,540 patented Dec. 5, 1995 to C. R. Marschke et al and assigned to Marquip, Inc. on a “Method And Apparatus For Making Pallet Supports And Pallets Incorporating Said Supports”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,808 patented Jun. 8, 1999 to D. M. Bartholomew and assigned to Menasha Corporation on a “Container For Horizontally Stacked Sheets”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,018,858 patented Feb. 1, 2000 to R. R. Taylor on a “Method And Apparatus For Separating Layered Material”; and U.S. Reissue Pat. No. Re. 36,687 patented May 9, 2000 to C. R. marschke et al and assigned to Marquip, Inc. on a “Method And Apparatus For Making Pallet Supports And Pallets Incorporating Said Supports”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,350 patented Jul. 25, 2000 to C. Dumlao et al and assigned to Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. on a “Modular Polymer Matrix Composite Support Structure And Methods Of Constructing Same”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,693 patented Sep. 11, 2001 to H. E. Brown and assigned to Alltrista Corporation on a “Rack Support System For Plastic Pallets”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,082 patented Sep. 18, 2001 to M. Van Giezen et al and assigned to Royal Packaging Industry Leer N. V. on a “Pallet Container With Grid Support Structure”.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a separation member which is usable for selective placement between sheet members which themselves are oriented horizontally and are stacked vertically. In this manner the separation member will define recesses between sections of the sheetrock which allows a forklift to extend between the sheet members and between the separation members to facilitate simultaneously handling of the sheet members located thereabove without causing movement of any of the separation members in the array at the same level as the forklifting arms.
Each of these separation members includes a first planar support member extending horizontally across and above the stacked sheet members and in abutment therewith. This first planar support member will have a length to width ratio of at least 10-1. This high ratio of length to width facilitates the defining of recesses between the separation members for receiving of the lifting arms of a forklift while at the same time allowing air flow therethrough for ventilation for drying of the sheet members to prevent unwanted accumulation of water therein which can have many destructive effects such as mildew and the like. Also the high length to width ratio of 10-1 or more facilitates recycling of the separation members by allowing them to be returned to the point of origin or manufacture of the sheet members for re-use thereof in a compact manner.
A second planar support member may also be positioned extending horizontally below the vertically adjacently positioned horizontally oriented sheet members thereabove and in abutment therewith for supporting of it in spaced relation above the adjacent sheet member thereunder. This second planar support member also preferably has a length to width ratio of at least 10-1 and is fixedly secured in spaced relation vertically above the first support member by a distance sufficient to allow forklift arms to extend thereadjacent between the sheet members vertically and between the separation members horizontally. In this manner lifting of any horizontally oriented sheet members of the stack and, in particular, one or more sections thereof will be facilitated when moved with a forklift. It is also important to note that when the individual sections are moved by placement of the forklift arms into recesses
Adams Fred L.
Handler Robert I.
Schlegel Robert R.
Slooters, Inc.
Sperry, Zoda & Kane
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