FR2604978A1 - Goods-handling tray made from injection-mouldable plastic elements which can be dismantled - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a goods-handling pallet. According to the invention a goods handling pallet constituted by longitudinal elements and transverse elements is characterised in that the said elements 1 and 2 are monobloc parts comprising notches 4, 5, 6, the notches 4 of the longitudinal members 1 being shaped in order to fit into the notches 5 and 6 of the cross-pieces 2 in such a way that, after fitting, the cumulative height of the fitted parts is equal to the thickness h of the elements, locking elements 3 being intended to prevent the spontaneous disassembly of the fitted elements. Application to the handling of objects or materials.

Description

 The present invention is in the field of receptacles for the transport of objects or materials and more particularly relates to a pallet or similar platform for supporting the loads to be lifted or deposited.

Pallets made up of several components are known from a certain number of publications: for example, publication BE-A1-0026009 describes a pallet formed by an upper floor and feet with a tubular structure, for example also the publication
BE Al 0169090 describes a pallet consisting of an upper loading face and a lower support face braced by pieces of tubular structure, for example also the publication EP Al 0068585 describes a pallet made of reinforced plastic, for example again , publication WO 83/03328 describes a pallet made up of beams braced by tubular crosspieces, for example also, publication EP Al 0043804 describes a pallet in which the upper and lower plates are braced by cylindrical members; we can also consult the publications BE Al 0003154,
EP Al 0018042, WO 83/02931, EP A2 0116354, FR 2 387 850. The publication may be consulted more particularly
FR 2.154.276 which describes a method of manufacturing pallets, consisting of assembling by means of attachment elements of thermoplastic material comprising beams and crosspieces as well as assembly pads it will be noted that the method of assembly of these plastic elements is quite similar to that of traditional wooden elements.

 The object of the present invention is to propose a pallet essentially composed of plastic elements which can be assembled, or inversely disassembled, and which, in the assembled state, cannot be disassembled spontaneously; an advantage of this possibility of dismantling lies in the easy change of deteriorated elements. Another object of the invention is to provide a plastic pallet, the elements of which can be injection molded, so as to obtain relatively low manufacturing costs.

 Another object of the invention is to provide a pallet of which certain structural elements participate at the same time in the rigidity of the pallet and in the ease of its assembly.

 The aforementioned goals are largely achieved by a pallet of flattened parallelepiped shape, consisting of longitudinal elements, called longitudinal members, and transverse elements, called crosspieces, passages for manipulating forks being arranged to connect the side faces in pairs. opposite of the parallelepiped, characterized generally according to the invention in that it consists of elements, assembled and removable, in that said elements are monobloc parts, approximately of elongated parallelepiped shape extending from one said lateral face to another, and forming, thanks to their thickness, the upper and lower faces of the pallet, the thickness of the elements determining the height of the pallet, in that said elements include notches, the notches of the side members being shaped to fit into the notches of the crosspieces so that after fitting the cumulative height of the embedded parts is equal to the thickness eur of the elements, some of the elements comprising at least one notch on two of their opposite faces and by so-called locking members, intended, each notch of an element being embedded in the corresponding notch of another element, to prohibit spontaneous disembedding of embedded elements.

 It follows from this general arrangement that some of the elements of a category, spars or crosspieces, are between two elements of the other category, and are, therefore, trapped between them as can be intertwined rods. Note that this is an essential difference compared to the pallets of the prior art in which different elements: lower face, spacer, upper face, overlap.

In the case of the pallet of the invention, the elements of a category, crosspieces or longitudinal members, form by themselves the thickness of the pallet and some of them are sometimes placed below, sometimes above other items from the other category.

 According to another characteristic of the invention, the elements have an open hollow structure, according to the part considered of each of them, in at least one direction which allows them to be molded by injection of plastic material such as polyethylene, polypropylene. , ABS, etc ...

According to a particular embodiment, the notches of a spar are located on the same face thereof while the notches of a cross member alternate from one face to the opposite face thereof, it results from this provision that the embedding can be achieved by simple application in a certain order, of certain elements on others. More particularly still, the longitudinal members are three in number, each longitudinal member comprising two notches; the sleepers are two in number, each sleeper having two notches, called end, on one side, and a notch, called central, on the opposite side; finally, the locking members, two in number, each consist of a part approximately of elongated parallelepiped shape, called end crosspiece, each of which comprising three housings open on the same face and intended for
receive the three ends, or end caps, of the side members.

