Source: {"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"}

Wooden pallets or skids have long been used as platforms for the shipping and storage of a wide range of goods. A great variety of pallets are in common use; a typical pallet comprises spaced parallel horizontal top and bottom decks attached to at least two longitudinally extending, transversely spaced apart stringers interposed between the decks. Loaded pallet units are conveyed by means of fork lifts having tongs that are inserted at spaced locations between the top and bottom decks of the pallet. Although pallets are designed to withstand shock and heavy loads, because of damage due to rough handling they have limited lives and typically are discarded after only several times of reuse. Because of such turnover, hundreds of millions of wooden pallets are manufactured each year consuming a significant amount of timber. The highly automated process of manufacturing wooden pallets itself generates a large amount of scrap lumber which must be somehow disposed of whether by burning, grinding or otherwise. In any event, such scrap represents an annual waste of many forest acres thus presenting an environmental issue and adding further to the price of increasingly expensive timber.