PLASTIC COMPOSITE MODULAR REBUILDABLE PALLET

Abstract

A plastic composite modular rebuildable pallet has replaceable top boards, stringers and bottom boards made from a thermoplastic resin with variable amounts of long glass fiber reinforcements molded into the pallet boards. The top boards have on center circular indexing buttons. The stringers have top lengthwise molded in channels for receiving multiple reinforcing metal bars, rods or tubes held in place by the top boards. The bottom boards have two circular cups at each end on their bottom surfaces for indexing with the on center buttons of the below pallet when the empty pallets are stacked for storage and transportation. This arrangement allows for the bottom boards to be horizontally reversibly mounted on the bottom surface of the stringers in either 180? horizontal direction. The bottom boards have thick bottom feet pads with foot wear-resistant pads for sliding engagement with ground surfaces.

Claims

1. A plastic composite modular rebuildable pallet comprising: a) replaceable top boards; b) replaceable bottom boards with wear-resistant feet pads for engagement with below surfaces; c) replaceable stringers running 90? from the boards; and d) mechanical fasteners for holding the top and bottom boards to the stringers.

2. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the bottom sides of the top and bottom boards and the stringers are honeycombed on their bottom sides to add additional strength the pallet.

3. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the bottom boards are 180? horizontally reversible when mounting to the stringers.

4. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the top and bottom boards have re-enforcing fibers molded into the boards and stringers running their lengths.

5. The pallet of claim 4, wherein the re-enforcing fibers may be chosen from a group comprising carbon fibers, graphite fibers, basalt fibers or ceramic fibers.

6. The pallet of claim 4, wherein the re-enforcing fibers may be 20-50% of volume of the boards.

7. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the top and bottom boards and stringers may be chosen from a group comprising thermoplastic resins such as polypropylene, polyethylene, nylons, PVC, or polyesters.

8. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the top boards have top surfaces with circular indexing buttons and the bottom boards have circular indexing cups to index into a second lower pallet top indexing buttons.

9. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the stringers have top surfaces with channels for locating reinforcing metal bars, rods or tubes held in place by fastened top boards.

10. A plastic composite modular rebuildable pallet comprising: a) replaceable honeycombed top boards with molded in re-enforcing fibers; b) replaceable, horizontally rotatable, honeycombed bottom boards with wear-resistant feet for engagement with ground or below surfaces with molded in re-enforcing fibers wherein the bottom boards are 180? horizontally reversible when assembling the pallet; c) replaceable honeycombed stringers running 90? from the boards with molded in re-enforcing fibers; and d) mechanical fasteners for holding the top and bottom boards to the stringers.

11. The pallet of claim 10, wherein the re-enforcing fibers may be chosen from a group comprising carbon fibers, graphite fibers, basalt fibers or ceramic fibers.

12. The pallet of claim 10, wherein the re-enforcing fibers may be 20-50% of volume of the boards.

13. The pallet of claim 10, wherein the top and bottom boards and stringers may be chosen from a group comprising thermoplastic resins such as polypropylene, polyethylene, nylons, PVC, or polyesters.

14. The pallet of claim 10, wherein the top boards have top surfaces with indexing buttons and the bottom boards have indexing cups to index into a second lower pallet top indexing buttons.

15. The pallet of claim 10, wherein the stringers have top surfaces with channels for locating reinforcing metal bars, rods or tubes held in place by fastened top boards.

16. A plastic composite modular rebuildable pallet comprising: a) replaceable honeycombed top boards with molded in re-enforcing fibers; b) replaceable, horizontally rotatable, honeycombed bottom boards with wear-resistant feet for engagement with ground or below surfaces with molded in re-enforcing fibers wherein the bottom boards are 180? horizontally reversible when assembling the pallet; c) replaceable honeycombed stringers running 90? from the boards; and d) mechanical fasteners for holding the top and bottom boards to the stringers.

17. The pallet of claim 16, wherein the re-enforcing fibers may be chosen from a group comprising carbon fibers, graphite fibers, basalt fibers or ceramic fibers.

