PLASTIC PALLET

Abstract: A pallet fabricated of a thermoplastic material is produced by joining together a plurality of individually fabricated structural components, each individually thermoformed from an extruded plastic parison of a monolayer or multilayer structure. The structural components include a deck in the form of a continuous sheet with longitudinal and transverse sides, one or more upper spacer components fastened by their top side to the bottom of the deck, each of which includes a cross member with downward-facing posts, and one or more lower runner components, each of which includes a cross member with upward-facing posts and which is fastened by the tops of its posts to the bottoms of matching posts on the corresponding upper spacer components.

Description: PLASTIC PALLET FIELD OF INVENTION This invention relates to a plastic pallet, in par¬ ticular a pallet fabricated by joining together several com¬ ponents into a finished pallet, wherein the individual com¬ ponents are fabricated from a thermoplastic material by for¬ ming. The pallet can also be furnished with reinforcing sec¬ tions. PRIOR ART Pallets are included as a part of the goods that are to be transported and/or stored on them, and therefore it is important for the pallet to be lightweight, but strong and rigid at the same time. Plastic pallets have the advantages over wooden pallets that they are lightweight, that they do not absorb moisture, and that they can be cleaned/disinfected, which is decisive in fields where hygiene is important, e.g., in the food industry. A disadvantage of plastic pallets is that thermoplastic materials will deflect when they are sub¬ jected to static loads over time. For this reason, for many purposes plastic pallets are reinforced by various means. US Patent No. 2,503,022 discloses a wooden pallet assembled from individually fabricated components comprising a pallet deck and upper and lower runner components which have legs with channels and raised sections that fit into one another. The components are fastened mechanically with bolts, and the construction results in a rigid pallet. It is men¬ tioned that the pallet can be fabricated from plywood, fiber- board, plastic or lightweight metals, but without further spe¬ cification as regards this. European Patent No. EP-0 400 640 discloses a plastic pallet that is assembled from a top deck and a bottom deck with runners, or from a deck and runners. The components are formed with legs that are inserted into one another during assembly. Mechanical fasteners in the form of metal plates having die-cut notches, nails or the like can be employed to ensure that the components hold together. Swiss Patent No. CH-685549 A5 discloses a plastic pallet that is injection molded in two components, namely, a top deck and a bottom deck comprising posts and runners. The top deck and the bottom deck, both having reinforcing ribs, are butt-welded together so that the side edges and ribs are welded together against one another. Directly within all four side edges and along the center line longitudinally there are in the ribs semicircular openings into which steel pipes or flat rods can be jammed for mechanical reinforcement of the pallet. The plastic pallet is preferably fabricated from poly- ethylene. Swedish Patent SE 501,539 relates to an injection molded pallet runner, preferably comprising two or three sepa¬ rate, hollow, closed channels along its entire length. The runner is lightweight, while rigid. It can be fastened by its top to suitable posts, which again are fastened to the bottom of a pallet deck. International Application WO 93/18906 relates to a blow-mold device for producing one-piece, externally smooth, double-walled plastic plates with internal spaces formed dur- ing blow-molding. The high bending resistance of the manufac¬ tured plate makes it suitable for making plastic pallets. Swedish Patent SE 385,207 discloses a reinforced plastic construction comprising a frame made from hollow, square iron sections that are enveloped in two thermoformed plastic sheets. The result is a heavy and very strong deck that is able to carry a high load without any deflection. Prior art plastic pallets are fabricated by injection molding of components that are then joined together. The com¬ ponents will typically have reinforcing ribs at required pla- ces in order to attain a lightweight rigid construction. In the injection molding of such large objects, very large and expensive injection molding tools are used that require large injection molding machines having great clamping forces. Con¬ sequently, it would be desirable to be able to make plastic pallets by a simpler and more economical method. A possible means of attaining this object is to thermoform the pallet from an extruded sheet of plastic or from a parison, like the blow molding of large objects such as barrels, gasoline tanks, etc. To attain a lightweight and rigid construction it is often desirable to employ a coextruded multilayer structure where one of the layers is at least partially foamed. For in¬ stance, US Patent No. 4,874,649 discloses a method for the blow molding of a coextruded parison comprising at least two layers, one of which, perhaps more, is at least partially foamed. It has now been found that it is possible to fabri¬ cate a pallet from individually fabricated components, where these components are formed from an extruded parison, prefer¬ ably from a coextruded multilayer parison where at least one of the layers is at least partially foamed. Such a pallet will have a low weight and a substantially longer service life than e.g. wooden pallets, and it will be cost-effective to use. When the pallet is worn out it can simply be recycled along the line of other thermoplastic articles. The pallet's smooth and even surface makes it very simple and easy to clean and disinfect. The pallet is there¬ fore especially well suited for use in the food industry and allied industries. The pallets can also be used as a stackable pallet for storage. