CA2075979A1

CA2075979A1 - Palletization platforms

Info

Publication number: CA2075979A1
Application number: CA 2075979
Authority: CA
Inventors: Jesus Maria Inchaurtieta Vazquez; Maria Jose Huesca Perez
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-12-21
Filing date: 1991-04-29
Publication date: 1992-06-22
Also published as: AU7863491A; JPH05504535A; MX9102739A; CN1063261A; EP0515578A1; CO4370759A1; WO1992011185A1; MA22376A1; PT97864A

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION
IMPROVEMENTS TO PALLETIZING PLATFORMS

Such comprising that the planks making up the upper surface (11) of the platform, and the lower planks (12) acting as legs, be fixed to the wings of respective lateral angle brackets (13) and (14) between which are hinged the appropriate rods (15) that provide for folding and unfolding of the assembly formed by the upper planks (11) and the assembly formed by the lower planks (12), either for the platform to take up as little space as possible when not in use or to space out such top and lower parts when in use to allow insertion of the arms of a fork-lift truck.
When in use, blocking is by means of an angle iron (19) with a wing (20) hinged to the lower end plank (12), its other wing (21) being vertically inserted between such lower plank (12) and the upper plank (11) to prevent folding. When not in use, this angle iron (19) is held by a spigot (24) housed in a notch (23) provided on the relevant edge of the hinge wing (20).

Description

~ ` 2~7$979 IIII~V~ TO pAT.~l'T5:ING PLa~O~al!lS

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oB~æcT OF T~ Y~NTIG~

The present invention relates to a numker 9~ improvements to palletizing plat:forms, i.e. to the so-called "palle~s".

~he said improvements are aimed at reducIng the space that the pallets take up when not in use and hence also to cu~ down on loadless carriage costs.

BaCæGRoD~D OF T~ ld~chllD~
It is a known fact that co~ven~ional pallet6 or load plat~orms comprise a platform as such, upon which ~he load is to be placed, which platform is separated from the ground by means of short legs in order provide some space for the arms o~ a fork-lift truck that is normally used to handle palletized loads.

Obviously, these legs, essential when handling the loaded platform, are a hindrance when caxrying and storing loadless palle~s, for such legs are several times higher than the thickne6s ~: 25 o~ ~he platform as 6uch and, especially when carrying the same since the pallets do not weigh overmuch, ~hie size of the load depands upon the space they occupy.

In an attempt at overc~ming this problemi, there are pallets thiat are coupled t~ each other ~y 'ltonguing and grooving", namely palle~s with hollow legs open a~ thieir top or opera~ive face that allow the said pallets to bei coupled to each other by gradually dlverging towards the m~uth thereof. More spicifically, in this s~nse there Qxist metal sheet pallets with embeidded legs, and plastic or wooden pallets with ~he said holl~w legs moulded.

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These solutions nevertheless clearly increase the manufacturing costs of ~he pallet as compared wi~h conventional solutions using solid legs.

D~SC~IEII~N OF ~Ee I~VE~qIQ~

The improvemen~s subject of the invention are designed ~o yield the same results as the aforesaid pallets, i.~., t~ make the most o~ the space available by coupling the loadless pallet to each other in the best possible fashion, but with a cost that is roughly the same as conventional pallets with solid legs.

Mbre speci~ically and in order t~ achieve ~he above, the improvements of the invention comprise providing ~he plat~orm wi~h concealable legs so tha~ wh~n the pallet is not in use the ~aid legs are concealed in the spaces de~in2d between the b~rs that make up the load platform as such, without projecting either from the contour o~ such platform or from e.ikher face thereof.

Tha said concealable legs æe attached to the pla~form as such ~hrough rods, hinges, tie bars or any othar means ~ itting .
their moving from their operative position to their position when not in use and vice Yersa ~ and furthermore means to block such elements to stabilize ~he said legs both when not in use and when in use, thereby to avoid unintentional or accidental changes in ~uch position. --:
~ ccording to an embodiment of the Lnvention, the planks maklng up ~he load plat~orm æe a~ached to each other with angle brackets, angle brackets also being pravided at a lower h~ight for the planks ~r bars fo ~ g the legs to be suppDrted and fixed, the rods being hinged to such brackets.

