Foam Core Composite Pallets for Heavy Load Support
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pallets face challenges in providing a durable and lightweight structure that can efficiently support heavy loads while allowing easy forklift access and transportation, often resulting in inefficiencies and potential damage during handling.
Innovation Solution
The development of pallets featuring composite boards and blocks with foam cores and facer materials, which provide a lightweight yet strong structure, allowing forklift access and supporting heavy loads, and are constructed using high and low-density foam boards with facer materials like paper, foil, and glass mats, coupled via adhesives or mechanical fasteners.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional pallets are made of wood, plastic, or metal to support heavy loads, then strength is improved, but weight increases and ease of transportation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining foam core (providing lightweight structure) with facer materials (providing strength and durability). This composite construction achieves the required load support capability while significantly reducing the overall weight of the pallet, resolving the contradiction between strength and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by using different density foam materials in different locations - high-density foam in the top deck and load-bearing areas for strength, and low-density foam in non-critical areas for weight reduction. This localized material differentiation optimizes the strength-to-weight ratio throughout the pallet structure.
2Strength
If pallets are designed with solid bottom surfaces for structural integrity, then strength is improved, but forklift access becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the bottom surface into multiple sections with spaced-apart composite blocks rather than a solid continuous surface. This segmentation creates gaps that allow forklift fork insertion while the distributed blocks maintain sufficient structural integrity to support loads during forklift operations.
3Strength
If pallets use high-density materials throughout for durability, then strength is improved, but weight increases and ease of transportation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by strategically placing high-density foam only in critical load-bearing areas (top deck and blocks直接接触ting the load) while using low-density foam in non-critical areas. This localized high-density approach provides necessary durability where needed while minimizing overall weight for easier transportation.
Data Source
AI summary
The embodiments describe various pallets and methods for constructing such pallets. An exemplary pallet may include a composite board having a foam core and a facer material coupled therewith. The composite board may define a roughly flat top surface that is configured to support one or more goods or other objects placed thereon. A plurality of composite blocks having a foam core and a facer material coupled therewith may be coupled with a bottom surface of the composite board to support the composite board above the ground. The plurality of composite blocks may also be arranged with respect to the bottom surface to allow forks of a fork lift to be positioned under the bottom surface of the composite board so that the pallet may be lifted and/or transported via the forklift.