Reusable transport pallet

Abstract

In the case of a reusable transport pallet, referred to as a pallet (1), with a pallet deck (2) and with several feet (3) extending downwards from the pallet deck (2), wherein the feet (3) are designed to be open upwards in a pot-like manner and taper downwards, such that two identical pallets (1) can be stacked inside one another and the feet (3) of the upper pallet (1) fit into the feet (3) of the lower pallet (1), the invention proposes that the feet (3) taper downwards in such a way that the upper pallet (1) can be lifted off the lower pallet (1) at one end in a hinge-like manner and independently of any movement of the lower pallet (1).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a reusable transport pallet, hereinafter referred to as a "pallet." Unlike disposable pallets, reusable pallets have a longer service life and a better ecological footprint. Such pallets are available in various designs depending on their intended use, e.g., adapted to the specific goods being transported.

[0002] A generic reusable transport pallet has a pallet deck on which the transported goods can be placed. Several feet extend downwards from the pallet deck and, unlike a Euro pallet, are not connected to each other by so-called runners. Instead, the feet are pot-shaped, open at the top and taper towards the bottom, allowing two similar pallets to be stacked on top of each other, with the feet of the upper pallet penetrating the feet of the lower pallet. The two pallets can therefore be stacked one inside the other, thus enabling space-saving transport during so-called empty runs, where there is no transported goods on the pallet decks.

[0003] A pallet of this type is often so light that it can easily be handled by a single person. The task is to separate a stack of freshly delivered, nested pallets and remove each pallet individually from the stack.

[0004] The invention is based on the object of improving a generic reusable transport pallet in such a way that it enables the simplest possible handling, in particular when removing a pallet from a stack.

[0005] This object is achieved by a pallet having the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are described in the subclaims.

[0006] In other words, the invention proposes to design the contour of the feet in such a way that an upper pallet can be removed from a lower pallet not only in a substantially vertical direction, but also in the manner of a hinge or pivoting movement.

[0007] The pallet typically has a rectangular base, with two end faces and, in comparison, longer long sides. Accordingly, manual handling of the pallet typically begins at the end face, because the comparatively shorter distance between the two long sides makes it easier to grasp and handle the pallet at both long sides. If the pallet is grasped and lifted by a person, this can be done according to the invention in such a way that the end face facing that person can continue to rest on the lower pallet, so that the opposite end face is moved upwards in a circular arc.Such a movement usually results in the feet, which are inserted into one another, becoming wedged on the end face closest to the person, so that the lower pallet is taken along when the upper pallet is lifted and at least these two upper pallets of a stack are fanned out like the pages of an open book.

[0008] Accordingly, handling the upper pallet is difficult, and it can only be separated from the pallet below with difficulty. In particular, this can lead to the necessity of ergonomically disadvantageous handling, in which the upper pallet is not lifted in the ergonomically advantageous manner of the aforementioned pivoting movement, but is removed from the pallet below in a movement direction that is as precise as possible vertically.

[0009] According to the invention, however, the contour of the feet is designed in such a way that the aforementioned tilting is avoided, and the upper foot, which is inserted into the foot of a lower pallet, can perform an arcuate pivoting movement without the lower pallet being taken along. The upper pallet can thus be handled in an ergonomically advantageous manner by first being removed from the lower pallet in an arcuate pivoting movement until it can finally be lifted out of the lower pallet by the feet closest to the person handling it, so that it is now separated and can be handled further as a single pallet.

[0010] A suitable foot shape for this purpose could be curved or particularly steeply beveled in the lower section. This particularly applies to the area of ​​the feet facing away from the front end toward the middle of the pallet, as this is where the aforementioned hinge or pivoting movement would otherwise cause the tilting to be avoided.

[0011] Due to the handling from the end faces explained above, the design of the pallet according to the invention can be limited to the feet that are adjacent to the end faces of the pallets. Pallets usually have a total of three rows of feet, namely one row close to each end face and a middle row, with each row typically having three feet in practice. For smaller pallets, which can also be handled from the long side, for example, because the two end faces are so close to each other that the pallet can be easily grasped at its end faces, a row of feet that is close to a long side can accordingly be designed according to the invention, with the instructions for the design of the feet described above with reference to the end faces applying mutatis mutandis.

