Foldable pallet for reuse

Abstract

To provide a reuse pallet that can be folded into a cube shape to enable recovery of a small number of reuse pallets.SOLUTION: A reuse pallet is divided into four parts, 1, 2, 3 and 4, which are common parts for the four-divided pallet, connected to each other by hinges 5-1, and folded into four parts so as to be able to fold in both directions of a mountain and a valley, to form a foldable reuse pallet which is inexpensive and easy to carry.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Pallets are used for logistics, and after transporting cargo on the pallets, used pallets are collected from the destination for reuse. If the pallets are in small lots, collection by charter truck or on the return trip of the truck would be expensive, making collection difficult. Small-lot delivery services such as route buses and home delivery services are suitable as a means of cheaply transporting small lots of cargo, but the freight rates per unit are low for cargo that is close to a cube, while panel-shaped cargo such as pallets are expensive, which is an issue. To solve this problem, panel-shaped pallets can be folded into a cube shape with little difference in length, width, and height, making it possible to collect them at a cheaper freight rate. This is a foldable reusable pallet. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, from an environmental perspective, reusable pallets are preferred for logistics pallets, rather than disposable one-way pallets. However, when transporting small lots of goods, the majority of pallets cannot be recovered after transporting the goods, and are discarded or lost.

[0003] A common method for small-lot cargo to be transported to the destination on a reusable pallet and then collected by the sender at low cost is to use a chartered or direct truck return trip. However, in order to reuse small-lot pallets, it is necessary to store a quantity of reusable pallets to cover the collection costs, which leads to losses and unnecessary costs for storage space.

[0004] For the transportation of large lots of cargo, the collection of reused pallets could be done by using a chartered or direct delivery service to deliver the cargo to the destination, and then using the return trip of the truck, but for the collection of small lots of reused pallets, there were issues with the cost of using the return trip of the truck, etc. The solution to this problem would be to use a route service or a small parcel delivery service such as a home delivery service, but there was an issue that the freight charges would be relatively high due to the contracted freight charges per cargo.

[0005] Previously, the freight rates of home delivery companies and route delivery companies were determined by a freight table calculated based on the distance, weight, and volume of the package, but in recent years, the volume calculation standard has been simplified to calculate the volume of the freight table based on the total value of the length, width, and height of the package being transported. With this freight calculation standard, even if the volume is the same, the freight rate is higher for panel shapes such as pallets, whose height is extremely small compared to their length and width. This is why it has become possible to make the freight rate cheaper if the pallet can be folded into a cube shape with less difference in length, width, and height.

[0006] Transportation methods can be broadly divided into courier services, route buses, joint delivery services, direct delivery services, and charter services. However, courier services, route buses, and joint delivery services have freight rates contracted per package, so they are more suitable for the collection of small lots of reused pallets than direct delivery services and charter services, which have contracts per vehicle.

[0007] Previously, the freight rates for parcel delivery services and small parcel deliveries on routes were the contracted freight rates per parcel, and were calculated by comparing the freight rate based on the actual weight of the parcel over the distance with the freight rate calculated based on the volume, and using the greater of these freight rates as the freight rate base.

[0008] Currently, many small parcel delivery routes and home delivery services have begun to use a simplified calculation method for the volume calculation of packages. In other words, the system has changed to a system where the total value of the length, width, and height of the package is used as the volume calculation basis for the freight table. Even if the packages have the same volume, the freight calculation basis for the cube shape is lower than that for a panel shape like a pallet, which has an extremely small height compared to its length and width, and a cube shape, which has similar dimensions in height, width, and length.

[0009] In order to collect reusable pallets from the destination at low cost, even for a single unit, in small-lot deliveries, the calculated value of the sum of the length side plus width side plus height side is smaller if the pallet is in a cube shape than if it were in a panel shape, resulting in cheaper freight.For example, if a pallet that is 100 cm x 100 cm x 12 cm is calculated using this standard, the sum of the length side plus width side plus height side is 212 cm, whereas for a foldable reusable pallet folded in four, the total value is 50 cm for the length side plus 50 cm for the width side plus 48 cm for the height side, for a total of 148 cm.

[0010] It seems that small-lot delivery services on business-to-business route routes are the most suitable for collecting small-lot reuse pallets. In addition, small-lot delivery services basically involve loading and unloading by hand, so the pallets needed to be of a shape and size that was easy for people to carry.