 More particularly still, each spar comprises, from a first end, a nestable compartmented end piece, a tubular part forming a passage for a manipulating fork, a notched part, a central part compartmentalized by the center of which passes a plane of symmetry of the spar perpendicular to the 'longitudinal axis of the latter. Each cross member comprises from a first end a notched part open on a first face of the cross member, a first tubular part forming a passage for a manipulating fork, a second notched part, called the central part, open on the face opposite to said first face, a second tubular part with an axis parallel to that of the first, and a third notched part open on said first sleeper face. Each notch of spar or cross member is formed by a bottom wall constituting one of the faces of the spar, by said side walls perpendicular to the axis of the element and by a partition split in the middle over half of its height, the width of the slot being equal to the thickness of the partition.

 According to an even more particular arrangement, the width of a cross notch is equal to the length of a beam notch while the length of a cross notch is equal to the width of a beam notch.

 Finally and according to a particular arrangement aimed at reinforcing the flexural rigidity of the pallet, two reinforced notches in the form of mortise parallel to the edge of the side walls are provided on either side of the outer edge of the notch partition, said notches being intended to receive studs arranged along each of the opposite outer sides of the bottom wall.

 According to a last advantageous but optional arrangement, the faces of the elements intended to constitute the upper and lower faces of the pallet include slight non-slip reliefs.

The present invention will be better understood and details will be apparent from the description which will be given both of a simplified embodiment, and of preferred embodiments of components of the palette of the invention Z in relation to the figures of the attached plates, in which
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective representation of simplified elements constituting a pallet according to the invention,
FIG. 2 is an illustration of assembled elements conforming to a preferred embodiment and also constituting a palette of the invention,
- Fig.3 illustrates in plan one of the elements said spar of the previous figure,
- fig.3b is a section of the same along the plane AA,
- Fig.3c is a partial perspective illustration of a detail of the beam,
- Fig.4a illustrates in plan one of the elements, called cross,
- fig.4b is a section of the same along the plane BB,
- Fig.Sa is a plan view of an element called end cross member,
- fig.5b is an elevation corresponding to fig.5a, and
- Fig.5c is a section of the same according to CC.

 In fig.1, elements intended to form a pallet according to the invention fall under three categories of elements. A first category of elements comprises beams such as 1 each comprising on the same first face two notches such as 4 and comprising passages 9 formed between the faces adjacent to said first face; the ends, or end pieces 8, of the spar have a reduced section relative to the whole of the part. A second category of elements includes sleepers such as 2; each cross member comprises on a first face a notch 6, called central, located in the middle of the cross member and on the opposite face two notches 5 located in the vicinity of the ends of the cross member; passages 9 located between the notches connect the other two faces to each other. A third category of elements is constituted by end crosspieces 3, each of them comprising three housings 7,7 'respectively end and central; the housings 7, 7 'are intended to receive by fitting the end pieces 8 of the side members; passages 9 open on the same face as the housings connect the two opposite faces of the end crosspieces to one another. In the example in the figure, the longitudinal members are three in number (only one is shown), the cross members are two (only one is shown) and the end cross members are also two.

 All the elements shown in fig.l have the same height h and the depth of the notches 4,5 and 6 is for example half of this height; when the elements of the different categories are assembled, this height h will be the thickness of the pallet.

 To assemble the elements, we start by placing two beams parallel to each other; then the end notches 5 of the crosspieces are embedded in the notches 4 of the side members; then the notches 4 of a third spar turned in the opposite direction to that shown in the notches 6 of the crosspieces; then these five elements being thus assembled7 the end crosspieces are fitted onto the end pieces of the side members. Thus, with respect to the direction perpendicular to the plane of the pallet, the stack of beams and cross members has been locked; spontaneous unstacking, or unstacking, can only take place after removal of the end crosspieces.