[0012] In one design of the pallet, the pot-shaped feet have a support which projects upwards to the height of the pallet deck. The pallet deck has openings the size of which corresponds to the size of the feet. Depending on the design of the pallet and therefore the size of the feet, this can represent a tripping hazard for people. Another problem that can arise is that small goods may not rest proportionately on the pallet deck in the area of ​​the feet, but rather are located freely above the corresponding opening in the foot and are only supported, for example, by outer packaging such as film, a box or the like. In order to avoid the risk of accidents for people and damage to the goods being transported, the support legs in the feet reduce the size of the opening in the pallet deck.

[0013] Since the connecting pieces also interlock when similar pallets are stacked on top of each other and inside each other, the connecting pieces are advantageously designed to prevent jamming of two connecting pieces during the aforementioned hinge or pivoting movement. For example, the connecting piece can be particularly steeply sloped upwards toward the adjacent end face or be curved, so that a connecting piece of an upper pallet can slide along this slope or curved contour without causing jamming of the two pallets or these two connecting pieces.

[0014] The nozzles can also be used to enable additional functions of the pallet. In one embodiment, a nozzle can contain a compartment designed to accommodate an RFID tag.

[0015] In particular, such a compartment can be arranged in the upper area of ​​the support, because the thickness of the pallet deck limits how far the feet of stacked pallets can penetrate into each other. This leaves a space within the feet and within the support, depending on the thickness of the pallet deck, in which the aforementioned compartment can be located. RFID tags are known and commercially available in various designs, making it easy to select a suitable RFID tag for placement in the aforementioned compartment.

[0016] Advantageously, such a compartment can be arranged in more than one nozzle, so that during daily handling, the pallet does not have to be brought to an RFID reader in a predetermined orientation. For example, the feet at two diagonally opposite corners or even at all four corners of a rectangular pallet can be equipped with the correspondingly designed nozzle. All RFID tags on a pallet contain identical information, except for a possible individual identifier for each tag.

[0017] The aforementioned compartment, which serves to accommodate an RFID tag, can be closed for optimal protection of the RFID tag, so that the RFID tag is completely enclosed and thus optimally protected. In this case, the RFID tag is inserted into the compartment during pallet production and, for example, overmolded in the pallet material. The advantageous option of producing the pallets as cost-effectively as possible and only optionally equipping them with RFID tags, whereby the respective users of the pallets also have the option of subsequently equipping the pallets with RFID tags, results from a pallet design in which the compartment has an opening so that it is accessible from the outside.

[0018] In one embodiment considered advantageous, the opening of the compartment may not run in a straight line, but rather deviate from it. For example, the opening may run as a continuously curved line or in an S-shape. Commercially available RFID tags are usually designed as straight strips, as two-dimensional flat cards, or the like, and have the electronic components encased in a plastic casing. Accordingly, the RFID tags are elastically deformable. They can therefore be inserted into the compartment while being deformed through the non-straight opening and relax within the compartment to their original shape, thus being held securely within the compartment without the need for additional closure means.

[0019] The pallet deck, as mentioned above, has a certain thickness and accordingly forms a top side on which the transported goods can stand, as well as a bottom side, and between them an outer edge running all the way around. In one embodiment, the underside of the pallet deck rises towards the edge, for example at an angle or a curve, so that for the forks of an industrial truck, firstly, a distance is created between two pallets stacked one inside the other or an otherwise existing distance is increased, and secondly, entry slopes are created. With a horizontally aligned fork, the entry slopes allow the forks to slide diagonally along the pallet and thus help to prevent damage to the pallet that could otherwise be caused by the fork tines, especially if the tines are very flat at their tips and are therefore subject to high surface pressures on the pallet.

[0020] In initial tests, incline angles ranging from 10° to 35° relative to the horizontal have proven effective. This achieves the desired sliding effect, while also keeping damage to the pallet deck to a sufficiently short extent due to the reduced thickness of the pallet deck in the area of ​​the entry slopes.