[0011] Currently, one method of making a foldable pallet is described in Patent Document 1, JP 2008-265771, in which a cut is made in the top plate of the pallet and it is folded in half toward the bottom plate, but this can only be folded in half, and the above-mentioned problems are not solved.

[0012] In addition, the folding pallet in Patent Document 2, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 6-80631, also has a fold line that divides the top plate in two, so it is possible to fold it in two, but just like the above, it is not possible to fold it in three or more times to create a cube shape.

[0013] The folding pallet of Patent Document 3, JP 2003-200928 A, has a method of thinning the beam part of the pallet, but it still could not be made into a cube shape.

[0014] The panel shape is a plate shape in which the height is extremely small compared to the length and width, and the cube shape is a hexahedral shape in which the difference in size between the length, width, and height is as small as possible.

[0015] Unlike chartered or direct delivery, small parcel delivery services are route services, courier services, or joint delivery services that deliver parcels of multiple senders in small parcels under a freight contract per parcel. Route services also refer to special combined cargo transportation and transport. In addition, the above-mentioned recovery refers to returning reuse pallets to the original sender. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0016] [Patent Document 1] JP 2008-265771 A [Patent Document 2] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 6-80631 [Patent Document 3] JP 2003-200928 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0017] Currently, pallets used for logistics are sent to the destination together with the cargo, and then many of them are collected for reuse on the return trip of the truck. However, in the case of small-lot pallet transport, unless a transportation network that can be used for collection is established between the shipper and the destination, the reality is that most of the pallets are difficult to collect and cannot be reused. Therefore, there was a problem of storing them in large quantities until the cost of collection was justified, or disposing of them as they were uncollectible.

[0018] One solution to this problem would be to use small parcel delivery services such as route buses or home delivery, but the shipping costs would be higher than for one-way pallets.

[0019] The previous method of calculating freight rates for small parcel deliveries was to calculate the volume of the parcel, use that as the freight rate base, and compare it with the freight rate based on the actual weight, and use the larger freight rate as the base. However, the current freight rate is not based on the volume calculated from the actual dimensions of the parcel, but on the total value of the three sides (one side of length, one side of width, and one side of height) of the parcel. Therefore, for panel shapes that are extremely low in height and large in length and width, such as pallets, the total value will be higher than that of a cube shape, even if they have the same volume, which puts the panel shape at a disadvantage in freight calculations.

[0020] The actual weight, which affects freight calculations, can be reduced by using lighter materials for reused pallets. However, when calculating volume using the total value of one side of the length plus one side of the width plus one side of the height, the freight cost is higher for panel shapes such as pallets compared to cube shapes, and there was an issue that lowering the height of the beams, as in Patent Document 3, was not easily reflected in price reductions.

[0021] Patent Documents 1 and 2 also fail to solve the same problems as those in Patent Document 3.

[0022] It turns out that in order to solve the above problems and enable low-cost recovery even for small lots, it is sufficient to fold the reusable pallets from their panel shape into something closer to a cube shape.

[0023] Another challenge was that the reusable folding pallets had to be easy to fold and strong enough to withstand repeated reuse. [Means for solving the problem]

[0024] The current folding pallets of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 can only be folded in half, and it is not possible to fold a panel-shaped reusable pallet into four to create a cube shape.

[0025] In this proposal, instead of folding in only one direction as in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, a reusable pallet is divided into four parts to create four common parts for the four-part pallet. Then, the common parts for the four-part pallet are each connected with a hinge and a mountain fold and a valley fold are combined to create a foldable reusable pallet that can be folded into four, approaching a cube shape.

[0026] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a 4-part pallet common part obtained by dividing a foldable reusable pallet into four parts. Each of the 4-part pallet common parts is equipped with a pallet top plate, beams, and bottom plate. These four 4-part pallet common parts are connected with hinges and folded in mountain and valley to form a foldable reusable pallet that can be folded into a cube shape.

[0027] To explain in detail a foldable reusable pallet, when viewed from the bottom of the pallet as shown in Figure 2, the bottom surfaces of four-section pallet common parts 2 and 3 are connected together, and when turned over as shown in Figure 3, four-section pallet common parts 1 and 2 are connected from the top with a hinge 5-1, and further four-section pallet common parts 3 and 4 are connected from the top with a hinge 5-2 to create a foldable reusable pallet. The hinges and how they are connected should be of an appropriate size and number to withstand the strength required for the four-section pallet common parts to fold together.

