HONEYCOMB PALLET WITH A PLASTIC CASING

Abstract: A pallet (1) built with cardboard is provided with a deck (3) with a free side and a base side and footblocks (4) which are distributed over the base side of the deck. The deck (3) comprises a filling of honeycomb cardboard, and the footblocks (4) also comprise a filling of honeycomb cardboard, which fillings together form one cardboard filling (2). The pallet (1) is moreover, provided with a plastic casing (5, 8) which encloses the cardboard filling in a completely sealing and almost contiguous way. Two suchlike pallets can be combined into one double-decked pallet, if these two pallets, facing each other with their bottom sides, are placed with their foot parts in contact with each other, and the contacting foot parts are attached to each other.

Description: Honeycomb pallet with a plastic casing The invention relates to a pallet built with cardboard, provided with a deck with a free side and a base side and footblocks which are distributed over the base side of the deck. Suchlike pallets are susceptible to shocks in particular when the deck or the footblocks thereof are struck on the circumferential side. In normal use the prongs of a fork- lift truck often cause this bumping or the pallet bumps against a warehouse rack. This leads to a progressive damage of the pallet, for example through denting of the deck and footblocks, or by a footblock being torn off, as a result of which the pallet is rendered unusable. Suchlike pallets are, furthermore, very susceptible to the effects of moisture. If they are used, for example, in a damp atmosphere or outdoors, or are moved between cooled and not cooled rooms, they can become slack and loose their mechanical strength owing to which they become unusable. Moreover such pallets are, when used over a longer stretch of time, subject to a rapidly advancing wear, as a result of which the top and bottom wear down and the pallet becomes mechanically weak and unusable. In practise the durability of suchlike pallets is so bad that they are only suitable for once-only use. The present invention intends to provide a pallet built with cardboard of the type described in the introduction, which does not have the drawbacks described above and is more durable than the known pallets. To this end the invented pallet is characterized in that the deck comprises a filling of honeycomb cardboard, and the footblocks also comprise a filling of honeycomb card¬ board, and that the pallet further comprises a moisture sealing and impact resistant plastic casing enclosing the deck and the footblocks. The invented pallet is impact resistant, also in a side¬ ward direction, and is not susceptible to the effect of moisture and is greatly resistant to wear. The pallet according to the invention is durable and can thus be used several times. Besides, the weight of the invented pallet is much lower than that of a completely wooden or plastic pallet, whilst the strength and durability are similar. It is noted that from the published PCT application WO 94/00354 a pallet built with cardboard is known, which is coated with a material based on water or oil for the purpose of moisture resistance or hardening of the pallet. A suchlike coating is, however, not impact resistant. This publication further aims at a paper product which can be completely recycled, so that the coating cannot be made of plastic. On the other hand, this publication reports the use of plastics such as Mylar, polyethene, polypropene or fibrous paper products thereof for making the entire pallet. It is further noted that a cardboard pallet is known from the British patent specification 2.213.462 which is at least on its bottom side packed in slack shrink film or preformed plastic film for moisture protection purposes. If the casing follows the contours of the deck and the footblocks, the pallet is compact and solid. A further advantageous embodiment is characterized in that the casing consists, on the one hand, of a plastic cover which fits in an almost close fit over the free side of the deck and is provided with a flat side the size of the deck and an edge which is perpendicular thereto and which fits about the deck, and consists, on the other hand, of a plastic bottom piece which fits in an almost close fit over the base side of the deck with the footblocks and is provided with a flat side which is in an almost close fit on the portion of the base side of the deck which is free of the footblocks and provided with recesses therein which are in an almost close fit with the footblocks and pro¬ vided with an edge perpendicular thereto which fits about the deck and fits in overlap over or in the edge of the cover. In this way a solid, well sealing casing is ob¬ tained, which fastens and protects the cardboard filling therein in an efficient manner, and a pallet is obtained which can be produced in an easy, guick and economical way. The edges of the cover and the lower side can be sealingly attached to one another, for example by glueing them together. In practise this affords a seal which is im¬ penetrable for moisture. The plastic casing and the filling of honeycomb cardboard can, furthermore, be glued together. In that way the plastic casing forms a structural part of the pallet. The stiffness and strength of the pallet are consequently considerably improved. For the casing plastics such as polyethene, polypropene, polyvinyl chloride or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene can be used with a wall thickness between 1 and 3 mm. In practise this provides sufficient strength and sealing. According to the invention a double-decked pallet with cardboard can also be built, comprising two pallets as described above, which, when mirrored in a plane parallel to their deck, merge into each other and, with their bottom sides facing each other, are adjacent each other with the recesses of their bottom pieces adjacent each other, wherein the recesses are attached to each other. Such a double-decked pallet is very solid, offers more space for introducing lifting means, such as the prongs of a forklift truck and can never fall over as both sides can serve as top or bottom. A double-decked pallet like that can, of course, be built with one or more supporting pallets with a smaller deck surface than the top cover pallet as bottom cover. It is noted that a double-decked pallet is known from the Swiss patent specification 399.320, consisting of two single-decked pallets the feet of which are mounted to¬ gether, each