 At this stage of description of the invention, one can imagine different structures for the beams and the crosspieces, namely: each beam comprising a notch on two opposite faces, each beam comprising more than two notches, each crosspiece comprising more than three notches. However, structures which involve bending of the elements for assembly will not be avoided.

 In Fig.2, there is shown, nested one inside the other, an element from each of the above categories, each element being represented in its preferred embodiment, embodiments which will be described in detail below. It is already noted in this figure that the transverse dimensions 24 of the notches 4 of the side members are equal to their longitudinal dimensions t2, themselves equal to the transverse dimension of the notches 5 and 6 of crosspieces 2, themselves equal to the longitudinal dimension 21 thereof; note that there is no theoretical necessity for this triple equality; it would in fact suffice that the longitudinal dimensions of the longitudinal members, which are equal to each other, be equal to the transverse dimensions, which are equal to each other, of the transverse notches.

The side members are therefore interchangeable with each other and the same is true of the cross members.

 We also note in fig.Z a perforated shelf 35 intended to come to fit thanks to small grooves 36 above the voids between the side members and the crosspieces.

 In fig.3a, 3b, a spar comprises, from one end to the other, a nozzle 8 internally compartmentalized by partitions 11, a first tubular part 12 forming a passage 9 for a manipulating fork, a first notched part 4 , a central part 14 compartmentalized by partitions 15, a second notched part 4, a second tubular part 12 and finally a second end piece 8 similar to the first. Note that the beam has a symmetry with respect to the plane 16 perpendicular to its longitudinal axis 17.

 In fig.3c more particularly, a notched part is formed by a bottom wall 21, by said side walls 22, 23 perpendicular to the axis 17 of the spar, therefore perpendicular to the wall 21, and by a partition 24 perpendicular to the bottom wall 21 in the middle and oriented along the longitudinal axis 17 this partition 24 is split in the middle and the width of the slot 25 is equal to the thickness of the partition; the bottom of the slot which determines its height is located at half the thickness of the spar.

 According to a particular arrangement intended to reinforce the flexural strength of the pallet, two reinforced notches 27 are provided in the vicinity of the upper edge of the partition 24 and of the wall 22 to form a mortise intended to receive a tenon 28 from another element, each tenon 28 being arranged along each of the outer sides of the bottom wall 21.

Thus, the bottom walls 21 thanks to their tenons 28 engaged in the mortises 27 will oppose by a tensile strength to the opening of the notches 25.

 Various members or parts making up the structure of a spar notch are found identically in a cross notch and have been identified by the same award-winning references (') and it should be understood that, for example, the notch 25' d 'A cross notch will fit into the notch 25 of a spar notch, or a tenon 28' of a cross notch will engage in a mortise 27 of a spar notch.

 Returning to FIG. 3b, it will be noted that the height of the partition 24 is less than the thickness of the spar by a distance equal to the thickness of the bottom wall 21 'of a cross member and that there is likewise the height of the transverse partitions 24 ′ with respect to the thickness of the transverse. This arrangement, as is clear from the examination of FIG. 2 allows the longitudinal members to be kept perpendicular to the crosspieces and vice versa.

 In FIGS. 4a and / or 4b, a crosspiece comprises from one end to the other, a first notch 5 open downwards, a first tubular part 18 delimiting a fork passage 9, a second notch 6, central, open upwards, a second tubular part 18 and a third notch 5 open downwards. The axes 19 of the tubular parts are parallel.

Other bodies are shown with primary references cited above.

 In FIGS. 5a to 5c, an end cross member 3 comprises from a first end, a first end housing 7, a first tubular part 38 forming a fork passage 9, a second central housing 7 ′, a second part tubular 38 and finally a third end housing 7. The housings are of parallel and coplanar axes and opening on the same face of the end crosspiece.

 Returning to FIGS. 2, 3a, 3b and 5b, it can be seen that the bottom of the end housings 7 of an end crosspiece is provided with an elongated lumen 39, and the same is true of the wall end of the side members which has a light 40 facing the light 39; these lights are intended for the passage of an H-shaped rack such as 41 which will be used to block the end crosspieces on the side members.

