Abstract:
A new and improved pallet cap is formed in one flat piece that can be stored flat; and, when it is desired, the flat piece can be easily erected in a pallet cap which can cover a side edge of a stack of material on the pallet. This is achieved by providing a flat sheet of paperboard with an elongated flange having fold lines to allow the flange to be folded to project at an angle to a flat panel which is to lie flat on the top or bottom side of the pallet load. The preferred shape of the pallet cap is generally in the shape of a T with the flange being in the crossbar head of the T and the flat panel being the leg of the T.

Description:
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/394,724, filed on Sep. 13, 1999, now abandoned entitled “Modular Pallet Cap” which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/959,252, filed on Oct. 29, 1997, now abandoned entitled “Modular Pallet Cap.” 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a pallet cap or cover for covering a top side or a lower side of a load on the pallet, and to method of using the pallet cap. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Often, pallet covers are placed over a top and/or bottom sides of a load on the pallet prior to its being banned by straps or prior to it being shrink wrapped with plastic. The invention will be described in connection with an exemplary use of pallet caps which cover a stack of flat sheets of paper or printed signatures loaded onto a pallet. The pallet caps are used to protect the sheet edges along the top and bottom side edges of the stack from being torn or indented by the straps. The pallet caps also protect the edges and corners of the stacked sheets against damage when being hit or bumped during handling, storage or transporting. 
     The pallets and stacked material thereon often are in different sizes so that a preformed shape of pallet cover sized for a particular size of pallet stack will not usually work for substantially larger or substantially smaller sizes of stacks. By way of example, pallets carrying loads of signatures are often in multiple sizes such as 42″ by 42″, 43″ by 48″, 44″ by 44″ and 40″ by 48″. A number of proposals have been suggested to cover the top of the stack with several interleaved cap pieces that are adjustable to cover several different sizes of stacks or loads on the pallet. One such proposal is use of four interleaved, pallet caps each having a rigid, preformed, glued corner member which is secured to the top edge of a sheet of paperboard or the like. The four caps are interleaved over the top of the pallet with the rigid, formed, glued corners covering the edges of the top side of the stacked material. One problem with this proposal is that the pallet caps themselves cannot be stored flat as the right angle preformed corner sits upright and takes substantial storage space. That is, these pallet caps cannot be stored flat; and hence, they require considerable storage space. This increases storage costs. Also, the formation of the rigid, glued corners and the gluing attaching to the flat sheet adds to the cost of the pallet caps. Often, pallet caps are discarded after one or several usages; and hence, they should be inexpensive. 
     Often, it is desired to place the pallet caps on the stack to protect the stack while the stack is being transported by a fork lift truck to a shipping area, where the load is banded and wrapped in plastic. Thus, the pallet caps should remain in position on the load while being transported without the bands thereon to secure the pallet caps to the load. 
     From the foregoing, it will be seen that there is a need for a new and improved pallet cap that is inexpensive to manufacture, adjustable to various size loads, can be stored flat, and will remain on top of the load prior to being banded to the load by straps. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, a new and improved pallet cap is formed in one flat piece that can be stored flat; and, when it is desired, the flat piece can be easily erected into a pallet cap having a depending flange to cover a side edge of a stack of material on the pallet. This is achieved by providing a flat sheet of paperboard with an elongated flange having fold line therein along which the flange can be folded to project at an angle to a flat panel which is to lie flat on the top or bottom side of the pallet load. The preferred shape of the pallet cap is generally in shape of a T with the flange being in the crossbar head of the T and the flat panel being the leg of the T. 
     In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the flat, horizontal panel of the pallet cap overlying the top of the pallet load is made with sufficient size or are as that the pallet load is made with sufficient size or area so that the pallet cap remains on top of the load when being transported as by a fork lift truck to a shipping area, where the pallet cap is banded to the load and pallet. The large horizontal panel counteracts the gravity pull off the edge pending flange hanging down along the side of the load. 
     The preferred method of covering a top or bottom side of a stack on a pallet comprises the steps of: storing a plurality of flat pallet cap sheets in a stack; removing a plurality of pallet cap sheets from the stack; folding down a flange portion on the respective pallet sheets to erect the pallet caps; placing each of the folded down flanges of the pallet cap adjacent a side edge of the top or bottom side of the stack; interleaving the flat panels of the pallet caps to cover substantial the top or bottom side of the stack; and banding the stack with straps which indent the folded down flanges of the pallet caps. 
     By using interleaved caps, the pallet cover may be adjusted to cover various sizes of pallets. Tensioned metal straps or plastic bands are wrapped about the stack to secure it together. The pallet caps cushion the edges of stacked material from being damaged by indentations caused by the straps. The pallet covers may be re-used or discarded after a single or multiple use. 