The UTI!t also has an angle iron, one o~ the branches of which is longer and hinged close to one of its ends to the plank at ,. , . I : .: : , . . . .
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either end of the lower part, while the shorter branch is as high as th~ spacing between the planks in the platform as ~uch and the said lower plank to which the said angle iron is hinged, moreover characterised in that the lateral edge defined between the end sector opposite the angle iron branch hinge and the actual shor~er or narrower branch as such has a notch where a spigot or like element provided for such purpos~ on ~he end plank in the upper platform sec~or can be fixed, ~he rele~nt planks, i.e. t~e top and lower planks, therefore resting upon the shorter branch so that when folded such iron is previously rotated or swung for the longer branch thereof to be backed to the front of the top sectDr end plank, while the smaller arm will actually be backed ~o the top face of su~h lower plank, without hindering maximum folding at all~ sLnce the ~hickness of the wings of such angle iron will not exceed the thickness o~ ~he angle bracket~ precisely ~upporting the pl~tform or pallet planks.

An abutment is also provided for one of the hinge rods so that when in u~e, the operator, upon unfolding, is aware of the correct position in which the plat~o~ is t~ be left, for if no abutm~nt were provided, ~his obviously belng for the hinge rods to be vertical, the operator would ha~e to check and find such vertical position and position the angle iron ~y hand, for this is to be ~he locking element for such operative position, since, as aforesaid, the shorter branch of such angle iron supports the top and lower plat~orm plank~, thereby to block the same in order that folding does not came about, unless such ~ngle iron is acted upon and i~ folded in order to proceed to fold the actual platform.
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DESCRIPrIoN O~ T9E nR~Kr~c6 In order ~o provide a fuller description and contribute to :
the complete understanding of the characterlstics of this invention, a single sheet of drawings is at$ached to khe i. ~ , , , , ~, , ; ;, specification which, while purely illustrative and not fully comprehensive, shows the followingO

Figure 1.- Is a ~ide elevation dia~rammatic view of a palletizing plat~orm provided with the improvements ~ubject of ~he present invention, shown when not in use or folded.

Figure 2.- Is a view similar to that of figure 1, showing ~he palletizing platorm when in use or with its legs unfolded.
Figure 3.- Is a perspective view of a palletizing platform in accordance with ~he second emb4diment of the ~ rovements of the invention.

Figure 4.- Is a side elevation close view of a portion of the platform, showing the abutment ~tructure ~upport~ng one of the rods, displaying the correct unfolding of the platform or, in other words, the vertical position of the rods for the pla~form to be loaked when in use. The dotted line of this figure shows the various stages to ~old the platform, establishing how the rod tu~ns for the planks maXing up the platform or upper part to be plac~d over the lower part, ~o take up a coplanar position and minimize the thicknes~, and therefore the volum~ of the load plat~orm as far as possible when it is folded when not in use.
Figure 5.- Is, finally, a general p~rspective view of the angle iron that a ~ as means to block ~he open or operativ~
position of the platform as such.

ER~ERR~D ~oBDD ~ OF TE~ I~V~TqO~

In light of these figures, and more specifically figures 1 and 2, it is clear that the palletizing platform ~ade in accordance with the improvem~nts subject of this invention, j~st as a conventional pallPtizing platform,.has a load platform or .
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~ 0 7 ~ 9 7 9 surface as such (1), comprising a number of p æallel planXs duly attached to each other by means of cros~bars ~2), but especially characterised in that the legs rest mg upon the floor wi~h which the said platform as such is provided are removable and more specifically concealable, in turn comprising bars (3) that are no thicker than the bars (2~ maXing up the platform as such and wide :
enough so as to fit in spaces (4) provided between the bars (2), ~he said legs ~3) k~ing connec~ed to the bars (2) of the platform - -as such through rods (5) or an~ other suitable mea~5 t~ attain two ~
10 limiting and stable positions, one in which such legs (3) are ::
fully ho~sed in the said spaces (4) of the load platform as such, as shown in figure 1, and ano~her position in which such leg (3) project downw~rd as shown in the diagram of figure 27 ~0 be in a ;-position where they can be used.
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Obviously, r~gardless of the means used to pro~ide the said leg~ (3) with this movement, i.e. the use of rods, arms, hinges, etc., the palletizing platform will moreover be provided with appropria~e means to stabilize the said legs, in both the 20 operatiYe position of figure 2, to pre.~ent these from leaving such working po~ition, and when not in u~e as shown in figure 1, to prevent ~uch legs from hindering the handling o~ ~he palletizing platforms, in other words loading, unloading and storage ther~of. .