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a pallet made of a thermoplastic material, the pallet fabricated by joining to- gether a plurality of individually fabricated structural com¬ ponents. Each of the structural components being individually thermoformed from an extruded plastic parison having a mono- layer or multilayer structure, the structural components com¬ prising: (a) a deck in the form of a continuous sheet having a longitudinal side, a transverse side, and top and bottom sur¬ faces, (b) at least one upper spacer component having top and bottom surfaces, each said upper spacer component compris- ing a cross member having downward-facing posts and being fas¬ tened by its said top surface to said bottom surface of said deck, and (c) at least one lower runner component, each said lower runner component comprising a cross member having up- ward-facing posts, each said upward-facing post fastened to one said downward-facing post of a corresponding said upper spacer component. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective sketch of a fabricated pal¬ let. Fig. 2 is a perspective sketch of a pallet deck and spacer and runner components prior to joining together. Fig. 3 is a sectional view through a part of the pal¬ let deck, posts, spacer and and runner components for the assembled pallet. Fig. 4 is a top view of a pallet where the pallet deck has raised sections, and openings for easy manual hand- ling. Fig. 5 is a side view of the pallet in Fig. 4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The pallet according to the invention is assembled from individually fabricated structural components comprising a pallet deck and one or more sets of spacer and runner com¬ ponents, each of which consists of an upper spacer component and a lower runner component. The structural components are fabricated by thermoforming a coextruded parison having a total wall thickness and a wall thickness distribution between the different layers matching the product specifications and required product performances. In the fabrication of the indi¬ vidual structural components, the entire parison or parts thereof is/are flattened, while at the same time it is given the required shape by using combinations of compressed air and vacuum. In its simplest embodiment the parison consists of a homogeneous (solid) material. In order to make the extruded structure lighter, the parison can be coextruded with several layers, where at least one layer is at least partially foamed. Present-day coextrusion technology permits a number of options for the shape and structure of the parison. For instance, the extruded structure can in one specific embodiment of the in¬ vention consist of a foamed plastic layer having a solid skin on just one side. The foam should preferably have a closed- cell structure, however, this is not an obligatory feature. In practice, a foam having a density of down to approximately 100 kg/m 3 can prove useful. The skin will form the pallet's out- s sides, so that a wear-resistant and easy-to-clean surface is attained. In another specific embodiment of the invention, the extruded structure comprises a foamed plastic layer having a solid skin on both sides, or optionally multiples of such a ιo multilayer structure. Such a sandwich structure will, it is common knowledge, have high torsional rigidity and produce a lightweight construction. The foam layer typically comprises about 70% of the sheet structure's thickness, and each skin layer about 15%, more preferably about 80% and about 10%, re- i5 spectively. When the foam has a closed-cell structure, in some cases it can even constitute the entire wall thickness. The foam can have a density within the range of from the density of a solid material down to as far as it is possible in prac¬ tice to produce a stable polymeric foam. There has to be very 20 good adhesion between the foam and the skin layer in order to attain an optimal rigid structure. Consequently, the foam and skin have to be coextruded in such a way that an integrated multilayer structure is produced. Suitable materials for producing the extruded parison 5 having a multilayer structure comprise in principle all extrudable thermoplastics having sufficient rigidity. Espe¬ cially suited thermoplastics are polyolefins such as poly¬ ethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylonitrile butadiene (ABS), styrene plastics, poly- o amides (PA) and polycarbonates (PC). Of these, the polyolefin materials are preferred. However, there is nothing to prevent the foam material and the skin layer(s) from being made of different materials. For instance, an inside layer of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and an outside layer of ultrahigh 5 molecular weight high density polyethylene (HMW-HDPE) and an intermediate layer of a foamed polyethylene will comprise a suited structure. Another structure has an inside layer of PP homopolymer, an outside layer of PP block copolymer, and an intermediate layer of foamed PP. Of course, other structures are also possible and fall within the scope of the invention. The materials constituting the solid part of the ex¬ truded multilayer structure can, if desired, be reinforced with cut glass fibers and/or long glass fibers in the direc- 5 tion of extrusion. During