PALLET ATTACHMENT

Abstract: The present invention relates to a pallet attachment (1'), the underside of which is designed to be placed on a top deck of an already existing pallet, and the top side of which is designed to carry one or more parking areas for carrying four-wheel trolleys, such as dollies, roller containers, mobile undercarriages and the like. The pallet attachment comprises means for parking each trolley in a rollproof manner on a parking area, the wheels of a trolley parked on the pallet attachment maintaining contact with the pallet attachment and/or with the top deck of the pallet placed underneath the pallet attachment. The pallet attachment further comprises at least one wheel track (2, 2') and preferably guide means for driving a trolley to and from the parking area. The pallet attachment is preferably in the form of a panel, with a perimeter that corresponds to the perimeter of a pallet to be placed underneath the pallet attachment.

Description: PALLET ATTACHMENT The present invention relates to the transportation of goods placed on trolleys. In the retail trade increasing use is being made of four- wheel trolleys, such as dollies, roller containers, mobile undercarriages and the like, which are easy to move into a warehouse or the like because they can roll. It is already known for the trolleys to be taken in an advantageous manner from the warehouse and placed directly in shelves designed for them in a shop. The trolleys laden with goods cannot, however, be placed in racks in a distribution centre or in a warehouse. Furthermore, the laden trolleys must still be moved regularly over a relatively long distance, for example from a distribution centre to a warehouse. If the trolleys are then being transported by train or lorry, they can roll out of position in the loading space. NL 1008867 discloses a way of transporting the trolleys described above, making use of a special pallet. The trolleys can be parked in a rollproof manner on this pallet, so that they cannot roll off their parking area on the pallet during transportation. The pallet with the trolleys placed on it can further be placed in the usual manner in a pallet rack and moved by means of, for example, a forklift truck. A disadvantage of the solution according to NL 1008867 is that special pallets are needed for the transportation of the trolleys . This means that a separate stock of relatively expensive pallets must be purchased for the transportation of trolleys . Apart from the additional cost of purchasing a second type of pallet, this can give rise to logistical problems. Another disadvantage of the known pallet is that it is not practical to use. For example, it is often difficult to place a trolley in the correct position. The object of the invention is to provide a logistically attractive way of transporting goods placed on trolleys. This object is achieved with a pallet attachment that defines one or more parking areas for one or more four-wheel trolleys, the pallet attachment further comprising means for parking each trolley in a rollproof manner on a parking area. In this case the wheels of a trolley parked on the pallet attachment maintain contact with the pallet attachment and/or with the top deck of the pallet lying underneath the pallet attachment. The pallet attachment further comprises at least one wheel track for driving a trolley to and from the parking area. With such a pallet attachment, an already existing pallet, for example a Europallet with the usual standard dimensions, can easily be adapted for carrying and transporting one or more trolleys. Owing to the fact that the wheels maintain contact with the pallet attachment and/or the pallet placed underneath the pallet attachment, and owing to the fact that a wheel track is provided for driving a trolley to and from the parking area, a trolley can easily be moved on and off the pallet attachment. The four wheels of a trolley can be two rigid castors and two swivel castors. A trolley can also be provided with four swivel castors. The wheels are normally mounted on a bearing deck or bearing undercarriage of the trolley. The pallet attachment according to the invention preferably comprises guide means extending along a wheel track, for guiding a trolley to and from the parking area. This makes it easier for the trolleys to be driven to a rollproof parking area. The guide means can be formed by, for example, elevations in the surface of the pallet attachment. In a preferred embodiment, the pallet attachment is in the form of a panel-shaped element. A major advantage of a panel- shaped element is that the pallet attachments are then easily stackable, both on top of each other and when they are fixed on a pallet. The means for rollproof parking of a trolley placed on a parking area preferably comprise one or more overridable elevations provided on the wheel track. These elevations serve to block the