Cardboard Pallet Leg With Creased U-Profile
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cardboard pallet legs with U-shaped reinforcement profiles are prone to damage from forklifts and have a reduced surface area for gluing, leading to potential separation from the platform during heavy movements, and are not suitable for half-pallets due to space constraints.
Innovation Solution
A perimetric U-shaped pallet leg made of laminated board with cross-directional creasing lines and angular cuttings, incorporating a lining of corrugated boxboard or honeycomb panels, and conventional support blocks fixed inside the U-profile for enhanced stiffness and increased gluing surface area, preventing damage from forklifts and improving stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a U-shaped reinforcement profile is used to increase mechanical resistance, then the stiffness and strength of the pallet leg are improved, but the surface area for gluing between the pallet leg and platform is reduced, leading to potential separation during heavy movements
Solution Approach 1:
The U-shaped profile is divided into multiple sections by cross-directional creasing lines, creating a segmented structure that maintains strength while providing additional gluing surfaces at the crease locations
Solution Approach 2:
The profile incorporates angular cuttings that extend the gluing surface into a third dimension, creating overlapping surfaces that increase the total gluing area without compromising the U-shaped structural form
2Stability of the object's composition
If blocks are placed between the platform and U-shaped profile to prevent separation, then the connection stability is improved, but the forklift fork has reduced space for insertion, making the pallet unsuitable for half-pallets
Solution Approach 1:
The angular cuttings are strategically positioned at specific locations on the U-shaped profile to provide localized reinforcement and gluing surfaces without obstructing the central fork insertion path
Solution Approach 2:
The profile design incorporates asymmetric angular cuttings that provide enhanced stability on the sides while maintaining symmetric fork access from the front, allowing stable connection without blocking forklift operation
3Strength
If the vertical walls of the U-shaped profile are made robust to prevent damage from forklift wheels, then the structural strength is improved, but the ease of manufacture is reduced due to increased complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The profile incorporates cross-directional creasing lines that change the structural parameters by creating rigid angular joints, enhancing strength without requiring thicker or more complex wall construction
Solution Approach 2:
The U-shaped profile is constructed from composite board materials with integrated creasing lines, combining the strength of laminated board with the rigidity of creased joints to achieve high strength with standard manufacturing processes
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
It is made by means of a perimetric profile (3), which embraces a number of support blocks (2), which are fixed to the profile by means of gluing. The profile is preferably of C or U-shape, and the horizontal inner section (4) of the profile is equipped with various cross-directional creasing lines (5), ending at angular cuttings (7) in the vertical walls (6) of the perimetric profile (3). In addition, the perimetric profile can have a reinforcement lining incorporated (13). The ends (11) of the perimetric profile (3) can with advantage be united in the middle of the top of one of the blocks (2). The pallet legs, positioned parallel to each other, are fixed to a pallet deck or platform (1), in order to build a pallet. The gluing contact area between the pallet legs and the pallet platform (1), and the stiffness of the pallet is improved.