[0028] In FIG. 4, the four-division pallet common parts 2 and 3 are connected from the bottom by a hinge 5, and the four-division pallet common parts 2 and 3, and the four-division pallet common parts 1 and 4 are overlapped. Instead of connecting the four-part pallet common parts 2 and 3, parts 1 and 4 may be connected from the bottom with hinge 5.

[0029] Figure 5 shows the case where 4-section pallet common parts 2 and 3 are connected from the bottom with hinge 5, and 4-section pallet common parts 1 and 2 are fitted together using hinge 5-1. Similarly, the four-part pallet common parts 3 and 4 can be stacked using the hinge 5-2 to create a four-folded pallet.

[0030] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a foldable reusable pallet folded into four.

[0031] The hinges can be opened and closed from 0 to 180 degrees, and the material can be any material, whether it be metal, plastic, or paper, as long as it is strong enough to withstand reuse.

[0032] Drawing 1 is a drawing of the 4-part pallet common parts before they are connected. The drawing on the right is an enlarged drawing of one of the 4-part pallet common parts.

[0033] As shown in Figure 2, the top and bottom panels can be made of a repeatedly foldable board with fold lines that act as hinges. In the above figure, the left side shows a plastic board that acts as both a top panel and a hinge, and the right side shows a board that is folded together like a hinge.

[0034] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the four-part pallet common parts are connected with metal or plastic hinges, and then plastic boards, plywood, or paper boards may be attached to the top and bottom plates of the four-part pallet common parts. In this case, the folding of the hinges must not be hindered.

[0035] As described above, four-section pallet common parts 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 are connected from the top with hinges that can be opened and closed from 0 degrees to 180 degrees, and four-section pallet common parts 2 and 3, or 1 and 4 are connected from the bottom. As a result, a foldable reusable pallet can be folded into four and collected, as shown in Figure 6.

[0036] The common parts of the four-part pallet consist of a top plate, a bottom plate, and girders, but the top plate described here is the plate-like part on the top side of the pallet, and the bottom plate is the plate-like part on the bottom surface. Suitable materials for this foldable reusable pallet are plywood, wood, plastic, metal, and paper sheets. The common parts of the four-part pallet may be integrally or partially molded plastic or metal parts.

[0037] The four-part pallet common parts refer to the four-part pallet common parts 1, 2, 3, and 4. Effect of the Invention

[0038] The two-fold pallets of Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 could not solve the above problems when used as reusable pallets, but the foldable reusable pallet of this invention can be folded into four to approximate a cube shape, making it possible for it to be collected by a variety of small parcel delivery services, and its shape is advantageous in terms of small parcel delivery freight rates, making it possible to collect it cheaply.

[0039] Furthermore, the pallet can be modularized by dividing it into four parts and using common parts for all four divided pallets, which reduces the manufacturing cost of the foldable reusable pallet and also reduces the repair and replacement costs.

[0040] While the materials used in Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3 are limited to paper, this proposal can use stronger plastic, metal, or wood, resulting in a pallet that can withstand the strength of recycled plastic.

[0041] The four-part pallet common parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 are simply connected with three hinges, making it easy to fold the pallet for reuse and to unfold the folded reusable pallet into its original shape.

[0042] The foldable reusable pallets can be transformed into three different shapes, from panel shape to cube shape, making it easy to load them into available space on mixed loads of small and large vehicles.

[0043] By folding reusable pallets into a cube shape, small delivery services can be used, making it possible to collect small quantities of reusable pallets from anywhere in the country.

[0044] In addition, it is now possible to give collection instructions via the Web. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0045] [Figure 1] A perspective view of the common parts of the four-part foldable reusable pallet [Diagram 2] A perspective view of the bottom of a foldable reusable pallet [Diagram 3] A top perspective view of a foldable reusable pallet [Figure 4] A perspective view of a foldable reusable pallet folded in half [Diagram 5] A perspective view of a foldable reusable pallet being folded into four [Figure 6] A perspective view of a collapsible reusable pallet folded into four [Figure 7] Drawing of foldable reusable pallet for long items [Figure 8] Diagram of folding process for foldable reusable pallets for long items DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0046] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

[0047] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a foldable pallet divided into four parts and a common part for the four-part pallet. As shown in Fig. 3, the common parts for the four-part pallet 1 and 2 are connected from the top of the reusable pallet with a hinge 5-1, and the common parts for the four-part pallet 3 and 4 are connected from the top with a hinge 5-2, and as shown in Fig. 2, the common parts for the four-part pallet 3 and 4 are connected from the bottom with a hinge 5, and the common parts for the four-part pallet 1 and 4 are not connected, forming a reusable pallet that folds into four. The hinges can be made of any material as long as they can withstand the strength required for reuse, but metal, plastic, rubber or paper are preferred.