extrusion of the parison and forming of the components of the pallet, manufacturing waste will be produced which, for economic reasons, should be returned to production. This can be done by incorporating the waste material into one o or more layers in the coextruded multilayer structure. Conse¬ quently, in a practical embodiment of the invention, it will be advantageous to use materials that can be mixed with one another. Polyolefin materials are excellently suited in this respect, especially certain types of polypropylene ( PP) and s high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Smaller amounts of glass fibers in the skin layers can after grinding of the material be re-extruded and without problems included in the skin layers, and even in the foam layer(s). It is also possible to add to the thermoplastics crosslinking agents in order to crosslink the material in the pallets produced. The disadvantage is that this kind of manu¬ facturing waste cannot be recycled. Another disadvantage is that the pallets then as a rule can be joined together only mechanically, though there do exist silane-based crosslinking agents that can be crosslinked after the finished pallet has been made. Because articles made from plastic materials have a slippery surface, and especially articles made from polyole¬ fins like HDPE and PP, it will often be desirable to add to the pallet deck a friction-increasing material. This can be done by extruding on the outside of the parison an extra layer with a material having a high surface friction in a width from narrow strips to a continuous facing around the entire peri¬ phery of the parison or around parts of its periphery. The friction material on the top of the pallet deck will prevent goods from sliding off the pallet, while the friction strips on the bottom will prevent the pallet from sliding easily off truck forks when the pallet is being handled. The latter can be further improved by extruding friction strips also on the bottom of the top spacer components. Alternatively, the fric¬ tion material coating may be applied onto the pallet deck of already fabricated pallets. This can easily be performed by extrusion coating, for instance by conveying the pallets underneath a stationary extruder in a coating line. Preferably, the friction material is applied to the pallet in the form of parallel, raised longitudinal sections having a height of approximately 1 mm and a width from narrow strips to a continuous facing. When the pallet is fabricated from a polyolefin material, a suitable friction material is selected from the group comprising polyolefin-containing mate¬ rials such as EVA, EBA and the like. It is of course possible to add to the plastic mater¬ ials the additives and auxiliary agents that are customary for thermoplastics, such as antistatic agents, heat and UV stabi¬ lizers, colorants, etc. The various layers of the multilayer structure can be of dissimilar colors, as desired. It is also possible that pallets intended for dissimilar purposes can have different colors. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Preferred specific embodiments of the pallet will now be explained in more detail with reference to the attached drawings. Fig. 1 shows one particular embodiment of the finished pallet, 1, with the pallet deck, 2, joined together with upper spacer components, 3, and lower runner components, 4. The joint between the pallet deck, 2, and between the upper spacer components, 3, and the lower runner components, 4, are indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 2 shows the pallet deck, 2, upper spacer compo¬ nent, 3, and lower runner component, 4, before joining together. The deck is formed from the tubular structure as a single piece in the form of a continuous sheet having a long- itudinal side, 14, and a transverse side, 15. Profiles, 5, are formed on the bottom of the deck along each longitudinal side, 14, and in the centre. Each spacer component, 3, and runner component, 4, is formed as a single piece from the tubular structure, with posts, 7, at each end and in the centre, and between these the parison is squeezed flat so that the insides of the parison are fused together and form a cross member, 8, that holds the posts, 7. Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the finished pal- 5 let, 1, at section A-A in Fig. 1. The section runs through the pallet deck, 2, one post on the upper spacer component, 3, and one post on the lower runner component, 4. As indicated in Fig. 2, the deck, 2, and upper spacer component, 3, are welded together, or jointed together in another way, with the entire o compact surface of the spacer component's cross member, 8, towards the bottom of the profile, 5, on the pallet deck, 2. The profile, 5, and the cross member, 8, on the upper spacer component, 3, will thus form the longitudinal side walls, 6, of the pallet. The pallet deck is formed so that the profile, s 5, forms a channel, 9, and two closed hollow spaces, 10 and 11. The upper spacer component, 3, is shaped so that a channel is formed on the top of the cross member and longitudinally, which channel has the same width as the channel, 9, on the bottom of the pallet deck. Consequently, a closed channel, 9, extended longitudinally along the pallet is created when the pallet deck, and the upper spacer component, are jointed to¬ gether. The channel's length, width and depth can be made to fit the requirements. The deck and the upper spacer components are formed so that each channel, 9, is sealed at each end so that a closed hollow space is created. Optionally, the forming can be such that the channel is open at both ends. The upper