wheels to prevent the trolleys from rolling away. By making the elevations overridable elevations, it is ensured that a trolley can be driven over the pallet attachment and/or top deck of a pallet to a parking area. The overridable elevation (s) is (are) further preferably provided over a distance substantially corresponding to the distance between a front wheel and a rear wheel of a trolley. The height of the elevation (s) is preferably less than half the diameter of the wheels of a trolley. In order to facilitate the driving of a trolley onto the overridable elevation, in a preferred embodiment the edges of the elevations are slanted. However, the edges must not be bevelled off so flat that they no longer block the wheels of a trolley to prevent them from rolling. In a further special preferred embodiment, for the rollproof parking of a trolley one overridable elevation is provided over the distance between a front wheel and a rear wheel of the trolley. With one elevation a trolley need only be driven once with the front wheels over an elevation in order to park the trolley in a rollproof manner in a parking area. In a further preferred embodiment, the overridable elevations for blocking the rear wheels are in the form of a segment of a circle. In the case of such an elevation, the rear wheels of a trolley, in particular in the case of swivel castors, automatically fall into the correct position, thus also producing stable and rollproof parking of the trolley in the parking area. Two adjacent wheel tracks are preferably provided on the pallet attachment for each parking area, the guide means comprising a middle guide formed by an elevation between the two wheel tracks. In one embodiment the middle guide has a substantially constant width over the length of the wheel tracks. In this case the width of the middle guide preferably substantially corresponds to the shorter distance of the distances between either the front wheels or the rear wheels. This prevents a trolley from being able to shift in lateral direction to the wheel tracks. Furthermore, the middle guide ensures that the swivel castors of a trolley cannot swivel, and thus remain parallel to the wheel track. In a special preferred embodiment, the middle guide has an increasing width, viewed in the drive-on direction, over a considerable part of the wheel tracks, and thus has a diverging form. Since the middle guide is relatively narrow in the region where a trolley is being driven onto the pallet attachment, the trolley requires hardly any alignment relative to the pallet attachment. During the driving onto the pallet attachment the front wheels are guided to the correct position by the middle guide which increases in width. The width of the part of the diverging middle guide between the front wheels of a trolley placed on a parking area advantageously corresponds to the distance between the front wheels of the trolley. This means that a trolley placed on a parking area of the pallet attachment is secured against shifting sideways. The middle guide is preferably higher than the overridable elevatio (s) on the wheel tracks for rollproof parking of a trolley, so that the wheels of a trolley are also guided by the guide if the wheels are situated on top of the elevation (s) for rollproof parking of the trolleys. The middle guide is preferably provided with a beveled edge in the region at the edge of the pallet attachment, which has the advantage that a trolley does not have to be positioned accurately when it is being driven onto a pallet attachment. In a further preferred embodiment, side guide strips, extending parallel to the middle guide strip, are provided on the outer sides of the two wheel tracks. Said side guides are preferably the same height as the middle guide strip. Apart from the fact that said side guides have a guiding function for a trolley being driven onto the pallet attachment, they have the further advantage that the top surface of the pallet attachment becomes flat, with the result that the pallet attachment is more suitable for carrying goods with a flat underside such as boxes, trays and panels, and particularly for carrying a pallet or a stack of pallets with or without pallet attachments. The pallet attachment is further preferably designed for accommodating fastening means, which fastening means can prevent a trolley placed on a parking area from moving vertically relative to the pallet attachment. In a possible embodiment the surface of the pallet attachment is of a completely closed design. In a preferred embodiment, in order to save material, the elevations and guides are of an open design, while the wheel track is of a closed design, so that a suitable support surface is provided for the trolleys. In order to give the pallet attachment the necessary strength and rigidity, the open guides and elevations are preferably provided with a grid of ribs. In an