[0048] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a foldable pallet as seen from the bottom, in which four-part pallet common parts 2 and 3 are connected by hinges 5 from the bottom side.

[0049] Figure 3 is an oblique view of a foldable reusable pallet viewed from the top, with four-part pallet common parts 1 and 2 connected from the top side by hinge 5-1, and four-part pallet common parts 3 and 4 connected from the top side by hinge 5-2.

[0050] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the hinged foldable pallet, connected to its bottom surface, folded in two, to illustrate the process of folding the pallet into four folds.

[0051] Following FIG. 4, fold together hinge 5-1 connecting 4-split pallet common parts 1 and 2 as shown in FIG. 5, and then fold together hinge 5-2 connecting 4-split pallet common parts 3 and 4 to fold the pallet into four.

[0052] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a foldable pallet folded into four.

[0053] In the case of a long pallet where the width is extremely small compared to its length, as shown in drawings 7 and 8, the top and bottom panels of the proposed pallet can be folded in three places in an accordion-like manner, creating mountain and valley folds, to create a quarter fold.

[0054] When making it into an accordion shape as described above, it is not limited to folding it into four, but it can be folded into three or more, and the number of folds is not important, but folding it into four is better in terms of strength and balance.

[0055] The common part for a four-piece pallet is a part that comprises the pallet top plate that makes up the pallet, a beam to maintain the height for the insertion of the forklift, and a bottom plate that makes up the base. By connecting four of these common parts for a four-piece pallet with hinges, the connecting parts between the common parts for a four-piece pallet can be folded in four by making mountain and valley folds, creating a single reusable pallet.

[0056] A skid consisting of only a top plate and beams with all or part of the bottom plate, which is a common part of the four-part pallet, removed may be used, but a pallet with a top plate, beams and bottom plate is preferable in terms of strength.

[0057] The common parts for the 4-part pallet should preferably be the same shape and dimensions in length, width, and height for all 4 units, but some differences are acceptable. The common parts for the 4-part pallet may also have different structures for the top plate, beams, and bottom plate, but it is preferable to use the same parts as much as possible for modularization.

[0058] The top or bottom plate of the foldable reusable pallet may be provided with a folding line to form a plastic board that also serves as a hinge.

[0059] The top plate of a four-piece pallet common part is the part that makes up the top surface of that four-piece pallet common part, the bottom plate is the part that makes up the bottom surface of that four-piece pallet common part, and the girder is the part that connects the top plate and bottom plate, maintaining the height of the four-piece pallet common part so that a forklift can be inserted. [Industrial Applicability]

[0060] Currently, logistics pallets are widely used as a means of efficiently transporting goods from factory to factory. Most of these are reused pallets, and the original sender often uses the return journey of a truck to collect the reused pallets. However, in places where return journey trucks are not available or for small-lot reused pallets, the high collection freight makes them uncollectible and they are discarded at the destination of the goods.

[0061] Some factories collect small lots of reusable pallets and store enough of them for the return trip, but there are also current circumstances where inventory space is needed for the return of reusable pallets.

[0062] If a reused pallet becomes unrecoverable, not only will the cost to the destination increase, but the cost of disposing of the unrecoverable pallet at the destination will also increase.

[0063] One-way pallets and paper pallets that are easy to recycle are some of the solutions to this problem.

[0064] Simple one-way pallets are disposable, so they must be disposed of in addition to the pallet cost each time they are shipped, at the factory where they are sent.

[0065] Furthermore, recyclable paper pallets are not particularly cheap compared to wooden pallets, and they also have issues with strength and resistance to water damage.

[0066] Pallets are advantageous in terms of strength, logistics costs, and the environment as long as they can be collected and reused. However, there are issues in places where the logistics network for collection has not been established, and in how to collect small lots of pallets.

[0067] The optimal method for collecting small lots of reused pallets, even if it is just a single unit, is small-lot delivery services, especially route services; however, because the contract is based on a per-unit basis, there is an issue that the freight calculation standard for panel shapes such as pallets means that freight rates are relatively high.

[0068] In order to solve these problems, in order to make the panel-shaped reusable pallet into a reusable pallet that can be folded into a cube shape with the smallest possible dimensions in length, width, and height so as to be most advantageous in terms of the freight calculation standards for small parcel deliveries, the reusable pallet was divided into four parts and connected with hinges, and the four parts were made to be reusable pallets that can be folded horizontally or at right angles to the length direction, either in valley folds or mountain folds, so that they can be stacked in four.

