Pallet and pallet attachment device

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a pallet and a pallet attachment device that make it possible to improve the efficiency of and reduce the time required for loading and unloading pallets on which cargo is placed. [Solution] A flat pallet 10 comprises: an upper board 11, on a surface of which is disposed a cargo loading surface 11A; and a beam 12 which supports the upper board 11 from the reverse side from the loading surface 11A. The flat pallet 10 has a recessed part 13 that has a center axis C1 parallel to the direction in which the beam 12 provides support and that is disposed on the loading surface 11A, and a protruding part 15 that has a center axis C2 extending parallel to the center axis C1 and that is formed so as to protrude in a shape which can engage with the recessed part.

Description

Pallet and Pallet Mounting Device

[0001] The present invention relates to a pallet and a pallet mounting device.

[0002] In cargo handling operations, pallets are used for mechanization and labor saving in operations such as storage, transportation, and loading of goods (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-178355

[0004] Here, when loading and unloading goods stacked on a pallet onto a truck, railway container, etc., it is necessary to position or unpack the pallet using a belt-like leather strap or the like inside the truck or railway container. However, these operations are still carried out manually, resulting in a large workload and taking a long time. An object of the present invention is to provide a pallet and a pallet mounting device capable of improving the efficiency and shortening the time of loading and unloading operations onto a truck, railway container, etc.

[0005] To solve the above problems, the present invention adopts the following means. The pallet according to the present invention includes a flat portion having a loading surface for goods on the surface, and a support portion that supports the flat portion from the back side of the loading surface, and has a concave portion arranged on the loading surface having a central axis parallel to the support direction by the support portion, and a convex portion formed to project in the depth direction of the concave portion and engageable with the concave portion having another central axis extending parallel to the central axis.

[0006] Further, the pallet according to the present invention includes a flat portion having a loading surface for goods on the surface, and a support portion that supports the flat portion from the back side of the loading surface, and has a convex portion arranged to project from the loading surface having a central axis parallel to the support direction by the support portion, and a concave portion arranged such that the protruding direction of the convex portion is the depth direction and engageable with the convex portion having another central axis extending parallel to the central axis.

[0007] Further, the pallet according to the present invention further includes a plurality of the concave portions and the convex portions respectively.

[0008] Furthermore, the pallet according to the present invention is configured such that the recess and the protrusion are aligned such that the central axis and the other central axis are the same.

[0009] Furthermore, the pallet mounting device according to the present invention comprises a base portion formed to be fixable to the floor surface on which the pallet according to the present invention is placed, with the recess disposed on its surface, and the pallet is engaged with the base portion.

[0010] Furthermore, the pallet mounting device according to the present invention comprises a base portion formed to be fixable to the floor surface on which the pallet according to the present invention is placed, with the protrusions arranged on its surface, and the pallet is engaged with the base portion.

[0011] According to the present invention, the loading and unloading of pallets loaded with goods can be made more efficient and quicker.

[0012] These are a plan view and a side view showing a pallet according to the first embodiment of the present invention. These are a plan view and a side view showing a pallet mounting device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. These are a plan view and a side view showing a flat pallet according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted on a cargo bed. These are a plan view and a side view showing a pallet according to the second embodiment of the present invention. These are a plan view and a side view showing a pallet mounting device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. These are a plan view and a side view showing a flat pallet according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted on a cargo bed by another method.

[0013] (First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3. The flat pallet (pallet) 10 according to this embodiment comprises a top plate (flat portion) 11 on which a loading surface 11A for cargo P is arranged on the surface, and a beam (support portion) 12 that supports the top plate from the back side of the loading surface 11A.

[0014] The top plate 11 is formed in a roughly square shape when viewed from above. The beams 12 are arranged parallel to the back edge and center of the top plate 11 at predetermined intervals, and have fork insertion openings 12A through which the forks of a forklift (not shown) are inserted.

[0015] On the loading surface 11A side at the position where the upper plate 11 is connected to the girder 12, recesses 13 having a central axis C1 extending in the direction of support by the girder 12 are arranged at three locations corresponding to the vertices of an equilateral triangle when viewed from the loading surface 11A side.

[0016] The depth of the recess 13 is approximately half the overall height of the flat pallet 10, and it is formed in a roughly cylindrical shape. The entrance and tip of the recess 13 each have a concave tapered surface (not shown).

[0017] The girder 12 has three substantially cylindrical protrusions 15 that protrude in the depth direction of the recess 13 and are capable of engaging with the recess 13, each having a central axis C2 that coincides with the central axis C1. The protrusions 15 are formed so that their outer diameter is smaller than the inner diameter of the recess 13 and their height is smaller than the depth of the recess 13, allowing them to be retracted into the recess 13. Each protrusion 15 has a tapered surface on the convex side (not shown) formed at its tip.

[0018] The pallet mounting device 16 is used when loading a flat pallet 10 onto the cargo bed (floor) B of a truck T, and includes a base portion 17 formed to be fixable to the cargo bed B on which the flat pallet 10 is placed, with a recess 13 on its surface.

[0019] Each recess 13 of the base portion 17 is positioned so that the central axis C1 of the recess 13 coincides with the central axis C2 of the protrusion 15 when the flat pallet 10 is mounted on the pallet mounting device 16. Figure 2 shows the pallet mounting device 16 when a maximum of two flat pallets 10 are mounted in the width direction and a maximum of three in the length direction of the loading platform B. However, the number of recesses 13 is set according to the number of flat pallets 10 to be mounted and the size of the loading platform B.