[0021] Loaded pallets are usually only picked up by industrial trucks from the front. This avoids lateral overhangs beyond the forks, which would require greater stability and thus greater design effort for the pallet. If, for example, during empty runs or during the delivery of new pallets, a pallet stack is around 2.5 m high and the pallets need to be separated, this stack is often approached from the long side and the industrial truck picks up the pallet halfway up from the long side to create two stacks, each approximately 1.25 m high, which can then be further processed and separated manually. For this reason, in one design the pallet has entry slopes on both the long sides and the front sides.The entry slopes are designed to be shorter on the front sides than on the long sides in order to weaken the pallet deck as little as possible in the longitudinal direction, namely between the two front sides, due to the reduced material thickness of the pallet deck in the area of ​​the entry slopes.

[0022] In order to make the entry slopes on the front sides shorter than on the long sides, but still provide openings of the same height in a pallet stack for inserting the forks of an industrial truck, the angle of inclination of the entry slopes on the front sides can be greater than on the long sides.

[0023] To ensure the most economical pallet production possible, namely the lowest possible material requirements, and also the lowest possible dead weight, the pallet deck can, in one advantageous design, have a plurality of openings on its underside. For example, the pallet deck can have a largely closed upper surface on which the transported goods can be placed. Below this upper surface, the pallet deck can, for example, have intersecting webs, creating a plurality of downwardly open compartments between the webs. These openings offer the possibility of improving the grip of the pallet on an industrial truck with the aid of anti-slip elements.In one embodiment, the pallet therefore has one or more plug-in elements which are inserted into the openings to such an extent that they do not fully penetrate into the openings, but rather protrude downwards over the underside of the pallet deck and are designed to be slip-resistant in this area.

[0024] The aforementioned openings, into each of which a plug-in element can be inserted, are advantageously arranged where the pallet deck has entry pockets on its underside, not in the area of ​​the aforementioned entry slopes, but adjacent to where the tines of the fork of the industrial truck are located under the pallet deck when the pallet is being transported.

[0025] In one embodiment, the aforementioned plug-in element has two different sections. It has, on the one hand, an assembly section, which serves to anchor the plug-in element to the pallet deck, and, on the other hand, a braking section, which provides the desired anti-slip effect and projects downwards beyond the pallet deck. Both different sections are economically advantageously created in a single manufacturing process, namely using a two-component injection molding process. For example, both sections of the plug-in element can be made of the same plastic family, for example, each of an olefin. The assembly section is the harder component and reliably ensures a captive anchoring of the plug-in element in the pallet deck, while the braking section forms the comparatively softer component of the plug-in element.

[0026] In one embodiment, the plug-in element can be mounted without tools by clipping the plug-in element into the opening and then holding it captively in the opening by means of a snap-in connection.

[0027] Similar to the braking section of the plug-in element on the underside of the pallet deck, the upper side of the pallet deck can also be designed to be anti-slip, at least in some areas, in order to keep the transported goods securely on the pallet.

[0028] The anti-slip effect can be achieved, for example, through a geometric design of the pallet deck, such as studs or the like. In one embodiment considered advantageous, the pallet deck has anti-slip areas in which the upper surface of the pallet deck is made of a material with a higher coefficient of friction than the surrounding material. Geometric protrusions, which are intended to provide anti-slip protection purely mechanically, can be avoided in this way, so that neither the transported goods nor the protrusions themselves are at risk of damage.

[0029] The areas with a higher coefficient of friction can be created, for example, by gluing or welding appropriate material to the pallet deck after the pallet base body has been manufactured. However, in a design considered advantageous, these anti-slip areas are created directly during the production of the base body. For this purpose, the pallet is manufactured using an injection molding process, with the base body being made from a first plastic material.The anti-slip surface on the top side of the pallet deck is created from a second plastic material during the same injection molding process, namely by creating cavities within the injection mold using the core-back process when the material of the base body is already in the mold, so that the second plastic material can then be injected into these additional cavities to create the anti-slip areas.

[0030] In one embodiment, the pallet deck has channels designed to accommodate reinforcement profiles. These channels open at the edge of the pallet deck, allowing the reinforcement profiles to be inserted optionally. This enables the most economical production of the pallet in cases where the mechanical loads do not require the use of reinforcement profiles. On the other hand, creating a pallet with a higher mechanical load capacity does not require a fundamentally different construction; rather, the reinforcement profiles can be inserted into the channels as needed. Even pallets already in use can therefore be retrofitted as needed by retrofitting the desired number of reinforcement profiles.