[0069] For reusable pallets that are long and clearly smaller in width, i.e. long pallets, hinges are used to fold them at right angles in three places along the length to create an accordion-like shape, and then folded into four to form a cube. For such long pallets, it is also possible to fold them in two places so that they can be folded into thirds.

[0070] The foldable pallets in Patent Documents 1 and 2 can only be folded in two and are made of paper, so they were unable to solve the above-mentioned problems due to the high collection fees and the lack of strength required for reused pallets.

[0071] This proposal is to create a foldable, reusable pallet that is optimally suited to the freight calculation standards for small parcel deliveries by changing the panel shape into a cube shape, which is a problem that cannot be solved by simply folding the pallet in half.

[0072] The freight calculation standard for the small parcel delivery service mentioned above is a calculation standard determined by the freight table, in which the freight rate is calculated by adding up the length, width and height of the freight to convert it into volume, and the freight rate is calculated for each distance.

[0073] The advantage of foldable reusable pallets, which can be folded into four and stacked to form a cube shape, is that they allow for more efficient use of inventory space and empty space in trucks, which is expected to reduce inventory space and increase the options for transportation methods.

[0074] In addition, because the parts that make up the proposed foldable reusable pallet are modularized like the common parts of the four-section pallet, it is possible to streamline production and reduce costs, which has the added benefit of making repairs and part replacement easier.

[0075] Since small parcel delivery services can be used, collection is possible from anywhere in the country, and ordering foldable reusable pallets and arranging for collection can now be done over the Internet.

[0076] In the case of a long foldable reusable pallet, the foldable reusable pallet can be divided into three parts to create three common pallet parts and folded into thirds, but folding into fourths is preferable in terms of the pallet balance and strength of the foldable reusable pallet. [Explanation of symbols]

[0077] 1 4-part pallet common parts 1 2. 4-part pallet common parts 2 3 4-part pallet common parts 3 4 4-part pallet common parts 4 5 Hinge connecting the bottom of 4-part pallet common parts 2 and 3 5-1 Hinge connecting the top surfaces of 4-part pallet common parts 1 and 2 5-2 Hinge connecting the top surfaces of 4-part pallet common parts 3 and 4

Claims

1. This foldable reusable pallet is made by dividing a logistics pallet into four parts, which are connected with hinges, and folding the four parts of the four-part pallet common to the hinges into mountain and valley shapes, thereby enabling folding into four parts, and folding a panel-shaped pallet into a cube shape as much as possible.

2. In the foldable reusable pallet of claim 1, two of the four-divided common pallet parts are arranged so that one side is touching in the same direction, and two sets are created by connecting them with a hinge in a perpendicular direction from the point of contact so that they can be folded in a valley fold when viewed from the top, and the two connected sets of four-divided common pallet parts are arranged so that they are touching each other front to back when viewed in the longitudinal horizontal direction, and either the right half or the left half from the center is connected from the bottom parallel to the longitudinal horizontal direction with a hinge so that they can be folded in a mountain fold parallel to the longitudinal horizontal direction, resulting in a foldable reusable pallet that can be folded in four.

3. The foldable reusable pallet of claim 1 is a long foldable reusable pallet in which the pallet is divided into four parts, the four common parts of the four divided pallets are arranged in the same direction so that they are in contact with each other, and the parts where the pallets are in contact are folded at right angles with hinges into mountain folds and valley folds, so that the pallet can be folded into an accordion-like shape.

4. 2. The foldable reusable pallet of claim 1, wherein two of the four-part pallet common parts have fold lines on the top or bottom plastic boards, which act as hinges and also as the top or bottom plastic boards.

5. 2. The foldable reusable pallet of claim 1, wherein two of the four-part pallet common parts have folding lines on the paper top or bottom plates, which serve as hinges and also as the top or bottom plates.

6. 2. The foldable reusable pallet of claim 1, wherein two of the four-part pallet common parts have fold lines on the top or bottom plates of the rubber sheet, so that the foldable reusable pallet functions as a hinge and also as the top or bottom plate.

7. 2. A foldable reusable pallet according to claim 1, wherein the common parts of the four divided pallets are integrally molded from plastic or a part of the common parts is integrally molded from plastic.

8. 2. A foldable reusable pallet according to claim 1, wherein some of the common parts of the four-part pallet are made non-common parts.

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