alternative preferred embodiment the pallet attachment comprises a gutter. The bottom of the gutter forms a wheel track and the side walls of the gutter going up from the bottom to form the guide means. A trolley placed on the pallet attachment is situated with two wheels in the gutter and with the other two wheels on the top deck of a pallet. The means for rollproof parking of a trolley can comprise several elements sealing off the gutter. These elements can comprise, for example, two plates placed at both ends of the gutter in channels designed for them. The pallet attachments according to the invention are suitable for use in a transportation system for transporting goods . A pallet provided with a pallet attachment can transport one or more trolleys in a rollproof manner, but in a preferred embodiment it can also be used in the usual way, for example, for transporting boxes and the like that are placed directly on the pallet attachment. Since the trolleys can be driven onto a pallet attachment placed on a pallet, the trolleys need not be placed on the pallet before being loaded. Unloading of a trolley therefore also does not have to be carried out near the pallet. In order to permit the driving on and off of the trolleys, use can be made of one or more separate ramps, which can be placed against a pallet provided with a pallet attachment. The pallet attachment can be made by, for example, vacuum forming or injection moulding, or by compressing wood chips. The pallet attachment can also be produced by combining metal, wooden or plastic elements. The pallet attachment must be fixed in such a way on the top deck of the pallet that during normal use it remains resting securely on the pallet. The pallet attachment can be fixed, for example, detachably to the pallet by means of clamping bands, screws, nails or bolts. The pallet attachment can also be provided with lugs or lips which engage in and/or around the top deck of the pallet underneath. It will be clear to the person skilled in the art that, if the advantage of a separate pallet attachment is forgone, the top deck of a pallet can be designed as described here for a pallet attachment. The present invention also relates to such a pallet. Further advantageous features of the invention are given in the dependent subclaims and will be explained further below with reference to the appended figures, in which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the pallet attachment according to the invention, Figure 2 shows a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of a pallet attachment according to the invention, Figure 3 shows a perspective view of an alternative preferred embodiment of a pallet attachment according to the invention, Figure 4 shows a perspective view of another alternative preferred embodiment of a pallet attachment, Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a further alternative preferred embodiment of a pallet attachment, Figure 6 shows a perspective view of a special preferred embodiment of a pallet attachment according to the invention that is fixed on a pallet, Figure 7 shows a perspective view of two pallet attachments according to Figure 6, which are placed on a pallet, with a four-wheel trolley parked on one of the parking areas, and Figure 8 shows a perspective view of a variant of an embodiment of a pallet attachment according to the invention, likewise placed on a known pallet. In the various figures identical reference numerals relate to identical parts, or parts with identical function. Figure 1 shows a pallet attachment according to the invention, indicated in its entirety by the reference numeral 1. The pallet attachment in this example is of a closed design and can be made by, for example, vacuum forming or injection moulding of suitable plastic material. The pallet attachment 1 is designed for placing on the top deck of an already existing pallet 10. The top deck of the pallet 10 is substantially flat. On the underside of the top deck the pallet 10 has feet extending downwards, which feet on two opposite sides, and preferably on all four sides, form insertion apertures for a forklift truck or pallet truck. The pallet may also have a bottom deck. Four parking areas for trolleys are formed on the pallet attachment. In Figure 1 only the parts of one parking area are indicated by reference numerals. The other three parking areas comprise the same parts with the same functions . The pallet attachment 1 comprises two wheel tracks 2,3 per parking area. An elongated overridable elevation 4 is provided on both wheel tracks . The elevations 4 block the wheels of a trolley (not shown) placed on the pallet attachment 1, thus preventing it from rolling away. The length of the elevations 4 corresponds to the distance between a front wheel and a rear wheel of a trolley to be placed on the pallet attachment. The edges 5 of the elevations 4 are slanted. This makes