[0031] The reinforcement profiles can advantageously be designed as I-profiles. Compared to double-T profiles, these have a web of the same height but narrower flanges. Since the web bears the primary load, preventing deflection of the reinforcement profile, and the flanges are only intended to prevent lateral deformation or torsion of the web, the flanges can be designed to be correspondingly narrow, which is economically advantageous. This is especially true if the channels in the pallet deck are adapted to the shape of the reinforcement profiles and accommodate the reinforcement profiles with the tightest possible tolerances, so that the channels themselves also prevent deformation of the reinforcement profiles.

[0032] In one embodiment, the pallet deck has a downwardly open notch at its edge. This can be used to clamp the end of a packaging film, for example, if the goods to be transported on the pallet are to be secured by wrapping the film around them using a film or pallet wrapper.

[0033] The invention is explained in more detail below using purely schematic representations. Fig. 1a perspective view obliquely from above of an embodiment of a reusable transport pallet, Fig. 2two identical pallets partially stacked one inside the other during a separation process, Fig. 3a perspective view obliquely from below of the pallet of Fig. 1 , Fig. 4a view similar Fig. 3 on a vertically sectioned pallet including an enlarged section shown as a vertical section, Fig. 5 a view similar Fig. 3 to the area of ​​a frontal entry slope, with a separate plug-in element, and Fig. 6 a view similar Fig. 1 to the area of ​​one corner of the pallet, with a separate RFID tag.

[0034] Fig. 1 shows a pallet 1 which is designed as a reusable transport pallet and has a pallet deck 2 as well as several feet 3, each of which is designed like a pot, namely open at the top, so that similar pallets 1 can be stacked one inside the other in such a way that the feet 3 of an upper pallet 1 dip into the open-topped feet 3 of the pallet 1 below. In the perspective of Fig. 1 A top side 4 and a peripheral edge 5 of the pallet deck 2 are visible. The pallet 1 is made of plastic and is manufactured by injection molding. It has a base body that contains almost all of the Fig. 1 recognizable components of the pallet 1. Only anti-slip areas 6, which are visible on the upper side 4 of the pallet deck 2, consist of a different plastic which has a higher coefficient of friction than the material of the base body and which are produced by means of the core-back process in the same injection molding process.

[0035] The surrounding edge 5 has a lower height in some areas, namely where the pallet 1 has entry slopes 7 on its two long sides and on its two shorter end faces. Furthermore, the edge 5 is provided with notches 8 that are open at the bottom and serve to secure one end of the film to the pallet 1 during film wrapping. Furthermore, the pallet deck 2 has channels 9, each of which opens at least on one end face of the pallet 1 and into which reinforcement profiles can be inserted, which can be designed, for example, as metallic I-profiles.

[0036] The feet 3 taper downwards to allow for easy stacking. In the pallet deck 2, they create comparatively large openings 4 on the upper side thereof. To improve support for transported goods and reduce the risk of accidents, nozzles 10 in the feet 3 extend up to the height of the upper side 4 of the pallet deck 2. The nozzles 10 taper upwards and are open at the bottom so as not to hinder the stacking of pallets 1. Two diagonally opposite nozzles 10 each serve to accommodate an RFID tag and for this purpose have a compartment within the respective nozzle 10 in which the respective RFID tag is accommodated. An opening 11 of the respective compartment can be seen on the upper side of the nozzle 10 as a curved slot.

[0037] Fig. 2 shows two similar pallets 1, which were initially stacked inside each other, during the separation of these two pallets 1. For this purpose, the upper pallet 1 is lifted in an arcuate pivoting movement, so that a hinge or pivot axis runs in the area of ​​the end faces of the two pallets 1, which are located on the right in the drawing. For example, a person can stand in front of this end face, grasping the two long sides of the upper pallet 1 and lifting it off the lower pallet 1 in the pivoting movement shown. The feet 3 near this right end face are still partially stacked inside each other. Fig. 2 It can be seen that the arcuate pivoting movement of the upper pallet 1 is carried out independently of any movement of the lower pallet 1, i.e. the lower pallet 1 still maintains its original orientation and is not also lifted due to the movement of the upper pallet 1.

