Patent ID: 7815177

Claim:
An apparatus for at least one of aligning and retaining pallets or pallet elements to be repaired, whereby the pallets comprise a plurality of top deck board members defining a longitudinal axis of the pallet, a plurality of stringer board members and a plurality of bottom deck board members, whereby each bottom deck board member is attached to the stringer board members by means of a plurality of connecting block members disposed between the bottom deck board member and the stringer board members, and whereby the pallet elements are attached to each other by connector means, particularly by nails, characterized in that the apparatus comprises: a base frame for supporting a pallet thereon; at least one fixed lateral stop member fixedly mounted to said base frame, one of said at least one fixed lateral stop member including a 90° stop member offset 90° relative thereto to define a fixed reference point for receiving a pallet; at least one movable lateral stop member for at least one of said plurality of deck board members, said at least one movable lateral stop member movably mounted to said base frame for lateral movement relative to said at least one fixed lateral stop member and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the pallet; and at least one movable longitudinal stop member, movably mounted to said base frame for movement parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pallet and offset 90° from the movement of the at least one movable lateral stop member and arranged for pressing the pallet in the longitudinal direction against said 90° stop member, whereby each of the movable lateral stop members is adapted to press an assigned deck board member or against a corresponding fixed lateral stop member in such a way that the assigned deck board member is positioned at least with regard to a line extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the pallet and retained in this position; and wherein a fixed lateral stop member and a movable lateral stop member is provided for each connecting block member, whereby these stop members are configured to cooperate in pairs in such a way that they align both the connecting block members and the bottom deck board members at least with regard to a line running perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the pallet and retain them in that position.