18. The pallet of claim 16, wherein the re-enforcing fibers may be 20-50% of volume of the boards.

19. The pallet of claim 16, wherein the top and bottom boards and stringers may be chosen from a group comprising thermoplastic resins such as polypropylene, polyethylene, nylons, PVC, or polyesters.

20. The pallet of claim 16, wherein the top boards have top surfaces with indexing buttons and the bottom boards have indexing cups to index into a second lower pallet top indexing buttons.

21. The pallet of claim 16, wherein the stringers have top surfaces with channels for locating reinforcing metal bars, rods or tubes held in place by fastened top boards.

22. A plastic composite modular rebuildable pallet comprising: a) replaceable honeycombed top boards with molded in re-enforcing fibers; b) replaceable, horizontally rotatable, honeycombed bottom boards with wear-resistant feet for engagement with ground or below surfaces with molded in re-enforcing fibers wherein the bottom boards are 180? horizontally reversible when assembling the pallet, wherein the top boards have top surfaces with indexing buttons and the bottom boards have indexing cups to index into a second lower pallet top indexing buttons; c) replaceable honeycombed stringers running 90? from the boards with molded in re-enforcing fibers, wherein the stringers have top surfaces with channels for locating reinforcing metal bars, rods or tubes held in place by fastened top boards; and d) mechanical fasteners for holding the top and bottom boards to the stringers.

23. The pallet of claim 22, wherein the re-enforcing fibers may be chosen from a group comprising carbon fibers, graphite fibers, basalt fibers or ceramic fibers.

24. The pallet of claim 22, wherein the re-enforcing fibers may be 20-50% of volume of the boards.

25. The pallet of claim 22, wherein the top and bottom boards and stringers may be chosen from a group comprising thermoplastic resins such as polypropylene, polyethylene, nylons, PVC, or polyesters.

26. A plastic composite modular rebuildable pallet comprising: a) replaceable top boards; b) replaceable bottom boards with wear-resistant feet pads for engagement with below surfaces; c) replaceable stringers running 90? from the boards, the stringers having top surfaces with channels for locating at least three reinforcing metal bars, rods, or tubes; and d) mechanical fasteners for holding the top and bottom boards to the stringers.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] FIG. 1 is a right front top perspective view of the plastic composite modular rebuildable pallet of the present invention;

[0024] FIG. 2 is a left front bottom perspective view of the present invention;

[0025] FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the present invention;

[0026] FIG. 4 is a right or left side elevational view of the present invention;

[0027] FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of one of the top boards partially broken away;

[0028] FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of one of the top boards;

[0029] FIG. 7 is top perspective view of one of the stringers;

[0030] FIG. 8 is a top plan view of one of the stringers;

[0031] FIG. 9 is a top plan view broken away of one of the stringers with channels holding a metal reinforcement bar, rod or tube therein;

[0032] FIG. 10 is a top plan view partially broken away of one of the stringers with channels holding two metal reinforcement bars, rods or tubes therein;

[0033] FIG. 11 is a top plan view partially broken away of one of the stringers with channels holding three metal reinforcement bars, rods or tubes therein;

[0034] FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view partially broken away of an assembled pallet showing three steel reinforcement bars therein as if taken along lines 12-12 of FIG. 11;

[0035] FIG. 13 is a stringer left or right side elevational view;

[0036] FIG. 14 is a top perspective view of a bottom board;

[0037] FIG. 15 is a right or left side elevational view of one of the bottom boards;

[0038] FIG. 16 is a bottom perspective view of one of the bottom boards;

[0039] FIG. 17 is left side elevational view partially broken away showing bottom board cup A indexed with the top board button; and

[0040] FIG. 18 is left side elevational view partially broken away showing bottom board rotated 180? showing bottom board cup B indexed with the top board button.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] In general the plastic composite modular rebuildable pallet 10 of the present invention may be viewed and understood with reference to FIGS. 1-4. Pallet 10 is made of nine composite structural top and bottom boards 14 and 36, respectively, and three plastic molded stringers 24. These 12 molded pallet components are held together with screws 22 and 48. This modular pallet 10 can easily be taken apart so that broken components can be replaced thereby making the pallet useful again. This modular feature eliminates the repairability problems associated with wood and one piece plastic pallets in use today. All Top composite structural boards 14 are on the same plane and parallel. The bottom composite structural boards 36 are on a second plane and parallel with each other and parallel with the top composite structural boards 14. All composite structural boards 14 and 36 are perpendicular to the plastic molded stringers 24. The pallet 10 dimensions can be custom made to meet the end users exact size and strength requirements (20?28; 40?48 or 60?85 for example).

