Horizontally supported planar surfaces – Industrial platform – Knockdown or setup
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-04
2001-02-13
Wilkens, Janet M. (Department: 3636)
Horizontally supported planar surfaces
Industrial platform
Knockdown or setup
C108S057170
Reexamination Certificate
active
06186077
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates, in general, to pallets used for handling, storing, or moving materials and packages in warehouses, factories, or vehicles and, more particularly, to a prefabricated pallet capable of being easily and firmly assembled by fitting a plurality of vertical and horizontal members to each other and easily disassembled when necessary.
BACKGROUND ART
As well known to those skilled in the art, pallets are portable platforms used for handling, storing, or moving materials and packages (raw materials, semiprocessed goods, or end-products) in warehouses, factories, or vehicles. When it is necessary to move materials and packages with such pallets using a fork-lift truck, the pallets do not remain on the support surface but are lifted and moved by the fork-lift truck along with the materials and packages.
Typical pallets, used for handling, storing, or moving materials and packages, are manufactured by arranging a plurality of vertical and horizontal wood members, individually having a predetermined size, so as to allow the members to meet at right angles. Thereafter, the vertical and horizontal members are integrated into a single body using a plurality of nails, screws or rivets at the crosses of the members. For example, in order to form a pallet, a plurality of rectangular wood bars, having the same size and configuration, are arranged in a parallel and regularly spaced arrangement. Thereafter, a plurality of wood plates are regularly arranged on the wood bars so as to meet the wood bars at right angles prior to fastening the wood plates to the wood bars using a plurality of nails at the crosses.
However, such wood pallets are problematic in that it is very difficult to manufacture them since the vertical and horizontal members have to be arranged across each other at right angles and are integrated into a single body by a plurality of nails driven at the crosses one by one. When materials and packages are removed from such wood pallets, the pallets are not reused but are regrettably scrapped, thus causing waste of resources and increasing the circulation expenses of goods and being inconvenient to users.
When such wood pallets are used for storing materials and packages in warehouses with wet air or storing bricks or stones in the open air, the pallets are easily wetted. Such wet wood pallets may be deformed or rotted, thus failing to stably support materials, packages, bricks and stones. Such rotting wood pallets also give out a bad smell irritating those around them.
Another problem experienced in the typical wood pallets is that they can not be effectively used for handling, storing, or moving materials and packages regardless of sizes or configurations of the materials and packages. That is, the typical wood pallets have fixed sizes, so it is necessary to separately produce a plurality of pallets having various sizes so as to meet different sizes of materials and packages, and this causes a reduction in productivity of the pallets.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a prefabricated pallet, which comprises a plurality of vertical and horizontal plastic members and is easily and firmly assembled by fitting the vertical and horizontal members to each other without using any nails, screws or rivets and is easily disassembled when necessary.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a prefabricated pallet, of which the size is freely changeable in accordance with the arrangement of the vertical and horizontal members, thus allowing the pallet to be freely used for supporting a material or package regardless of the size of the material or package.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a prefabricated pallet, which has a plurality of pipe insert holes capable of allowing the pallet to be assembled into a many-storied structure, thus enlarging the loading capacity of the pallet.
In order to accomplish the above object, a prefabricated pallet according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises: a plurality of horizontal members arranged in a parallel arrangement and individually having a plurality of vertical fitting holes; and a plurality of vertical members arranged on and across the horizontal members at right angles and individually comprising a longitudinal plate part with a plurality of fitting block parts being formed on the bottom surface of the plate part, the fitting block parts being fitted into the vertical fitting holes of the horizontal members, thus assembling the vertical and horizontal members into a single body.
Each of the fitting block parts of each vertical member is stepped at the outside surface of the lower portion and has a pipe insert hole which is depressed from the top surface of the vertical member to a depth.
Each of the vertical fitting holes of each horizontal member has a size and configuration corresponding to those of each of the fitting block parts, so the fitting block parts are closely inserted into the fitting holes, thus stably and firmly assembling the vertical and horizontal members into a pallet without using any nails, screws or rivets at the crosses.
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patent: 3878796 (1975-04-01), Morrison
patent: 4359948 (1982-11-01), Judy et al.
patent: 4869179 (1989-09-01), Sammons et al.
patent: 5218913 (1993-06-01), Wineberger et al.
patent: 5417167 (1995-05-01), Sadr
patent: 2604978 A1 (1988-04-01), None
patent: 2 281 280 (1995-03-01), None
patent: 3256846 (1991-11-01), None
Lim Bang-Hoon
Lim Hoe-Youn
Lim Jae-Sung
Lim Yong-Suk
DeLio & Peterson LLC
Wilkens Janet M.
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