consisting of a single plastic plate, for example of glass fibre reinforced moulding resin, from which recesses project, which form the foot portions. In a suchlike double-decked pallet the recesses adjacent each other are, for example, attached to each other by means of sleeves located around them, it being furthermore preferable that the recesses and the sleeves are circular¬ ly cylindrical and the sleeves are situated in a close fit about the recesses. In a very advantageous embodiment the sleeves are, in addition, of plastic and the sleeves and the associated recesses are glued together. In this way a very robust and durable double-decked pallet is obtained. The plastic of which the sleeves consists can also be polyethene, polypropene, polyvinyl chloride or acrylonit¬ rile butadiene styrene. If the sleeves consist of the same plastic as the cover and the bottom piece, this then reduces the number of different materials needed, and the glueing of the double-decked pallet can possibly take place in a single production step. The invention will be further elucidated on the basis of some exemplary embodiments, with the help of the accom¬ panying drawings, in which figure 1 shows a pallet according to the invention, still to be assembled, in vertical sectional view, figure 2 shows two pallets according to the invention si¬ tuated opposite each other in vertical sectional view, which pallets can be attached to each other by means of sleeves, also shown, for forming a particularly ad¬ vantageous embodiment of the pallet according to the invention, which embodiment is shown in vertical sectional view in figure 3, figure 4 shows a top view of a pallet according to the invention, in which the position of the footblocks in the recesses is shown with broken lines, and figure 5 shows a side view of the advantageous embodiment of figure 3. Figure l shows a vertical cross section of the main com¬ ponents of a pallet 1 according to the invention which is still to be assembled. The filling 2 is of honeycomb cardboard and consists of a deck 3 and footblocks 4, on one side thereof. The deck 3 as well as the footblocks 4 can, for example, consist of a stacked sandwich construc¬ tion of a core layer of cardboard honeycomb on which there are, on the upper and lower side, cardboard sheets which are glued to it. The axes of the cells of the honeycomb core are preferably perpendicular to the deck 3 or the footblocks 4. The footblocks 4 can be glued together with the deck 3. The cardboard filling is very vulnerable, for example, to bumping or to the effect of moisture, or to wear. The filling is surrounded by a casing of plastic, which consists of a cover 5 and a bottom piece 8. The cover 5 consists of a flat side 6 and an edge 7 which runs along the circumference thereof and is perpendicular thereto. The bottom piece 8 consists of a flat side 9 with recesses 10 in it and a circumferential edge 11 perpendicular thereto. The plastic casing can be arranged in a close fit around the cardboard filling. The flat side 6 of the cover 5 then abuts the free side of the cardboard deck 3 and the flat side 9 of the bottom piece 8 against the base side of the deck 3, the cardboard footblocks 4 falling in a fit¬ ting way in the recesses 10 in the bottom piece 8. The circumferential edges 7 and 11 of the cover 5 and the bottom piece 8 overlap each other and are adjacent each other, it being the preference that the edge 11 of the bottom piece falls within the edge 7 of the cover 5. A connection which seals well against moisture is obtained between cover 5 and bottom piece 8 by glueing the edges 7 and 11 to each other. In practise it has been shown that plastics such as poly- ethene (PE) , polypropene (PP) , polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) are suitable as casing material. With a wall thickness of 1 to 3 mm such¬ like casings are, in the usual external conditions of the surroundings, strong enough and seal sufficiently. A particularly advantageous embodiment of a pallet accor¬ ding to the invention is shown in figures 2, 3 and 5. The latter is composed of two pallets according to the exem¬ plary embodiment of figure 1, which face each other with their lower sides, and are placed adjacent each other and attached to each other with the recesses 10 of their bottom pieces 8. The two pallets 1 are complementary so that the recesses 10 to be attached to each other are situated directly above each other. Attaching takes place by means of sleeves 12 fittingly arranged about the reces¬ ses to be attached to each other. The sleeves 12 and recesses 10 are circularly cylindrical and are glued together. Another attaching method could be fusing the sleeves 12 and the recesses 10 with each other. In that case it is advantageous if the sleeves are also made of polyethene, polypropene, polyvinyl chloride or acrylo¬ nitrile butadiene styrene. The described embodiment, consisting of two pallets 1, is a double-decked pallet 13, one of the composite pallets 1 forming the top cover whilst the other pallet 1 forms the bottom cover. The double-decked pallet forms a strong, robust and durable whole, in which, moreover, between the bottom and top cover, there is a great deal of space between the sleeves 12 for introducing means for lifting up and moving the pallet with its potential load, such as, for example the prongs of a forklift truck. Because of the symmetry of the double-decked pallet 13, the top and bottom cover are, in addition, functionally interchangeable if the double-decked pallet 13 is acciden¬ tally turned over. For that reason the double-decked pallet 13 can never be upside down and when it is used no allowance has to be made for its orientation. Figure 4 shows a top view of a pallet according to the invention. The place of the footblocks and sleeves in the recesses is shown here by broken lines. Of course other length/width ratios (for example square) and other dis¬ tributions of the footblocks over the deck of the pallet according to the invention are possible. The footblocks 4, the recesses 10 and the sleeves 12 can, of course, have any given cylindrical shape, for example square, but a round shape is preferable, in view of the fact that then assembly is easiest, the least material is needed, and furthermore the introduction of lifting means, for example the prongs of a forklift truck, into a prepared double- decked pallet with rounded footblocks is the easiest. In addition, with round footblocks the risk of damaging the footblocks is the smallest.