It finally remains to be said ~ though in the emkodiment shown in the figures ~he legs (3) swing towards the lower face of the load platform as such, over an angle of almost 90, in the event of the palletizing platform structure so requiring, such legs may swing in ~he opposite direction, o~er an angle of a~most -270, to reach the ~op face of the platform as such.

Clearly, also, the len~th of the rods or swinging means ~or ~he legs (3) will be appropriate for the load platform as such (1- .
2), when in use as in figure 2, to be at a suitable distance from . ~ :

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the base plane for insertion of ~he arms of a fork~ t truck, a pallet carrier, etc.

Furthermore, the swinging m~ans for the concealable legs and the rest of the pallet structure will be rigid and strong in accordance with the load that such pallet or palletizing platform is due to carry.

Though this descrip~ion has hi~herto been based upon marginal supports ~or ~he pallet, clearly depending upon the ~ize thereof and ~he kind of load it is to carry, it can also have middle supports, co~oealable as before.

In accordance with a di~erent embodiment shown in figur~s 3 to 5, the platform comprises a number of wooden planks (11) on a top plane, and other planks (12) on a lower plane, in such a way that the upper edges o~ the planks (11~ æe supported by an ~pper bracket (13) provided at the sides, while the planks (12) are supported by ano~her lower bracket (14), likewise located at the sides. These upper wooden planks are iactually linked to the lower wooden planks, or in other words, bra~kets (13) and ~14) to which such wooden planks (11) and (12) are in fact fixed, through rods (15), the upper part of which is h m~ed at ~16~ in respect of the e~ternal face of the relevant upper bracket (13), while ~he lower : 25 part thereof is hinged at (17) in respect of the Lnternal face of the lower bracket (14), the lower sector of the rods (15) being inserted between ~he ends of the lower planks (12) and the actual vertical wing of the bracket (14), as cl~arly shown in figure 3.

~herefore, when ~he rods (153 ~wing, the upp~r bracket (13) will push against the horizontal wing of the lower bracket (14~
and the planks (11) ~ixed to such upper bracket tl3) will descend and be inser~ed between the lower planks (12), thereby to take up little space, for ~he thlckness will be slightly Ln excess of that o~ the planks (11) or (12).

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O~viously, unfolding will require finding the vertical point of the hinge rcds (15) in order to subsequently block ~he same in such correct position, to which end an a~utment (1~) is proYided for one of the edges of one of the rods (15) ~o contact, thereby to establish the correct vertical position of such rods (15) and ~her~fore the correct or working p~sition of the platform made up of the upper planks (11).

Such platform (11) is bloc~ed in ~his position in order that it does not fold by itself, by means of an angle iron (19) shown in figure 3, which includes two wings (20) and (21) at a right angle to each other, the wing ~20) bei~g longer than the wing : ~21), a point close to ~he lower ~nd of the said wing (20~, specifically hole (22) shown in figure 5, being where ~he said angle iron (19) is hinged to the lower end platform plank (12), while the edge of the p~rt opposite ~uch wing (20) has a notch (23~ with a pinched mouth, where a ~pigot (24) provided to ~uch end on the upper end plank (11) can be inserted, as ~hown in figure 3. For its part, the wing (21) is located be~ween such upper (11) and lower (15) planks, these latter being supported by the horizontal edges, nam2ly the upE~er and lower edges of such wing (21) in the angle iron (l9). In other words, this iron hinged at point (22) to the lower end pl~c (12) can take up a folded position, in which case the wing (20) will b2 lie next to th~
: 25 ~ro~t ~r external cant of such lower plank (20~, while ~he wLng (21) will be placed over the lower surface of ~he said plank (12), allowing the platform to fold by merely r~tatLng the rods (lS~, at the s ~e time as such an~le iron (11) c ~ be turned by hand to take up an operative position, making it turn upward in the direction opposite tha~ of the 2rrow shown in figure 3 until it locks the spiyot (24) through the notch (23), whereupon ~he w mg (21~ will be vertical ~e~ween planks (11) and (12), thereby to repres~nt the blocking means that will prevent closure or foldLng of the actual platform.

