Patent Publication Number: US-10773855-B2

Title: Wooden pallet with butted deck boards and related methods

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/044,630 filed Jul. 25, 2018, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/542,352 filed Aug. 8, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to the field of pallets, and more particularly, to a wooden pallet having an improved resilience to impacts from material handling equipment, and to related methods for making the same. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Conventional wooden pallets include a base layer and a cargo layer separated by support blocks. The cargo layer traditionally has end deck boards assembled on connector boards that run the full length or width of the pallet. The end deck boards are nailed through the connector boards into the support blocks to build the primary structure of the pallet. The end deck boards are also known as lead boards. Intermediate deck boards are placed between the end deck boards. 
     To move the pallet with cargo thereon, forklift tines are inserted into the gaps between the base and cargo layers. If the forklift is not stopped in time, the forklift may crash into one of the end deck boards of the pallet. The end deck board may not be able to withstand such an impact over time. Accidents such as this weaken the pallet and greatly shorten the lifespan of the pallet, thereby causing the pallet to be repaired more frequently and/or removed from service long before its anticipated life cycle has been reached. 
     SUMMARY 
     A wooden pallet includes a base layer, a cargo layer, and a plurality of spaced apart support blocks coupled between the base and cargo layers and forming a gap therebetween for receiving a lifting member. The cargo layer comprises a pair of spaced apart end deck boards, and a pair of spaced apart intermediate deck boards, with each intermediate deck board butted against a respective end deck board. The support blocks comprises corner support blocks and center support blocks between the corner support blocks, with the corner support blocks and the center support blocks each having a same sized rectangular shape, and with the center support blocks being orthogonal to the corner support blocks. 
     The cargo layer may further comprise a pair of spaced apart connector boards, with each end deck board and each intermediate deck board on the pair of connector boards, and with each end deck board and each intermediate deck board being orthogonal to the pair of connector boards. 
     Each intermediate deck board and end deck board may have a same width. 
     The cargo layer may further comprise at least one additional intermediate deck board between the pair of intermediate deck boards, with the at least one additional intermediate deck board being spaced from the pair of intermediate deck boards. 
     The base layer may comprise a pair of bottom end deck boards and a bottom center deck board between the pair of bottom end deck boards, with a width of the bottom center deck board being greater than a width of the bottom end deck boards. 
     The bottom end deck boards and the bottom center deck board may be aligned with the end deck boards and the intermediate deck board. 
     Each corner support block may have spaced apart upper and lower surfaces, and angled edges extending between the upper and lower surfaces. 
     Outer corners of each end deck may have angled edges aligned with the angled edges of the corner support blocks. The base layer may comprises a pair of bottom end deck boards and a bottom center deck board between the pair of bottom end deck boards, with outer corners of each bottom end deck board having angled edges aligned with one of the angled edges of the corner support blocks. 
     The layer may comprise a plurality of bottom deck boards, with each bottom deck board coupled to at least two support blocks, and having beveled edges between the pair of support blocks and non-beveled edges at each respective support block. 
     Another aspect is directed to a method for making a pallet comprising providing a base layer, and providing a cargo layer. The cargo layer comprises a pair of spaced apart end deck boards, and a pair of spaced apart intermediate deck boards, with each intermediate deck board butted against a respective end deck board. The method further comprises coupling a plurality of spaced apart support blocks between the base and cargo layers and forming a gap therebetween for receiving a lifting member. The plurality of support blocks comprise corner support blocks and center support blocks between the corner support blocks, with the corner support blocks and the center support blocks each having a same sized rectangular shape, and with the center support blocks being orthogonal to the corner support blocks. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a wooden pallet with butted deck boards in accordance with the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom perspective view of the wooden pallet shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the wooden pallet shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the wooden pallet shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is an end view of the wooden pallet shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of the wooden pallet shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments are shown. However, many different embodiments may be used, and thus the description should not be construed as limited to the particular embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-6 , the illustrated wooden pallet  10  includes a base layer  20 , a cargo layer  30 , and a plurality of wooden support blocks  40 ,  46  coupled between the base and cargo layers. The support blocks  40 ,  46  form a gap  50  between the base and cargo layers  20 ,  30  for receiving a lifting member, such as fork lift tines. 
     The cargo layer  30  includes a pair of spaced apart wooden end deck boards  32 , and a pair of wooden intermediate deck boards  34  between the end deck boards. More particularly, each end deck board  32  and an immediately adjacent intermediate deck board  34  are butted against one another. Pallet durability is significantly improved by having the end deck boards  32  butt up against the immediately adjacent intermediate deck boards  34 . 
     Also included within the cargo layer  30  are a pair of spaced apart wooden connector boards  36  and a wooden intermediate connector board  37 . The connector boards  36  and the intermediate connector boards  37  are orthogonal to the end deck boards  32  and the intermediate deck boards  34 . The end deck boards  32  and the intermediate deck boards  34  are positioned on the connector boards  36 . 
