Pallet

Abstract: This invention relates to a method for transporting goods units (10) on pallets (11) where each goods unit is supported by a separate pallet. Two or several pallets with goods units are before said transportation placed close to each other and fixed to each other in order to form a combined load during transportation in which the pallets together form a handling means for the combined load. The invention also relates to a pallet for accomplishing the method described above.

Description: This invention relates to a pallet comprising first and second elongated upper elements substantially parallel to each other and having top surfaces which serve as supports for a load unit; a plurality of substantially parallel, elongated transverse elements of substantially equal length, connected to the upper elements to form a substantially rectangular pallet; a plurality of distance means each being fixed to a transverse element near an end of the upper element; projections and recesses for locking pallets to each other. Traditionally large goods, type white goods i.e. refrigerators, freezers, stoves, dishwashers and so on, are transported by means of trucks from the manufacturing place to a retailer or directly to a building place. In order to protect the goods during transportation its outside is regularly provided with shock absorbing layers, such as cellulose plastic plates, a frame of wood and an outer film of crimping plastic or the like and is placed on a pallet which means rational handling when being loaded and unloaded. It has however proven that this loading and transportation technique has some drawbacks. The finished package which usually has a square shape achieves such a width that the area of the waggon bridge of the transportation truck can not be used maximally. For instance the common standard width and standard depth of 60 cm for white goods means that only three such packages can be stored beside each other on the waggon bridge, the total width of which in certain countries is limited to 260 cm which means that there is a large space which is not being used beside the load on the waggon bridge. One object or our invention is to achieve a better utilization of the load space during transportation compared to the lastmentioned technique and to make it possible to reduce the complete thickness of the protecting layers normally surrounding the goods. Moreover the suggested technique has the advantage that the combined goods is handled with considerably more care since its size, weight and stability increase. Each goods unit can despite this fact be handled individually at the retailer or at the place where the goods is unloaded. Using pallets on which combined goods is stored is previously known, see US-A-4 287 991, DE-A-3528959 and US-A-4 694 962. The firstmentioned publication describes a pallet comprising sections which can easily be broken away from the original pallet, each section supporting a load unit which can be transported individually on the section broken away. This pallet has the drawback that it can not be reused. Moreover the arrangement does not always make it possible to handle the goods in a rational way before the transportation since the goods units have to be brought to and placed on the common pallet without being handled on a separate part which later will be a part of the combined pallet. The second publication describes a pallet arrangement comprising several sections where the sections are locked to each other before the transportation. The arrangement is because of the great amount of parts so complicated that it from a practical point of view seems very difficult to use. The third publication describes a two-pallet combination in which the pallets have mutually interengaging abutting portions to lock the pallets with respect to each other, as in the preamble of appended claim 1. These pallets can however not be moved horizontally to a locking position from several directions but have to be exactly positioned before they are slid into engagement with each other. The purpose of our invention is to achieve the above described advantages by means of a less complicated pallet than what is described in the publications mentioned above. This is achieved with a pallet having the characteristics mentioned in the claims. An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing on which Fig. 1 in a perspective view shows the combined load being placed on several pallets and comprising one single package such as it is transported from a production plant to a retailer or a building place. Fig. 2 shows a package unit which is opened and where a pallet with a goods unit has been removed. Fig. 3 shows in a plane view four pallets without goods units to be combined to a larger package whereas Fig. 4 is a perspective view of such a pallet. As appears from Fig. 1 a goods unit 10, which for instance comprises a refrigerator which is enclosed in shrinking plastic, is packed on a pallet 11 and fastened to it by means of a strap 12 or the like. Several such pallets, preferably four, are placed close to each other by moving them horizontally so that the edges of the pallets abut each other thereby locking the pallets to each other with regard to vertical movements. In order to create a larger package and to keep the load units and pallets together, a strap 13 is wrapped around them. This means that a combined load with four goods units is achieved which in one single transportation movement can be moved by means of a fork lift. Since the package has no space demanding shock absorbing layers between each goods unit space is saved which means that the area of a waggon bridge for the majority of the standard widths which are used on white goods can be used more effectively than previously i.e. almost 100% to be compared with a previous degree of utilization of 75-80%. When the package has been lifted down from the waggon bridge of the truck at a retailer or some other place for unloading the straps 13 are removed after which one single goods unit by means of the pallet below can be removed by means of a transportation carriage which appears from Fig. 2. In order to prevent the abovementioned vertical movement between the pallets during handling and transportation of the package the pallets are provided with simple means of which the pallets can be locked to each other. Thus the pallet shown in Fig. 3-4 comprises a frame of wood, plastic or some other kind of suitable material with two upper mainly parallel elongated elements, one element 14 being somewhat shorter than the other element 15. The upper side of the element serves as a support surface for the goods unit being placed on the pallet. The elongated elements 14 and 15 respectively are connected to each other by means of transverse elements 16, 17, 18 which are situated below the elongated elements 14, 15. The transverse elements 16 and 17 rest on distance means 19 which are placed at each corner of the square structure forming the frame. The distance means are two and two connected to each other by means of bottom elements 20 which are mainly parallel with the elongated elements 14 and 15. The elongated and transverse elements and the distance means are so placed with respect to each other that an edge part 21 having a mainly even vertical edge surface and three edge parts 22 with projections 23 and recesses 24 are formed. By placing four pallets close to each other according to what is illustrated in Fig. 3 the projections 23 are engaged with the recesses 24 which means that the pallets are locked to each other when a strap is then placed around the pallets. The edge parts 21 hence form an even side ot the package. By means of the suggested shape of the pallet each pallet can be placed anywhere among the pallets forming the combined package the pallets however being orientated in a certain fashion. It is however possible - by shortening the farthest end of the elongated elements 15 in Fig. 4 and at the same time extending the farthest end of the element 14 and the bottom element 20 placed below - to achieve a pallet which can be placed anywhere in the package and which can also be orientated in any position. Suitably the transverse element 18 is placed in such a way that the lifting arms of the fork truck safely reach this element of the farthest pallet seen from the fork lift since there is otherwise a risk that the combined package because of its placement of the gravity point tips during handling. The bottom element 20 is used when it is desirable to transport a single goods unit from the combined package by means of a small transportation carriage since the distance between the transverse elements and the ground - in order to make handling with a fork lift possible - is too large for admitting a lifting movement by means of such a transportation carriage. It could at certain occasion be necessary to place some kind of softer material on the outwardly extending surfaces of the combined load at least at the parts forming corners or edges in the package before the straps 13 are fastened.