it easier for a trolley to be driven onto the pallet attachment 1. A middle guide 6 is provided between the two wheel tracks 2, 3. Said middle guide 6 is higher than the overridable elevations 4 on the wheel tracks 2, 3 for rollproof parking of a trolley, so that a trolley driven onto the pallet attachment 1 is also guided onto the elevations 4 by the middle guide 6. The width of the middle guide 6 is substantially constant and corresponds substantially to the shorter distance of the distances between either the front wheels or the rear wheels of a trolley. The swivel castors which a trolley may have are preferably situated parallel to and against the middle guide 6. Owing to the fact that they are resting against the edges of the middle guide 6, the swivel castors of the trolley cannot swivel then. In a region on the outside edge of the pallet attachment 1 the middle guide 6 is provided with bevelled edges 7. This produces a beveled edge for guiding a trolley being driven onto the pallet attachment to the correct position relative to the middle guide 6. Two side guides 8 are provided on the outer sides of the two wheel tracks 2, 3, which side guides have in this case approximately the same length as the elevations 4. The side guides 8 have the same height as the middle guide 6, with the result that the top surface of the pallet attachment 1 becomes flat. This means that the pallet attachments 1 and pallets 10 provided with such pallet attachments 1 can be stacked in a stable manner. It also means that the pallet attachment 1 is more suitable for carrying objects with a flat underside, such as boxes, panels and the like. In the corner areas the pallet attachment 1 is provided with holes . Screws or the like can be inserted through these holes, in order to fix the pallet attachment on the top deck of a wooden or plastic pallet 10 lying underneath. By means of such a connection the pallet attachment 1 is easy and quick to fix on and remove again from a pallet 10. Figure 2 shows another embodiment of the pallet attachment 1' according to the invention. The pallet attachment 1' has four parking areas for smaller trolleys and two parking areas for larger trolleys, which have a carrying deck that is twice as large as the carrying deck of a smaller trolley. In the case of a pallet attachment of 80 x 120 centimetres the smaller and larger trolleys have a carrying deck of 40 x 60 centimetres and 60 x 80 centimetres respectively. For driving a smaller trolley onto the pallet attachment 1', two wheel tracks are provided in the longitudinal direction, indicated by reference numerals 2-2' and 3-3' respectively in Figure 2. Overridable elevations 4 are provided on the two wheel tracks 2-2', 3-3', for rollproof parking of a smaller trolley. The edges 5 of the elevations 4 are bevelled, in order to facilitate the driving of a trolley over an elevation 4. A middle guide 6 is further provided between the two wheel tracks 2-2' , 3-3' . Said middle guide 6 guides the wheels of a trolley while it is being driven onto and off the pallet attachment 1' . Here again, the middle guide 6 has beveled edges 7. Side guides 8 for guiding the wheels of a trolley are provided on the outer sides of the parking area. The side guides 8 comprise through holes 9, through which fastening means such as bands or strips can be placed. By means of these fastening means, a trolley, possibly with load, placed on a parking area can be fastened on the pallet attachment 1' . Since these fastening means then prevent a vertical movement of a trolley relative to the pallet attachment 1' underneath it, the trolley is fixed extremely securely in its rollproof position. This means that a trolley placed on the pallet attachment 1' stays in position on the pallet attachment even in the event of sudden acceleration or deceleration, for example an emergency stop of a forklift truck. A larger trolley is driven onto the pallet attachment 1' in the transverse direction. Two wheel tracks are likewise provided for driving on such a trolley, said wheel tracks running along the lines 2-3 and 2' -3' respectively. Such a trolley naturally covers two parking areas of smaller trolleys. Owing to the presence of the wheel tracks in the longitudinal direction, four elevations 4' are provided in the transverse direction on the wheel tracks 2-3, 2' -3'. The distance between the two edges furthest away from each other in two elevations 4' lying in one wheel track corresponds to the distance between a front wheel and a rear wheel of a larger trolley. The middle guide 6' runs between the two wheel tracks 2-3, 2' -3' and, owing to the different drive-on directions of smaller and larger trolleys, is composed of the side guides 8, elevations 4 and a part of the middle guide 6 of two parking areas for smaller trolleys lying in the longitudinal direction. Likewise, the middle guide 6 for a smaller trolley is composed of