     Because the pallet caps are erected from a single, flat sheet of paperboard, such as cardboard with a score line at the fold line, they can be inexpensively manufactured. The score line preferably allows the flange to be easily erected from the flat sheet; and the cut corrugations aid in keeping the flange at a good square corner to resist any memory in the corrugated board sheet tending to pivot the flange back into its planar shape. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of four interleaved pallet caps forming a pallet cover for the top of stacked material of a pallet in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a single pallet cap on a stack of signatures and constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a plan view of a flat sheet to be formed into the pallet cap shown in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 3A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the paperboard flat sheet taken along the fold line shown in FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing pallet having stack with the pallet cover thereon; 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the stacked pallet of FIG. 4 showing straps and a plastic wrap; 
     FIG. 6 is a front, elevational view of the stacked pallet of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 7 is a plan view of how to interleave four paperboard blanks into pallet caps to cover a predetermined size of pallet; and 
     FIG. 8 is a plan view of how to interleave four paperboard blanks into pallet caps to cover a pallet of a smaller size than that of FIG.  7 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in a pallet cap  10  (FIGS. 2 and 3) which has a horizontal portion  11  for positioning on a horizontal side, either a top side  14  of a pallet load or stack  16  or a bottom side  18  (FIG. 4 of the pallet stack  16 . A vertical side flange  20  on the pallet cap (FIG. 2) covers an edge  24  of the stack, as best seen in FIG.  2 ). As best seen in FIG. 1, usually four pallet caps  10  are interleaved to form a pallet cover  26  for covering the top or bottom side of the stack. As best seen in FIG. 4, the stack is mounted on an underlying pallet  28  usually adapted to be lifted and transported by a forklift truck. The stack of signatures is banded with tensioned straps  30  (FIG. 5) of metal or plastic with the edges  24  of the stacked material being protected or cushioned by the cap flanges  20  from indentations by the straps. 
     In accordance with the present invention, the pallet cap  10  is formed from a flat sheet  32  (FIG. 3) of paperboard, which can be stored flat and usually in a stack of flat sheets without the vertical side flange  20  bring erected. Upon removal from the stack, the flat, planar pallet cap sheet  32  is brought to the stack  16  and the side flange  20  is erected at a fold line  36  (FIG. 3) by bending down a narrow strip portion of a cover sheet head panel  12  to be substantially at right angles to the remainder of the flat sheet, which is placed on the top side  14  of the stack. The preferred fold line is defined by a score line  40  (FIG. 3) in the head panel  12  of the cap cover sheet. Preferably, the flat sheet  32  is comprised of the head or flange panel  12  and the larger leg panel  38 . The cover sheet is preferably in the shape of a T with the head panel  12  being the crossbar or head of the T, and the leg of the T being the flat leg panel  38 . 
     The preferred flat sheet  32  is formed with an upper and lower, corrugated plies  32   a  and  32   b  (FIG. 3A) with the upper ply  32   a  having a upper, planar, paper sheet layer  32   c  and an internal corrugated layer  32   d . The lower side of the corrugated layer is also attached to a middle, planar paper sheet layer  32   e . The lower ply  32   b  includes a lower, corrugated layer  32   f  which is attached to the middle, planar layer  32   e  and a lower, planar, paper sheet layer  32   g . The preferred score line  40  cuts the upper layer  32   c  and cuts into the upper corrugated layer  32   d . The middle paper layer  32   e  need not be cut although some cuts may occur therein during the scoring operation. The lower corrugated layer  32   f  and bottom paper layer need not be scored. When the flange  20  is bent down, the cut corrugation may have portions abutting one another at the cut to keep the flange at a substantially right angle to the horizontal panel  12 . The number of plies for the corrugated sheet  32  may be varied from two plies and still fall within the purview of the invention. 
     In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the horizontal portion  11  of the cap  10  is made sufficiently large so that it keeps the cap  10  on the pallet as it is being transported by a fork lift truck to a place to be banded. By way of example only, it has been found that a horizontal portion of about 20″ in length for a flange  20  having a 39″ length is sufficient for pallets in the size range of 42″ by 42″ to 44″ by 48″. Preferably, the size and/or area of the horizontal portion  11  should be greater than the size and/or area of the depending flange  20 . While the preferred shape of the cap is that of a T, the shape may be changed from that of a T and still fall within the purview of the appended claims. 
     Referring now in greater detail to the invention, the head panel  12  has the score line  40  being parallel to a top edge  44  (FIG. 3) of the flat sheet  32 . This score line is located slightly below the midpoint in the head panel  12  and in its arm portions  46  of the T-shaped body. The preferred T-shaped panel sheet  32  has a bottom edge  45  parallel to the top edge  44  with the bottom edge being shorter by the distance of the width of arm edges  47  for the respective pair of arm portions  46 . The opposite, vertical sides of the T-shaped, flat sheet are defined by an upper arm vertical edge  48  and a longer, vertical edge  49  in the leg panel  38  below the arm portions  46 . A score line  40  is preferred to a squeezed fold line as it keeps the flange  20  at a sharper angle to the top horizontal portion of the head panel  30  than will a flange bent down from a squeezed or crease kind of fold line. 
