Pallet with stacking stops on the pallet deck

Abstract

A pallet made of plastic, having a pallet deck and pallet runners. The runners extend the length of the pallet and have a substantially rectangular form. The runners and the pallet deck have formations that allow a form-fit engagement of two pallets of the same type that are stacked one above the other. The form-fit engagement creates a stable stack. The formations on the pallet deck are also designed to allow wooden pallets to be stacked on the pallet according to the invention.

Claims

1. A pallet made of plastic for supporting and transporting a load, the pallet comprising: an upper surface that is a pallet deck; a lower surface that is formed by a plurality of runners; and a plurality of stops that are provided on the pallet deck; wherein each runner is an elongated, substantially rectangular contact surface having four runner corners; wherein each runner corner has a contour that provides a runner void; wherein the pallet deck has a plurality of void regions, each of which is vertically aligned with a respective runner void; wherein the stops are constructed as knobs that extend upward from the pallet deck; and wherein one or more of the stops is provided in a respective one or more of the void regions.

2. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the stops have a constant cross-section.

3. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the stops have a height that projects above the pallet deck within a range of 3 to 10 mm.

4. The pallet of claim 3, wherein the stops have a height that projects above the pallet deck within a range of 4 to 6 mm.

5. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the plurality of runners includes a middle runner; wherein the plurality of stops includes two middle stops and two outer stops that are provided along at least one edge of the pallet deck; and wherein the two middle stops are provided in the void regions that are aligned with the runner voids of the middle runner.

6. The pallet of claim 5, wherein the two middle stops have a first height and the two outer stops have a second height that is lower than the first height.

7. The pallet of claim 6, wherein the first height is within a range of 5 to 6 mm and the second height is within a range of 3.5 to 4.5 mm.

8. The pallet of claim 5, wherein two outer runners of the plurality of runners have a first width dimension and the middle runner has a second width dimension that is wider than the first width dimension; and wherein the second width dimension is sufficiently wide that the two middle stops are spaced apart a distance that is greater than a width of a runner on a wooden pallet.

9. The pallet of claim 1, wherein at least some areas of the pallet deck have an anti-slip surface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present invention is described with reference to the accompanying purely schematic drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements.

(2) FIG. 1 is a top plane view of a pallet according to the invention.

(3) FIG. 2 is a side plane view of a long side of the pallet.

(4) FIG. 3 is a side plane view of the short side of the pallet, showing forklift openings and the placement of stops above void areas of the runners.

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view from above of two middle stops of the pallet.

(6) FIG. 5 is a bottom plane view of the pallet, showing a middle runner that is wider than the outer runners and also showing the voids at the rounded corners.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) The present invention will now be described more fully in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention should not, however, be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, they are provided so that this disclosure will be complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

(8) FIG. 1 is a plane view of a plastic pallet 1 according to the invention, which, purely by way of example, is a Euro pallet having a standardized load area of 800 mm×1200 mm. The pallet 1 is substantially rectangular in shape with two short sides 2 and two long sides 3 and a pallet deck 4. Strips of an anti-slip coating or material 5 are provided on the pallet deck 4. Reinforcing steel profiles (not shown) may be provided under some of these strips, to stiffen the pallet 1 in the lengthwise and crosswise directions.

(9) In the embodiment shown, four stops 6, constructed as cylindrical knobs, are provided near the edges of the short sides 2 of the pallet deck 4—two middle stops 6 and two outer stops 6. Tests have shown that the most suitable heights for the middle stops are between 5 and 6 mm, and preferably 5.5 mm, and for the outer stops between 3.5 and 4.5 mm, and preferably 4 mm. In this embodiment, the middle stops 6 project 5.5 mm above the surface of the pallet deck 4 and the two outer stops 6 project 4 mm above the pallet deck 4.

(10) FIG. 2 is a side plane of the long side 3 of the pallet 1, showing two openings defined by the pallet deck 4 at the top, legs 8 at the sides, and runners 9 at the bottom, whereby the runners 9 extend the entire length of the pallet 1.

(11) FIG. 3 is a plane view of the short side 2 of the pallet 1. Two forklift pockets 7 are created between the three runners 9 into which an industrial truck drives a fork. In a suitable construction for plastic material, the four outer corners of the pallet 1 and the four outer legs 8 at those outer corners have rounded corner areas 10, with a first bending radius. The remaining legs 8 also have rounded areas 11, but the with a second bending radius that is greater than the first bending radius.

(12) FIG. 4 shows a partial perspective view from above of a short side 2 and the middle leg 8, as well as the two middle stops 6, which are provided completely within the standardized dimensions of the pallet of 800×1,200 mm of the Euro pallet, that is to say, do not extend beyond the dimensions of the pallet deck 4.

(13) FIG. 5 is a bottom plane view, showing the three runners 9 that run along the bottom of the pallet 1. The contact surface of each runner 9 is shown as being substantially rectangular, with rounded outer corner areas 10 and rounded inner corner areas 11, whereby in this embodiment the first bending radius of the outer corner areas 10 is smaller than the second bending radius of the inner corner areas 11. The dashed lines 12 reference an approximately triangular open space, i.e., a void 14 at the inner corner areas 11. This void 14 does not exist on the runners of a wooden pallet, which are typically cut with a straight cut and, thus, have square corners.

(14) Referring now to FIG. 1, the dashed lines 12 indicate the contour of the end of the middle runner 9 which runs beneath the pallet deck 4 and is normally not visible from above the pallet 1. These dashed lines 12 show void regions 15 that correspond to the voids 14 that are available on runners on a pallet of identical construction. When two pallets 1 are stacked together, the two middle stops 6 that are provided within these void regions 15 on the lower pallet 1 engage in a form-fit manner with the voids 14 of the upper pallet 1, to achieve the desired stability of stacked pallets 1.

(15) In the embodiment shown, the two outer stops 6 allow a wooden pallet to be reliably stacked on the pallet 1. As previously mentioned, the runners on wooden pallets are precisely rectangular, i.e., without voids at the corners. As can be seen in FIG. 5, a middle runner 9A is wider than the two outer runners 9. This middle runner 9A is wider than the middle runner on a typical wooden pallet, which means that the middle stops 6 in this embodiment of pallet 1 are spaced apart a distance that is greater than the width of the middle runner on the wooden pallet. When a wooden pallet is stacked on the pallet 1, these middle stops 6 do not make contact with the wooden pallet, but rather, extend into the spaces between the wooden pallet runners. Hence, the wooden pallet rests only on the two outer stops 6.

(16) In another embodiment (not shown), the middle runner 9 may have a width dimension similar to that of the middle runner on the typical wooden pallet. In this case, the wooden pallet rests on all four stops 6. Because the middle stops 6 have a greater height than the outer stops 6, there would be a tendency for the wooden pallet to tile to one side or the other. The outer stops, which are slightly lower in height, prevent the wooden pallet from tilting.

(17) It is understood that the embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present invention. Variations in the construction of the pallet with stacking stops may be contemplated by one skilled in the art without limiting the intended scope of the invention herein disclosed and as defined by the following claims.