[0042] The top and bottom boards 14 and 36 and stringers 24 are molded with polypropylene thermoplastic resin and long glass fiber reinforcements. It should be understood that the top boards could also be molded with other thermoplastic resins such as polyethylene, nylons, PVC, polyesters, etc. In addition, the bottoms of the top, bottom boards 14 and 36 and stringers 24 are gusseted, waffled, webbed or ribbed 16, 45 and 34 respectfully to further add strength. The long glass fiber reinforcement can also be of carbon fiber, graphite fiber, basalt fiber, ceramic fiber etc. The amount of long fiber reinforcement in the top and bottom boards 14 and 36 can be varied from 20% to 50% of pallet volume. Increasing the long fiber reinforcement percentage improves the pallet's 10 ability to resist bending and breaking from impacts. This variability allows the user to custom tailor a pallet to their exact performance requirements.

[0043] Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the top board 14 may be 6 wide, 40 long and ? thick. Screw bosses 20 are re-enforced to receive twelve mechanical fasteners, bolts or screws 22 which may be #9 2.5 torque-type drive screws for securement to the stringers 24 at the twelve stringer screw bosses 26. On top of the upper boards 14 are located 3 on center three circular indexing buttons, tabs or pucks 18 which will be appreciated later herein.

[0044] Referring to FIGS. 2, 3, 7-12, the three stringers 24 may be appreciated. Illustratively, the stringers are 5 wide, 48 long and 4 high with twelve top and twelve bottom screw bosses 26. The bottom side of the stringers 24 are also gusseted 45 for additional strength. Longitudinally in the central top of the stringers 24 are three molded in channels 30. As seen in FIGS. 9-11, up to three steel bars, rods or tubes 32 generally ? wide, 1 deep and 48 long and may be made of 18, 16, 14 or 12 gauge thickness. Depending on the pallet 10 strength requirements, one to three of the bars, rods or tubes 32 may be placed into the channels 30 perpendicular to the top and bottom boards 12 and 36 to add pallet strength running perpendicular to top and bottom boards 14 and 36 and such are held thereat by the screw secured top boards 14. Also the stringers 24 have bottom fork lift carve outs 35 for the tangs of a fork lift. Thus the pallet 10 may be lifted up from its front/back or its sides.

[0045] Referring to FIGS. 2, 14, 15 and 16, the bottom boards 36 of the pallet 10 may be seen and understood. Bottom boards 36 are generally 4 wide, 40 long and ? thick with screw bosses 38 for twelve screws 40 to secure the bottom boards 36 to the stringer 24. Opposite to the stringer 24 mounting surfaces each bottom board 36 has three feet wear pads 50 to provide wear surfaces for when the pallet 10 is slid across a floor surface. Where otherwise the pallet will become worn out more quickly. The bottom of the bottom board 36 is also gusseted 45 for additional strength.

[0046] Referring to FIGS. 17 and 18, the bottom side of each of the bottom boards 36 on pads 50 have three pairs of side by side two circular depressions or cups 44A and 44B generally each 1? from either side edge. By this arrangement, the bottom boards 36 may be horizontally secured with screws 40 to the stringer in either direction A or B which amounts to a 180? arrangement (see FIG. 14). This assures that one of cups 44A or 44B will always be lined up with the button 18 on the top board 14 when the empty pallets 10 are stacked on top of each other for return to the sender. With this indexing, the pallets 10 are not prone slide off each other when empty and stacked upon one another. Also when the pallets are assembled for use, no care need be given as to whether the bottom boards 36 are rotated in either position to be fastened to the stringers 24.

[0047] The above description and accompanying FIGS. are for illustrative consideration and the true scope of this pallet 10 invention are to be determined by the following claims.