[0038] The outer contour of the feet 3 tapers downwards to allow the pallets 1 to be stacked one inside the other and to allow the upper feet 3 to dip into the lower feet 3. In Fig. 2 It can be seen that the feet 3 closest to the end faces taper even more sharply towards the center of the pallet 1 and beyond in their respective lower regions. Both in the overall view of the pallets 1 and in the magnified detail, it can be seen that this sharper taper is in the form of an inclined surface 12, and that these inclined surfaces 12 form a free space between the two nested feet 3 during the aforementioned pivoting movement. This free space enables the pivoting movement of the upper foot 3 independently of the lower foot 3 and prevents the two feet 3 from tilting.

[0039] The connecting pieces 10 in the feet 3 near the end face also help to prevent tilting: they do not have a straight line towards the adjacent end face, which widens the connecting piece downwards, but rather a comparatively steep first section 14 near their upper end, and adjoining this downwards is a comparatively slanted, namely flatter, second section 15. On the one hand, this increases the stability of the connecting piece 10 by having the largest possible cross-section in its lower area, and on the other hand, the reduced upper cross-section offers the corresponding free space to enable the unhindered pivoting movement of the upper pallet 1 when separating the pallets 1.

[0040] Fig. 3 shows a view from below of the pallet 1. It can be seen how the entry slopes 7 run from the edge 5 to the middle of the pallet deck 2. In particular, it can be seen that the entry slopes 7 on the long sides run at a smaller angle than the entry slopes 7 on the end faces. Furthermore, it can be seen that the pallet deck 2 has a plurality of intersecting webs which create a plurality of rectangular openings 16 on the underside of the pallet deck 2. In the area of ​​the entry slopes 7, some of the openings on the underside of the pallet deck 2 are closed, so that a closed surface of the pallet deck is created there, which guides the fork of an industrial truck when it comes into contact with the fork and, as a deflector surface 17, helps to prevent damage to the webs.

[0041] Fig. 4 shows the pallet 1 partially from below, with a vertical section through the pallet 1 in the area of ​​two entry slopes 7. Where deflector surfaces 17 are created on the underside of the pallet deck 2 in the entry slopes 7, the upper side 4 of the pallet deck 2 has recesses 18. From the magnifying glass-like detail enlargement in Fig. 4 It becomes clear that the angle of inclination of the entry slope 7 and thus of the deflector surface 17 is determined by the height H and the length L of the deflector surface 17. Fig. 4 and in particular its enlarged detail shows a section through the entry slopes 7 on the long sides of the pallet 1. In comparison, the angle of inclination of the entry slopes 7 is greater: while the height H is the same there as on the long sides, the length L of the deflector surface 17 is smaller on the end sides than on the long sides.

[0042] In Fig. 5 the different pitch angles of the longitudinal and frontal entry slopes 7 are visible. Furthermore, Fig. 5 a plug-in element 19, which can be inserted from below into an opening 16 of the pallet deck 2. The plug-in element 19 is made of plastic and has been manufactured using a two-component injection molding process, with a mounting section 20 made of a comparatively harder plastic and a braking section 21 made of a comparatively softer plastic. The mounting section 20 ensures the secure hold of the plug-in element 19 in the pallet deck 2, and the braking section 21 has a high coefficient of friction and projects downwards over the underside of the pallet deck 2, so that it comes into contact with the fork of an industrial truck and, due to its anti-slip effect, supports a secure hold of the pallet 1 on this fork.