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Obviously, the angle iron (19~ can be hinged (22) ~y means of a rivet or any detachable, adjustable or o~her means, while such iron (19) can stop at ~he operative position ~hrou~h the notch (23) on the ~pigot or spindle (24), this latter being either fixed to the plank (11) or adjustable ~r movable. In order to guarantee a bet~er sup~ort and stability of the said blocking ele~ent (19), both t~ the uppex (11) and low~r (12) plank or crossbar, these latter can have a not~h or slot to house the relevant edge.

Finally, and going back to the basic pallet structure, it m~st be noted that the lower hori20ntal branch o~ the angle bracke~ ~13) in the upper pallet plane, at the sector placed over the relevant wooden plank ~12), are pro~ided with notches (25) ~hat prevent ~hese brackets (13) from hLnderLng the said folding procedure.

Finally, and in order to render the pallet s~ructur~ rigid, it has also been provided that the said angle brackets (13~ at the upper plane thereof be stiffened to ea~ch other by means of a pair of diayonal rods (26), to which each of the upper planks or bars ~11) will prefer~bly also be fixed.
, We feel that the device has now ]been described at su¢ficient length for any expert in the art to have grasped khe full scope of th~ in~ention and the advantages it o~fers.

m e materials, shape, size and layout of the elements may be altered provided that ~his entail~ no modi~ication of ~he essential features of the invention.

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The terms used to describe the invention herein should be taken to hava a broad rather than a restrictive m~aning~

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Claims

1.- Improvements to palletizing platforms, designed to minimise the space taken up thereby when not in use, essentially characterised in comprising the provision of legs (3) physically independent from the load platform as such (1), hinged to the said platform (1), in order for such legs (3) to be able to be at a distance from the same as required by the arms of a fork-lift truck or the like, in order to handle the pallet, or to be concealed within such platform as such, when not in use, the pallet therefore being dimensioned, both as regards length and breadth, and thickness, to coincide with the actual load platform as such thereof.

2. Improvements to palletizing platforms, as in claim 1, characterised in that the legs (3) comprise bars that are no thicker than the bars making up the load platform (1) as such, their breadth being as large or less than the space (4) between these latter, for such legs to be concealed in the spaces defined between the stiffening bars in the said load platform as such.

3.- Improvements to palletizing platforms, as in previous claims, characterised in that the legs (3) are connected to the platform as such through rods (5), arms, hinges or any other suitable means, which elements are fitted with blocking means stabilizing such legs in limiting positions when in use or otherwise.

4.- Improvements to palletizing platforms, applicable to platforms comprising upper planks (11) and lower planks (12), such being spaced out in order to allow the insertion of the arms of a fork-lift truck, The upper part being connected to the lower part through hinge rods (15) that allow one part to be folded upon the other in order to reduce the volume when not in use and to separate both parts when in use, essentially characterized in that the ends of the upper (11) and lower (12) planks making up the platform are supported by respective lateral angle brackets (13) and (14) to which they are fixed and to which the relevant rods (15) to fold and unfold the assembly are hinged; specifically characterised in that the blocking means when in use comprise an angle iron (19) with two branches (203 and (21) of different length, such part (19) being hinged through its arm (20) to the lower end plank (12) of the platform, while above branch (21) of such part (19) there is a notch (23) in the actual hinge branch (20) as a means to hook a spigot (24) provided for such purpose on the upper end plank (11), in which position the longer branch (21) will be located between the said upper (11) and lower (12) planks, supported by the same and representing the blocking means to prevent the platform from folding.

5.- Improvements to palletizing platforms, as in claim 4, characterised in that the lower bracket ( 14) has an abutment (18) upon which one of the hinge rods (15) stumbles when the same are vertical, when the actual platform is unfolded.

6.- Improvements to palletizing platforms, as in claims 4 and 5, characterised in that the rods (15) are hinged to the external face of the upper bracket (13) and to the inner face of the lower bracket (14), the lower end sectors of such rods (15) being in this latter event located between the vertical wing of such lower bracket (14) and the end of the relevant lower plank (12).