side guides 8', elevations 4' and a part of the middle guide 6' . Through holes 9 are also provided in the side guides 8', for securing a larger trolley on the pallet attachment 1' by means of fastening means which can be passed through these holes 9. In another preferred embodiment the pallet attachment comprises five parking areas, two of which lie in line with each other in the longitudinal direction, and three of which lie next to each other in the transverse direction. The parking areas are preferably not overlapping and are preferably designed according to the previous embodiments. The pallet attachment can be of a standard size for pallets, such as, for example, 100 x 120 centimetres, the parking areas being designed to receive five trolleys with a carrying deck of 40 x 60 centimetres. Figure 3 shows an alternative preferred embodiment of the pallet attachment according to the invention. The pallet attachment 1'' comprises a substantially rectangular panel 11, for example made of wood. The panel 11 has a maximum thickness of half the diameter of the wheels of a trolley to be placed on the pallet attachment. The perimeter of the panel 11 advantageously corresponds to the perimeter of a pallet 10 on which the pallet attachment 1'' is being placed. The pallet attachment 1'' has four parking areas. A recess 12, 13, 14, 15 is provided for each of the wheels of a trolley placed on the pallet attachment 1''. The wheel tracks 2, 3 are formed by the strip of material between the recesses 12, 13 and 14, 15 respectively and the recesses 12, 13 and 14, 15 themselves. The wheel tracks 2' , 3' are formed by the strip of material between the recesses 13, 15 and 12, 14 respectively and the recesses 13, 15 and 12, 14 themselves. Which wheel tracks are used depends on the drive-on direction of the trolley to be placed on the pallet attachment 1'' and thus also on the type of trolley, since the distances between the recesses 12, 13, 14, 15 correspond to the distances between the wheels of a trolley to be placed on the pallet attachment 1''. The means for rollproof parking of a trolley parked on the pallet attachment are formed by elevations, which are formed here by the parts of the panel 11 lying between the edges 16 of the recesses 12, 13, 14, 15. The wheels of a trolley parked in a rollproof manner rest on the edges 16 of the recesses 12, 13, 14, 15 and/or on the top deck of a pallet 10 placed below the pallet attachment. Another alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 4. The pallet attachment 1' ' ' has four parking areas and is formed from wooden boards. Four boards serve as blocking panel parts 17, which form overridable elevations for blocking the wheels. The other four serve as guide panel parts 18. The four blocking panel parts 17 are placed in pairs, the width of the two adjacent blocking panel parts 17 corresponding to the distance between a front wheel and a rear wheel of a trolley, so that a trolley placed on the pallet attachment 1' ' ' is parked in a rollproof manner. The guide panel parts 18 are provided for guiding a trolley over the pallet attachment 1' ' ' . The guide panel parts 18 are placed in pairs, transversely to the blocking panel parts 17. The width of a guide formed by two adjacent guide panel parts 18 corresponds to the shorter distance of the distances between the front wheels or the rear wheels. A further alternative embodiment is shown in Figure ''5. The pallet attachment \' ' ' ' has four parking areas. The pallet attachment comprises a gutter into which a front wheel and a rear wheel of a trolley to be placed on the pallet attachment 1'''' are driven in one of the directions indicated by an arrow in the figure. The bottom 19 of the gutter therefore serves as the wheel track. The side walls 20 of the gutter going up from the edge of the bottom 19 serve as guide means during the driving on and off of a trolley. If four trolleys are parked in the gutters, the trolleys can be fixed in a rollproof manner by means of the shut-off slides 21, which can be placed in both ends of the gutter, in order to shut off the gutter. Furthermore, brackets 23 can also be provided in order to compensate for the differences in the distance between the front wheels and the rear wheels of the trolleys. The gutter is made of, for example, steel. The gutter is provided on the underside with lips 22, which can be folded around a board in the top deck of a pallet 10, in order to fix the pallet attachment on the pallet 10. A special preferred embodiment of a pallet attachment according to the invention is shown in Figure 6, indicated in its entirety by the reference numeral 1' ' ' ' ' , which pallet attachment is placed on a pallet 10. The surface area of the panel-shaped pallet attachment ' ' ' ' ' is substantially equal to half the surface area of the top side of the pallet 10. The pallet is, for example, a pallet measuring 80 x 120 cm, on