Claims: Pallet comprising first and second elongated upper elements (14, 15) substantially parallel to each other and having top surfaces which serve as supports for a load unit; a plurality of substantially parallel, elongated transverse elements (16, 17, 18) of substantially equal length, connected to the upper elements (14, 15) to form a substantially rectangular pallet; a plurality of distance means (19) each being fixed to a transverse element (16, 17) near an end of each upper element (14, 15); projections (23) and recesses (24) for locking pallets to each other, characterized in that the upper and transverse elements (14, 15, 16, 17) and distance means (19) are arranged with respect to each other such that they act together to form the projections (23) and recesses (24) and that on each of at least three sides of the pallet there is a projection (23) at one end and a recess (24) at the other end, said projections (23), resp. recesses (24), having substantially horizontal surfaces for engaging substantially horizontal surfaces of the recesses, resp. projections, of an adjacent pallet. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the distance means are spaced from the upper elements to define the recesses. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the distance means are located at the four corners of the pallet. Pallet according to claim 1, further comprising bottom elements (20), substantially parallel to the upper elements (14, 15) and connected to the bottoms of the distance means.

Inventors: ABRAHAMSON LARS ANDERS, CASTWALL LENNART WILHELM, ERICSSON SVEN-GUNNAR, ABRAHAMSON, LARS ANDERS, CASTWALL, LENNART WILHELM, ERICSSON, SVEN-GUNNAR
Applicants: ELECTROLUX AB, AKTIEBOLAGET ELECTROLUX
Application year: 1991
Main classification: B65D71
IPC codes: B65D71, B65D19