spacer components, 3, and lower runner components, 4, are jointed together with the posts' contact surfaces towards one another. The lower runner component, 4, is in principle formed like the upper spacer component, 3, but so that the cross member, 8, constitutes the contact surface towards the floor. Each post on the upper spacer components, 3, and lower runner components, 4, is formed as a symmetric profile so that two like-shaped hollow spaces, 13, and a channel, 12, are created, that will also create a closed hollow space when the posts are jointed together. The hollow spaces, 10-13, created contribute to making the pallet rigid and lightweight. The shape of the pallet's posts can differ designwise from that sketched in Fig. 3 by variations in the dimensions of the channel, 9, and hollow spaces, 12 and 13. However, the bearing walls in the posts must be formed so that a sufficiently rigid structure is attained. It is specified above that the spacers, 3. with runners, 4, are fastened to the pallet deck, 2, longitudi¬ nally, but they can of course just as well be fastened trans¬ versely along the pallet deck. At the same time, the pallet can also have at least one spacer/runner along both the long¬ itudinal side, 14, and along the transverse side, 15. In one specific embodiment the pallet has one spacer/runner along the longitudinal side, 14, and one spacer/runner along the trans¬ verse side, 15, so that the runners are perpendicular to one another and form a cross. It is also possible to have two, or more, runners in each direction. When there are used runners that are perpendicular to one another, the runner components have to be formed in a suitable manner at the points where they cross. The individual components of the pallet can be join¬ ted together most expediently by welding, preferably by butt welding, but other methods of joining like the use of glue or adhesive can also be employed. Optionally, the individually fabricated structural components can be jointed together mech¬ anically by means of snap-together arrangements, clips, bolts made of plastic or metal, or combinations of the same. Suitable stiffening sections can be inserted into the channels, 9, in Fig. 3, along the pallet deck's side edges and along its center line, to ensure that the pallet does not def¬ lect at its center under great stresses. It is preferable to use sections made of a lightweight metal in order to not in- crease to an unnecessary degree the pallet's unloaded weight. Optionally, the sections can be fabricated from other materi¬ als such as plywood, reinforced ther osetting plastic materi¬ als (e.g. GRP), or other suitable plastic materials or com¬ posites. The pallet deck can have a flat surface or a profiled surface. A particularly preferred embodiment of a pallet hav¬ ing a profiled deck is shown in figures 4 and 5. Fig. 4 is a top view of a pallet, 1, having channels, 16, impressed into the pallet deck, thus creating raised sec- tions, 17, running in the transverse direction of the pallet. Fig. 5 is a side view showing the longitudinal side of the pallet in Fig. 4. The dimensions of such raised sections and impressed channels, i.e. their lengths, widths and heights can be chosen freely within the physical limits set by the extruded parison and the forming conditions. The bottom of the pallet deck may be given a similar design as the top surface of the deck, or it may be kept even. In principle, the raised sections in the upper and bottom surfaces of the pallet deck may run in any direction, also in different directions. In the particular embodiment of the pallet shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the width of each raised section is approx. 35-40 mm, and the distance be¬ tween any two adjacent raised sections, i.e. the width of the impressed channels, is of approximately the same magnitude. The height of each raised section is about 10 mm. It should be obvious that in principle the top sur¬ face, optionally also the bottom surface, of the pallet deck can be given any shape or design of patterns: the only res- triction being the technical conditions mentioned above. All such designs are comtemplated by the present invention. Pallet decks having raised sections may provide a simplified unloading of the goods that they carry. For in¬ stance, the pallet indicated in Figs. 4 and 5 allows specifi- cally designed forks to be inserted into the channels in the upper pallet deck underneath the goods, which may then be re¬ moved as one unit from the pallet by the use of an adequate lifting device. This is particularly useful when unloading unit loads, such as goods shrink-wrapped in plastic films, bottle crates, etc. To facilitate the manual handling of empty pallets, they may be provided with handles or openings in the deck to make it easy to grab the pallet by hand, for instance when fetching a pallet from a stack of pallets. The pallet shown in fig. 4 is provided with two openings, 18, in the middle of the deck for grabbing the pallet. The location of one or more such openings, and their sizes and shapes, are regarded as expedi¬ ent and obvious to a person skilled in the art. When the pallet is used for storage or transportation in engineering manufacturing concerns, the pallet deck can be shaped according to the shape of the actual product that is to be transported, in order to ensure stability during transpor¬ tation. The above description is provided for a clearer understanding of the principles of the invention. Variations in designs and embodiments of the present pallets based on the technical concepts explained above are considered being within the scope of the present invention.