[0043] Fig. 6 shows a view diagonally from above of the pallet 1, partially on the area of ​​a corner of the pallet 1 and in a larger scale than Fig. 1 Above a nozzle 10, an RFID tag 22 is shown, designed as a flat, flexible card. This card can be elastically deformed and then inserted through the curved opening 11 into the compartment within the nozzle 10. Due to the elastic recovery, the RFID tag is then securely held in the compartment. Reference symbol:

[0044] 1Pallet 2Pallet deck 3Foot 4Top 5Edge 6Anti-slip areas 7Entry slope 8Notch 9Channel 10Socket 11Mouth 12Inclined surface 14Upper section 15Lower section 16Opening 17Deflector surface 18Trough 19Plug-in element 20Assembly section 21Braking section 22RFID tag

Claims

1. A reusable transport pallet, referred to as a pallet (1) for short, comprising a pallet deck (2) and a plurality of feet (3) extending downwards from the pallet deck (2), the feet (3) being pot-shaped and open at the top and tapering downwards, such that two similar pallets (1) can be stacked one inside the other, with the feet (3) of the upper pallet (1) penetrating the feet (3) of the lower pallet (1), characterized by that the feet (3) taper downwards in the manner that the upper pallet (1) can be lifted off the lower pallet (1) at one end in a hinge-like manner and independently of any movement of the lower pallet (1).

2. Reusable transport pallet according to claim 1, characterized by that in the feet (3) a downwardly open nozzle (10) projects upwards, which extends up to the height of the upper side (4) of the pallet deck (2).

3. Reusable transport pallet according to claim 2, characterized by thatin a nozzle (10) there is arranged an outwardly opening compartment which is intended to receive an RFID tag (22).

4. Reusable transport pallet according to claim 3, characterized by that the mouth (11) of the compartment is designed as an opening deviating from a straight line.

5. Reusable transport pallet according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the underside of the pallet deck (2) rises towards the edge in such a way that, when two pallets (1) are stacked one inside the other, entry slopes (7) for the forks of an industrial truck are created between the two pallet decks (2).

6. Reusable transport pallet according to claim 5, characterized by that the angle of inclination relative to the horizontal is in the range of 10° to 35°.

7. Reusable transport pallet according to claim 5 or 6, characterized by thatthe pallet (1) has entry slopes (7) on both the long sides and the front sides, and that the entry slopes (7) are shorter on the front sides than on the long sides.

8. Reusable transport pallet according to claim 7, characterized by that the angle of inclination is greater on the front sides than on the long sides.

9. Reusable transport pallet according to one of claims 5 to 8, characterized by that the underside of the pallet deck (2) in the rising region has at least partially a closed surface.

10. Reusable transport pallet according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the underside of the pallet deck (2) has a plurality of intersecting webs.

11. Reusable transport pallet according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the underside of the pallet deck (2) has openings (16), and thata plug-in element (19) is inserted into at least one of the openings (16), which plug-in element projects downwards beyond the underside of the pallet deck (2) and is designed to be slip-resistant in the region of this projection.

12. Reusable transport pallet according to claim 11, characterized by that the openings (16) are arranged where the pallet deck (2) forms entry pockets (7) on its underside for the forks of an industrial truck.

13. Reusable transport pallet according to claim 11 or 12, characterized by that the plug-in element (19) has a mounting section (20) which can be inserted into an opening (16) and a braking section (21) which projects downwards beyond the underside of the pallet deck (2), wherein the plug-in element (19) is produced using a two-component injection-moulding process and the mounting section (20) is made of a harder plastic than the braking section (21), which is also made of plastic.

14. Reusable transport pallet according to one of claims 11 to 13, characterized by that the plug-in element (19) can be clipped into the opening (16) and is held captively in the pallet deck (2) by means of a snap-in connection.

15. Reusable transport pallet according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the upper side of the pallet deck (2) is designed to be slip-resistant at least in some areas.

16. Reusable transport pallet according to claim 14 characterized by that the pallet deck (2) has anti-slip areas (6) in which the upper side (4) of the pallet deck (2) consists of a material that has a higher coefficient of friction than the surrounding material.

17. Reusable transport pallet according to claim 14 or 15, characterized by that the pallet (1) is manufactured by injection molding and has a base body made of a first plastic material, and thatthe anti-slip surface on the upper side (4) of the pallet deck (2) is created from a second plastic material using the core-back process in the same injection molding process.

18. Reusable transport pallet according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the pallet deck (2) has channels (9) which open at the edge of the pallet deck (2) and are each intended to optionally accommodate a stiffening profile.

19. Reusable transport pallet according to claim 18, characterized by that the stiffening profile is designed as an I-profile.

20. Reusable transport pallet according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the pallet deck (2) has a downwardly open notch (8) on its edge.

Images