     To cover the top side  14  of the stack  16 , four pallet caps  10  are interleaved, as best seen in FIG. 1 with each cap having its vertical side flange  20  located along one of the edges  24  of the stack  16  and depending downwardly along a vertical side  17  of the stack. The fold lines  36  of the respective caps  10  are located at the edges  24  of the stack with adjacent, vertical end walls  48  of the side flanges  20  meeting at vertical corners  50  (FIG. 1) for the stack. In the process of interleaving the pallet caps  10 , a first pallet cap is placed on the stack, as shown in FIG. 2 in position; and then the leg panel  38  of a second cap may be slid under the leg panel  38  (shown in FIG. 2) with its head panel  12  extending along the adjacent, upper edge and with end wall  50  of its side flange  20  meeting the end wall of the first cap  10 . The illustrated flat, leg panels  12  are sufficiently long to extend to approximately 50% of the stack width or breadth so that when interleaved and positioned on the smallest size of pallet stack, the entire top of the stack is covered. In other instances, such as when used with larger sizes of pallet stacks, the entire middle of the top side of the stack may not be covered, as shown by the caps  10 B of FIG. 7 or  10 C of FIG.  8 . 
     By way of example only, and not by way of limitation, a specific example of the flat sheet  32  to be formed into the illustrated pallet cap  10 , shown in FIG. 2, will now be described. The top, horizontal edge  44  (FIG. 3) of the flange and head panel may be 39 inches wide; and the lower, horizontal edge  45  is 32 inches wide. Each arm width portion edge  47  is 3.5 inches. The vertical end walls  48  of the arms are 8.25 inches in height. The height of each leg panel edge  49  is 15.75 inches providing a composite height o twenty-four inches along the vertical side of the flat sheet. The fold line  36  is located 4.75 inches down from the top edge  44  of the flat sheet  32 . This provides a horizontal portion  11  of 19.25 inches length and sufficient width for resisting the downward pull of the depending flange, which is 4.75 inches vertically and 39 inches horizontally. This is sufficient to keep caps in the position of FIG. 1 while being transported to a shipping area to be banded to the load. Manifestly, the 4.75 inches for the vertical flange may be made shorter or longer than 4.75 inches depending on the user&#39;s desires. 
     One method of using four interleaved pallet caps  10  will be explained in connection with FIG.  7 . Four pallet cover sheets designated  32 A,  32 B,  32 C and  32 D are interleaved, leaving a central opening  60  which is not covered by the top horizontal portions  11  of the  15  respective, interleaved caps. More specifically, bottom edges  45 A,  45 B,  45 C and  45 D of the respective pallet cover sheets define the sides of the opening  60 . A similar but smaller opening  60  (FIG. 8) has its sides defined by the four respective bottom edges  45 A,  45 B,  45 C and  45 D when the four sheets are brought closer together. The same sheets may be interleaved either to extend to cover a larger pallet size, such as a 44″ by 48″ pallet size in FIG. 7, or a smaller pallet size, such as a 42″ by 42″ size in FIG. 8. A wrap of plastic  62  (FIGS.  5  and  6 ), which is usually a shrink wrap plastic is wrapped about the four vertical sides of the load as well and may cover the four depending flanges of the pallet caps  10 . The bands  30  also secure the pallet caps to the load an to the pallet  28 . 
     When the panels are interleaved, as shown in FIG. 7, and when the flanges are bent down, a corner  4 E for the pallet load will be covered partially by head portion  12 A with a slight opening or space  71  in the pallet cover  26  being present adjacent the corner  48 A between adjacent pallet caps  32  and  32 D. At a corner  48 B for the pallet load, when the flange  20 B is bent down, a portion  12 B of the head panel will be covering the corner  48 B with an opening  72  in the pallet cover  26  being adjacent thereto. At corner  48 C, a portion  12 C of the head panel will be covering the corner  48 C with a small opening  73  in the pallet cover  26  being adjacent thereto. At corner  488 D, a portion  12 D of the head panel will be covering the corner  48 D with a small opening  74  being present in the pallet cover  26  between adjacent portions of interleaved pallet caps  32 C and  32 D. 
     While small spaces exist at the center opening  60 , and openings  71 ,  72 ,  73  and  74  adjacent the corners of the pallet load, the four interleaved pallet caps cover substantially all of the corners and the upper edges of the pallet load with the depending flanges  20  of the respective four pallet caps. The interleaved pallet caps shown in FIG. 8, have similar but smaller openings  71 ,  72 ,  73  and  74  adjacent the corners of the pallet load. 
     The preferred corrugated sheets may have the corrugations run in either direction with respect to the score line  40 , which also can be made at the time of die cutting the flat sheets  32  into their T-shape. Herein, the corrugations run in the same direction as the score line  40 . The fold line  36  may be a creased line or formed in other manners beside the preferred scoring. Also, the particular location of the fold line may be changed from that described herein. Various materials may be used for the pallet caps other than the describe paperboard. In the preferred method, the erecting of flanges  20  can be done before the flat sheet  32  is brought to the stacked material; or the flat sheet can first laid on a side of the stack and then the folded flange  20  can be bent down from the fold line. It is to be understood that the pallet caps can be used with the leg panel  38  being along a vertical side  17  of the stacked material, and with the flange  20  being horizontal across the top side  14  of the stacked material. Also, the fold line can be made with one or two score lines or creases rather than the single score line  40  described herein.