Claims: Claims 1. A pallet made of a thermoplastic material, the pallet fabricated by joining together a plurality of individually fabricated structural components, characterized in that each of the structural components being individually thermoformed from an extruded plastic parison having a monolayer or multilayer structure, the structural components comprising: (a) a deck (2) in the form of a continuous sheet having a longitudinal side (14), a transverse side (15), and 10 top (2) and bottom surfaces, (b) at least one upper spacer component (3) having top and bottom surfaces, each said upper spacer component (3) comprising a cross member (8) having downward-facing posts (7) and being fastened by its said top surface to said bottom sur- i5 face of said deck (2), and (c) at least one lower runner component (4), each said lower runner component comprising a cross member (8) hav¬ ing upward-facing posts (7), each said upward-facing post fas¬ tened to one said downward-facing post of a corresponding said 20 upper spacer component (3). 2. A pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one said upper spacer component (3) fastened to said lower runner component is positioned along said longitudinal 5 side (14) and/or along said transverse side (15). 3. A pallet according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that at least one of said top surface of each said upper spacer component (3) and the part of said deck to which said o upper spacer component is fastened is formed with a long¬ itudinal recess, so that a straight open channel (9) is created between said upper spacer component and said deck. 4. A pallet according to claim 3, characterized in that 5 said deck and said upper spacer component are formed so that each of the channels (9) is sealed at each end so that a closed hollow space is created. 5. A pallet according to claim 4, characterized in that a stiffening section is inserted into one or more of said channels (9). 6. A pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that s the extruded structure is fabricated from one or more thermo¬ plastic materials selected from the group comprising poly¬ olefins, PVC, ABS, styrene plastics, PA and PC. 7. A pallet according to claim 6, characterized in that ιo said extruded structure comprises at least one polyolefin material. 8. A pallet according to claims 1, 6 and 7, characteri¬ zed in that the extruded multilayer structure comprises one is foamed plastic layer having a solid skin on one side thereof. 9. A pallet according to claims 1, 6 and 7, characteri¬ zed in that the extruded multilayer structure comprises at least one foamed plastic layer having a solid skin on both 20 sides thereof., or multiples of such a structure. 10. A pallet according to claims 8 or 9, characterized in that said foamed layer and said solid skin are coextruded so that they create an integrated multilayer structure. 25 11. A pallet according to claims 7 to 9, characterized in that said foamed layer and said solid skin(s) are made of different materials. 0 12. A pallet according to claims 1 and 6 to 11, charac¬ terized in that said thermoplastic is reinforced with a rein¬ forcing material selected from cut glass fibres and continuous glass fibres. 35 13. A pallet according to claims 1, characterized in that the individually fabricated structural components are joined together by butt welding. 14. A pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the individually fabricated structural components are joined together by the use of a material selected from glue and adhesive. 15. A pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the structural components are joined together mechanically by one or more fastening means selected from snap-together arran¬ gements, clips, bolts made of plastic, and bolts made of metal. 10 16. A pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that at least said top surface of said deck is furnished with a plurality of parallel, raised longitudinal sections made of a friction material. 15 17. A pallet according to claim 16, characterized in that said friction material is applied by extrusion and is selected from polyolefin-containing materials such as EVA and EBA. 20 18. A pallet according to claims 16 or 17, characterised in that the parallel, raised longitudinal sections have a height of about 1 mm and a width of from narrow strips to a continuous facing. 25 19. A pallet according to one or more of the above claims, characterized in that the pallet deck includes one or more structures selected from raised areas and recesses made to fit articles to be disposed on the pallet. 30 20. A pallet according to one or more of the above claims, characterized by said top surface, and optionally also said bottom surface, of said pallet deck being profiled with impressed channels (16) and raised sections (17) of desired dimensions. 35 21. A pallet according to one or more of the above claims, characterized by being provided with at least one opening (18) in said pallet deck for easier manual handling of an empty pallet.

Inventors: GROENNEVIK ODDBJOERN, GROENNEVIK, ODDBJOERN
Applicants: BOREALIS AS, GROENNEVIK ODDBJOERN, BOREALIS A/S, GROENNEVIK, ODDBJOERN
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B65D19
IPC codes: B65D19