 It will be noted that in an embodiment not shown, but also falling within the scope of the invention, the end crossmembers could be replaced by crossmembers and the spar end pieces by notches similar to the notches 4. The locking of the pallet produced could then be operated by means of lights and screens similar to those described above, arranged on the tenons and mortises for example.

 Although particular forms of execution of pallets falling within the scope of the invention have been described and / or shown, it should be understood that the scope of the latter is not limited to these forms, but that it is extends to any pallet or pallet element comprising the general and / or particular characteristics described above.

Claims (1)

1.- Pallet for handling aplate parallelepiped shape  tie, made up of longitudinal elements, called lanyards  rons, and of transverse elements, called crosspieces,  passages for manipulating forks being arranged  to connect the opposite side faces of the  parallelepiped, characterized  in that it is made up  assembled and removable elements,  in that said elements (1,2)  are monobloc pieces, approximately in shape  elongated parallelepiped extending from said face  lateral to another, and forming, thanks to their thickness  (4) the upper and lower faces of the pallet,  the thickness of the elements determining the height (4) of  the palette,  in that said com elements  carry notches (4,5,6), the notches (4) of the  side rails (1) being shaped to fit into the  notches (5,6) of the crosspieces (2) so that after  embedding the cumulative height of the embedded parts  is equal to the thickness (h) of the elements, some of  elements comprising at least one notch on two of  their opposite faces, and  by organs (3), called  locking, intended for, each notch of an element  being embedded in the corresponding notch of another  element, prohibit spontaneous disembedding of the elements  2. Recessed elements according to claim 1, characterized:  in that said elements (1,2)  have an open hollow structure, depending on the part  considered from each of them, in at least one direction,  where it follows that each of  elements can be injection molded 3. Pallet according to claim 2, characterized  in that said elements are  made by injecting plastic material 4. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized  in that the notches (4) of a  spar are located on the same side of it  while the notches (5,6) of a crosspiece alternate  from one side to the opposite side of it,  where it follows that snacks  can be achieved by simple application  in a certain order, certain elements on other  very 5.- Pallet according to claim 4, characterized:  in that the side members are at  number of three, each side member having two enco  heads,  in that the sleepers are at  number of two, each crosspiece having two notches  (5) said end, on one side, and a notch (6)  called central, on the opposite side, and  in that the worm organs  rusting, two in number, each consisting of  a part (3) approximately in the shape of a parallelepipe-  elongated plate, called end crosspiece, each of it  comprising three housings (7,7 ', 7 ") open on a  same face and intended to receive the three ends,  or end pieces (8), side members 6.- Pallet according to claim 5, characterized  in that each spar com  takes from a first end a nestable tip  (8) compartmentalized (11), a tubular part (12)  forming passage for manipulating fork, part  notched (4), a central part (14) compartmentalized  (15) through the center of which passes a plane of symmetry  (16) of the spar perpendicular to the longitudinal axis  (17) of the latter 7.- Pallet according to claim 5, characterized  in that each crosses com  takes from a first end a part in  notch (5) open on a first face of the cross  se, a first tubular part (18) forming a passage  for manipulating fork, a second part (6) in  notch, called central, open on the face opposite to  said first face, a second tubular part (18)  axis (19) parallel to that of the first, and a  third part in notch (5d open on said  first cross face 8.- Pallet according to claims 6 and 7, characterized  in that each part in enco  che of spar or cross member is formed by a wall  bottom (21) constituting one of the faces of the lanyard  ron, by so-called side walls (22,23,22 ', 23')  perpendicular to the axis (17,26) of the element (1,2), and  by a partition (24) split in the middle on the half  of its height, the width of the slot (25) being equal to  the thickness of the partition 9. Pallet according to claim 8, characterized  in that the width (13) of a  crosspiece notch (5,6) is equal to the length (12)  a notch (4) of the spar, and  in that the length (11) of a  cross notch and equal to the width (14) of a  Spar notch 10.-Pallet according to claim 8, characterized  in that on either side of the outer edge of the notched partition (24.24 ') are formed two notches reinforced in the form of a mortise (27.27') parallel to the edge of the side walls (22.23.22 ' , 23 ') intended to receive studs (28,28') arranged along each of the outer sides of the bottom wall (21).