     The base layer  20  includes bottom deck boards  22 ,  26  orientated in the same direction as the end deck boards  32  and the intermediate deck boards  34  in the cargo layer  30 . The bottom deck boards  22 ,  26  are directly coupled to the support blocks  40 ,  46 . 
     The illustrated support blocks include corner support blocks  40  and center support blocks  46  between the corner support blocks  40 . The corner support blocks  40  and the center support blocks  46  each have a rectangular shape, and with the center support blocks  46  being orthogonal to the corner support blocks  40 . A rectangular shape has unequal adjacent sides so that a length and width of a rectangular shaped corner support block  40  are not equal as in a square shaped corner support block  40 . 
     The bottom deck boards include a pair of bottom end deck boards  22  and a bottom center deck board  26  between the pair of bottom end deck boards  22 . A width of the bottom center deck board  26  is greater than a width of the bottom end deck boards  22 . 
     In other embodiments, the corner support blocks  40  and the center support blocks  46  may have a square or circular shape. When the support blocks  40 ,  46  are the same size, then a width of the bottom center deck board  26  is equal to a width of the bottom end deck boards  22 . 
     In the illustrated wooden pallet  10 , a size of each end deck board  32  and a corresponding intermediate deck board  34  butted thereagainst have the same dimensions. For example, a width of the end deck board  32  and the intermediate deck board  34  butted thereagainst may be 145 mm, for example. In another example, the width may be 78 mm. 
     In other embodiments, the size of each end deck board  32  and a corresponding intermediate deck board  34  have different dimensions. For example, the width of the end deck board  32  may be 78 mm and the width of the corresponding intermediate deck board  34  may be 98 mm. 
     Traditionally, the intermediate deck boards in wooden pallets have a width that is less than a width of the end deck boards. In addition, traditionally there is a gap between the end deck boards and the adjacent intermediate deck boards. In the illustrated wooden pallet  10 , pallet durability is significantly improved when there is no gap between the end deck boards  32  and the immediately adjacent intermediate deck boards  34 , particularly with the end deck boards  32  and the immediately adjacent intermediate deck boards  34  having a same width. 
     The cargo layer  30  also includes at least one additional intermediate deck board  35  positioned between the intermediate deck boards  34  that are butted against the end deck boards  32 . This additional intermediate deck board  35  is positioned so that there is a gap between the adjacent intermediate deck boards  34 . The dimensions of the end deck boards  32  and the intermediate deck boards  34  as well as additional intermediate deck boards  35  positioned between the intermediate deck boards  34  are selected and spaced such that coverage of the cargo layer  30  is within a range of 70-85 percent of a maximum total surface area of the cargo layer  30  when there are no gaps between the boards. 
     A width of the intermediate deck board  35  may be the same as a width of the intermediate deck boards  34  butted against the end deck boards  32 . Alternatively, in other embodiments, this intermediate deck board  35  may have a different width. 
     As noted above, the illustrated wooden pallet  10  also includes center support blocks  46  between the corner support blocks  40 . When the support blocks  40 ,  46  are rectangular shaped, the center support blocks  46  may be positioned in a different orientation to the corner support blocks  40 . In other words, the center support blocks  46  may be at a 90 degree angle to the corner support blocks  40 . In other embodiments, orientation of the center support blocks  46  is the same as orientation of the corner support blocks  40 . 
     Another feature of the illustrated wooden pallet  10  is the edges of each support block  40  being angled or chamfered. The angled edges  42  may be within a range of about 25 to 75 degrees, for example, to deflect the impact force of the forklift tines should such an impact occur. The illustrated edges are angled at 45 degrees. 
     When the edges  42  of each support block  40  are angled, the corresponding outermost edges  38  of the end deck boards  32  are angled to match the angled edges  42  in the support blocks  40 . The corresponding outermost edges  39  of the connector boards  36  in the cargo layer  30  are angled to also match the angled edges  42  in the support blocks  40 . The corresponding outermost edges  28  of the deck boards  22  in the base layer  20  are also angled to match the angled edges  42  in the support blocks  40 . 
     Another aspect of the disclosure is directed to making a wooden pallet  10  comprising a base layer  20 , and a cargo layer  30 , and a pair of spaced apart connector boards  32  orthogonal to the pair of spaced apart end deck boards. The method includes forming the cargo layer  30  such that the cargo layer comprises a pair of spaced apart end deck boards  32 , and a pair of intermediate deck boards  34  between the pair of spaced apart end deck boards, with each end deck board  32  and an adjacent intermediate deck board  34  butted against one another. The method further includes coupling a plurality of spaced apart support blocks  40  between the base and cargo layers  20 ,  30  and forming a gap therebetween for receiving a lifting member. 
     Many modifications and other embodiments will come to the mind of one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is understood that the disclosure is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications and embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.