[0020] Next, the operation of the flat pallet 10 and the pallet mounting device 16 according to this embodiment will be described. First, the pallet mounting device 16 is fixed to the loading platform B. The method of fixing to the loading platform B may be a known method.

[0021] When loading flat pallets 10 onto truck T, after selecting the appropriate flat pallets 10 considering the unloading order, insert a fork (not shown) into the fork insertion opening 12A to lift the flat pallet 10, move it to truck T, and load it onto the loading platform B. Then, move it to the back of the loading platform B. Rails, hoists, etc. (not shown) are used during the movement.

[0022] After moving to a predetermined position, the flat pallet 10 is lowered once the alignment between each protrusion 15 of the flat pallet 10 and each recess 13 of the base portion 17 of the pallet mounting device 16 is complete. At this time, the protrusion 15 and the recess 13 engage with each other as the tapered surface on the protrusion side and the tapered surface on the recess side come into contact, and the flat pallet 10 is mounted on the pallet mounting device 16.

[0023] During unloading, the flat pallet 10 is lifted using a fork or hoist (not shown) to release the engagement between the convex portion 15 and the concave portion 13, and then removed from the truck T.

[0024] With this flat pallet 10 and pallet mounting device 16, the cargo P is secured to the cargo bed B by engaging the flat pallet 10 with the pallet mounting device 16, which is originally fixed to the cargo bed B. Therefore, there is no need to secure the cargo P inside the cargo bed B using leather straps or the like, which makes loading and unloading operations more efficient and shorter in time.

[0025] (Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 4 and 5. Components similar to those in the first embodiment described above will be denoted by the same reference numerals and their descriptions will be omitted. The difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that in this embodiment, a protrusion 15 is provided protruding from the loading surface 21A side of the top plate 21 of the flat pallet 20, and a recess 13 is provided on the beam 12.

[0026] The protrusions 15 are positioned at three locations corresponding to the vertices of an equilateral triangle when viewed from the loading surface 11A side at the point where the upper plate 11 is connected to the beam 12.

[0027] The recesses 13 are arranged at three locations on the beam 12 so that each protrusion 15 can engage with the protrusions 15, with the protrusion direction of the protrusions 15 being in the depth direction. The pallet mounting device 22 includes a base portion 23 on which the protrusions 15 are arranged instead of the recesses 13.

[0028] The operation and effects of the flat pallet 20 and pallet mounting device 22 according to this embodiment are the same as those of the flat pallet 10 and pallet mounting device 16 according to the first embodiment.

[0029] It should be noted that the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, although the flat pallets 10 and 20 in this embodiment are of the two-way entry type, they are not limited to this, and flat pallets of the beam cutout type or four-way entry type may also be used. Furthermore, the form is not limited to the flat pallets 10 and 20, as long as they are pallets used by stacking them in the vertical direction.

[0030] Furthermore, although the recess 13 is described as being formed inside the beam 12, it may also be formed in an unillustrated block connected to the back of the loading surface, for example, in the case of a four-way entry type flat pallet. Also, although the recess 13 and protrusion 15 are described as being arranged in three locations, they are not limited to three locations as long as the positions and number do not cause misalignment with respect to the loading platform B.

[0031] Furthermore, although the pallet mounting devices 16 and 22 are described as being fixed to the loading platform B, they may not only be directly fixed to the loading platform B, but as shown in Figure 6, a sheet-like spacer 25 that fills the gap S formed between the pallet mounting devices 16 and 22 may be inserted into the gap S, or instead of fixing them to the loading platform B, the spacer 25 may be inserted and fixed.

[0032] Alternatively, instead of using the pallet mounting devices 16 and 22, the flat pallets 10 and 20 may be directly installed on a loading platform where recesses 13 or protrusions 15 are pre-formed at locations corresponding to the number and mounting positions of the recesses 13 of the pallet mounting device 16 and the protrusions 15 of the pallet mounting device 22.

[0033] 10, 20 Flat pallet (pallet) 11, 21 Top plate (flat part) 11A, 21A Loading surface 12 Beam (support part) 13 Recess 15 Protrusion 16, 22 Pallet mounting device 17, 23 Base part

Claims

1. A pallet comprising: a flat portion on which a loading surface for cargo is arranged on the surface; a support portion that supports the flat portion from the back side of the loading surface; a recess arranged on the loading surface having a central axis parallel to the direction of support by the support portion; and a convex portion having another central axis extending parallel to the central axis and formed to protrude in the depth direction of the recess so as to be engageable with the recess.

2. A pallet comprising: a flat portion on which a loading surface for cargo is provided; a support portion that supports the flat portion from the back side of the loading surface; a convex portion having a central axis parallel to the direction of support by the support portion and protruding from the loading surface; and a recess having another central axis extending parallel to the central axis and being configured to engage with the convex portion, with the protruding direction of the convex portion being the depth direction.

3. The pallet according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a plurality of recesses and protrusions.

4. The pallet according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recess and the protrusion are arranged such that the aforementioned central axis and the other central axis are the same.

5. A pallet mounting device comprising a base portion formed to be fixed to a floor surface on which the pallet is placed, with the recess having a surface portion on which the pallet described in claim 1 is engaged.

6. A pallet mounting device comprising a base portion formed to be fixed to a floor surface on which the pallet is placed, with the protrusions arranged on its surface, wherein the pallet according to claim 2 is engaged.

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