Guard for operator of palletized loads

The invention provides a guard for warehouse personnel which guard is designed to be secured to a pallet and remain with the pallet both when the pallet is being transported and when it and its load are stored on racks in a warehouse. Thus, the guard remains with the pallet at all times to prevent the load on the pallet falling on personnel in an adjacent aisle. The guard can be separated from the pallet only as the result of intentional release by warehouse personnel.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It provides a simplification without loss of function or strength of the 
operator guard disclosed in the above-mentioned application. As such, it 
is an accessory to be used in warehouses employing vertical stacking of 
palletized loads which loads are of a type which might become unstable and 
fall into the adjacent aisle or on the operator while storing or removing 
them from multi-tier rack storage or on others using the adjacent access 
aisle. An L-shaped screen is provided, one leg of which is secured to the 
load supporting pallet and the other leg is a vertical panel positioned 
between operator and the load to serve as a means of preventing any of the 
pallet's load falling in the direction of the operator or into the aisle 
while the pallet is being elevated and retrieved during the period the 
pallet and its load remain in storage. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
As the use of palletized warehousing expands and the cost of land and 
warehouse facilities increases, the response has been to use higher and 
higher storage racks. This conserves floor space, but increases the risk 
of serious injury to personnel. Anything that can contribute to 
unbalancing of the load on the pallet can contribute to the load's 
instability, such as uneven settling of the load or vibration of the 
warehouse structure. These can be caused by external forces such as 
exterior traffic or nearby construction. As a result, the once vertically 
stacked load with adequate uniformity of weight distribution becomes 
unbalanced and starts to incline to the front or the back or to one side. 
Once this starts, the shift can be progressive, with increasing 
instability of the load. Another source of pallet load instability is that 
of personnel placing heavy articles on top of light ones, so packaged that 
they are unable to maintain their geometry when subject to such 
compressive loads. If this instability happens to be toward the warehouse 
aisle and the load becomes unstable and falls, the result could be serious 
to those in the aisle below. 
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The invention provides a lightweight, article engaging and retaining screen 
of simplified construction between the lift truck operator and the load on 
the pallet. This screen is secured to the pallet and remains with the 
pallet both when the pallet is loaded and when it is empty. It is always 
between the load and the forklift operator during elevation and retrieval 
of the loaded pallet and is always between the load and personnel in the 
adjacent aisle when the loaded pallets are in the storage racks.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 identifies a pallet guard designed to 
protect personnel from injury due to slippage and unintentional discharge 
of articles toward the lift operator from the pallet to which the guard is 
attached. The pallet guard has a base portion 11 and an integral 
upstanding screen portion 12 (FIG. 1). Common to both the base and screen 
portions are a pair of spaced frame members 13, one leg of each of which 
extends horizontally forming the base portion and the other leg extends 
vertically forming the vertical or screen portion of the frame members. 
The vertically extending portions 15 of the frame members 13 are connected 
by horizontal rods 16. The rods 16 are arranged at vertical intervals or 
spacings such that the articles which are normally stored and transported 
on the pallet 20 (FIG. 2) cannot slide between them and thus escape from 
the pallet. A normal spacing for the rods 16 would be about two and 
one-fourth inches. 
The center of the screen formed by the rods 16 can be reinforced by a pair 
of stiffener rods 17 which extend only between the top and bottom ones of 
the rods 16. The frame members 13, and preferably the stiffener rods 17, 
are of substantially greater diameter than the horizontal rods 16 because 
they must resist deflection as a result of the articles on the pallet 
becoming displaced and exerting a heavy load acting rearwardly against 
them. Thus, for example, the frame members 13 can be formed from rod of 
one-half inch diameter while the horizontal rods 16 can be of rod of 
one-fourth inch diameter. 
The horizontal leg of each of the frame members 13 has a pair of downwardly 
offset portions 22, one next to the screen 12 and the other adjacent the 
other end of each of the legs. The height of the offset portions 22 is 
approximately equal to the vertical height of the legs 23 of the pallet 20 
to which the pallet guard 10 will be attached (FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7). Thus, 
the offset portions 22 will almost completely span the vertical distance 
between the load supporting top panel or boards 24 of the pallet and the 
pallet's base or bottom boards 25. The portions of the legs 14 between the 
offset portions will seat immediately beneath the top boards 24 while the 
bottoms of the offset portions will seat against or be spaced only a 
fraction of an inch from the top surfaces of base or bottom boards 25 when 
the pallet and guard are being transported by a forklift truck 27. When 
the pallet is being transported, as by the tines 28 of a forklift truck, 
the bottoms of the offset portions 22 will rest on the bottom boards 25. 