Claims: Claims 1. Pallet built with cardboard, provided with a deck with a free side and a base side and footblocks which are distributed over the base side of the deck, characterized in that the deck (3) comprises a filling of honeycomb cardboard, and the footblocks (4) also comprise a filling of honey¬ comb cardboard, and that the pallet (1) further comprises a moisture sealing and impact resistant plastic casing enclosing the deck (3) and the footblocks (4) . 2. Pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the casing (5, 8) follows the contours of the deck (3) and the footblocks (4) . 3. Pallet according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the casing (5, 8) consists, on the one hand, of a plastic cover (5) which fits an almost close fit over the free side of the deck (3) and is provided with a flat side (6) the size of the deck (3) and an edge (7) which is perpen¬ dicular thereto and which fits about the deck (3) , and consists, on the other hand, of a plastic bottom piece (8) which fits in an almost close fit over the base side of the deck (3) with the footblocks (4) and is provided with a flat side (9) which is an almost close fit on the portion of the base side of the deck (3) which is free of the footblocks (4) and provided with recesses (10) therein which are in an almost close fit with the footblocks (4) and provided with an edge (11) perpendicular thereto which fits around the deck (3) and fits in overlap over or in the edge (7) of the cover (5) . 4. Pallet according to claim 3, characterized in that the edges (7, 11) of the cover (5) and the bottom piece (8) are sealingly attached to one another. 5. Pallet according to claim 4, characterized in that the edges (7, 11) of the cover (5) and the bottom piece (8) are glued together. 6. Pallet according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plastic casing (5, 8) and the filling (2) of honeycomb cardboard are glued together. 7. Pallet according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plastic casing (5, 8) has a wall thickness of between 1 and 3 mm. 8. Pallet according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plastic of which the casing (5, 8) consists is polyethene, polypropene, polyvinyl chloride or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. 9. Pallet built with cardboard, comprising two pallets (1) according to any one of the claims 3 to 8 which, when mirrored in a plane parallel to their deck (3) , merge into each other and, with their bottom sides facing each other, are adjacent each other with the recesses (10) of their bottom pieces (8) , wherein the recesses (10) adjacent each other are attached to each other. 10. Pallet built with cardboard, comprising a pallet (1) acting as top cover according to any one of the claims 3 to 8 and one or several supporting pallets according to any one of the claims 3 to 8, which have a smaller deck surface than the top cover pallet, wherein the top cover and supporting pallets, with their bottom sides facing each other, are adjacent each other with the recesses (10) of their bottom pieces (8) , wherein the recesses (10) ad¬ jacent each other are attached to each other. 11. Pallet according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, the recesses (10) adjacent each other are attached to each other by means of sleeves (12) located around them. 12. Pallet according to claim 11, characterized in that the recesses (10) and the sleeves (12) are circularly cylindrical and the sleeves (12) are situated in a close fit about the recesses (10) . 13. Pallet according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the sleeves (12) are made of a plastic and that the sleeves (12) and the associated recesses (10) are glued together. 14. Pallet according to claim 13, characterized in that the plastic of which the sleeves (12) consist is poly¬ thene, polypropene, polyvinyl chloride or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene.

Inventors: DIDERICH JOHANNES PHILLIPPUS L, DIDERICH, JOHANNES, PHILLIPPUS, LUDOVICUS, MARIA
Applicants: BESIN BV, DIDERICH JOHANNES PHILLIPPUS L, BESIN B.V., DIDERICH, JOHANNES, PHILLIPPUS, LUDOVICUS, MARIA
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B65D19
IPC codes: B65D19