which a pallet attachment of 80 x 60 cm is placed. The pallet attachment ' ' ' ' ' shown in Figure 6 is suitable for having two four-wheel trolleys placed on it, in the case of a pallet attachment measuring 80 x 60 cm each having a bearing deck of 40 x 60 cm. Two wheel tracks 2 and 3 for each parking area are provided on the pallet attachment 1' ' ' ' ' , for driving a trolley on and off. A middle guide 6 is provided between the wheel tracks 2, 3, the width of which guide increases in the drive-on direction over a considerable part of the length of the wheel tracks. The part 6' of the middle guide 6 between the front wheels of a trolley placed on the pallet attachment \' ' ' ' > is a straight part, i.e. the width of the middle guide 6 is constant in that part 6' . The width of the part 6' of the middle guide 6 corresponds to the distance between the front wheels of a trolley placed on the pallet attachment 1. This design ensures that a trolley is centred by the widening middle guide 6 during the drive-on operation, and that the front wheels in the trolley placed on a parking area are secured against shifting sideways. The part 6' ' of the middle guide 6 that lies between the rear wheels of a trolley placed on the pallet attachment 1' ' ' ' ' is likewise a straight part. Elevations 4 and 25, which block the wheels so that they cannot roll, are provided at the beginning and the end of the wheel tracks 2, 3. The elevations 4 blocking the rear wheels are in the form of a segment of a circle, so that the rear wheels take up the correct position even more easily when the trolley is being driven onto a pallet attachment 1' ' ' '' . This design is advantageous in particular if the rear wheels of the trolley are swivel castors. If in addition use is being made of trolleys on which the rear wheels are closer together than the front wheels and the distance between the rear wheels corresponds to the width of the part 6' ' of the middle guide 6, this gives a very stable position of a trolley placed on the pallet attachment 1' ' ' ' ' . In order further to facilitate the driving of a trolley onto the pallet attachment 1''''', the part 6'' of the middle guide 6 is designed to be higher than the elevations 4, 25 that block the wheels. The ramp (not shown) over which a trolley is driven onto the pallet attachment 1" ' ' ' ' is preferably at most the height of a pallet plus the height of the elevations 4, 25 for blocking the wheels . When the front wheels of a trolley are being driven onto the pallet attachment 1' ' ' ' ' , this prevents one of the wheels of the trolley from going onto the middle guide 6. As soon as the wheels are situated in the wheel tracks 2 and 3, the trolley can then be driven into the correct position simply by pushing it further. Owing to the diverging middle guide 6, the front wheels are guided automatically to the correct position, and the elevations 4 in a circular segment shape ensure that the rear wheels also ultimately, as it were, fall into their correct position. Side guides 8 are provided on the outer sides of the wheel tracks 2, 3, ensuring that a trolley on the pallet attachment 1' ' ' ' ' is guided better to its position in the parking area. A trolley placed on the pallet attachment 1' ' ' ' ' can be fixed by means of bands, straps or the like. These bands, straps or the like can be passed through the eyes 9, so that they do not have to be pulled through underneath the pallet. The pallet attachment 1 can be fixed to the pallet 10 underneath it by means of screws which can be inserted through the fixing holes 24 designed for them. Additional elevations 26 are provided at various points on the pallet attachment, these additional elevations being the same height as the highest part 6' ' of the middle guide 6. This has the advantage that both other pallet attachments and pallets can be placed stably on a pallet attachment or pallet attachments lying below them. In this preferred embodiment, in order to save material and keep down the weight of the pallet attachment 1' ' ' ' ' , the middle guides 6 - in this case two - are of a partially open design. Said open parts are indicated by the arrows A in Figure 6. Figure 7 shows a pallet 10 on which two of the pallet attachments 1' ' ' ' ' described above in Figure 6 are provided. A four-wheel trolley 27 has been placed on one of the parking areas. The pallet attachments are fixed by means of screws in the fixing holes 24. The assembly of the pallet 10 and the pallet attachments 1' ' ' ' ' placed on it provides space for four four-wheel trolleys 27. It can be seen clearly in Figure 7 how the fixed castors 28 and the swivel castors 29 of the trolley 27 are parked in the parking area on the pallet attachment 1'''''. The pallet attachment according to Figure 7 takes up half the surface area of the pallet. This has a number of advantages over a pallet attachment that has the same dimensions