Metal pallet

A metal pallet of this invention comprises a plurality of longitudinal frames each including a pair of metal plate members each having a plurality of furrows formed along the longitudinal direction thereof and a plurality of support members interposed between the metal plate members to couple the same vertically, the longitudinal frames being arranged parallel to one another, and a plurality of transverse frames each having a plurality of furrows formed along the longitudinal direction thereof and arranged parallel to one another on the upper surfaces of the longitudinal frames at right angles thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a metal pallet. 
Heretofore, wooden pallets have been widely used. When transporting in a 
container the wooden pallets loaded with products to be exported, however, 
the water contained in the pallets will evaporate as the ambient 
temperature rises. Dew would then form as the temperature falls. The dew 
thus formed would sometimes rust the products held on the pallets. 
Accordingly, dew-free metal pallets have recently come into general use, 
although they still involve many drawbacks, such as being heavy, 
expensive, and difficult to handle. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention was developed in consideration of these circumstances, and 
its object is to provide a metal pallet which is suitably strong despite 
its being light and easy to handle. 
According to this invention, there is provided a metal pallet which 
comprises a plurality of longitudinal frames each including a pair of 
metal plate members each having a plurality of furrows formed along the 
longitudinal direction thereof and a plurality of support members 
interposed between the metal plate members to couple the same vertically, 
the longitudinal frames being arranged parallel to one another at 
predetermined intervals, and a plurality of transverse frames each having 
a plurality of furrows formed along the longitudinal direction thereof and 
arranged parallel to one another on the upper surfaces of the longitudinal 
frames at right angles thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
A metal pallet according to an embodiment of this invention will now be 
described which is used for a cathode-ray tube to be shipped abroad, with 
reference to the accompanying drawings. 
In FIG. 1, a numeral 1 designates longitudinal frames which are each 
composed of a pair of metal plate members 2 coupled vertically by means of 
a plurality of support members 5 interposed between them. Each metal plate 
member 2 is a corrugated sheet having two ridges and three furrows 3, as 
shown in FIG. 2. The members 2 are made by slitting a galvanized iron 
sheet into long strips and roll-forming the strips into corrugated sheets. 
The long strips are then bent so that channel portions 4 are formed at 
both longitudinal edge portions. The furrows 3 are gradually narrowed 
toward the bottom. Each support member 5, as shown in FIG. 3, is composed 
of a central flat plate portion 5b made of a stamped-out, galvanized iron 
sheet and channel-shaped support portions 5a integrally formed by bending 
and facing each other on both sides of the flat plate portion 5b. The 
longitudinal frame 1 is formed by opposing the back sides of the pair of 
metal plate members 2 to each other, interposing the support members 5 
between the upper and lower metal plate members 2 at both end portions and 
two central portions, and spot-welding the end edges of the respective 
pairs of channel portions 4 of the two metal members 2 to the lateral 
faces of the support portions 5a of the support members 5, respectively. 
Numerals 6 and 7 designate transverse frames which are made in the same 
manner as the longitudinal frames 1, except that the frames 7 each have 
three ridges and four furrows. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the three longitudinal frames 1 are arranged with 
spaces between them for the insertion of forks of a fork lift truck. A 
plurality of transverse frames 6 and 7 are stretched at right angles to 
the longitudinal frames 1 and spaced at substantially regular intervals. 
The frames 6 and 7 are spot-welded to the upper surfaces of the 
longitudinal frames 1. In this case, the transverse frames 7 with four 
furrows are arranged at the front and rear end portions of the 
longitudinal frames 1, while the transverse frames 6 with three furrows 
are arranged at the central portion of the longitudinal frames 1. 
In the metal pallet of this invention constructed in this manner, metal 
plates are used for the longitudinal frames 1 and the transverse frames 6 
and 7 as the structural components. A plurality of furrows are formed 
along the longitudinal direction of each frame. Thus, the pallet is of 
light weight, as well as of desirable compressive and bending strength. 
For example, a pallet with longitudinal frames 1 measuring 100 mm in 
height and 1,400 mm in length and transverse frames 6 and 7 measuring 
1,100 mm in length was manufactured by using a galvanized iron sheet with 
a thickness of 0.6 mm. As a result, the pallet weighed approximately 12 kg 
as compared with a wooden pallet of the same size weighing about 25 kg. 
Thus, the cost of the metal pallet can be reduced. In addition, the metal 
pallet is much easier to handle. Moreover, it can be very easily 
manufactured since its components, including the metal plate members 2, 
the support members 5, the transverse frames 6 and 7, are formed by being 
rolled or bent, and then welded together. 
Since the metal plate members 2 and the transverse frames 6 and 7 are each 
formed by rolling the long strips made of a slit galvanized iron sheets, 
pallets of different lengths or of different sizes can be manufactured by 
using the same bending die. Moreover, the metal plate members 2 and the 
transverse frames 6 and 7 arranged at right angles on the upper surface of 
the pallet have respective furrows, so that a product or products loaded 
on the pallet may be prevented from making a skid during transfer. If rain 
falls on the pallet, it can be made to flow down the furrows and drained 
by tilting the pallet. Moreover, being made of galvanized iron sheets, the 
pallet will hardly rust.