Patent ID: 8584599

Claim:
A reinforced plastic pallet, comprising: a body molded from a thermoplastic material, the body being constituted by a base structure and a deck structure configured to be coupled to each other, wherein the body defines an upper surface to support objects on the pallet and a lower surface on which the body of the pallet bears, wherein the base structure includes a plurality of posts directed toward the deck structure and the deck structure includes a plurality of posts directed toward the base structure, each of the plurality of posts of the base structure corresponding with a respective one of the plurality of posts of the deck structure, wherein each of the plurality of posts of the base structure includes a fastening mechanism and each of the plurality of posts of the deck structure includes a securing mechanism, the fastening mechanism of each of the plurality of posts of the base structure being coupled to the securing mechanism of the corresponding one of the plurality of posts of the deck to assemble the pallet, wherein the coupled posts of the base structure and the deck structure form a plurality of columns, each column having an outer wall formed by walls of a respective one of the plurality of posts of the base structure and an inner wall formed by walls of a respective one of the plurality of posts of the deck structure, the outer wall and the inner wall of each column being separated apart to define a space between the outer wall and the inner wall, the base structure and the deck structure covering the space from below and above, respectively, wherein a foamed thermoplastic packing material is applied within the space of each of the plurality of columns to provide support and strength to the columns and provide a greater load capacity and a greater impact absorption to the pallet, and wherein the foamed thermoplastic packing material completely fills the space of each of the plurality columns.