as the pallet underneath it. For instance, a smaller pallet attachment is easy to handle. Moreover, it can be decided to place two different pallet attachments on one pallet, for example a pallet attachment of the type shown here in Figure 7 and another for one large trolley or for a totally different product. Moreover, in the event of one pallet attachment being used, the part remaining clear can be used for conventional pallet use. Another factor is that for the production of a pallet attachment with the surface area of a full pallet an injection moulding machine with a very large clamping force is required, with the result that the costs of production of a pallet attachment are very high. The production costs of a pallet attachment are lower if a pallet attachment with a bottom surface area of half or preferably a quarter of a pallet is made. Figure 8 shows another special variant of an embodiment of the pallet attachment according to the invention, indicated by the reference numeral 1' ' ' ' ' ' . There are two such pallet attachments ' ' ' ' ' ' provided on a pallet 10. The middle guide 6 is the same height here as the elevations 4, 25 for blocking the wheels, and also the same height as the side guides 8. This means that the top surface of the pallet attachment is relatively flat, and the pallet attachment remains relatively thin. The part 6' of the middle guide 6 between the front wheels of a trolley placed on the pallet attachment is a straight part. The width of this part 6' corresponds to the distance between the front wheels of a trolley to be placed on the pallet attachment. In this way the front wheels are blocked and prevented from shifting sideways. The elevations blocking the rear wheels are in the form of a segment of a circle in both the sideways and rearward directions. The result of this is that the rear wheels, particularly in the case of swivel castors, will go more easily into the correct position during driving onto the pallet attachment. The pallet attachment \' ' > ' ' ' is further provided with eyes 9 for fixing trolleys placed on the pallet attachment by means of straps, bands or the like, and with fixing holes 10 through which screws or the like can be inserted, by means of which the pallet attachment can be fixed on a pallet. In the above description the four wheels of a trolley are always referred to as front wheels and rear wheels. The distinction between these wheels is made only by the direction of driving of the trolley onto the pallet attachment. If a trolley were to be driven the other way round onto the pallet attachment, the front wheels and rear wheels would also be the other way round. For practical reasons, however, this is not always possible. In the case of many trolleys one pair of wheels is placed further apart than the other pair of wheels. In particular, in the case of trolleys with two swivel castors and two fixed castors, the two fixed castors are generally placed further apart than the two swivel castors . As a result of this design and the corresponding construction of the pallet attachment, in the case of such trolleys the fixed castors will always be driven onto the pallet attachment first, and consequently function as front wheels.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Pallet attachment, the underside of which is designed to be placed on a top deck of an already existing pallet, and the top side of which is designed to carry objects, characterized in that the pallet attachment defines one or more parking areas for one or more four-wheel trolleys, the pallet attachment further comprising means for parking each trolley in a rollproof manner on a parking area, and the wheels of each trolley parked on the pallet attachment maintaining contact with the pallet attachment and/or with the top deck of the pallet lying underneath the pallet attachment, while the pallet attachment further comprises at least one wheel track for driving a trolley to and from the parking area. 2. Pallet attachment according to claim 1, in which the pallet attachment comprises guide means extending along a wheel track, for guiding a trolley to and from the parking area. 3. Pallet attachment according to claim 1 or 2, in which the pallet attachment is in the form of a panel-shaped element. 4. Pallet attachment according to claims 1-3, in which the means for rollproof parking of a trolley placed on a parking area comprise one or more overridable elevations, which are provided on the wheel track and block the wheels of the trolley to prevent them from rolling. 5. Pallet attachment according to claim 4, in which the overridable elevation (s) are provided over a distance substantially corresponding to the distance between a front wheel and a rear wheel of a trolley, the height of the elevation (s) being less than half the diameter of the wheels of the trolley. 