Thus, whether the pallet rests on a floor or rack or is being transported 
or elevated by the tines of a forklift truck, the pallet guard will be 
positively held by the pallet and any forces acting against the upstanding 
screen portion 12 will be effectively resisted by the pallet and the 
weight it is supporting. This result is the same whether the tines of the 
forklift are inserted parallel to the pallet legs 23 or from the side of 
the guard through the tine openings 30 in the lower portion of the legs 23 
(FIGS. 5, 6 and 7). 
Irrespective of whether the pallet and screen are lifted from the screened 
side of the pallet guard or from one of the other sides, the pallet guard 
10 is positively locked to the pallet because the ends 26 of the legs are 
turned outwardly away from each other to engage the front ends of pallet 
legs 23, thereby positively locking the pallet guard 10 to the pallet 20 
(FIG. 4). While it is intended that the pallet guard, once mounted on a 
pallet, will remain permanently with that pallet, there are reasons why 
the two should be separated, such for example, as for repair of one or the 
other. Another would be for long-term storage during non-use. Separation 
would greatly facilitate compact storage. 
Since the frame of the pallet guard of this construction is positively 
locked to the pallet but does not itself enter into any of the lifting or 
maneuvering of the pallet, it does not have to have any cross members to 
positively hold apart the horizontal portions of the frame members 13. The 
resilience of the legs 14 will keep the outwardly turned ends 26 firmly 
engaged with the front ends of the pallet legs. Thus, with one operator 
maneuvering the forklift truck, another is required to spring the ends of 
the legs inwardly sufficiently to allow the offset portions to be 
withdrawn lengthwise of the pallet legs. Thus, only by intentional, 
positive intervention can the pallet guard be separated from the pallet. 
This can be done by the forklift operator alone by use of a length of cord 
or chain with a hook on each end which can be temporarily secured to the 
legs of the frame next to the out-turned ends 26 to bend them so their 
out-turned ends will pass between the pallet legs 23. This same means can 
be used to assemble the guard to the pallet. In either case, the 
arrangement greatly simplifies and expedites both assembly and disassembly 
of the pallet guards and the pallets. It also significantly reduces the 
cost of the overall assembly. In addition, it provides a pallet guard the 
operator can depend upon to be positively so secured to the pallet that it 
will be in a position and a condition to protect him should such become 
necessary. 
Whether the cargo or top surface of the pallet is constructed of spaced 
boards or cross members 24, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, or of a solid 
panel 33, such as one of veneer as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 7, is 
irrelevant to this invention, since the invention works with either 
construction. Also, whether the openings 30 for the forks of a forklift 
truck are open at the bottom, as illustrated in FIG. 5, or closed or 
partially closed at the bottom of the legs 23, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 
and 7, is also irrelevant to the invention. The necessity for positively 
holding the pallet against tipping during manipulation by a forklift truck 
does not arise while the pallet is engaged from either the ends or sides. 
Engagement of the pallet from the side is used only while the pallet is 
being moved along the aisles of the warehouse and thus normally is 
elevated only sufficiently to clear the warehouse floor. This does not 
endanger the operator. Should the use of the pallet dictate otherwise, the 
bottoms of the openings 30 can be closed by a panel 32, as shown in FIG. 
7. 
FIG. 8 illustrates a modified construction for the personnel guard wherein 
the horizontal and vertical portions of the frame members are further 
connected by a reinforcement member 36 which is welded to both the 
horizontal and vertical portions of the frame members. This, in effect, 
provides a high strength brace bridging the otherwise open top of the 
offset portion 22 where the base and screen portions join. This eliminates 
the tendency of the screen portion 12 to bend outwardly about the bottom 
of the dependent offset portion 22. The reinforcement members 36 are 
mounted against and welded to the exterior face of the frame member to 
avoid interference with the legs 23 of the pallet. 
While a preferred embodiment of this invention has been described, it will 
be recognized that modifications of it can be made without departing from 
the principles of the invention. Such modifications are to be considered 
as included in the hereinafter appended claims unless these claims, by 
their language clearly state otherwise.