6. Pallet attachment according to claim 4 or 5, in which the edges of the overridable elevation (s) are slanted. 7. Pallet attachment according to one or more of claims 4-6, in which for the rollproof parking of a trolley one overridable elevation is provided over the distance between a front wheel and a rear wheel. 8. Pallet attachment according to one or more of claims 4-7, in which the one or more overridable elevations for blocking the rear wheels of a trolley placed on the pallet attachment are in the form of a segment of a circle. 9. Pallet attachment according to one of claims 2-8, in which two adjacent wheel tracks are provided for each parking area, the guide means comprising a middle guide that is formed by an elevation between the two wheel tracks . 10. Pallet attachment according to claim 9, in which the width of the middle guide is substantially constant and corresponds to the shorter distance of the distances between either the front wheels or the rear wheels of a trolley. 11. Pallet attachment according to claim 9, in which the middle guide has an increasing width, viewed in the drive-on direction of a trolley to be placed on the pallet attachment, over a considerable part of the length of the wheel tracks. 12. Pallet attachment according to claim 11, in which the width of the part of the middle guide between the front wheels of a trolley placed on the pallet attachment substantially corresponds to the distance between the front wheels of the trolley. 13. Pallet attachment according to claim 11 or 12, in which the width of the middle guide between the rear wheels of a trolley placed on the pallet attachment substantially corresponds to the distance between the rear wheels of the trolley. 14. Pallet attachment according to one or more of claims 11-13, in which the width of the part of the middle guide between the front wheels and/or between the rear wheels of a trolley placed on the pallet attachment is constant. 15. Pallet attachment according to one or more of claims 11-14, in which the width of the middle guide increases linearly over the distance between the rear wheels and front wheels of a trolley placed on the pallet attachment. 16. Pallet attachment according to one of claims 9-15, in which the middle guide is higher than the overridable elevation (s) on the wheel tracks for rollproof parking of a trolley. 17. Pallet attachment according to one of claims 9-16, in which the middle guide is provided with a beveled edge in the region at the edge of the pallet attachment. 18. Pallet attachment according to one of claims 9-17, in which side guides are provided on the outer sides of the two wheel tracks, said side guides being the same height as the middle guide strip. 19. Pallet attachment according to one or more of the preceding claims, in which the pallet attachment is further designed for accommodating fastening means, which fastening means can prevent a trolley placed on a parking area from moving vertically relative to the pallet attachment. 20. Pallet attachment according to claim 19, in which the pallet attachment is provided with through holes in the side guide strips, the fastening means comprising bands, strips or the like which can be fixed through the holes around or to a trolley, possibly with load, placed on the pallet attachment. 21. Pallet attachment according to one or more of the preceding claims, in which the pallet attachment has a maximum thickness of half the diameter of the wheels, the parking areas being defined by several recesses, in such a way that the wheels of a trolley placed on a parking area rest on the top deck of a pallet placed below the pallet attachment. 22. Pallet attachment according to claim 1 or 2, in which the pallet attachment comprises a gutter, in which the bottom of the gutter forms a wheel track and the side walls of the gutter going up from the bottom to form the guide means of the pallet attachment, the means for rollproof parking of a trolley comprising several elements which shut off the gutter. 23. Pallet provided with one or more pallet attachments according to one of the preceding claims. 24. Transport system for storing and transporting goods, comprising: at least one pallet, comprising at least one deck and several feet, at least one pallet attachment according to one of claims 1-23, and one or more trolleys, comprising a bearing deck, two fixed castors and two swivel castors. 25. Transport system according to claim 24, in which the transport system further comprises one or more separate ramps, by means of which the trolleys can be driven onto and off the pallet attachment placed on a pallet.

Inventors: BENNEMEER FRANK PIETER, VAN ZIJDEVELD BENNO, BENNEMEER, FRANK, PIETER, VAN ZIJDEVELD, BENNO
Applicants: BENNEMEER FRANK PIETER, PALLET CENTRALE GROEP B V, ZIJDEVELD BENNO VAN, BENNEMEER, FRANK, PIETER, PALLET-CENTRALE GROEP B.V., VAN ZIJDEVELD, BENNO
Application year: 2001
Main classification: B65D19
IPC codes: B65D19, B65D85